Another very informative piece. Thank you, again, Jeff.
This vast and seemingly unlimited favoritism to the Sequim area tribe simply needs to stop. They are clearly acquiring money that there are higher needs for. I've been to both mentioned western tribal lands and was saddened by the obvious despair. Improving their living conditions should be a priority for the county commisioners and state politicians representing this county.
The Tharinger involvement is disturbing. It appears he set the trend of funneling grossly excessive amounts of tax payer money to Ron Allen's empire. Time for him to leave politics as he should not have the faith of the voters to continue.
Wow! I think you have proven multiple times now that some local politicians are bought and paid for. Great article. You might be one of the only true journalists left. JSKT chairman is a master politician and operates with impunity and in the shadows. Movie type stuff.
Thanks, TJ. I swear, I'm not a journalist... just a guy with a blog. But you've got me thinking, what -is- a journalist these days? Maybe I can be just some guy with a blog that identifies as a journalist :)
I think you should strongly consider wearing a fedora and carrying a camera and pen everywhere you go. The only “journalists” I trust are those that refuse to parrot talking points laid out by power brokers from the political realm. Those guys all have blogs and are considered rebels. But, they are all changing the minds of Americans. Matt Taibbi, Glenn Greenwald, Alex Berenson, and now Jeff Tozzer.
I've seen many articles about specific tribes from across the states on the subject of defending their rights or fighting a supposed wrongdoing. Ron Allen's name comes up in many of them. Why is he not defending other local tribes? Why does he not speak out about the lack of funding they're receiving? Is it because if other local tribes get more, his tribe will get less?
They do better than most. Tulalip never would have allowed a Port Gamble, Jamestown branch willingly. Stillaguamish and Sauk tribes had to fight Tulalip and now Snoqualmie is fighting them. The 3rd 4th and 5th tribe on a match out there on the coast need BIA held badly. Those tribes all have their own agency and federal access. Ron just opened up the county and state vein.
We need ethics board, a law stating all county business be done on public land, not allowed on sovereign land, and that any county commissioner within the first three months of being elected. Take a basic econ course.
"Washington State’s capital budget (different from the operating and transportation budgets) is dedicated to acquiring and maintaining state buildings, public schools, higher education facilities, public lands, parks, and other assets."
Giving Tax Payer funds to sovereign nations to build capital improvements in those nations seems to go against the stated purpose of those funds. How is this not a MIS-APPROPRIATION of funds!!!
You have a way with words, Jeff! It's always a pleasure to read your exposé du jour, and indeed there are many. Before you entered the scene, who knew that there was so much corruption in our county? Kudos to you for exposing it and letting the Clallam County residents know what's going on behind the scenes. Thank you for another great article.
I’m sorry but it’s so easy to be able to see the difference of tribes in the $$ hierarchy just by looking at their town infrastructures. I can not excuse Tharingers leadership in our county but I can see why he has allowed such disparities, it’s because Ron Allen demands it. Marsha Kelbon candidate running for Senator District 24 stated Ron Allen has refused to even meet with her, that is how sure he is and how powerful he is, refusing to meet with a District 24 candidate is about as arrogant as you can get! Chapman running for the same seat is endorsed by Jamestown (Allen) and voted to have 11 year old children taken away from their parents to get sex changes, 11 year olds! This should concern everyone and raise red flags everywhere. People who haven’t voted need to, to protect our children and future generations who could care less what happens to innocent lives. Please share this list of recommended Charter Review candidates by District:
District 1: Jeff Tozzer, Bill Benedict, Tom Ash, Sarah Kincaid, Derek Huntington
District 2: James Taylor, Karen Wahlsten, Debby Fuson, Katrina Hester, Holden A Fleming
District 3: Karen O’Donnell, Rod Fleck, Tyson Hester, Cathy Walde, John Hauck
Please attend the Octoberfest Candidate Event, October 12 1-4pm at the Fairview Grange, 161 Lake Farm Road where you can ask questions and will always learn something new about the candidates. Free admission, Brat, Beer & Soda will be available, hope to see you there.
