46 Comments

Once again - shining that light on these endless issues with "transparency" are so needed!

STAY PESKY!!!!

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Climate change... Driving... Hey Cheryl, am I contributing More to climate change being forced to drive FURTHER to get to the Dairy? I thinkj that;s a yes Cheryl. So pathetic when people on OUR payroll wallow in ignorance. They take a position and have no clue as to the REAL consequences of their positions. DCD... What a joke.

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Thank you for the diligence in watchdogging county government. As a retired municipal manager, I am well aware of serving the public ethically is lost on many in public agencies. Public records are a wonderful thing.

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You're welcome, John. And thank you for your public service.

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There was a strong suspicion that Mr. Eberle was getting inside information, if not directly from Ozias, then from someone else. Great job on uncovering this, Jeff.

It is shocking that this level of manipulation by a county employee is not crossing a code-of-ethics line that could result in a fierce reprimand, demotion or termination of her job. Especially on something that has devolved into a "political" situation (thanks to Mr. Ozias , Tribe-business leadership, the Eberles and now Ms. Baumann). It was ok to share her public comments and have her opinion. She's entitled to it but she stepped over a line when she shared county business information with a specific citizen. Information that we all were not privvy to at the exact same time. And it was to manipulate the situation to her liking.

It seems that Derrick Eberle is following a consistent pattern - sees an opportunity to support his agenda and takes it.

Kudos to DCD Emery for responding to your request. He is doing what he has to do, recognizing that he is not at liberty to share the details of the HR issue. It would put him and the county in an even worse situation. In the olden days, in roles working WITH government entities, any whiff of influencing a project to suit your personal beliefs (vs that project objective) was cause for termination.

At a minimum, Ms. Baumann should be re-assigned to a project where she has no inside information about planned work on Towne Road. You know, she'd get the same information the rest of us citizens receive at the same time we receive it. If she's worked for the county for that long, surely she understands the impropriety of her behavior. Surely she knew that public records would be found. If not, she's terribly naive or ignorant. Whether its allowed in the code of conduct or not, what she's done is inappropriate and completely counter to engendering trust in the inner workings of our county government. Shame on her.

The movement of the barriers introduces a more troublesome consideration. Unless the county or a county proxy (the contractor) is doing it, it's vandalism. It's costing all of us taxpayers even more to have the county put the barriers back and initiate / complete an investigation. It just ticks me off because if everyone involved from the start had behaved honestly and ethically (that seems to be an old-fashioned word) and had done what we all trusted them to do, we'd all be driving across a safe Towne Road today.

Ironically, the rumors floating around some circles about who might be moving the blocks have been pointing to a few entitled people who want the road closed to everyone except to them. Maybe they lost their keys or just got tired of getting out of their vehicles to open the gates because, you know, "it's inconvenient". Unlike the inconvenience for so many of us that have had to drive all the way around the blockage for close to 2 years now.

Open for one = Open for all

(Edited for typos)

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I asked for her to resign and asked the Commissioners to fire her outright.

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John, did you hear back?

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No. They are going down with the NOPLE and NODC ship. French cracks a smile when I am testifying. I am glad he appears not o be taking it personal. I know a lot of French's from PA. He is most likely a cousin or even son of those guys. If I can sway him on policy thats ok with me.

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It would be in her best interests at this point. The commissioners might even be doing her a favor. I don't think naivete or ignorance are at play given that she recognized this as a "delicate" situation. An admission that she knew what she was doing. Not to mention the clandestine meeting places. Her role in the gravel pit debacle just cements how long she has gotten away with it. If she is acting as a regular citizen she should not be responding with her personal views from a county email address or speaking of these things on county time on county property or on county time at some clandestine meet-up.

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I think that’s what should be done. She isn’t a trustworthy person and at this point I don’t want my tax payer dollars paying a salary to someone who isn’t giving the same service and information to all taxpayers instead of a select few with the same agenda as her. And count employees shouldn’t have an agenda and act on it! That needs to stop or remove her!

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I always appreciate your thoughtful insightful comments. Thank you.

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May 28·edited May 28

Here are some links that might be useful wrt Ms Baumann if you think she has stepped over the link. Relooking at the start of the discussion of her, I'm not sure she's a county employee.

Clallam County Code of Ethics

https://clallam.county.codes/CCC/3.01.030

Process for handling complaints

https://www.clallamcountywa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/3172/Investigation-of-Complaints-and-Discipline-PDF

Does anyone know her title or if she is a county employee? From there her job description could be found that would help in issuing a complaint.

The only complaint form I found was for the Sheriff's Department. Maybe there is a more general form, but I didn't find it.

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Cheryl Baumann is the Manager for the North Olympic Lead Entity for Salmon. I believe she is a county employee because of her job description, email address, and work location (3rd floor, Old Courthouse). I can send you the official job description, but I don't know if anyone has filed a complaint. I believe a Clallam County Resident would have much more success doing this as long as they aren't me (I don't get too far when dealing directly with County HR). Is that anything you would be willing to do? I didn't leave anything out of the article, it is all there.

