Clallam County Watchdog

Clallam County is rural, resource-poor, and resilient — but also deeply divided over how to govern itself. This ten-part roundup pulls together stories that reveal a county trying to balance regulation with reality, health care with accountability, and equity with consistency. Whether it’s a clean-air board pushing new burn-permit rules for people without internet, a hospital CEO telling staff to...

157 years ago, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe helped erase entire tribes, stole their wealth, and later bought their own land base with gold coins. Today, county commissioners claim the Tribe “did not begin with a land base” as they hand over more property, remove hundreds of thousands from the tax rolls, and shift the burden to local families. This Flashback Friday, we connect the dots between a b...

Olympic Medical Center says it lost eligibility for critical federal drug discounts because of a poor payer mix. But here’s the problem: its own numbers show Medicaid discharges at 13%—well above the 8% threshold required. Add in leadership resignations, and the real issue isn’t just finances. It’s credibility. Olympic Medical Center (OMC) has had a turbulent summer. The Centers for Medicare and M...

At this year’s Clallam County Fair, vendors were held to strict rules about keeping displays “family-friendly” and non-offensive—but not everyone was held to the same standard. While most booths followed the contract to the letter, one political booth displayed messaging that many found inappropriate. The county’s response raised questions of fairness, equity, and whether the rules apply equally t...

From a hospital on the brink to tribal land fights, school fee hikes, and hidden costs buried in government fees, here are ten stories shaping Clallam County’s future — and the questions no one in power seems eager to answer. A carnival while the hospital bleeds Olympic Medical Center narrowly avoided losing federal funding (for now) after state surveyors flagged repeated violations . The hospital...

For more than a decade, Clallam County’s commissioners have declined to respond to federal requests for input on tribal land-to-trust conversions—decisions that remove property from the tax rolls and shift the burden to others. After pledging a public work session with the Jamestown Tribe on tax issues, commissioners instead are sending a letter of praise with little follow-through. Taxpayers dese...

Guest contributor Jake Seegers takes aim at Clallam County’s growing tax burden, arguing that voters are being played by a well-rehearsed political playbook. Since 2020, nearly every levy for schools, hospitals, and fire districts has passed — even as friends and family are priced out of the area. Seegers breaks down the tactics local leaders use to win higher taxes: exaggerating budget threats, f...

Sequim’s 2026 Sunshine Festival will feature a $35,000 drone show — partly funded by Peninsula Behavioral Health (PBH), an NGO that depends heavily on tax dollars and public donations. PBH has repeatedly asked for millions from taxpayers and solicits small-dollar gifts for essential services. Yet it’s now cutting a $5,000 check to a festival. When an NGO that claims it struggles to fund core servi...

A Port Angeles billboard promotes “daily dosing” at the Jamestown Healing Clinic—but behind the comforting words lies a lucrative business model. At $719 per federally funded “encounter,” with patients allowed up to five visits per day, the clinic can generate thousands per person—every single day. Built with taxpayer dollars, the facility’s revenue remains hidden behind tribal sovereignty, leavin...

Olympic Medical Center is facing a multimillion-dollar setback after losing access to the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program, just months after securing a property tax levy that nearly doubled its local funding. Sources say the loss—linked to a change in patient mix—will derail plans for a new in-house pharmacy and slash savings used for patient care. The development comes amid repeated state healt...

When noise complaints drag on for years with no resolution, it’s easy to suspect something’s broken — especially when some neighbors get VIP treatment from county officials. The so-called “Clallam Concierge Service” gives select residents faster responses and special favors, while others are left waiting in frustration. Through a detailed look at unequal government attention, preferential access,...

From bank boardrooms to tribal timber disagreements, from encampments vs. enforcement to a super-rich school superintendent, here's what’s stirring in Clallam County—what’s being said, what’s being done, and what’s being quietly ignored. Risk-managing at the bank First Northwest Bancorp (NASDAQ: FNWB), parent to First Fed Bank, has brought longtime insurance executive Diane C. Davis onto its board...