Pepai, What district are you in? How did you decide on my own District 3? I only know one or two of them, so I am curious why you think "District 3: Karen O’Donnell, Rod Fleck, Tyson Hester, Cathy Walde, John Hauck" are the best choices? Where do they stand out on the issues relative to the others? Are there any that are absolute NOs in District 3 and why?
Hi, I’m in District 1. The only one I personally know in Dist 3 is Cathy Walde….the recommendations are GOP selections based on backgrounds and County involvement. Of course it’s your choice to determine who you vote for. People in my precinct are questioning who to vote for because most don’t know who anyone is in their district or other districts. I hope that helped. Obviously a like minded committee would be ideal.
A like minded committee can be dangerous. I prefer diversity with professional courtesy to see all angles of each issue. I chaired a business advisory group for a government agency and was very pleased to absorb the comments from the assortment of business representatives.
I have been a long time supporter of indigenous American causes. That said I now believe it is past time to stop this unwarranted charity. The indigenous peoples who were unfairly treated no longer exist. Blood lines are now diffused and the word native applies to all those born within the confines of U.S.A. borders. Sovereign rights are a legal entitlement of those long past. Today blood ties to indigenous populations afford those residents not only to sovereignty, but to the rights of U.S.A. citizenship. This duplicity is very simply discrimination. It was not indigenous peoples that created and built our transportation, sanitation, industrial and technology systems. Regardless, they can and do avail themselves of all those conveniences, while enjoying their sovereignty rights when more convenient. Exercising sovereignty entitlements when most convenient and full citizenship entitlements when most convenient is at a minimum duplicitous. To repeat; the indigenous people harmed by unfair treatment no longer live. Similarly those that executed that unfair treatment.
Regardless of bloodline purity, indigenous ancestors can use bark woven nets, spears and hollowed out wooden canoes or they can use the advantages of non-indigenous conveniences like nylon monofilament nets, seaworthy boats, engines, mechanical systems, vehicles and roads, BUT NOT WHICHEVER IS MOST CONVENIENT IN THE MOMENT. If the purity of indigenous ancestry is to be honored, it must be honored as practiced by those ancestors. Enough dual citizenship - - - choose.
Casino money bribes party in control. Tharinger was an unregistered ICLEI agent, building capacity for India and China. All those 2010 local politicians were. They adopted retribution politics and created the NODC and Non-Government cabal here.
I like the per capita comparison. It shocks me that such a small number of locals receive so much more. Given this appears like a government sponsored monopoly, I think there should be a per capita threshold on any grant or subsidy.
I specifically had you in mind when I wrote that, "Mr. Data." I messed up though and credited an award to Clallam Bay Corrections to Clallam County but that's not right -- Corrections is a state agency, the county didn't get that. So that dropped our per capita award to $75 instead of $92. It's corrected now, but I didn't want you to go spend all $92 today when you only had $75 to spend :)
Jamestown at least does something for the broader community. They offer various jobs and services. However, it still bothers me that a relatively tiny tribe gets to share outsized profits of a US government subsidized business. So many non tribal businesses survive on less than 10% margins (grocery stores can be as low as 1-2%). I don’t think the tribe pays taxes, so that alone is a license to print money and outcompete non-tribe businesses.
I can't beat the good explanations that have already been given, but I'll give you some examples of what Clallam County's Charter has done.
I believe that 3 times now, the people have decided to keep the DCD director as an elected position. The Charter also explains why only a district votes on its commissioner during the primary elections, but for the general election, the vote is countywide. For example, only District 2 (Carlsborg to the middle of Port Angeles) voted for the 3 Candidates running for their commissioner this year (Randy, Anders, and Kate)... now that it's the general election, and it's down to two, the whole County will vote between Randy Johnson and Kate Dexter. It's quite the opportunity for democracy and allows people to reach right in and change how their local government works.
For the 2020 charter review there was a proposal put on the November 2020 ballot to make the Prosecuting Attorney a non-partisan position (previously it required a declaration of party affiliation). It did some homework to clarify some wording in the charter (aka clarifying county section 4.10).
