Clallam County Watchdog

In the latest issue of Clallam Democrats Rising , Commissioner Mike French highlights what he calls a banner year of accomplishments. But behind the celebratory tone are delayed projects, rebids, modest workforce outcomes, and housing models that raise serious questions about cost and priorities. If 2025 was a year of “progress,” the public deserves a clearer accounting of what that progress has a...

From a $10,000 septic postcard that confused half the county, to lodging taxes that don’t apply on sovereign land, to “nonpartisan” endorsements that look anything but—this week’s potpourri connects the dots. Add in floodplain experiments, pavilion proposals, Humane Society déjà vu, and nearly 30% of a federal funding package flowing to tribes while 3 Crabs residents keep sandbagging their homes—a...

In Richmond, British Columbia — just 60 miles north of Clallam County — homeowners are being warned their property titles may no longer mean what they thought they did. A court ruling recognizing Aboriginal title over developed urban land has shaken investor confidence and sent mayors scrambling. Most people never saw it coming. The question for Clallam County residents is simple: are we paying at...

What visitors and residents saw in downtown Sequim this weekend. What a mother in a Seattle encampment admitted on camera. What a border seizure tells us about supply. What a scanner call revealed at Maloney Heights. What’s happening on our college campus. And what our commissioners are — and are not — doing about it. Ten stories. One pattern. You decide whether this is compassion… or something el...

In this week’s Sundays with Seegers , County Commissioner candidate Jake Seegers describes how a gated, posted property he co-owns was entered by a county appraiser, sparking a constitutional challenge. After raising concerns under the Fourth Amendment and Washington’s Article I, Section 7, the Grays Harbor Assessor reviewed the issue and implemented corrective action. Seegers argues that this lev...

For the first time, the Clallam Conservation District (CCD) will conduct its supervisor election entirely by mail, with no in-person voting. This follows a Superior Court ruling that voided the District’s 2024 election and comes shortly after County Commissioners approved a decade-long parcel fee projected to transfer roughly $2 million from local property owners to the agency—without a public vot...

This week’s developments reveal a troubling pattern in Clallam County governance: voter authority quietly sidelined while public accountability is replaced by commissions, NGOs, and “stakeholders” who never appear on a ballot. From Olympia legislation that would let unelected boards remove elected sheriffs, to courthouse renaming efforts that ignore the wishes of the very person being honored, to...

A resort proposal a few miles from local homes is being marketed as a dreamy “retreat,” but West End resident Heather Cantua’s research suggests something far more calculated: a scalable short-term-rental “empire” model, prefabricated cabins tied to overseas manufacturing, aggressive monetization tactics, and a permit narrative riddled with contradictions that—she argues—shows little local knowled...

What happens when public meetings dodge public questions, when county buildings are shielded while private businesses are left exposed, when grants and boards tilt toward insiders, and when accountability is replaced with slogans? This potpourri traces a single through-line: a governing culture that talks endlessly about compassion, process, and equity—while everyday residents absorb the costs. Fr...

County Commissioner candidate Jake Seegers has described a rip current of change beneath Clallam County government — and recent events suggest it’s real. Citizens are showing up, demanding transparency and equal enforcement of the law. From a controversial Conditional Use Permit in the Sol Duc Valley to overdue action on county-owned land and long-delayed clarity on land-use rules, public pressure...

A Sequim resident was recently told she had to choose: participate in Indivisible Sequim or read CC Watchdog. She could not do both. That ultimatum exposes more than the behavior of a single activist group—it reveals how the League of Women Voters , long trusted as a neutral steward of voter education, has become entangled with ideological enforcement while retaining privileged access to public in...

What began as a modest idea to honor the late Justice Susan Owens has rapidly escalated into a proposal to rename the Clallam County Courthouse itself—without public process, without debate, and without any meaningful discussion of how her judicial legacy affected everyday residents. As commissioners praise character and affiliations, they avoid a harder question: should a courthouse symbolize spe...

The $35 million Recompete grant was sold to the public as a once-in-a-generation workforce revival for the North Olympic Peninsula—a plan to rebuild timber, maritime, and natural-resource jobs. One year in, the results are hard to find. What is easy to find is the money: flowing through favored NGOs, hidden behind closed-door agreements, stripped of measurable outcomes, and championed by the same...

