Fairgrounds “Wild West” Spurs Neighbors To Demand Action
This letter from neighbors around the Fairgrounds to the Board of County Commissioners speaks for itself. Recall that OlyCap’s effort to regulate and control the camp was frustrated by the City of Port Townsend, which insisted on imposing prohibitively costly and burdensome regulations rather than recognizing this as the emergency and crisis it is. The letter was sent in recent days to the following public officials and others involved in the Fairgrounds transient/homeless/drug dealer encampment.
VIA EMAIL AND REGULAR MAIL
The Jefferson County Board of Commissioners (jeffbocc@co.jefferson.wa.us) Commissioner Kate Dean (kdean@co.jefferson.wa.us)
Commissioner Heidi Eisenhour (heisenhour@co.jefferson.wa.us)
Commissioner Greg Brotherton (gbrotherton@co.jefferson.wa.us)
cc: Mayor Michelle Sandoval ( msandoval@cityofpt.us )
Cherish Cronmiller (donate@olycap.org)
Kathy Morgan (donate@olycap.org)
Gary Keister (info@baysidehousing.org )
Sue McIntire (jeffcofairgrounds@olypen.com)
Joe Nole, Jefferson County Sheriff (jnole@co.jefferson.wa.us)
Thomas Olson, City Of Port Townsend Chief of Police (tolson@cityofpt.us)
As a collective of neighborhoods to the Fairgrounds who are the most negatively impacted by the close proximity of the homeless encampment at the Fairgrounds, we are writing to again strongly voice our very real concerns. We respectfully request this letter be placed into the formal public record of the BOCC. We also respectfully request a full response in writing, addressing all of our concerns as contained herein.
Since being formally located in our neighborhoods almost a year ago, the encampment has been, and continues to be, an unmitigated public hazard, directly affecting our physical and emotional safety and the peaceful enjoyment of our homes.
We remind you that there was never a public hearing or request for public comments prior to the placement of the encampment. There was no management plan, no proposal to lessen the impact on the community, and no effective oversight. Dangerous individuals have been allowed to come and go and return with impunity. There are neighbors who have been terrorized by the anti-social behavior of some of the campers. Despite our continual pleas for help, it nonetheless remains the “Wild West.” We have borne the fear and distress it has brought to our lives, the complete disregard for our basic rights, and the lack of effective enforcement against those who violate even the minimum standards of behavior and actual laws such as excessive noise, fire setting, threats of violence and trespass of private property. The overt drug trafficking and use, resulting in multiple overdoses and at least one death, contribute to an already volatile environment. It is a myth that the campers are positively “self-governing” in any meaningful way. To claim that they are “self-governing” at the Fairgrounds does not release you from culpability for the actions, and the results of those actions, of the campers over whom you have assumed full agency.
With the passage of HB 1054 and HB 1310, we are more in peril than before, as police are hamstrung in their efforts to keep our community safe.
We have lost valued neighbors, who have left their homes and moved out of the County and the State because of the trauma of dealing with the encampment. Who answers to them? Who answers to us? Because of fear of reprisal, several signing this letter are afraid to reveal their house number, their street name or even sign this letter at all.
We are not without empathy; we have made every attempt to work with the situation. We understand how difficult it has been to find alternative properties. However, going back to the BOCC meeting of August 3, 2020, then-Commissioner David Sullivan deemed the idea of using the Fairgrounds as a homeless encampment as “another example of people without legal access to a piece of land wanting it for their purposes and asking someone else to do the work to make it happen.” In the same meeting, Sullivan enlisted Mark McCauley to develop a list of county-owned properties that compared “challenges such as infrastructure, access, park plans, etc.” Yet, only in mid June of 2021 was this list actually presented to the Board. During the whole of the Moratorium, time that might have been spent putting plans into place in anticipation of the expiration has instead run out. It is now eight weeks to October 1st.
In one form or another, unofficial or official, we have lived with this situation for almost two years, and we are tired of being placated with empty promises and lack of results as you would be if you lived where we make our homes. We are exhausted by living with the result of short-sighted mismanagement. Good intentions do not guarantee good outcomes.
It is important to remind you that the Fairgrounds has historically served the whole of the population in this County. More than just the Fair, the Fairgrounds is 4-H, Little League, clubs and events that bring the County together. It is also designated as a tsunami evacuation zone. It deserves to be restored and supported for the benefit of all. Any notion that the land and facilities might be used for any other purpose is unsupportable.
To this end, this letter will serve to put you on formal notice that we will not accept any further extension(s) to the September 30, 2021 eviction date. We will not accept any further payments made to the Jefferson County Fair Association to keep the encampment on the campgrounds after September 30, 2021. We will not accept any
further deviation from the plan to close the Campgrounds on September 30, 2021 and move the campers to another site, whether that site is ready or not to accept them.
In the meantime, we will feel free to further explore our rights and remedies at law without further notice to you.
Sincerely,
Ricardo Peregrino 4284 and 4147 Hill Street
Gary & Gloria Wessen 905 56th Street (4268 Hill Street – Owner)
Ed Farren 4660 Holcomb and 4617 Jackman
Linda Noble 336 47th Street
Chris Witkowski 4268 Hill Street
Helen Wilson
Lisa Greenfield and Mike Hilt 717 41st Street
Jerry Johnson 4002 Holcomb Street
George & Katherine Thomas 4001 Holcomb Street
Russ Howell 4682 McNeill Street
Lisa Thomas 3946 Hill Street
Virginia King 4166 Jackman Street
Allen Peugh 4272 Hill Street
Lisa Frankel Sarah Frankel (Clark) 4284 Hill Street
Steve & Lori Kraght Holcomb Street
Victoria O’Donnell 3910 Hill Street
Hendrik Taatgen & Marga Kapka Jackman Street
Marianne Sears 4567 McNeill Street
Marilyn K. Kurka, CPO Property Manager for 4284 Hills Street and 4174 Hill Street Resident of 4284 Hill Street
Keith Fleming Hill Street
Janeann and Eric Twelker 303 47th Street
James Schultz and Heidi Minnich 4510 Holcomb Street
Janice Rivera 435 47th Street
Russ Kunz 16 lots at Jackman and 49th
Beki McClemans 4617 Jackman Street
Sam & Lucy Obetz 49th Street
Kris Strand
Ann King Jackman Street
Jack and Johanna Perkins 247 43rd Street
Charley & Kathy Hough 4105 Jackman
Patricia & Robert Drolet 3963 Jackman St
Kristin Harlan 4079 Hill St.
Sally Murray 4246 Hill Street
Beki McClemans 4617 Jackman
Glenda Tavemakis 4024 Hill Street
Heidi Barber 45th & Holcomb
Sarah Grossman & Jennifer Carl 43rd Street
Jane Patrick 251 47th Street
Caroline Seibert 43rd Street
Betty Renkor & Stephen Nelson Hill Street
Neil & Karen Erickson 4444 Holcomb Street
Kenny & April Speer
Patrick & Pamela Moore 275 47th Street
Diane Baxter Holcomb Street
Dan Meyerson & Pippa Mills 4053 Jackman Street
Linda Egan 4043 Hill Street
Colby Fox 4419 Jackman Street 6