That year there were a lot of little 'housekeeping things" the charter tried to fix, as by opting to elect our DCD director (the only one in the country) there was no real definition or clarity of power (and the commissioners were really abusing the DCD head by over-riding the decisions, etc.) So much of the ambiguity was discussed.
The other big event was that some of the charter members tried to make charter review every EIGHT years instead of FIVE. (The voters kept it at 5).
There was a proposed ballot measure to elect county commissioners countywide -- where the commissioners would be nominated by district and elected by the voters, countywide. (this failed) There was much discussion at the charter meetings to bump up the number of commissioners to 5, instead of 3 (it was an issue 5 years prior).
There was a proposed ballot measure to appoint the Director of Community Development (DCD) instead of electing.
There was a proposed ballot measure to lower the number of signatures required to file an initiative petition from 35% to 20% of the number of voters who voted for the office of governor in the last statewide election (this was fall-out from the fluoride issue).
The charter review took up time with discussion on a whole host of other potential ballot proposals, such proposed bans on 5G, and, to not have the Prosecuting Attorney act as the coroner (to hire a coroner, instead), to redraw the commissioner maps, again, and about a dozen other issues. The charter review starts out with a wide, wide number of different issues -- and concerns of citizens, and then boils them down, and then submits them to the Prosecuting Attorney's office to be drafted. Some commissioners get strong input from various special interest groups, and some get pressure from county commissioners. It's a very interesting process, and yes, there should not be "all like minded people". That was never the point of it, and a bastardization of the process.
The other glitch in the system is HOW the ballot measure is worded and slanted -- really can affect HOW the voters react to it. So, there should be many -- different voices and eyes on the subject, and the committee -- by it's very nature -- will never agree 100%. But that is also the BEAUTY of it.
In the 2019/2020 Charter Review they identified SIX amendments for the 2020 general election.
Seems to me your examples need to be changed. I believe the Clallam County DCD Director is the only one in the country that is elected. It should be an appointed position. And, I really don't get the countywide voting in the general election when it's district limited in the primary. How does that make sense? Should be all one way.
You clearly don't understand WHY it was proposed to be elected instead of appointed by the Commissioners. When acting "at the will" of the commissioners it was a rubber-stamp position. There had been a lot of controversy, and people were upset by what had been going on with what was largely perceived of as the overtly incestuous nature of the DCD. The people wanted it elected. So, the charter review put it on the ballot -- and it passed.
If our county commissioners hadn't been fudging around -- it would have never been needed.
Clallam County is one of seven counties in Washington State that choose to rule by Charter.
The Charter Commission is elected from the County Population every 5 (five) years to 1) solicit issues directly from Clallam County citizens that they believe are important, analyze which if any are critical/important and determine which of any should be presented to the electorate for a vote. That vote can add to, delete from, or augment the County Charter (which is available through the Clallam County website.
The charter review is a group of 15 elected volunteers tasked to review the county charter. The charter is our county constitution and outlines how the legislative, judicial and executive branches operate. The charter review recommends items to be voted on as amendments by the people to go on the NEXT general election ballot (November 2025). It is the one time (every few years) that we have direct access to making changes in our local laws. We have a voice by electing good people to the charter review and by going to the meetings, and lobbying to the elected volunteers directly -- we have it, and we should USE IT. I wouldn't just elect people who's names you have heard -- like some of the old-timers who have been elected to the charter review repeatedly since 1975 -- I would chose people who will take this job seriously, such as Jeff.
I am not nearly as eloquent as Jeff, but I am also running for charter review position number 2. One of the things I do support is ethics in government. Doesn't seem to be much of it. The charter review has the ability to put ethics on the ballot.
Another very informative piece. Thank you, again, Jeff.
This vast and seemingly unlimited favoritism to the Sequim area tribe simply needs to stop. They are clearly acquiring money that there are higher needs for. I've been to both mentioned western tribal lands and was saddened by the obvious despair. Improving their living conditions should be a priority for the county commisioners and state politicians representing this county.
The Tharinger involvement is disturbing. It appears he set the trend of funneling grossly excessive amounts of tax payer money to Ron Allen's empire. Time for him to leave politics as he should not have the faith of the voters to continue.
