This letter from neighbors around the Fairgrounds to the Board of County Commissioners speaks for itself. Recall that OlyCap’s effort to regulate and control the camp was frustrated by the City of Port Townsend, which insisted on imposing prohibitively costly and burdensome regulations rather than recognizing this as the emergency and crisis it is. The letter was sent in recent days to the following public officials and others involved in the Fairgrounds transient/homeless/drug dealer encampment.
VIA EMAIL AND REGULAR MAIL
The Jefferson County Board of Commissioners (jeffbocc@co.jefferson.wa.us) Commissioner Kate Dean (kdean@co.jefferson.wa.us)
Commissioner Heidi Eisenhour (heisenhour@co.jefferson.wa.us)
Commissioner Greg Brotherton (gbrotherton@co.jefferson.wa.us)
cc: Mayor Michelle Sandoval ( msandoval@cityofpt.us )
Cherish Cronmiller (donate@olycap.org)
Kathy Morgan (donate@olycap.org)
Gary Keister (info@baysidehousing.org )
Sue McIntire (jeffcofairgrounds@olypen.com)
Joe Nole, Jefferson County Sheriff (jnole@co.jefferson.wa.us)
Thomas Olson, City Of Port Townsend Chief of Police (tolson@cityofpt.us)
As a collective of neighborhoods to the Fairgrounds who are the most negatively impacted by the close proximity of the homeless encampment at the Fairgrounds, we are writing to again strongly voice our very real concerns. We respectfully request this letter be placed into the formal public record of the BOCC. We also respectfully request a full response in writing, addressing all of our concerns as contained herein.
Since being formally located in our neighborhoods almost a year ago, the encampment has been, and continues to be, an unmitigated public hazard, directly affecting our physical and emotional safety and the peaceful enjoyment of our homes.
We remind you that there was never a public hearing or request for public comments prior to the placement of the encampment. There was no management plan, no proposal to lessen the impact on the community, and no effective oversight. Dangerous individuals have been allowed to come and go and return with impunity. There are neighbors who have been terrorized by the anti-social behavior of some of the campers. Despite our continual pleas for help, it nonetheless remains the “Wild West.” We have borne the fear and distress it has brought to our lives, the complete disregard for our basic rights, and the lack of effective enforcement against those who violate even the minimum standards of behavior and actual laws such as excessive noise, fire setting, threats of violence and trespass of private property. The overt drug trafficking and use, resulting in multiple overdoses and at least one death, contribute to an already volatile environment. It is a myth that the campers are positively “self-governing” in any meaningful way. To claim that they are “self-governing” at the Fairgrounds does not release you from culpability for the actions, and the results of those actions, of the campers over whom you have assumed full agency.
With the passage of HB 1054 and HB 1310, we are more in peril than before, as police are hamstrung in their efforts to keep our community safe.
We have lost valued neighbors, who have left their homes and moved out of the County and the State because of the trauma of dealing with the encampment. Who answers to them? Who answers to us? Because of fear of reprisal, several signing this letter are afraid to reveal their house number, their street name or even sign this letter at all.
We are not without empathy; we have made every attempt to work with the situation. We understand how difficult it has been to find alternative properties. However, going back to the BOCC meeting of August 3, 2020, then-Commissioner David Sullivan deemed the idea of using the Fairgrounds as a homeless encampment as “another example of people without legal access to a piece of land wanting it for their purposes and asking someone else to do the work to make it happen.” In the same meeting, Sullivan enlisted Mark McCauley to develop a list of county-owned properties that compared “challenges such as infrastructure, access, park plans, etc.” Yet, only in mid June of 2021 was this list actually presented to the Board. During the whole of the Moratorium, time that might have been spent putting plans into place in anticipation of the expiration has instead run out. It is now eight weeks to October 1st.
In one form or another, unofficial or official, we have lived with this situation for almost two years, and we are tired of being placated with empty promises and lack of results as you would be if you lived where we make our homes. We are exhausted by living with the result of short-sighted mismanagement. Good intentions do not guarantee good outcomes.
