A young Black man could be dead if not for Port Townsend police. The story has received no coverage by local newspapers. Nothing from Black Lives Matter of Jefferson County. None of the high school kids who blocked traffic while shouting “Black lives matter!” have joyfully shared on social media the saving of a Black life, someone they may even know.
It could have gone the other way. But it didn’t, because police cared.
Because police also took risks and used force, the story could have gone the route of CNN/MSNBC/BLM falsehoods and propaganda about police racism and brutality. It could have stirred up anger if someone had caught video of a fractional moment of the story instead of knowing all the facts.
Here’s what could have been the CNN/MSNBC/BLM agitation-propaganda for the June 6, 2020 incident on the south side of Port Townsend::
“After racially profiling him, Port Townsend police chased, surrounded and attacked an unarmed young Black man who had committed no crime. 911 reports told police of suspicious activity by a young Black man wearing a hoodie and running through White neighborhoods. Video of the incident captured by onlookers showed several very large police officers pulling the man’s arms roughly behind his back as he struggled for freedom and pleaded to be released. More officers joined the fray until the young Black man was overcome and placed into handcuffs. After being attacked by so many police, the young man was seen going limp but being held up by an officer who continued to twist his arms behind his back. One of the officers in the pursuit and attack admits to turning off his body cam.”
Here’s What Actually Happened:
I obtained the following facts by submitting a public records request for all documents relating to the incident. The name of the young man was redacted from the records. Though I know it, I won’t print it here to protect his privacy and that of his family. I will refer to him as AB:
On June 6, 2020, at 5:34:59 p.m., the 911 operator received a call that AB had taken 20 Xanax pills. The call was from his mother. AB said he wanted to die and was refusing to go to the hospital. She did not know if he would be aggressive with law enforcement or if he had taken other drugs. She said there were no guns in the house but it was unknown if he had other weapons. Officers responded but AB ran away from them and they could not catch him. The 911 dispatcher then broadcast that AB was wearing a light colored hoodie. There is no mention in the transcript of the 911 tapes of AB’s race.
A Port Townsend police officer, Trevor Hansen, was listening to the radio traffic on his way to report to work. He knew AB and knew that Xanax, a sedative, could be lethal if taken in large quantities. “I was immediately concerned that if officers did not locate AB soon and get him medical help, he could suffer serious injury or death,” Hansen wrote in the case report. He signed into service and joined the search.
Police teams canvassed the area and received several tips from passersby as to where AB might have gone but could not locate him.
As they searched, 911 operations received a call that AB had been seen staggering near Nor’ West Village Apartments (1921 Sherman Street). Within minutes of receiving that information, Officer Hansen arrived there. A witness told him he had seen someone running and pointed toward woods behind the apartments. Officer Hansen saw movement in the woods and went to investigate but could not find AB.
At this time he lost radio contact and was headed back to his vehicle when he saw AB walking across the parking lot, talking on his phone. He appeared to be unsteady and stumbling on his feet, making Officer Hansen concerned for AB’s safety.
“I approached him quickly and took control of his arms, moving them behind his back. I detained him in this fashion because he had already fled from police at least twice, and I believed there was an urgent need to get him medical attention.”
AB immediately resisted and tried to pull away as he was walked toward the police vehicle. Officer Hansen asked if he spit up or vomited the pills. “No. They are still in me,” AB answered. “I don’t give a fuck.” He said at another point that he had taken 20-30 Xanax pills. Officer Hansen said they were trying to get him help. AB responded that Hansen should “get the fuck off him,” said Hansen didn’t really care about him and called the officer names which Hansen does not repeat in his report.
AB started struggling so vigorously Hansen needed both arms to keep AB’s elbows behind his back. Hansen noticed a Jefferson County Sheriff’s vehicle passing and called for help. He was soon joined by JCSO Sgt. Ryan Menday who helped him get AB into handcuffs. They were shortly joined by three PTPD officers and the Department’s navigator. AB, who had been fighting police, started going limp. Hansen struggled to keep him on his feet.
East Jefferson Fire Rescue had been alerted by the 911 calls and had been staged nearby. They responded on scene and took over. AB now came alive and started kicking and fighting and the officers had to help emergency responders get him on a gurney. They applied ankle restraints as well as the gurney’s straps as AB continued to buck and kick.
