10 Comments

I am so pleased Commissioner Johnson is demonstrating some leadership and challenges to Oz. This apology letter being discussed is not called for and there were good speakers at the County Commissioners meeting yesterday voicing opposition as well. The letter should answer questions posed by the tribe. Any apologies due are from the tribe and Oz to the entire Clallam County community.

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I knew something didn’t look right during French’s presentation! Unable to see how much goes to what tribes was a hugh red flag. Some tribes are wealthier than others, some take care of their own some have no means to, some have much less revenue stream. Jamestown Skallam Tribe can certainly support themselves I would imagine considering all their endeavors & enterprises, can see their website and literature to know how many companies they own. Infact, does Jamestown Skallam Tribe contribute to other non-profits and give grant money for tribal improvements throughout Clallam/Jefferson counties? Just asking for a friend. Tax dollars spent at the colleges where anyone can attend, young and old, rich or poor, left or right is better knowing where the money is going, how it’s being used, having transparency, accountability & investing in County infrastructure. The revolving door for grant money should be more closely monitored, not just because it’s there to give but what it is given for.

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$8.5mm in funding for a local nonprofit would launch them easily into the top 1% of largest local nonprofits.

"Nonprofit" is in the top 5 highest-paying sectors in Clallam County, with "Government" being the number one. PABA had information on this before 2020, if you want to dig for the data.

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Training people to weld and work in the trades is good idea, but if we don’t have industry in the area…you know….the ones that are “harming” the environment…logging…milling…trucking…marine…they will end up moving out of area. I am ALWAYS cautious when I hear the word grant. So often it doesn’t get down to the people it was meant for. ALL

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Thank you, Jeff for attending all these work sessions and BoCC meetings. I know how much time they consume. Because you thoroughly glean the information from both meetings, we get the true essence of what is really happening in CC. As we go forward with more projects, we can help ensure that more decisions include more transparency. Com. Johnson and Com. French seem to want improvements in that area also. Persistence, patience, and participation will get us to our goal.

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Perfectly put!

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Ozias owes US-- the PEOPLE-- an apology for misusing the Towne Road funds and causing delays-- delays that may cost lives.

I would like to send a letter to him, after the next election, "Gee, we're sorry you weren't re-elected and that your political career is over. Maybe you can get a job in the gravel quarry. Oh, you quenched that, didn't you? How about a job as a flagman for Towne Road improvements".

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Let's break this down:

IF Clallam County wins the $50M grant

- 6% is needed to administer that grant? That's outrageous. Sign me up. I'm sure the benefits are great and I can do it for half the price. 😉

- Next, NODC, whose president has a clear conflict of interest and should resign his commissioner seat ASAP, receives 17% of the grant and there is no auditability once the funds are handed off? That's graft. The county really needs a statute that says any funds (grant or otherwise), passed along in a capacity like this must be traceable, auditable and reported on quarterly.

- And the NODC can pass along funds to whomever they see fit, even if that entity is at odds with the best interests of the county? (Keep-Towne-Road-Closed-recently created non-profit anyone? And there could be worse) So the second part of that statue needs to be that the funds must be used for the general benefit of all tax paying county residents.

- Further, the distrubtion would ignore a lot of the current employment needs of the county.

DId I read this right that the tribe wants their cut of the pie but want to be able to do whatever the heck they want with it? Just say no.

It would be a nice influx of money for the county. In this case, until we have better county governance, perhaps the Feds can find something better to do with their grant money.

Grant writing... It's become a Ponzi scheme as you pointed out and it's only going to get worse.

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Yep, you understand it the same as I do A.J. And that is the way Commissioner French presented it. This will be an interesting one to watch... stay tuned!

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Ozias cannot and does not separate his roll as NODC president and his roll as commissioner. It explains so much of his bad behavior as commissioner.

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