You're welcome, John. Thanks for reading.
Wow! I think you have proven multiple times now that some local politicians are bought and paid for. Great article. You might be one of the only true journalists left. JSKT chairman is a master politician and operates with impunity and in the shadows. Movie type stuff.
Thanks, TJ. I swear, I'm not a journalist... just a guy with a blog. But you've got me thinking, what -is- a journalist these days? Maybe I can be just some guy with a blog that identifies as a journalist :)
I think you should strongly consider wearing a fedora and carrying a camera and pen everywhere you go. The only “journalists” I trust are those that refuse to parrot talking points laid out by power brokers from the political realm. Those guys all have blogs and are considered rebels. But, they are all changing the minds of Americans. Matt Taibbi, Glenn Greenwald, Alex Berenson, and now Jeff Tozzer.
I've seen many articles about specific tribes from across the states on the subject of defending their rights or fighting a supposed wrongdoing. Ron Allen's name comes up in many of them. Why is he not defending other local tribes? Why does he not speak out about the lack of funding they're receiving? Is it because if other local tribes get more, his tribe will get less?
They do better than most. Tulalip never would have allowed a Port Gamble, Jamestown branch willingly. Stillaguamish and Sauk tribes had to fight Tulalip and now Snoqualmie is fighting them. The 3rd 4th and 5th tribe on a match out there on the coast need BIA held badly. Those tribes all have their own agency and federal access. Ron just opened up the county and state vein.
Who am I kidding they splintered in and failed to elevate the Lower Elwha right with them as they went..
We need ethics board, a law stating all county business be done on public land, not allowed on sovereign land, and that any county commissioner within the first three months of being elected. Take a basic econ course.
This follows right in line with the Recompete Grant which funnels 25% of the grant to the tribes who represent less than 2% of the population.
It too bad the tribes that run casino's and make hand over fist monies do not help all peninsula tribes. Indigenous should be there for indigenous.
"Washington State’s capital budget (different from the operating and transportation budgets) is dedicated to acquiring and maintaining state buildings, public schools, higher education facilities, public lands, parks, and other assets."
Giving Tax Payer funds to sovereign nations to build capital improvements in those nations seems to go against the stated purpose of those funds. How is this not a MIS-APPROPRIATION of funds!!!
You have a way with words, Jeff! It's always a pleasure to read your exposé du jour, and indeed there are many. Before you entered the scene, who knew that there was so much corruption in our county? Kudos to you for exposing it and letting the Clallam County residents know what's going on behind the scenes. Thank you for another great article.
I knew there was plenty of corruption... in OTHER places. I honestly had no idea it was in our own backyard. Thanks for reading and engaging, NOI.
I’m sorry but it’s so easy to be able to see the difference of tribes in the $$ hierarchy just by looking at their town infrastructures. I can not excuse Tharingers leadership in our county but I can see why he has allowed such disparities, it’s because Ron Allen demands it. Marsha Kelbon candidate running for Senator District 24 stated Ron Allen has refused to even meet with her, that is how sure he is and how powerful he is, refusing to meet with a District 24 candidate is about as arrogant as you can get! Chapman running for the same seat is endorsed by Jamestown (Allen) and voted to have 11 year old children taken away from their parents to get sex changes, 11 year olds! This should concern everyone and raise red flags everywhere. People who haven’t voted need to, to protect our children and future generations who could care less what happens to innocent lives. Please share this list of recommended Charter Review candidates by District:
District 1: Jeff Tozzer, Bill Benedict, Tom Ash, Sarah Kincaid, Derek Huntington
District 2: James Taylor, Karen Wahlsten, Debby Fuson, Katrina Hester, Holden A Fleming
District 3: Karen O’Donnell, Rod Fleck, Tyson Hester, Cathy Walde, John Hauck
Please attend the Octoberfest Candidate Event, October 12 1-4pm at the Fairview Grange, 161 Lake Farm Road where you can ask questions and will always learn something new about the candidates. Free admission, Brat, Beer & Soda will be available, hope to see you there.
THANK YOU, Pepai! Well said and agree wholeheartedly!