During this time AB continued to say he wanted to die and nobody cared. He said the police did not care about him, “despite us repeatedly assuring him we wanted him to live and believed his life is important,” Hansen wrote.
Due to AB’s combative behavior, a police officer rode along in the back of the ambulance. Officers met the ambulance at the Emergency Room and helped staff place him in soft restraints and undress him. AB was argumentative and aggressive. “He would fight actively, jerk against his restraints, and yell at staff,” Hansen reported. He managed to kick one officer. Officer Hansen had to lay across AB’s legs to keep him from kicking. Between fighting and kicking, at times AB strangely joked with police and nurses.
Once he was fully in soft restraints, police left AB with hospital staff. Officer Hansen had his body camera on the whole time except upon entering the hospital, when he turned it off to protect the privacy of uninvolved citizens receiving medical care. As soon as AB again became combative, he turned it back on.
What Could Have Gone Wrong:
Besides someone rushing to misjudgment if they saw only the struggle between AB and police, this could have gone another way if teams of police had not pursued AB and Officer Hansen had not skillfully employed force.
1. AB could have gotten away and died in the woods alone.
2. AB could have grabbed one of Officer Hansen’s weapons and escalated the confrontation.
3. AB could have injured one or more police officers or hospital staff.
4. People could have so distrusted police they did not help, which would have resulted in scenario 1.
5, Police could have reacted as many people would when cursed to their face by someone who fights and kicks. They may have escalated the situation and used inappropriate force.
6. This occurred to me after I posted this story so this is an update. AB could have died as he fought restraint from the drugs he ingested and police would have been accused of killing him.
If this situation were to occur without skilled and trained police involvement, say with only a social worker responding, as has been proposed as part of the “defund police” movement, we can only imagine what would have happened. AB would likely never have been caught as there would have been no coordinated search and pursuit by several police units. Once he was encountered, he would likely not have been restrained. Hansen is not a small man and he wrote in his report it took all his strength at times to hang on. He is also trained in how to use his physical power. Later it took several officers to restrain AB, and he still managed to kick one officer. One, even two social workers would have been overwhelmed. I am not aware of any physical strength requirements for a social worker’s license. Very few of them have the power of male and female police officers. A social worker would have have failed to capture and thereby make it possible to save AB’s life. That social worker also may have been seriously injured when AB became violent.
Because Port Townsend police did their job and did it right, a young Black man is still with us. Without police he would likely be dead. It is that simple.
[Update: A question was raised about the legality of police restraining someone who is attempting to harm themselves. It is permitted by Washington law upon the officer having reasonable cause to believe that the person requires emergency medical detention, such as in this case where AB admitted to ingesting a life threatening quantity of sedatives with suicidal intent.]
Hospitals overrun. Critically ill COVID patients without beds. A healthcare nightmare.
Governor Jay Inslee is blowing that horn again. He recently claimed that Yakima County ran out of hospital beds due to a spike in COVID cases there. That very alarming claim went out nationwide, repeated breathlessly by national and regional media. Hospital authorities had to issue a correction to stem the panic. They were not close to being out of hospital beds. They had sent 17 patients to Seattle (which has excess capacity) because COVID treatment requires larger than usual care teams.
Inslee has done this before. During the peak of virus activity in March he was sowing panic almost daily. More and more hospital beds were needed, he cried. We could see people dying in hallways or on streets. So sports arenas were converted to overflow hospital wards. The U.S. Army built a field hospital which Inslee, trailed by camera crews, toured for the benefit of evening news audiences.
None of those extraordinary facilities were required. Inslee ended up giving away the field hospital (and other materiel he had once said was in dangerously short supply). An as yet uncounted number of patients were denied medical care because the Governor’s orders had given COVID almost exclusive claim to hospital beds. We’ve since learned that our hospitals were operating far below capacity the whole time the Governor was prohibiting them from providing care. This author was one of those denied needed care. When I finally got to the hospital where a surgery had been canceled by force of the Governor’s order, I learned that facility had been operating at 25% capacity and had been laying off nurses.
Even with Inslee’s alarming proclamations on a recent spike in COVID cases, the state is still at half the usage of hospital beds for COVID patients compared to the peak COVID bed usage. At the virus’s peak, we were nowhere close to maxxing out the state’s capacity. According to The Seattle Times’ analysis, the peak week of virus activity statewide produced only 519 COVID admissions. Currently, we have 211 COVID admissions statewide.
