50 Comments
Apr 10Liked by Jeff Tozzer

Jeff, so very thankful for all of your hard work and tireless dedication to the Towne Road issue. If it weren't for you, Clallam County constituents would not know what was going on in our own backyard. Everyone was able to have a voice and have an outlet to be heard. I know this isn't over, but it is good to be making progress towards completion. Thank you, also, to Com. Johnson and Com. French for their reasonable comments and knowing that the people have spoken. We need another karaoke night!

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What kind words, but no better compliment has been given since a DLTA founder threw his thumb in our direction and called us "the peanut gallery." Thanks for being a constant fixture in the boardroom... I can't think of a better accomplice. Oh, and set aside this Saturday 6pm for... KARAOKE!!!! I'll send an email out Friday.

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Apr 9Liked by Jeff Tozzer

We are all hanging in there with you, Jeff, and will continue to do so. No doubt there will be more obstacles and roadblock attempts ahead. Listening to Oz stumbling, fumbling, and grasping was painful to hear. Today the truth was loud and clear...he DOES NOT represent his constituents and is beholden to special interest donors.

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Stay pesky !! The fat lady has yet to sing !!!

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Wise advice... I'm opening the Thunderbird tonight, but not the champagne.

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Good for Mike French for voting the way he did. Surprising, but good for the people

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Apr 10·edited Apr 10Liked by Jeff Tozzer

The landowner who denied hosting special events for years needs to be asked about the google rating on their wedding event on that property in 2020 (in the midst of a major pandemic). The google reviewer mentioned how happy they were to find a place in the middle of covid when most large events had been discouraged or even unapproved by the clallam health department. On ND this landowners husband stated they hadn't done that in 5 years. That was in early 2023 2023-5 = 2018. Since that post I haven't trusted a word out of that landowners mouth. Thanks to everyone pro-road who commented today. You sounded great!

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Apr 9·edited Apr 9

I’ll speak more overtly; report them to the IRS and to the Washington Attorney General. Fraud is fraud after all.

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Apr 10·edited Apr 10

When you combine OZ with a property owner who stands to benefit with the Jamestown tribe, it’s about smoke and mirrors, dog and pony shows. The idea starts out about how wonderful it will be, then when the facts come to light it’s wonderful for a select group at tax-payer, public and community expense. Not too long ago promises were made to create a hugh money profit venture in downtown Sequim for a select group but no benefits for the general public except tax-payers get to pay for it all, FOREVER! Concerns were ignored about how general medical care would not be affected. Currently the only medical Urgent care facility in Sequim has cut hours to less than half, sending patients to the Emergency Room instead. Emergency Room visits are much more expensive than Urgent Care. A family of 4 to visit an Emergency Room with two sick children repeatedly is worth considering moving (perhaps it’s part of the plan?). OZ was a strong outspoken proponent of the MAT clinic & the Jamestown Skallam Tribe are the beneficiaries of the profit venture created in downtown Sequim. Yes it’s great for the tribe and patients but has it been good for Sequim? Not at all when doctors & nurses leave to work for more money at the MAT clinic and leave public urgent medical care understaffed and closed to the general public. I also feel this is not the end of it for the very reasons we’ve seen the playbook before, it’s the modus operendi. It’s all about them not about us.

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Amen, follow the money.

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THANK YOU Jeff!!! I know it's not done yet... so we carry on, eyes open, ears tuned, bullshit meter set to sensitive...Mr. O isn't going to change his spots...I hope we can keep the pressure on. Maybe he'll step down...miracles happen every day!

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Ozias steps down, my hair grows back, and Watchdoggers start asking me, "Did you used to be a model?" instead of "Did you used to be a lawyer?"

We can dream, can't we?

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Apr 10Liked by Jeff Tozzer

gobbledygook (noun): 1) Unclear, wordy jargon. 2) Nonsense; meaninglessness or encrypted language. 3) Something written in (or spoken in) an overly complex, incoherent, or incomprehensible manner.

I think the only thing that is missing in this dictionary definition is a picture of THAT commissioner.

In other vocabulary lessons, it's news to me that a person is now considered racist if they disagree with another person's or group's behavior, argument, political position.

Some of us are so open-minded that our brains fall out. Others are so close minded that their brains die from lack of oxygen. Stay curious. ;-)

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Apr 11·edited Apr 11

Do you live North of the closure? Did you know that there is a major drug problem to the north of towne road? Neither did I until I saw this article in the Peninsula Daily News at the first town hall in 2015 about the levy where a land owner said this :

Derrick Eberle, who lives on a farm on Towne Road, said his family’s preference “is to leave the road exactly where it is.

“If that can’t happen for any reason, our second preference would be to cul-de-sac the road, but [there are] a lot of problems with that too.

“There is a drug problem farther to the north. A dead end like that could cause more illicit activity to happen there.”

https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/residents-use-open-house-to-air-concerns-on-towne-road-project/

Such a kind community minded guy!