Every member of the Clallam County Charter Review Commission swears to “support the Constitution and laws of the United States and the State of Washington.” Yet during this term, a handful of commissioners have concentrated power within a select group, sidelining the voices of other commissioners and the public. Now, one commissioner has publicly questioned who is “qualified” to be press—a stance...

Peninsula Behavioral Health swore its luxury housing project had to include dishwashers — “not optional,” they said. Turns out, that wasn’t true. Here’s how their story changed, why it matters for your tax dollars, and why washing dishes isn’t the burden they think it is. Last week, I got something wrong. I reported that Peninsula Behavioral Health’s (PBH) October charity golf tournament might hel...

Every week, important stories get buried under PR fluff, government press releases, and social media distractions. This is your unfiltered rundown of 10 issues you won’t hear discussed at City Hall or in the official “community update” emails. From questionable virtue signaling over a Port Angeles water scare to $150 million land grabs disguised as salmon recovery, and from local election apathy t...

Randy Johnson ran for Clallam County Commissioner on a promise of zero-based budgeting and fiscal restraint. Nine years later, after rubber-stamping tax hikes, wasting $1.5 million on the Towne Road fiasco, and backing luxury spending on homelessness and addiction programs, he’s now dangling the County Fair as leverage for yet another tax increase. It’s a far cry from the fiscally sound management...

Clallam County officials say they’re just trying to “keep the Ford Pinto running,” but taxpayers feel like they’ve been billed for a luxury ride while getting budget scraps in return. With a proposed levy lid lift on the table and five-year property tax hikes nearing 45%, residents are pushing back against a system where rising costs, bloated payrolls, and state mandates take priority over local n...

Clallam County commissioners have ignored public questions for nearly a year—until now. With a tax increase on the ballot, they’re suddenly answering to the public. The growing equity gap between the residents footing the bill and the special interests shaping county policy behind closed doors is growing. When government only listens when it needs something, who’s really in charge? Something remar...

Clallam County taxpayers are footing the bill for luxury housing, drug kits, and legal services—not for working families, but for transient sex offenders and repeat criminals from across the state. As crime rises and local systems collapse, is this still compassion—or just self-destruction? The prevailing narrative in Clallam County is that the homeless, addicted, and those receiving services are...

After quietly resigning from First Fed amid financial turmoil and a $5.8 million legal settlement, former CEO Matt Deines remains on key local boards—despite no longer working for the bank and not living on the Peninsula. As risky investments and unanswered questions pile up, it’s time to ask: Are local institutions protecting the public—or protecting each other? Update: After initially telling th...

It’s your public hospital. You pay for it. You trust it. But they’ve been hiding something. Olympic Medical Center is on life support—and Clallam County residents are only now finding out. After voters approved a hospital tax hike that doubled what many pay, the CEO abruptly resigned, Medicare is pulling the plug, and more than 60 serious safety violations remain unresolved. With just two weeks be...

From Seal Street Park safety concerns to PetroCard’s waterway spill, this week’s roundup exposes the growing gap between public promises and real priorities. Port Angeles candidates Marolee Smith Dvorak and James Rocklyn Taylor call for transparency and cleanup, while nonprofits like PBH and Habitat shift from housing to activism—with taxpayer dollars footing the bill. And Spokane’s budget collaps...

In 2023, Sequim officials promised action to protect downtown businesses from crime and public disorder around Seal Street Park. Two years later, a local women’s support group is pleading for basic safety—while the City Council chooses to honor birds instead. This week’s Flashback Friday looks at what was said, what’s been ignored, and why vulnerable women are being pushed aside in downtown Sequim...

When a Sequim woman criticized a public records seminar as “divisive,” she missed the point entirely. The event wasn’t about politics—it was about the constitutional right to transparency. Citizens left empowered, not enraged. So why is teaching people how to access public records suddenly controversial? On July 17, the Sequim Elks Lodge hosted a public seminar designed to equip Clallam County res...

While Clallam County leaders talk about housing affordability, they’ve stayed silent as millions in taxable land quietly disappear from the rolls—shifting the burden onto struggling homeowners. The Jamestown Tribe’s latest trust land request could cost taxpayers again, but commissioners refuse to even answer the federal government’s questions. Why are we paying more while they say nothing? This mo...