That is a very small fraction of Washington’s hospital bed capacity. Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton alone has at least 297 beds. Overlake in Bellevue has 347. Providence Regional in Snohomish has 468. The Swedish hospitals have nearly 800. According to the Washington State Hospital Association there are more than 5,200 hospital beds in King County. A 2019 survey found more than 10,340 staffed hospital beds statewide in Washington.
Inslee’s Big COVID Lie
We are using fewer ICU beds now than we did in September of 2019.
The State Department of Health’s tracking of hospitalizations for patients with “COVID-like” symptoms goes back to September 29, 2019. That is the earliest date on their COVID dashboard. You’ll need to click on this link and open a separate window to better understand what follows.
Immediately below is the graph you will see at frame 6. It is interactive. If you click or hover your cursor over different points on the black “all” line a table will pop up. Be patient. It comes and goes, but it is there. Those tables tell you the total number of ICU beds occupied on a weekly basis from September 29, 2019 to the present. Because this data is updated regularly, this graph as it appears today may look different after this article is posted.
COVID-like symptoms, according to the DOH, are fever and respiratory illness. They recognize that those symptoms include a wide range of illnesses that will not result in a confirmed COVID diagnosis. Flu is an obvious alternative diagnosis to COVID that presents similar symptoms.
This graph is superficially deceptive. One may think it shows a huge spike in demand for ICU beds in March and April 2020. It does not. It shows an increase in the percentage of ICU beds being used by men and women presenting with fever and respiratory illnesses. But the number of ICU beds being used in March 2020 was significantly less than those in the last four months of 2019.
For the week of March 22, 2020, 4,673 ICU beds were in use statewide. It dropped to 4,609 the week of March 29. On April 5 it grew to 5,766, and stayed around there through May. It dropped to 5,619 at the end of June, then moved back up to 5,915 where it is today.
These numbers are considerably below the ICU bed use in 2019. The week of September 29, 2019. saw 6,375 emergency admissions. October 6 saw 6,389. November 17 saw 6,188. December 22 saw 6,281 emergency admissions.
Thus, the number of admissions for patients requiring emergency care has been lower for the entire period of the Governor’s emergency decree than it was months before his declaration of a pandemic emergency.
What of emergency admissions for patients with confirmed COVID infections? For the entire period of time since DOH began counting, going back to the start of this year, that number stands at only 4,630. You can find that figure on the DOH COVID Dashboard and at the bottom of the “Confirmed cases, hospitalizations and deaths by county” table from the DOH’s coronavirus website. It is updated daily.
Many COVID patients require long periods of hospitalization, two weeks and maybe more. But some patients are turned around and released the next day (e.g., the 90-year old Jefferson County woman diagnosed with COVID in June). Those patients who sadly die no longer occupy a hospital bed. Those who recover–which is everyone else–return home and free up their bed. DOH, curiously, does not report COVID recoveries on any table or graph I could find. I have also never heard Jay Inslee celebrate recoveries in his unrelenting press conferences.
With a staffed hospital bed capacity every night in excess of 10,300, Washington has had approximately 1.54 million bed nights during the virus’ outbreak (that is 10,300 multiplied by the number of days since the first COVID case). The total COVID patient demand on Washington’s hospitals has been far from overwhelming. That holds true even if all those patients were hospitalized for 21 days, bringing their usage to 97,230 days, or 6.3% of Washington’s hospital capacity during the period of the Governor’s emergency.
It is definitely nowhere near the doom and gloom scenarios Inslee trots out to justify yet another dictatorial edict or a unilateral extension of his emergency powers. If Inslee is repeatedly not telling the truth on this critical metric, it is hard to believe him on anything else.
[This article was edited since publication for clarification of the statistical discussion.]
Time is of the essence. That was the single most important observation gleaned from 1,200 miles of travel through Washington’s Phase 3 counties. To get to them we had to drive through Phase 2 counties and some still in a variation of Phase 1. These “phases” refer to Governor Inslee’s Four-Step Plan for removing the irons he placed on economic and social activities under his COVID decrees. Each higher phase allows increasing degrees of return to liberty and normalcy.
At the time we made our journey, ten counties were in Phase 3, spread from Pacific County in the west to Pend Oreille in the state’s far northeast. We visited communities deep in forests to towns baking in the sun and surrounded by fields of wheat to misty fishing villages shivering in cold morning fog.
