Clallam County Watchdog

The county commissioners’ four guiding mission statements promise achievable goals, yet long-time residents say those promises ring hollow: unanswered complaints, stalled code enforcement, delayed ordinances, and a web of outside committee obligations that raise real questions about priorities and equity. Clallam County’s elected leaders publish a set of clear, admirable mission objectives. They c...

This week brings change at the top of First Fed, fireworks in Port Angeles politics, and troubling signs in local government priorities. We look at who’s benefiting from Washington’s highest-in-the-nation gas prices, how local nonprofits are handling controversies, and why the Peninsula Daily News is shrinking into a strip mall. From tribal water policy to downtown decay, here are ten stories that...

Clallam County Public Health claims to protect our community—but its 2024 report reveals a different mission: reconciliation programs and “harm reduction” policies that enable addiction rather than prevent it. From free pizza parties for addicts to county-sanctioned meth pipes, Narcan, and even “boofing bags,” downtown Port Angeles has become an open-air drug market. One resident’s Saturday mornin...

Guest contributor Jake Seegers shows how county taxpayers have already poured $625,000 into the Clallam Conservation District without a shred of measurable proof that it delivers results. Now, the district claims it faces a funding “crisis”—despite half a million in reserves, self-sustaining programs, and grant-funded payroll. Commissioners are echoing CCD’s talking points while ignoring math erro...

This week’s roundup reveals a common theme: decision-makers are cutting backroom deals, shifting burdens onto residents, and calling it “progress.” From our supposedly “local” bank quietly selling off its buildings to Wall Street, to bond consultants scripting the outcome before Sequim voters even got a say, to commissioners breaking promises in the Towne Road fiasco, the pattern is clear. The pub...

Last summer, two 13-year-old girls were allegedly assaulted at Railroad Bridge Park. This week, their suspected attacker was arrested thanks to DNA evidence. But the bigger story isn’t just about one predator. It’s about how our own commissioners have turned Clallam County into a magnet for sex offenders, addicts, and violent repeat offenders. The irony? While citizens chant about pedophiles in po...

County residents are waking up to the reality that “landback” is not just a symbolic slogan but a political and financial strategy already affecting local roads, farmland, and private property. From the closure of Towne Road to taxpayer-funded “buyback” programs, and from land trust partnerships to elected officials openly working to expand a sovereign nation’s land base, the question is no longer...

Taxpayers have a right to know how their money is being spent — especially when $4 million was handed to Peninsula Behavioral Health (PBH) for its new North View housing project. Instead, they’ve been met with conflicting explanations, shifting stories, and a commissioner who insists it’s “not his issue” to ask questions. From dishwashers in homeless housing to restrictions on public comment, the...

When residents are told that taxes must rise, services must shrink, and “equity” must always come before fairness, it’s worth asking: who really benefits? These ten stories from around Clallam County shine a light on contradictions in government, nonprofits, and policy—where good intentions often mask costly outcomes. Jamestown’s growing footprint Olympic Cellars, the historic winery on Highway 10...

In an era when anyone can livestream from their phone, Olympic Medical Center refuses to record its own public meetings—making it harder for working families to follow what’s happening at the hospital they own. Recent revelations show why: a $248,000 consulting contract signed in secret, an interim CEO costing $50,000 a month, and board meetings that cut off public comment early. For a hospital th...

County residents were told this week that a $5 parcel fee to fund the Clallam Conservation District (CCD) is nothing more than a modest investment in clean water and healthy land. But a closer look reveals something much bigger: Commissioner Mark Ozias is leaning on the Comprehensive Plan to justify the fee—while also presiding over the very NGO that shapes the plan behind closed doors. That’s not...

From neglected dogs at drug houses to six-figure tribal tax liens, from new state sales taxes to “nonpartisan” groups pushing partisan agendas—Clallam County residents are being asked to pay more, trust more, and expect less. These ten short stories expose the double standards, misplaced priorities, and quiet power plays shaping our community. Forgotten victims of our drug policies In a county tha...

In 1971, Washington passed the Open Public Meetings Act to guarantee transparency in government, declaring that “the people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.” But this week, Clallam County residents were reminded just how far today’s county commissioners have strayed from that vision—choosing special interests and political conveni...