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I would!!

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The County took responsibility for public records from NOPLE. She works for NOPLE. She is doing the County's work according to them.

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On Friday about 2:30PM I saw a bright blue tractor with a front loader approaching the Towne Road/Anderson gate from the south. The barriers were in place then (although earlier in the week one had been moved.) When I went by Saturday morning the barrier had been moved again. I don't know who the tractor belongs to but it didn't look like a County vehicle.

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Is it possible it was one of the contractors bidding on the project or Nordland scoping out the RFP? That would explain the moved barriers.

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May 28·edited May 30

Anything is possible, but it seems highly unlikely. It was a blue farm tractor, not like any construction equipment I've ever seen. I didn't see any flatbed to transport it nor did I see the tractor on the levee when I walked there Saturday. What I did see Saturday was a tractor at the Delta Farm that matched the one I saw near the North gate on Friday. Of course, there are likely other farms in the valley that have a similar large blue farm tractor with a bucket.

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BTW, I will also be happy to contribute toward some large ads in the local paper to let the public know what our clueless and special-interest serving public parasites are doing against the will of the people, if Jeff or anyone wants to lead the effort.

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We have options. I usually buy $40 worth of FB ads every Sunday for 7 days of advertising (more money would increase saturation). I think we can do a Valpak mailer for $250 (not sure how many zip codes that hits). I asked the PDN about a quarter-page ad, and it was about $1,200... I was ready to move forward, but when I sent them the copy, they said it was political, so it was $2,500. I was so ticked I didn't pursue it. Whatever path you choose, and however much you put in, I'll match it. I haven't inquired about USPS mailing those half sheets like the landscapers send out. Oh, and I'm not opposed to doing some nude sign-spinning on the corner of Washington and Sequim Ave.

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Craigslist, while it doesn't reach as many, is another option that is free.

Their Community section includes many sub sections including: General, Local News, and Politics

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Excellent recommendation I hadn't thought of. I'll look into that today. Thank you!

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Haha sorry had to laugh the visual of sign twirling ! That would definitely make an impact! Usps gives good rates for what is called media mail (like the half page you mentioned) and the Val pal mailing along with FB ads sound very encouraging and probably the most cost effective. Although the usps mailer would guarantee that more people will actually see the information because it goes directly to their mailbox. Let me know, I don’t have much as I’m disabled but I’d contribute something

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Terrific insight, June. I stopped by USPS and will be getting a call from marketing. Thank you!

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Great keep us posted. I truly appreciate all you are putting into assisting us taxpayers we, most of us, would have had no clue to all the subterfuge that’s been going on.

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You're very welcome, June. Thanks for reading!

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To quote Mr. White and Mr. Johnson, respectively, Thank you for you diligence..., and thank you for uncovering all this. I do so appreciate all the time and effort you put into exposing the shenanigans of county employees and elected officials.

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You are welcome. This article was the 2nd hardest to work on, so I really appreciate that you read it and were able to form your own opinion.

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Cheryl Baumann is a clueless twit. Climate change my fanny! The hot air she spews surely contributes to global warming. Yeah, right.

Are you as sick of these parasitic perps that live off our taxes, yet do everything they can to oppose our will? Is it time to sue them for defying the will of the people? Will they hide behind their "public parasite, er SERVANT" positions and waste MORE of our tax money in litigation, or can we sue them personally or criminally to make it hurt? Or maybe we can rent heavy equipment and tear up the pavement in front of her Chase Street home and use it as cobblestones to complete Towne Road ourselves, LOL. She can have the dirt road she wishes for and we can have a semblance of pavement and access.

The road has been paid for by our taxes and we, the people, expect it to be completed in a timely manner! I, for one, am sick and tired of the government that we pay for, that is supposed to serve US, instead opposing us at every turn, and supporting, instead, special interests that buy their loyalty, and who pay not taxes themselves. There is something seriously wrong with this picture! Make sure we never forget who our enemies are at election time.

If anyone wants to sue them, I will be happy to contribute money toward the effort!

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Baumann, Hals and Ozias are liars. They say the Dungeness reservoir will not empty into the Dungeness, while they divert an emergency spillway directly to the Dungeness river..for..you guessed it..Emergencies... as in low flow during July and August. They basically lie to get away with avoiding to admit they have a bad methane/good methane and bad stagnant water/ good stagnant water argument. Something about paying liars 100 grand a year or continuing to give them decision making authority does not sit well with me.

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Those miscreants aren't worth 100 cents/yr!

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Its telling that Baumann and Hals, have no problem communicating with Derrick Eberle, while being silent in response to my claims both of them have 10 different policy positions on salmon, watershed and floodplain restoration. Apparently, they prefer consorting and responding to only those in their window dressing and greenwashing choir.

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I trust she walks to work and shopping?