Holden Fleming has moved away, you can vote for me for District 2. Marolee Smith
Ron Cameron is the suggested candidate replacement for Fleming.
Pepai, What district are you in? How did you decide on my own District 3? I only know one or two of them, so I am curious why you think "District 3: Karen O’Donnell, Rod Fleck, Tyson Hester, Cathy Walde, John Hauck" are the best choices? Where do they stand out on the issues relative to the others? Are there any that are absolute NOs in District 3 and why?
Hi, I’m in District 1. The only one I personally know in Dist 3 is Cathy Walde….the recommendations are GOP selections based on backgrounds and County involvement. Of course it’s your choice to determine who you vote for. People in my precinct are questioning who to vote for because most don’t know who anyone is in their district or other districts. I hope that helped. Obviously a like minded committee would be ideal.
A like minded committee can be dangerous. I prefer diversity with professional courtesy to see all angles of each issue. I chaired a business advisory group for a government agency and was very pleased to absorb the comments from the assortment of business representatives.
I have been a long time supporter of indigenous American causes. That said I now believe it is past time to stop this unwarranted charity. The indigenous peoples who were unfairly treated no longer exist. Blood lines are now diffused and the word native applies to all those born within the confines of U.S.A. borders. Sovereign rights are a legal entitlement of those long past. Today blood ties to indigenous populations afford those residents not only to sovereignty, but to the rights of U.S.A. citizenship. This duplicity is very simply discrimination. It was not indigenous peoples that created and built our transportation, sanitation, industrial and technology systems. Regardless, they can and do avail themselves of all those conveniences, while enjoying their sovereignty rights when more convenient. Exercising sovereignty entitlements when most convenient and full citizenship entitlements when most convenient is at a minimum duplicitous. To repeat; the indigenous people harmed by unfair treatment no longer live. Similarly those that executed that unfair treatment.
Regardless of bloodline purity, indigenous ancestors can use bark woven nets, spears and hollowed out wooden canoes or they can use the advantages of non-indigenous conveniences like nylon monofilament nets, seaworthy boats, engines, mechanical systems, vehicles and roads, BUT NOT WHICHEVER IS MOST CONVENIENT IN THE MOMENT. If the purity of indigenous ancestry is to be honored, it must be honored as practiced by those ancestors. Enough dual citizenship - - - choose.
EXCELLENT! Very well stated, Garry!
Casino money bribes party in control. Tharinger was an unregistered ICLEI agent, building capacity for India and China. All those 2010 local politicians were. They adopted retribution politics and created the NODC and Non-Government cabal here.
Thank you for the information. Very helpful.
You're welcome, Mr. Bungo!
I like the per capita comparison. It shocks me that such a small number of locals receive so much more. Given this appears like a government sponsored monopoly, I think there should be a per capita threshold on any grant or subsidy.
I specifically had you in mind when I wrote that, "Mr. Data." I messed up though and credited an award to Clallam Bay Corrections to Clallam County but that's not right -- Corrections is a state agency, the county didn't get that. So that dropped our per capita award to $75 instead of $92. It's corrected now, but I didn't want you to go spend all $92 today when you only had $75 to spend :)
Jamestown at least does something for the broader community. They offer various jobs and services. However, it still bothers me that a relatively tiny tribe gets to share outsized profits of a US government subsidized business. So many non tribal businesses survive on less than 10% margins (grocery stores can be as low as 1-2%). I don’t think the tribe pays taxes, so that alone is a license to print money and outcompete non-tribe businesses.
Thank you for this data and history. Can you explain what the charter review commission does?
I can't beat the good explanations that have already been given, but I'll give you some examples of what Clallam County's Charter has done.
I believe that 3 times now, the people have decided to keep the DCD director as an elected position. The Charter also explains why only a district votes on its commissioner during the primary elections, but for the general election, the vote is countywide. For example, only District 2 (Carlsborg to the middle of Port Angeles) voted for the 3 Candidates running for their commissioner this year (Randy, Anders, and Kate)... now that it's the general election, and it's down to two, the whole County will vote between Randy Johnson and Kate Dexter. It's quite the opportunity for democracy and allows people to reach right in and change how their local government works.