In Clallam County, the word nonpartisan has become one of the most overused—and misused—labels in local politics. Organizations across the County claim the mantle of neutrality, but their actions often tell a different story. This isn’t about picking sides—it’s about honesty. If a group has a partisan agenda, why not admit it? Pretending to be neutral while advancing ideological goals confuses vot...

Clallam County’s new $5 property fee highlights a troubling pattern: residents pay, tribal and federal lands don’t, and the commissioners ignore overwhelming public opposition—revealing how decisions are made before the public ever has a say. Clallam County property owners are about to see yet another charge added to their property tax bills: a $5 annual fee to fund the Clallam Conservation Distri...

Every week, decisions are made in Clallam County that affect taxpayers, homeowners, parents, and entire communities. Some happen in plain sight. Many do not. From NGOs quietly crafting policy, to elected officials praising organizations they lead, to local money flowing out of town—it’s all part of a pattern. These ten stories reveal contradictions, misplaced priorities, and the kind of behind-the...

When the Hurricane Ridge Lodge burned down, Clallam County lost more than a building—it lost the heart of its tourism economy. Now, instead of fast-tracking a rebuild, Olympic National Park is cutting secretive deals with tribes to shape the new lodge’s story, exhibits, and even construction oversight. Public land is supposed to belong to all of us, but the question now is: will Hurricane Ridge re...

When panhandler Kurt in El Paso asked CC Watchdog guest contributor Jake Seegers for change, at least he admitted it was a hustle. The Clallam Conservation District is far less honest. On September 2, County Commissioners will decide whether to impose a $5 parcel fee that bypasses the ballot box—locking taxpayers into $200,000 a year for fish-centric projects and rising staff pay. With a county de...

From taxpayer-funded NGOs to hidden profits, selective enforcement, and opaque policies, these ten investigations reveal a troubling pattern. Each story exposes where transparency falters, conflicts emerge, and promises unravel—raising questions about whether Clallam County truly serves its residents or primarily its powerful insiders. A familiar face This week, a man was discovered shivering behi...

Plans for a $7.8 million roundabout in Blyn are back, led not by WSDOT but by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe—without public input or transparency. The project promises climate resiliency and tribal art, but critics warn it could choke Clallam County’s only commerce route. This Flashback Friday reveals that in 2021, safety experts raised red flags, and Commissioner Ozias publicly opposed the roundab...

Olympic Medical Center came within a week of running out of cash under former CEO Darryl Wolfe — a fact buried in a state audit but never shared with the public, disclosed by the commissioners, or even reported by the local press. Now, OMC has turned to interim CEO Mark Gregson, whose career includes a troubling trail of hospital closures from California to North Carolina. Staff emails raise alarm...

Equity is supposed to mean fairness for all, but in Clallam County, fairness is being redefined. Sovereignty now comes with exemptions, privileges, and power that ordinary taxpayers can’t touch. From tax-free hotels and exclusive facilities to million-dollar decisions made without public accountability, one group of citizens has become “citizen-plus.” Is this democracy—or a modern caste system, bu...

“Free” is the most expensive word in Clallam County. Free housing, free food, free drug paraphernalia, free lunches, free grants—programs that sound compassionate on paper but shift costs onto families and businesses while fueling the very crises they claim to solve. From out‑of‑state troublemakers cycling through our jails, to encampments growing along our corridors, to a county government that i...

What begins as a road dispute grows into a cautionary tale about power, character assassination, and the cost of speaking up in a community where “inclusion” is preached in public, but dissent is punished in private. It’s been nearly two years since a walk on the Towne Road roadbed in September 2023 changed everything. At the time, we thought it would be our final walk; the road was scheduled to r...

Guest contributor Jake Seegers exposes a costly pattern: Clallam County leaders keep exporting responsibility—and tax dollars—to out-of-town consultants while overlooking homegrown solutions. From costly contracts for outside firms to the overlooked success of local nonprofits and creative agencies, Seegers argues that the real prosperity multiplier lies in investing in our own talent. This is a c...