Those counties that jumped at every opportunity to resuscitate their economies are showing positive results across a broad spectrum of metrics. They are generally experiencing significantly lower unemployment than counties in Phases 1 and 2. At a 16% unemployment rate, Jefferson County in Phase 2 is doing worse than every Phase 3 county except the chronically depressed Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties.
The southeast corner of the state has the greatest concentration of counties in Phase 3. They have unemployment rates of 9.9% (Lincoln), 12.7% (Garfield), 10.5% (Columbia), 8.3% (Asotin) and 7.7% (Whitman). These counties, along with Jefferson, were considered “distressed” by the Washington Employment Security Department at the start of the year. Now they are outperforming even King County.
The Phase 3 counties we visited had a brighter vibe than Jefferson County. There were far more people on the sidewalks and in the cafes and bars. The attitude of clerks, servers and hotel proprietors, was upbeat and optimistic. There was a strong sense of communities committed to rebuilding and thriving, and not being beaten down by fear.
None of the early entrants into advanced stages of increased economic activity are seeing the spikes in virus activity which Jefferson County leaders had feared if our economy were revved up rapidly and started drawing large numbers of outsiders. Jefferson County leaders, with the exception of County Commissioner Greg Brotherton, have allowed those fears to hold back the county from accelerated reopening.
Lessons from Diverse Communities
Republic, Washington
In Republic, the county seat for Ferry County, a grocery store clerk said there had never been much of a shut-down. She’d been processing credit cards from around the country throughout the Spring without a let up. We saw motorcycle clubs and lines of RVs heading into town. Ferry County did not exactly have a booming economy before the lock down order. But on the day we visited its largest town was very lively. When we walked into a busy cafe wearing masks the conversations died suddenly and people turned around to stare. “Nice masks,” someone called out. We saw no masks on anyone except employees in stores and restaurants. Yet, even today, Ferry County has had only a single COVID diagnosis and no hospitalizations or deaths.
Stevens County, which we rolled through at the start of a Friday evening, was bustling. The parking lot of a microbrewery and all its tables were packed. A combination grocery store, antiques shop, liquor store and coffee shop/bakery had a steady stream of customers. A shoe store clerk in Colville said they had been doing great, and were actually busier than the same time last year. Why? “Everybody worked together and got it [movement to Phase 3] done,” she said. “It was something we knew we had to do, or else. And we pulled it off.” Stevens County is outperforming neighboring Spokane County on unemployment. Even remote Pend Oreille County was doing better, until its major employer, a newsprint mill, announced closure due to decreased demand for its product across the country. It now faces a severe economic challenge which its Phase 3 status may help, but certainly cannot overcome.
Locally Nourished Coffee, Dayton, WA
In Columbia County, one of the very first to jump on early entry into Phases 2 and 3, new businesses have been opening. Alicia Walker, proprietor of Dayton’s Locally Nourished coffee shop and bakery, told us that if the local chamber of commerce and county commission had not aggressively embraced early openings she would have pulled the plug before opening her doors. Two other new businesses have opened their doors despite the pandemic, “a testament to a community that will step up and help each other,” says The Waitsburg Times. (We found yet another brand new business down the road in Waitsburg). Because Columbia County opened early, they have been doing exceptionally well with visitors from counties in more restrictive stages. At the same time, they have seen no spreading of the virus to make them regret moving forward.
C’mon in, the water’s fine at Skamania Lodge.
Skamania County also opened extremely quickly, moving into early Phases 2 and 3 as soon as the Governor made it possible. The Seattle Times covered the first early Phase 2 weekend when the tourist mecca of Stevenson in the Columbia River Gorge was deluged with visitors from Portland and Seattle. Fears that this would trigger such a spike in COVID cases that the rural health care system would be overwhelmed have proven baseless.
Stevenson and surrounding towns have been taking in large numbers of tourists now for over two months. The massive Skamania Lodge has drawn families from all over the Northwest and beyond. Their golf course was busy, as was their pool, zip line and gym.
Business is strong for those businesses who welcomed a chance at early opening. We did, though, find an exception in one shop proprietor who seemed angry that anybody was allowed to come to Stevenson. We got the impression she will never be able to cope with any kind of reopening. She embraced a “we are all going die” outlook unlike anything we had encountered elsewhere. We needed an appointment for an exclusive opportunity to browse her shop, which was neither small nor cramped. Just next door, by contrast, a truly cramped second hand store had its doors wide open and shopping was unrestricted. It had plenty of customers; the grim proprietor’s store did not.