There’s a clear pattern: Clallam County enforces rules when it’s convenient and abandons them when enforcement requires confronting disorder or political discomfort. From vaccine papers once required for restaurant entry to parents told to reroute children around encampments, from “holistic” plans that ignore human waste to officials too busy for constituents, the message is consistent — accountab...

This week in Sundays with Seegers , county commissioner candidate Jake Seegers takes a hard look at the county’s newly touted “Opioid Gaps Report” and the rush to declare victory on harm reduction. As officials prepare to celebrate declining overdose deaths, Jake examines who funded the report, why it surfaced now, and whether national trends and treatment-first interventions are being miscast as...

This week’s potpourri highlights a familiar pattern across Clallam County: selective outrage, selective transparency, and selective accountability. From candlelight vigils held for distant causes while local victims go unacknowledged, to public safety warnings with a DEI twist, to tax structures and policies that quietly benefit institutions rather than communities, the throughline is hard to miss...

A respected museum director with decades of service was quietly removed from Clallam County’s Heritage Advisory Board — replaced by a politically connected appointee whose name never appeared on the public agenda. When residents caught the omission and objected, commissioners didn’t pause, explain, or reconsider. Instead, they handed out a proclamation and moved on. The result: another avoidable e...

Clallam County officials keep asking the public to trust “the experts” while accountability quietly disappears. Costs rise, repeat offenders cycle through the system, and scrutiny is dismissed — leaving taxpayers paying for decisions they never approved. “Ask the Experts” Isn’t Oversight An email to Commissioner Mike French pressed him on a very specific claim he made : that the North View luxury...

Rabid: having or proceeding from an extreme or fanatical support of or belief in something. A single engaged citizen, reviewing a replay of a public meeting with zero attendance, caught comments that reveal a troubling pattern in Clallam County governance: when public testimony changes outcomes, it is labeled “misinformation,” “abusive,” or “rabid.” Dr. Sarah’s careful attention underscores why co...

In this week’s Sundays with Seegers , County Commissioner candidate Jake Seegers chronicles a rare moment when citizen pressure worked — and issues a warning about the fight still ahead. Public testimony forced county commissioners to reject proposed land-use changes and reopen discussion on existing code that restricts RV living, ADUs, and vacation rentals many residents rely on to survive. Elsew...

A new Port Angeles councilmember tips the balance toward moderation—but the public can’t see how it happened. Meanwhile, climate claims crumble under scrutiny, ratepayers brace for higher bills, and government insiders keep writing their own glowing reviews. Transparency isn’t optional. This week is making that clear. A Moderate Shift — If You Were There to See It New Port Angeles City Councilmemb...

A landslide covered Little River Road west of Port Angeles on December 10, 2025. Earth Law Center says it came from the Aldwell clearcut—an area where geotechnical experts warned the state years ago that slope failure was likely. Legacy media hasn’t reported it. The facts raise a bigger question: why some environmental damage sparks outrage, while other known hazards are quietly allowed to worsen....

Rick arrived in Clallam County six months ago with almost nothing but memories. After losing his California home to wildfire with just 15 minutes to evacuate, his long-planned move to the Olympic Peninsula suddenly became reality. He came here to rebuild — still missing furniture, still unpacking, still keeping one framed reminder close: an artist’s rendering of the home he lost. Then Rick heard a...

Clallam County has recreated the Wild West—not with gunmen, but through selective enforcement and policies that reward lawlessness while punishing responsibility. Using real cases from Sequim neighborhoods and public land in Port Angeles, Jake Seegers shows how squatters and illegal structures are tolerated in the name of “compassion,” while tax-paying property owners face relentless regulation. T...

You remember the article from last month : a young man stepping in to stop a violent assault on a Clallam Transit operator. In this podcast-only episode, you hear directly from him — Austin Wolfley , 28, a graveyard-shift worker who relies on Clallam Transit every night and morning to get to and from work. Austin takes listeners beyond the viral clip and into the moments before and after the camer...