It is important to remind you that the Fairgrounds has historically served the whole of the population in this County. More than just the Fair, the Fairgrounds is 4-H, Little League, clubs and events that bring the County together. It is also designated as a tsunami evacuation zone. It deserves to be restored and supported for the benefit of all. Any notion that the land and facilities might be used for any other purpose is unsupportable.
To this end, this letter will serve to put you on formal notice that we will not accept any further extension(s) to the September 30, 2021 eviction date. We will not accept any further payments made to the Jefferson County Fair Association to keep the encampment on the campgrounds after September 30, 2021. We will not accept any
further deviation from the plan to close the Campgrounds on September 30, 2021 and move the campers to another site, whether that site is ready or not to accept them.
In the meantime, we will feel free to further explore our rights and remedies at law without further notice to you.
Sincerely,
Ricardo Peregrino 4284 and 4147 Hill Street
Gary & Gloria Wessen 905 56th Street (4268 Hill Street – Owner)
Ed Farren 4660 Holcomb and 4617 Jackman
Linda Noble 336 47th Street
Chris Witkowski 4268 Hill Street
Helen Wilson
Lisa Greenfield and Mike Hilt 717 41st Street
Jerry Johnson 4002 Holcomb Street
George & Katherine Thomas 4001 Holcomb Street
Russ Howell 4682 McNeill Street
Lisa Thomas 3946 Hill Street
Virginia King 4166 Jackman Street
Allen Peugh 4272 Hill Street
Lisa Frankel Sarah Frankel (Clark) 4284 Hill Street
Steve & Lori Kraght Holcomb Street
Victoria O’Donnell 3910 Hill Street
Hendrik Taatgen & Marga Kapka Jackman Street
Marianne Sears 4567 McNeill Street
Marilyn K. Kurka, CPO Property Manager for 4284 Hills Street and 4174 Hill Street Resident of 4284 Hill Street
Keith Fleming Hill Street
Janeann and Eric Twelker 303 47th Street
James Schultz and Heidi Minnich 4510 Holcomb Street
Janice Rivera 435 47th Street
Russ Kunz 16 lots at Jackman and 49th
Beki McClemans 4617 Jackman Street
Sam & Lucy Obetz 49th Street
Kris Strand
Ann King Jackman Street
Jack and Johanna Perkins 247 43rd Street
Charley & Kathy Hough 4105 Jackman
Patricia & Robert Drolet 3963 Jackman St
Kristin Harlan 4079 Hill St.
Sally Murray 4246 Hill Street
Beki McClemans 4617 Jackman
Glenda Tavemakis 4024 Hill Street
Heidi Barber 45th & Holcomb
Sarah Grossman & Jennifer Carl 43rd Street
Jane Patrick 251 47th Street
Caroline Seibert 43rd Street
Betty Renkor & Stephen Nelson Hill Street
Neil & Karen Erickson 4444 Holcomb Street
Kenny & April Speer
Patrick & Pamela Moore 275 47th Street
Diane Baxter Holcomb Street
Dan Meyerson & Pippa Mills 4053 Jackman Street
Linda Egan 4043 Hill Street
Colby Fox 4419 Jackman Street 6
Jim Scarantino was the editor and founder of Port Townsend Free Press. He is happy in his new role as just a contributor writing on topics of concern to him. He spent the first 25 years of his professional life as a trial attorney, then launched an online investigative news website that broke several national stories. He is also the author of three crime novels. He resides in Jefferson County. See our "About" page for more information.
God Bless those poor landowners! Our elected officials were cowards for not handling this before it got so out of control!
It amazes me that we’ve moved to a place in this country, in particular certain states and localities, where the rights of the indigent, the addict, the lawlessness trump those of the law abiding, tax paying citizen. I don’t know the solution to the intransigent problem of the homeless, but I do know that rewarding bad and illegal behavior is NOT the answer. Making that one change in thinking would go a long way to find a solution for many if not most of the homeless. A truth: If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day; if you teach a man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime.