Interestingly in that same article was this comment

“Is it really necessary. . . to spend all this money and destroy that area, which is a beautiful dike road?” Eliza Main, who lives near the project site, said during the meeting.

“People all around walk it, walk it with their dogs, and just to have it destroyed because you think the fish are going to be better? I don’t think so.”

Is she related to the Charles Main on the founding members of DLTA that Jeff referenced before?

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Wow, you make Nancy Drew look like an amateur. Thanks for digging up old articles and quotes... I wonder what made that landowner pivot his position?

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Wonderful sleuthing, Mary. I do not know if Eliza is related to Charles but that can be found out.

I live north of the closure. I had no idea there were any serious drug concerns this way. We had a string of robberies a few years back but that happens around this county periodically. I believe they caught the perpetrators.

I used to walk the old levee trail and it was not unusual to see evidence of squatters ("campers"), discarded drug paraphernalia, discarded beer cans and the like. I walked the new levee before the old levee was compromised and I saw evidence of drug use (discarded needles) toward the porta-potty end of things (south of the Eberles, toward the creamery). That was two years ago.

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Thanks That's interesting. So it's not just those to the North as he stated but his neighbors too. (j/k) , but thinking about it it is the type of place that the homeless will flock to. Even moreso now without road access.. I treat intentional omissions of facts as lies when it would seem to benefit the person. Interestingly a company named Baumwelt in Tacoma had a contract in Port Angeles to fit a play ground with fake turf. Here are some of the impacts of fake turf

Although this article focuses on the impact of artificial turf on health, it is worth noting that artificial turf also has a negative impact on the environment. Sarah-Jeanne Royer, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Hawaii who has published research on the impact of degrading plastic on greenhouse gasses, explained to National Center for Health Research staff that artificial turf fields are made of polyethylene and sometimes nylon so they produce greenhouse gasses.25 The “outgassing” from the plastic is higher during the day but continues at lower levels at night. Because the artificial turf fields have millions of fragments, they have a very high surface area that produces much more greenhouse gas than a flat carpet would.

https://www.center4research.org/children-athletes-play-toxic-turf-playgrounds/#:~:text=The%20%E2%80%9Coutgassing%E2%80%9D%20from%20the%20plastic,than%20a%20flat%20carpet%20would.

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I am convinced that keeping Towne Road closed will be an attractive nuisance to drug dealers and others. Perhaps the homeless too. I would not be surprised to see an uptick in trash beyond just dog poop. The closed road will not be policed on a regular basis like a vehicular road is. A well traveled road is policed by law enforcement and also by those traveling it regularly.

The Eberles are, at best, naive in thinking that keeping the road closed will somehow be safer for them. Some of this will very likely bleed over onto their property.

They have a security camera at their driveway but it would take a whole network of them to monitor everything that could happen. And then what? If something pops up on the security cameras, they have to (or a security system has to) call 911. Then law enforcement will have to make sure they have the code or the key or whatever it might be to get through the gates. How inconvenient. No doubt their insurance rates will sky rocket but apparently they have the money and resources to address that unlike everyone else that lives north of the closure and would also see insurance rates increase.

As for Eberle's Tacoma-based company, Baumwelt, installing artificial turf in PA....no shock there given his history of how he treats wetlands and streams on his property. It is curious that it is advertised as an environmentally friendly company, though.

I appreciate your diligence for finding the research articles and the connections. Well done.

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I’m fairly new here so 1 question and 1 comment:

1. When does Ozias term end?

2. If this long term commission is to be defeated in the next election it would be prudent to have another candidate in mind now and get platform, funding, strategy before the next election is upon us.

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2027 he was just re-elected last Nov.

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That gives a good amount of time to find the right candidate

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Not necessarily. It’s going to take a lot of hard work and dedication from somebody that is willing to work for the constituents and not the tribe. Interested?

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I’m interested in working hard to get the right candidate elected. I don’t have the experience or education to be a commissioner but I have a been a worker in campaigns before. This situation is so egregious that I am willing to work to make sure Ozias is replaced. My biggest issue is and always has been….why did the tribe breach the dike ahead of schedule and why have they not been held accountable? I spent 45 years in insurance and I can lawsuits are always filed in situations such as this. It just is not passing the smell test.

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Your energy is what will be needed for true change. I don't know the answers to your questions about "why", but I think we will find out. As for you not having the experience or education? If you are honest and committed to working for your constituents, you are light years ahead of the current commissioner.

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Apr 10Liked by Jeff Tozzer

Jeff, I truly believe if you would have any interest in continuing to serve the voters of Clallam, you would be a strong candidate with a high likelihood of winning an election...just sayin'...

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Because Towne Road closure is not the main story.