The surge of tourists has not brought a surge in cases. Since March Skamania County has had only 2 hospitalizations for COVID-like symptoms and no deaths.
Off the beaten track, Wakiakum County, with lower unemployment than Jefferson.
Port Townsend may feel relatively shut down and lifeless, but nothing compares to Newhalem on the Skagit River, Seattle Power and Light’s company town that serves its hydroelectric power station. Security patrols, barricades and crime scene tape keep anyone from going in unless they live there. Likewise, the movements of residents off rez were severely restricted. Essential employees are prisoners to Seattle’s fear that its electricity may be interrupted if these workers get sick.
The second most onerous precautions we encountered were just to the south of Jefferson County in Hoodsport, where Mason County is in Phase 3. A coffee shop we always visit was buttoned up tightly. It had established a take-out window fenced off with a crude wooden barricade to keep anyone from getting close. We were given long enough at the window to read the multiple signs lecturing us on masks, how we were spreading the virus, and what could be done to protect the workers inside. The interaction in ordering was kept to a minimum, then the window snapped shut. All the windows on the building appeared to have been covered over from the inside. After some time, a door ten feet away cracked open and without a word our drinks were placed outside on a bench.
It was much more pleasant at the gallery next door where the owner was taking full advantage of Mason County’s Phase 3 status. She invited us to sit outside on her deck and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. Her business was doing great. She was upbeat. Customers were wandering in as we drank our coffees. She was happy to be working and sharing her store with the world. The difference in attitude made all the difference.
And that, in a word, sums up the most significant unmeasurable metric. Attitude. Phase 3 counties got there with a positive, can-do, go-get-em attitude. The benefits of their early opens fed back into the community, dispelling the gloom and spreading optimism. They are adding businesses while the rest of the state adds its nominees to the list of broken dreams. The collateral damage from the Governor’s lock down order–increased crime, substance abuse, mental health crises, suicides–has yet to be tallied. But one has the feeling those grim stats will be much lower in optimistic Phase 3 counties.
As we neared Port Townsend on our return we started seeing something we had not seen anywhere else in rural Washington: scowling people in cars wearing masks with the windows rolled up tight. We knew we were home. It is worth pondering how this attitude of fear, selfishness and blind trust in fallible big government will play out when and if The Big One strikes and courage and self-reliance become our only recourse.
“Early” Was the Big Deal
We have been writing for months about how foot dragging by the Jefferson County Board of Health and the Board of County Commissioners is hurting our local economy and punishing working age people who need to work for a living. Port Townsend’s Selfish, Cruel Old People® with their retirement incomes, monthly social security deposits, mortgage-free residences and overblown fears have been blocking sensible efforts to rapidly reopen our economy. On the Board of Health it has been retired lawyer Denis Stearns working the hardest to keep working people idled. On the BOCC it is David Sullivan who has fought every step of the way to keep doors closed and outsiders out. While he has been prolonging a shut-down that has halved and wiped out many incomes, he (and the other commissioners) have surrendered not a penny of their own salaries or benefits. County staff have been forced to accept cuts in hours or salaries, but no elected official has offered to share in the sacrifice they demand of others.
Early opens have come without increasing COVID consequences. That is hugely significant. None of the Phase 3 counties have seen anything that can be considered an “outbreak.” As testing has increased they have at most registered a few new positives, but nothing alarming and nothing that is in any way a threat to their healthcare systems. And, as far as we can tell from everyone we talked to, the local news we studied on our journey, and the Department of Health’s daily updates, none of the few new diagnoses in Phase 3 counties were caused by interaction with visitors and tourists.
We are going to have learn to live with the virus. The counties that moved into Phase 3 early have started learning and teaching others how to do it right. If Jefferson County continues to suffer as it has, and sees more business failures, those responsible will be those who delayed our progress towards a return to economic health.
Going into the Governor’s lock-down, Jefferson County had one of the worst economies in the state, with one of the highest employment rates. It was categorized as a “distressed” economy. We could have done with the competitive advantage that came with early reopening. Whereas many of our leaders feared Jefferson County standing out as a beacon of light, leaders in other counties recognized the benefits of that distinction.