Why is this tolerated? Why are homeless allowed to camp in cities? Why is camping allowed in cities? If I was running the city, I would enact a NO CAMPING ordinance and let the homeless live outside of city limits. I get it that some are drug addicts, some are mentally ill, and a few are just down on their luck, but we don’t have to put up with this on our doorsteps. A homeless person does not belong in a city where they cannot afford a shelter. That’s what the woods are for.
Another example or our lame poor excuse for county commissioners and city planners! Elections are for just this purpose. Do your jobs commissioner’s,, or we will find others who are willing to actually work for the people of Port Townsend!
Tonight I learned that Bayside is planning to set up a homeless camp next door to my apartment. The camp will be across the street from the Discovery View Retirement Apartments (disabled and income restricted) and Avamere assisted living. I know I must move because the Homeless Industrial Complex ran me out of Seattle and Olympia. My advice is to move out of Washington State ASAP. Every community in the state, except the most exclusive, is slated for destruction.
The rogue regime in Olympia and their local government partners have been INTENTIONALLY destroying communities for 25+ years. The homeless are being used in a variation on weaponized migration – a war crime.
Follow the money! Taxpayer money is funneled to non-profits which steal our parks and destroy our neighborhoods while keeping the poor living in misery. Check the non-profit tax filings. Many of these enterprises have substantial real estate holdings.
If anyone REALLY cares about the poor – help us move away from this dystopia. There is no reason for any working or retired person to be living in a shack or a tent except in the case of an extreme natural disaster. Shacks and shanty towns are NOT cute and no amount of bright paint can repair the working class neighborhoods trashed by smug, ignorant, virtue signaling useful idiots.
What you need is a citizens initiative to hold County meetings in the Cherry Street building.
Oh let’s not forget the Joe Damico settlement as well numerous other settlements due to illegal practices or straight corruption, I applaud those homeowners….
I was wondering how long the residents near the Fair Grounds were going to put up with this situation. I’ve seen this situation before when I lived in Camas, WA and the Sky River Music Fest was held out side of Washougal, WA. At a meeting of residents and the Sky River people, who wanted to make it home, was held. One resident stood up and said, “the only part of Sky River they would get would be the six feet to bury them. The gym errupted in shouts and that was the end of Sky River. The people had spoken.
Unfortunately, most people in western Washington State would prefer to surrender their children, homes and communities to drug pushers and human traffickers rather than have someone call them a mean selfish NIMBY person. Seattle and Olympia used to be wonderful places to live until the grant-grifting pros from the Homeless Industrial Complex infested and destroyed their neighborhoods. It’s similar to a military campaign. Same speeches. Same cancel culture humiliation of anyone who resists. It’s a cultural problem and that culture will be destroyed because people who won’t defend their children and communities are weak, pathetic, doomed creatures.
https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/permanent-solution-elusive/
The only chance any solution has of working, must necessarily include keeping Barbara Morey the hell away from it.
So the elephant in the room is not the ‘Homeless’ that are at the Fairgrounds. God bless them being in that situation, trying so hard going out to work and then having to come back to the Fairgrounds and deal with the ‘elephant in the room’: the mass of addicts and drug dealers that party all night. The Fairground neighbors wrote a very eloquent letter detailing the horror that has become their daily lives since the addicts and drug dealers have happened upon the hand outs lavished on them in the name of homelessness.
Interestingly enough, when Gov. Jay Inslee announced the “bridge” proclamation (Emergency Proclamation By The Governor Amending Proclamation 20-05, https://www.governor.wa.gov/sites/default/files/proclamations/proc_21-09.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery) which is effective July 1 through September 30, and is a stop gap between the eviction moratorium and the housing stability programs put in place by the Legislature. It specifically excluded Hotels and motels, Airbnbs, long-term care facilities and other non-traditional housing, i.e. camp grounds from the eviction moratorium
“In addition, the order and these prohibitions do not apply to long-term care facilities licensed or certified by Department of Social and Health Services; transient housing in hotels and motels; “Airbnbs”; motor homes; RVs; public lands; and camping areas.”