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Apr 10·edited Apr 10

Not sure that Oz has the right experience or education either. It seems those are less important in rural areas. Perhaps it's time to steal a page from a landowners book and for fellow democrats to write to Clallam County Democrats given the number of Democrats in my neighborhood. And a note to the Washpirg students with a picture of a certain burned out house along with questions and references to why they have no focus on the impact of agricultural equipment on global warming (about 27%) and the impact of farm vehicles on soil and the impact of pig farms on water quality. And actually the impact of farm vehicle tires they are so concerned about., since the road completion would offer a mitigation for the users of the road,. Complaints to the sheriff office about the number of off-leash dogs on County property too. As someone on the DLTA website asked, anybody have pictures" But not of the two people on the levy but of the adjacent pig farm or farm equipment on the levy? After all Oz said: "lets engage the community differently". Also put up posters with the information in our neighborhoods.

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We could petition to recall him. However, before that could happen it’s my opinion that shortly after the November election one of the Democrats currently in Olympia will suddenly resign. Ozias will be “appointed” to take that now empty position. I believe this is already in place as the plan for 2025. And then another “appointed” position in Clallam to take the place of Ozias’ now empty position. Two new “incumbents” that never had to campaign or face the voters. How convenient.

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I also think that plan may be in play. Maybe a slightly different course.

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As always, Jeff...Well done!

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Gayle...well done to you as well! I was jumping up and down cheering while listening to you!

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Awww. So sweet. I actually hate speaking like that against anyone but crap, if we don’t they get away with it!

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Commissioner Ozias and Derrick & Bri Eberle exposed themselves that they both are conflicting regarding Towne Road. Mark Ozias and his major campaign contributor, the Jamestown Sklallam Tribe are the leading culprits in closing a public road as well as the Eberle’s with their business use of the “private” road. It’s now part of the public record since all three spoke at today’s meeting asking for closure.

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The light of truth hurts the eyes of those living in darkness Only they can choose how to respond to the stimulus. Keep on shining everyone!🥸

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I'm on rinse and repeat here for the CCWatchdog crowd (y'all know where I stand) BUT I just learned that the DLTA is censoring people's comments on their newsletters. As in removing them if they don't agree with their narrative.

So if anyone from the DLTA happens to visit this substack and wants to see the type of thing you don't get spoonfed by DLTA leadership, here you go:

1) Trail users were not considered in the design of the ROAD because this was designed as a ROAD. Not a trail. Anyone walking on the road portion of the levee can see it would be complete overkill for a trail. This is the historic Towne Road linking the outer areas of Sequim-Dungeness to Sequim for more than 100 years.

2) DLTA is referring to a seasonal creek. It is already trampled over by farm tires when the farmer hays the pastureland (just like he hays the wetlands on his property) and polluted by pigs from the pig farmer.

3) It's a seasonal creek that cannot sustain salmon because it dries out in the dry seasons (a partial definition of a seasonal creek) and it will only get worse as climate change continues. Just like wetlands.

4) change.org petitions are not taken seriously by any functional municipality because, as you can see, they can be gamed. Do you really want anonymous people from all across the country weighing in on local decisions? 

5) If you're really concerned about this type of pollution then stop driving cars and stop riding bicycles.

6) Also, remove all bridges over every river (including the Dungeness). The majority of the bridges have NO pollution mitigation and all that traffic pollution goes straight into the river.

7) If the road remains closed it isn't really closed. It will be open to Emergency vehicles and a few privileged private parties, their guests, and if they start a business, their customers. I hope all you trail walkers don't wear ear buds or hearing aids and I hope you leash up  your dogs and your toddlers, because when those vehicles come down the closed road, you won't get any warning. There will be no policing of the vehicles. And OBTW - they also have tires.

8) The neighborhood will be safer with the road open. There have already been signs of illicit drug use, beer cans, other litter and significant amounts of dog feces along the new levee. Good luck there policing it as a trail.

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Did anyone else notice Ozias saying emergency response times are critical and important and he has had a personal experience himself where time was the difference between life and death, or something to that effect? Yet he later states all the other reasons, TAC report, CAVFS efficiency, etc., to justify life and death REALLY isn’t that important after all but all the other things are and that is why he was against the motion to send the project out to bid. Ozias does recognize 3-5 minutes matters when there is lack of oxygen but it obviously doesn’t matter as much as a TAC report & the many various other issues. It mattered to Randy Johnson and he stated so consequently he backed up his vote with his reasons of emergency safety & public response times.

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The private property owners took down the wedding spot site but this one is still up: https://bestweddingloc.com/branch/eberle-barn-sequim-2488-towne-rd-sequim-wa-98382#ReviewsSection

And this one: https://www.eventective.com/sequim-wa/eberle-farm-691660.html

Someone else mentioned insurance (in relation to the breach of the original levee, I think). I do wonder if the private property owners, who don't want to be named but want a tax-payer funded private driveway with electric gates, have let their insurance agent know they host parties, with alcohol, in the "historical barn" AND that the only way to get to it, In case of an emergency is via a locked gate.

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Wow, the landowner said on ND that she had no control over that website so I'm surprised it got taken down.

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