Port Townsend’s Selfish, Cruel Old People® have won this round. Because Jefferson County was slow in submitting its application to move into Phase 3 it got caught when the Governor announced he was freezing the process. The Phase 3 counties we visited will continue to recover and move from recession to prosperity. Jefferson County will have to hold its breath for at least another two weeks. Businesses watching their savings evaporate and their debt load increase now face an increased risk of never reopening. Those struggling under the constraints of Phase 2 limitations may never recover fully. Some businesses that opened under Phase 2 limitations are not hiring back all their employees, keeping our unemployment rate abnormally high. Lost opportunities, like our shot at joining successful Phase 3 counties–a shot we earned–are opportunities lost forever. Time was of the essence. That was the whole point.
For our reporting on our leader’s foot-dragging see these articles:
As of Friday, June 26th, 2020, according to Executive Decree 20-03 from the Washington State Secretary of Health, “Every person in Washington State must wear a face covering that covers their noses when in any indoor or outdoor public setting.”
Initially it was just for Yakima County, which appears to be experiencing an increase in community spread. But, just like the stay at home orders of this past March, our thoughtful governor doesn’t want to leave anybody out of the fun no matter what the China Virus situation is where they live.
It should concern you that this is being done by one man, Governor Jay Inslee, whose self-declared emergency powers, as defined by state law, should have expired on the 31st of March, thirty days after declaration. I have seen no effective push back from our elected representatives, no debate in the halls of the House or Senate in Olympia, no emergency session called to extend or terminate these powers.
I read through executive decree 20-03 so you don’t have to. Here are some of the highlights: At least for now there are exceptions that allow removal of a face covering. I picked a handful that might help deliver some clarity to Jefferson County:
–We are not required to wear a mask while driving alone in a car.
–We are not required to wear a mask while engaged in indoor or outdoor exercise activities.
–We are not required to wear a mask while sleeping.
And just in case you were wondering, in a delicious irony, the governor’s order does not apply to persons who are incarcerated. So breaking the mask decree, and incurring the penalty of losing freedom, could be another possible option for those among us committed to the no mask ideology.
Asking nicely doesn’t please our dear leader anymore. Governor Inslee has made it clear that members of the public are required by law to comply with his order, and violators may be subject to criminal penalties. Businesses that don’t comply could face the loss of a license, fines, or injunctions.
If this sounds authoritarian, it is. But I will let you in on a secret. On Washington State’s Coronavirus.gov website, the second question on the most-frequently-asked list for Governor Jay Inslee’s order, reads as follows:
Q: I have a reason I cannot wear a facemask. Am I required to document or prove that?
And the answer from the same Washington State website:
A: This order does not require you to document or prove a reason for not wearing a face covering.
When is this all going to end? In pursuit of that answer, I have spent more time than I care to remember asking questions of bureaucrats and their minions over the last few months. I have learned that the bureaucracies overseeing our existence are organized in a top down manner. The top tells everyone in the bureaucracy what to do and everyone’s job is to do it. There is no room for creative solutions, no reward for out-of-the box thinking, no adjusting for reality on the ground.
As far as the top is concerned, the guidelines for operating in the center of a virus outbreak in Yakima should be exactly the same as for operating in the center of a non-virus outbreak in Port Townsend.
The top has decided that masking and social distancing are what needs to be done, and the bureaucracies are moving forward with this plan. Whether these methods are effective, or not, no longer matters.
As for when masking will end, I quote Sandy Gessner, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum for the Port Townsend School District, from a recent online meeting with parents to explain the current plan for the upcoming school year. Please remember, more than likely this is not her policy. This is the policy she has been given by her superiors: “All students must wear a mask until there is a vaccine…or we have herd immunity.”
The future for our students is the future for us.
If you are wearing a facemask and it makes you feel better, then by all means don’t stop.
If you aren’t wearing a facemask, and the governor threatens you with criminal penalties, just say “I Can’t Breathe.”
Going back as far as the 1970s there has been talk of building a sewer for the Port Hadlock area. The designation of Port Hadlock as an Urban Growth Area in 2002 meant that a sewer was required. It has been some time coming to fruition, but a sewer in Port Hadlock is closer than ever to a reality. Its cost has been the major issue.