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cor-rup-tion; lack of integrity or honesty (especially susceptibility to bribery); use of a position of trust for dishonest gain……moral perversion; impairment of virtue and moral principles….destroying someone’s (or some group’s) honesty or loyalty; undermining moral integrity….inducement (as of a public official) by improper means (as bribery) to violate duty (as by committing a felony). Very clear and very defined.

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Pepai, this would make a good public comment if you read the definition.

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We have the best government (other peoples) money can buy!🤓

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Impeachment?

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Jeff - your descripton of the fork-in-the-road for our county's responsible economic development is spot-on.

Questions, questions, questions.....

How do we unravel from being driven by special interests and get the county back to operating for the people and by the people?

Is it that no one in county government wants to make the decisions to use the funds that we collect (taxes and even grants) to have an economically vital, thriving community?

A community that creates livable wage jobs and that manages growth in a responsible way?

Instead do a minority of people want a nature preserve that attracts tourists because that minority has the loudest voices and largest bank acocunts? Historically jobs that support tourism are lower paying, dead-end jobs. That is unless you're the one that owns the....ahem....venue (tribe-business and private land owner).

So many of us enjoy the majestic environment we live in and we want to keep it majestic. There are ways to manage both the environment and the economic growth in a responsible way but it takes people willing to compromise (another dirty word these days). It takes entertaining innovation to create sustainable jobs while protecting the environment. And it also takes voting for candidates that have the backbone to make the tough decisions, communicate proactively, openly and honestly to the county at large, and see the process through EVEN at the risk of becoming a one-term politician. That's a rare breed these days.

There is no shame in "crossing the (political) aisle" to vote for someone that is honest, openly communicates and is willing to be reasonable vs someone that waffles, is secretive and is driven by special interests. IMHO we have seen the former (Commissioner Johnson) and we have seen the latter (Commissioner Ozias). I know what type of Commissioner I prefer to vote for. I sure hope Ozias resigns before his term is over so we can get someone better in his place.

****Open for one = Open for all ****

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Agreed. Since my commissioner doesn't seem to care about his constituents, I think it's time I write to his party to inform them why I'm not giving them more money for local government candidates until I see a change in their priorities wrt their constituents. (I'm constantly being hit for $$$ locally and nationally). Also it might be a good idea to shoot off a note to SGGL (Sequim Good Governance League) since they have endorsed him in the past. Indivisible too but I'm not sure Indivisible would pay any heed to feedback. Other orgs that endorsed oz that you know of?.

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Months ago, Sequim Good Governance League (SGGL) carried some of my articles on its Facebook page, but it quit doing that. I thought it was a perfect fit since they champion accountability and transparency. I wrote to the admins and asked why they wouldn't allow me to post articles on their page, and they said they were concerned folks would get "off-topic" regarding Towne Road.

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That's unfortunate. I never do Facebook so I wouldn't have seen you on there. Still if enough people write them large numbers may have an impact. I've got some family health issues going on that have kept me away from the commissioners meeting for the last few months, but occasionally am able to see the videos of the meetings. Seems like Huber said Nordland (bid winner) was a housing builder a couple of weeks ago. So validating that shows that even though they do build houses they do more than that.

Peninsula Daily News

https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/nordland-construction-to-restore-center-road/

Shows they were the chosen contractor to restore Center Road (in Quilcene)

Port Townsend Leader news

https://www.ptleader.com/stories/contract-approved-for-thorndyke-road-bridge,82203

Nordland Construction NW has been awarded a $1.7 million contract to replace the fish barrier culverts on Thorndyke Road with a new bridge. Jefferson County commissioners approved the contract at

They are listed in Construction Journal

https://www.constructionjournal.com/companies/details/pages/Nordland-Construction-Northwest-1123986.html

Their description reads this way:

Nordland Construction NW Inc. is a local family owned company based out of Nordland, WA. Our primary focus is public works projects ranging from bridges, culverts, bike trails, natural habitat restoration and many Commercial Buildings. Recent local projects that NCI is proud to have been a part of include the new pedestrian bridge at Sequim Bay State Park, the Sequim Railroad Bridge Park train trestle replacement and trail work, the Sound to Olympics pedestrian and bike trail and the Maintenance Facility at Fort Worden State Park.

If she is still going down that route at the meetings feel free to reference these works they have done. Construction companies can have a large number of divisions that address and expand the types of projects they bid on.

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That's truly unfortunate. From where I'm sitting it makes me think they're also being driven by special interests and not what's good for the many (vs the few)

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Thank you for sharing

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This is a microcosm of the macrocosm of government (mind control) being hijacked at all levels.

My guess is many of these detractors don't even know they are being used as a tool for One World Government, i.e., United Nations-Agenda 21/30/50 and beyond. We should be taking better care of the physical world around us but this should come about as educational awareness and public discourse...not top-down-our-throats governance. We have already lost control of our government...the only question is do we have the desire and will to take it back and have true, messy public discourses based on higher values. A free-for-all-anything-goes isn't healthy but an elitist tyranny is worse. Brazen theft of public (or private) property is too much!

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Ms. Baumann belongs in government. I'm sure she couldn't be very useful in the private sector.

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