Hence, since July1st, the commissioners have had the right to evict the addicts and drug dealers that have destroyed the residential area around the Fairground.
The Commissioners have absolutely and succinctly been made aware of the impact of the co-location of the known addicts and drug dealers via the letter from the Fairground neighbors to the commissioners that details:
“Since being formally located in our neighborhoods almost a year ago, the encampment has been, and continues to be, an unmitigated public hazard, directly affecting our physical and emotional safety and the peaceful enjoyment of our homes.”
“There is ….. no effective oversight. Dangerous individuals have been allowed to come and go and return with impunity. There are neighbors who have been terrorized by the anti-social behavior of some of the campers. Despite our continual pleas for help, it nonetheless remains the “Wild West.” We have borne the fear and distress it has brought to our lives, the complete disregard for our basic rights, and the lack of effective enforcement against those who violate even the minimum standards of behavior and actual laws such as excessive noise, fire setting, threats of violence and trespass of private property. The overt drug trafficking and use, resulting in multiple overdoses and at least one death, contribute to an already volatile environment. It is a myth that the campers are positively “self-governing” in any meaningful way. To claim that they are “self-governing” at the Fairgrounds does not release you from culpability for the actions, and the results of those actions, of the campers over whom you have assumed full agency.“
The Commissioners, especially Brotherton, continue to refuse to address the issue of the addicts and drug dealers in the Fairground and consistently discuss the campers as a single group that are to simply be moved from terrorizing one neighborhood to be allowed to terrorize another neighborhood, continuing to avoid any empath or culpability for the situation that they have created and voluntarily sustain.
While absolutely wanting to help those trying to help themselves via the large number local non profits such as Bayside, Dove House, OlyCap etc. There is no actual legal requirement for the commissioner’s themselves to create a space for any of the Fairground campers, least of all the addicts and drug dealers. Yet here we are with Brotherton looking to pick up the addicts and drug dealers and dump them, fully provided for, onto other neighborhoods, while retaining the platitude that ‘’they are ‘self governing’” which is an absolute fallacy. Brotherton also consistently demonstrated that he has no idea of how many campers are at the site at an point in time, consistently detailing ridiculously low numbers in the BOCC meetings, and has no oversight or plan to monitor or measure the daily influx of new campers. His own ordinance states: The maximum number of residents at a temporary encampment site shall be determined by the director taking into consideration site conditions, but in no case shall the number be greater than 50 (fifty) people. yet there is no oversight to enforce or even measure this ordinance. (County Of Jefferson State of Washington Ordinance No. 10-1221-20)
If Brotherton wishes to house and feed the addicts and drug dealers outside the actual legal requirement, there are plenty of campgrounds in Quilcene that he conspicuously avoids proposing.
There would be no issues with the Fairgrounds if any of the commissioners would stand up and enact the right to evict the addicts and drug dealers.
Hence, think about this next election. The commissioners have refused to push to support the constituents in getting the situation managed or even to push to evict the addicts and drug dealers now the legal moratorium has been lifted. Brotherton is looking to change the County ordinance to allow unlimited numbers of encampments and campers (including his Quilcene area), while showing no plan, empathy or support for voters.
Jane, apologies for the delay in approving your comment. Editor
Having worked in the Quilcene area several years ago I became aware of the people who live there and have tried to bring it back as much as they can to the town it was. it’s an area where the richer people and the poorer people have worked together to make it better. That said I think it would be a monumental mistake to think that they will put up with what the people around the Fair Grounds have endured for the last couple of years. You can also rest assured that they would be far away from Mr. Brotherhood’s home. The county has a nice piece of property right down in Port Townsend of course they wouldn’t be able to have football games, baseball games, car shows and etc. But, it has toilets, bus service and level ground.
No thanks. I live in apts a block up from the memorial field and the tenants here are disabled and or elderly. We already have homeless coming into our lobby during the night and making themselves comfortable and using the 2 computers we have for tenants. Most of the people who live here are already scared enough. According to the mgr our lobby doors have to remain unlocked for our safety. Now how does that make any sense??