Several years ago a small group of property owners approached Jefferson County about the delay in building the sewer. Originally the county wanted to build the sewer to serve the commercial areas along Rhody Drive, Nesses Corner Road, Chimacum Road and Irondale Road. In addition they were going to build a gravity collection system and a fixed treatment plant. The cost for that was over $40 million. Getting grant money was the major issue. To reduce initial cost the group proposed to scale back the project. Essentially the proposal was to cut the cost in half by excluding Rhody Drive at the beginning and instead of a gravity system using a pressure collection system and modular treatment units. After a financial review it was determined that this could be done for just over $23 million.
Where Will The Money Come From?
At this point an explanation of how a sewer is funded is in order. A while back Belfair was declared a UGA by Mason County, so they then needed to build a sewer system. Mason County funded the sewer but made some assumptions regarding the number of hook-ups that would happen. The hook-ups expected did not materialize due to the Great Recession. That system had severe funding issues. Recently, Clallam County built a sewer for the Carlsborg UGA. Clallam County was able to use the nearby Sequim treatment plant and only had to build the collection system. Clallam County had sufficient money available in their infrastructure fund to build the collection system. They will be reimbursed the cost through hook-ups to the system.
The reality is that Jefferson County does not have the funds to build a sewer for Port Hadlock outright. The County must obtain grant money and arrange to have only property owners, who benefit, to pay. Therefore, to ensure that the general taxpayers of Jefferson County do not have to pay for the Port Hadlock Sewer, Jefferson County is going to fund the sewer through hook-ups, property assessments, grants and 50% of the PIF money. A Local Improvement District (LID) will be formed to comprise the properties to be sewered. THe LID is primarily a funding mechanism. A LID is used to fund many improvements, such as sidewalks and other road improvements, water systems, sewer systems, and broadband improvements.
PIF stands for Public Infrastructure Funds. In Washington State the State refunds back to certain counties part of the sales tax collected in the county. These funds are dedicated to infrastructure Improvements. Jefferson County has dedicated 50% of that fund toward the Port Hadlock Sewer.
Many people get confused about who will pay for the Port Hadlock Sewer. As stated above, funding will come from grants, affected property owners and PIF money. The property owners in the LID are only the ones that benefit from the sewer. If you are not getting a sewer hook-up you will not be paying for the sewer. This includes properties in the Port Hadlock UGA but outside the boundaries of the LID.
Those properties that get hook-ups will pay for sewer through four different methods. First, to pay for the collection system each property is given a “Special Assessment.” This special assessment is an economic assessment of the increase in value gained by having the sewer vs. not. Jefferson County has determined that each property will pay for 50% of this increase in value. An option is made to pay this off over 20 years rather than all at once. Second, when a property is actually hooked-up to the sewer a hook-up fee is paid that funds the construction of the treatment plant itself. Third, since a pressurized system is going to be used, each property will pay for the tank and pump plus the pressure line to the road; this is called the side sewer. Fourth, each property will pay for the sewer operation through monthly charges based on water usage.
In April of 2020 the State granted $1.42M to Jefferson County to do a final design. The contract was awarded to Tetra Tech, a Seattle based engineering firm.
There has already been some survey work for the sewer final design that some of you may have noticed. Most of the work is done by engineers at a desk. Once the final design is done a much more exacting cost can be determined as to the true cost of the sewer. In addition the side sewer cost will now be known for each property.
At this point it will be determined if the property owners to be sewered wish to proceed. If they do, a LID will be formed. Should at least 40% (by area) of the property owners determine that they do not want a sewer they can petition the county to stop the LID process. If the petition is successful the LID and sewer can be put on hold for a year. After a year the county could then go through the LID process again.
The advantage of forming the LID is that it is a legally effective document. It states who can be assessed for the cost of the sewer. This prohibits the county from taxing all the county residents from being taxed to pay for the sewer under State law.
Why Do We Even Need A Sewer?
Some people ask the question “Why do we need a sewer? We have gotten by just fine without one up to now.” This is a very good question. The need for a sewer hinges on two issues, health and density. Using septic systems is a lower cost method of sewage disposal. The problem is when more density is desired. It then becomes necessary to build a sewer system.
Proper disposal of sewage is an important health issue. Proper sanitation including sewage disposal has eradicated many diseases that were previously common. Cholera, typhoid, dysentery are some of them. Nitrate contamination of drinking water causes “blue baby” syndrome. A clean environment and clean drinking water are two of the most significant hallmarks of a modern society.