For the 2020 charter review there was a proposal put on the November 2020 ballot to make the Prosecuting Attorney a non-partisan position (previously it required a declaration of party affiliation). It did some homework to clarify some wording in the charter (aka clarifying county section 4.10).
That year there were a lot of little 'housekeeping things" the charter tried to fix, as by opting to elect our DCD director (the only one in the country) there was no real definition or clarity of power (and the commissioners were really abusing the DCD head by over-riding the decisions, etc.) So much of the ambiguity was discussed.
The other big event was that some of the charter members tried to make charter review every EIGHT years instead of FIVE. (The voters kept it at 5).
There was a proposed ballot measure to elect county commissioners countywide -- where the commissioners would be nominated by district and elected by the voters, countywide. (this failed) There was much discussion at the charter meetings to bump up the number of commissioners to 5, instead of 3 (it was an issue 5 years prior).
There was a proposed ballot measure to appoint the Director of Community Development (DCD) instead of electing.
There was a proposed ballot measure to lower the number of signatures required to file an initiative petition from 35% to 20% of the number of voters who voted for the office of governor in the last statewide election (this was fall-out from the fluoride issue).
The charter review took up time with discussion on a whole host of other potential ballot proposals, such proposed bans on 5G, and, to not have the Prosecuting Attorney act as the coroner (to hire a coroner, instead), to redraw the commissioner maps, again, and about a dozen other issues. The charter review starts out with a wide, wide number of different issues -- and concerns of citizens, and then boils them down, and then submits them to the Prosecuting Attorney's office to be drafted. Some commissioners get strong input from various special interest groups, and some get pressure from county commissioners. It's a very interesting process, and yes, there should not be "all like minded people". That was never the point of it, and a bastardization of the process.
The other glitch in the system is HOW the ballot measure is worded and slanted -- really can affect HOW the voters react to it. So, there should be many -- different voices and eyes on the subject, and the committee -- by it's very nature -- will never agree 100%. But that is also the BEAUTY of it.
In the 2019/2020 Charter Review they identified SIX amendments for the 2020 general election.
Seems to me your examples need to be changed. I believe the Clallam County DCD Director is the only one in the country that is elected. It should be an appointed position. And, I really don't get the countywide voting in the general election when it's district limited in the primary. How does that make sense? Should be all one way.
Looking forward to the forum on the 12th.
You clearly don't understand WHY it was proposed to be elected instead of appointed by the Commissioners. When acting "at the will" of the commissioners it was a rubber-stamp position. There had been a lot of controversy, and people were upset by what had been going on with what was largely perceived of as the overtly incestuous nature of the DCD. The people wanted it elected. So, the charter review put it on the ballot -- and it passed.
If our county commissioners hadn't been fudging around -- it would have never been needed.
Clallam County is one of seven counties in Washington State that choose to rule by Charter.
The Charter Commission is elected from the County Population every 5 (five) years to 1) solicit issues directly from Clallam County citizens that they believe are important, analyze which if any are critical/important and determine which of any should be presented to the electorate for a vote. That vote can add to, delete from, or augment the County Charter (which is available through the Clallam County website.
The charter review is a group of 15 elected volunteers tasked to review the county charter. The charter is our county constitution and outlines how the legislative, judicial and executive branches operate. The charter review recommends items to be voted on as amendments by the people to go on the NEXT general election ballot (November 2025). It is the one time (every few years) that we have direct access to making changes in our local laws. We have a voice by electing good people to the charter review and by going to the meetings, and lobbying to the elected volunteers directly -- we have it, and we should USE IT. I wouldn't just elect people who's names you have heard -- like some of the old-timers who have been elected to the charter review repeatedly since 1975 -- I would chose people who will take this job seriously, such as Jeff.
Hear hear Mimi
Who would have known ? Thank you Jeff !
You're welcome. I certainly had no idea.
I am not nearly as eloquent as Jeff, but I am also running for charter review position number 2. One of the things I do support is ethics in government. Doesn't seem to be much of it. The charter review has the ability to put ethics on the ballot.