A sewer is needed to enable affordable housing to be built. Affordable housing basically is a function of density. The most affordable type of construction is the apartment building. This high density is where the importance of a sewage system comes in. Other high density uses are schools, restaurants and large employers.
No new apartment buildings have been built for some time outside of Port Townsend. That is because we lack a sewer. The same goes for restaurants, grocery stores and large employers.
To improve our economy and housing a sewer system is a requirement. Once the sewer system is built we will be able to have more housing, jobs and a better tax base.
The initial Port Hadlock Sewer System will use property that has already been purchased by Jefferson County. The treatment system will be built south of Nesses Corner Road and north of Lopeman Road. The infiltration ponds will be built just south of Lopeman Road.
Because a pressurized collection system is to be utilized the road work can be minimized. A gravity system would have created a substantial amount of road work. A pressure system will use much smaller lines some of which can be installed by boring under the road rather than digging it up.
Building the sewer will benefit all of Jefferson County due to the increase in jobs and affordable housing and a more viable economy and tax base.
“Best commissioner in years.” “A breath of fresh air.” “Someone who is actually trying to help.”
I’ve been hearing from quite a few people in Jefferson County that County Commissioner Greg Brotherton is being extremely helpful and responsive to those struggling to preserve livelihoods and jobs during Governor Inslee’s COVID lock down. I’ve reported on how he has stood out from the dilatory and obtuse Board of Health in attempting to apply common sense solutions to reopening Jefferson County’s economy. Patrick Sullivan over at the Jefferson County Washington Facebook page, the most widely followed news source in the county, has also been reporting on Commissioner Brotherton’s similar efforts to get people back to work.
In just the past day I have again heard of Mr. Brotherton working closely with business people seeking help on understanding the perplexing, vague guidelines issued by the Governor for specific business operations. They have also shared with me that he has been, at least in their experience, the only commissioner to return their calls or emails and spend time trying to help them.
I’ve even heard from people who questioned his candidacy that Greg Brotherton has been impressing them. The one recurring reservation is that, being such a nice guy, he isn’t much of fighter. Some of them want him to be far more aggressive and contentious. Of course, many things that need to have happened, and happened with more alacrity and urgency, have not come to pass. But from watching (too many) BOH and BOCC meeting videos, I think it is clear Mr. Brotherton is doing what he can in the forums where he must work, with the people with whom he must work.
There is so much to be done. Jefferson County’s unemployment rate for last month exceeded 17%, making it the sixth worst county economy in the state of Washington. That is a grim statistic that translates to hopelessness, despair, substance abuse, domestic violence, child abuse, crime, and negative health outcomes that burden our medical care providers and first responders. Every business, no matter how small, that can return to vitality is a critical player in healing our community. Every minute a public official spends with a business finding a path for them to reopen is a major contribution in the right direction.
Readers of this site will recall a series of investigative and highly critical articles we ran when Mr. Brotherton was running for his current position. Those articles focused on an issue I have no reservations about having raised and raised aggressively. At the time he was running for office, Mr. Brotherton was in the business of selling marijuana and promoting its use. That would have been an irreconcilable conflict of interest for someone who, if elected, would sit on the Board of Health and oversee policies directing the county’s marijuana education and prevention programs.
Mr. Brotherton shed himself of that conflict of interest some time ago by selling his business. The concern behind those articles and investigations no longer exists.
For now, based on what we are seeing and hearing, he is doing a pretty good job, all things considered. I’d just like to put that on the record.
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[article restored to original 2020 version on 9/14/24 at author’s request]
Stevens County, which we rolled through at the start of a Friday evening, was bustling. The parking lot of a microbrewery and all its tables were packed. A combination grocery store, antiques shop, liquor store and coffee shop/bakery had a steady stream of customers. A shoe store clerk in Colville said they had been doing great, and were actually busier than the same time last year. Why? “Everybody worked together and got it [movement to Phase 3] done,” she said. “It was something we knew we had to do, or else. And we pulled it off.” Stevens County is outperforming neighboring Spokane County on unemployment. Even remote Pend Oreille County was doing better, until its major employer, a newsprint mill, announced closure due to decreased demand for its product across the country. It now faces a severe economic challenge which its Phase 3 status may help, but certainly cannot overcome.
