1 00:00:00,779 --> 00:00:07,028 or the courthouse clock tower clocking in. I wait for it and I'm like, oh, it's not 2 00:00:07,028 --> 00:00:13,119 going to chime, not yet. It's getting fixed. So there was a contract on the agenda 3 00:00:13,119 --> 00:00:13,017 we're getting there. 4 00:00:16,068 --> 00:00:23,006 Um, so, um, it's 9 o'clock and welcome everyone to the March 10th, 2025 meeting of 5 00:00:23,006 --> 00:00:29,059 the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners. Um, as we always do, we'll start with 6 00:00:29,059 --> 00:00:36,015 public comment, but I just want to first shout out to, um, all of us and the production 7 00:00:36,015 --> 00:00:40,081 alliance and the entire community for showing up this weekend at the connectivity 8 00:00:40,081 --> 00:00:46,095 summit at the Ticum school. It was an awesome display of community spirit and it 9 00:00:46,095 --> 00:00:53,009 really lifted, lifted my spirit and I, I, I heard some. Uh, similar sentiments coming 10 00:00:53,009 --> 00:00:59,038 from you guys too. Oh my goodness, what a great weekend. So nice, nice, um, show 11 00:00:59,038 --> 00:01:01,729 of community engagement, 12 00:01:04,029 --> 00:01:09,015 agreed. It's a privilege to participate in. I'd love to see more and more, more things 13 00:01:09,015 --> 00:01:14,349 grow from it. Yeah, yeah. So, as we always do, we'll start with public comment and 14 00:01:14,349 --> 00:01:18,075 we'll start with folks in the room. Is there anyone with us today who would like 15 00:01:18,075 --> 00:01:25,669 to make public comment? Is that everybody? No? OK, let's start with our elder 16 00:01:25,669 --> 00:01:33,075 statesman, retired commissioner John Austin. Come on up, John. And the, 17 00:01:33,087 --> 00:01:38,489 the owl is the microphone, so you don't have to just, you can hear me all right. 18 00:01:38,669 --> 00:01:40,004 We can hear you. 19 00:01:42,061 --> 00:01:49,004 County commissioners, thank you for your service. And uh I have uh two comments. 20 00:01:49,016 --> 00:01:55,000 First is, uh, I was going to be serving on jury duty this morning and uh I've been 21 00:01:55,000 --> 00:02:02,709 relieved, um, and I was talking to my son who's a, uh, who's a, uh, 22 00:02:03,569 --> 00:02:09,085 Who works in uh for Pierce County as a public defender, and I told him that I was 23 00:02:09,085 --> 00:02:17,013 going to be earning the princely sum of $15 a day. Which is considerably less than 24 00:02:17,013 --> 00:02:23,369 I would get if I were substitute teach, which I had scheduled to do, um, and I'm, 25 00:02:23,449 --> 00:02:31,033 I'm quite willing to forego the about, you know, about $60 or $70 per day, um. 26 00:02:32,509 --> 00:02:37,729 Because I feel it is the duty of every citizen to be on a jury, and he noticed or 27 00:02:37,729 --> 00:02:44,889 told me that, uh, in Pierce County, they're going to start uh paying $100 a day for 28 00:02:44,889 --> 00:02:50,041 their jurors, and I thought, well, maybe we could go for half that. We're a smaller 29 00:02:50,041 --> 00:02:57,899 county. So I'd like you to at least consider raising how much is given to our um 30 00:02:58,021 --> 00:03:05,979 citizens who serve as jurors. Uh, the second is once again we have the problem of 31 00:03:05,979 --> 00:03:11,979 road closure on your western access to the national park, and I know that this has 32 00:03:11,979 --> 00:03:18,779 been a thorn in the side, particularly Monty and uh and other folks who work for 33 00:03:18,779 --> 00:03:24,779 the county, and in the past there have been some efforts to have. The access road 34 00:03:25,007 --> 00:03:31,419 to the rainforest turned over to the uh to the park service similarly to the way 35 00:03:31,419 --> 00:03:38,929 that race road is out of Port Angeles and um. I'd I'd like to know if we are 36 00:03:39,259 --> 00:03:45,021 continuing to urge our representatives in Congress to take over that access road 37 00:03:45,619 --> 00:03:50,139 because I know that eventually we supposedly get reimbursed for the amount of money 38 00:03:50,139 --> 00:03:55,979 that we put into uh fixing it up, but this means that every time it goes out, we 39 00:03:55,979 --> 00:04:00,058 have to have our county engineer or some other representatives of the county go over 40 00:04:00,058 --> 00:04:07,049 there and uh that's time that we have to pay for it so. Thank you for your attention. 41 00:04:07,075 --> 00:04:09,002 Thank you, John. John. 42 00:04:13,729 --> 00:04:18,089 Um, I'm just gonna say for folks who've joined us online, if you're with us online 43 00:04:18,089 --> 00:04:23,013 and you would like to make public comment, please use the raise hand button at the 44 00:04:23,013 --> 00:04:27,279 bottom of the zoom screen, and we will get through the folks in the room with us, 45 00:04:27,029 --> 00:04:30,529 and then we'll move to the folks online who have their hands raised. So Maggie, would 46 00:04:30,529 --> 00:04:31,045 you like to come up? 47 00:04:37,007 --> 00:04:39,899 No, you're, you're, you're already on your way. Come on up. 48 00:04:43,002 --> 00:04:50,063 OK, so the connectivity summit was cool. I connected with some people about, um, 49 00:04:50,064 --> 00:04:58,004 marrying environmental justice with social justice and making that, uh, the Porthosin 50 00:04:58,004 --> 00:05:04,019 Yacht Club a day center and using the two docks in front for environmental justice 51 00:05:04,019 --> 00:05:11,209 programs. OK, so now I'm gonna talk about something else real quick. OK, back in 52 00:05:11,209 --> 00:05:18,769 the Depression era, there was a woman who created a board game called Monopoly. 53 00:05:19,179 --> 00:05:27,119 It turned into. A capitalist BS game, but it originally was a game to show 54 00:05:28,013 --> 00:05:35,097 citizens how banks worked and how the banking system worked, and during the Depression 55 00:05:35,097 --> 00:05:43,057 there were 1000 foreclosures a day on people's homes, and so they created that federal 56 00:05:43,057 --> 00:05:49,007 bank, I forget the name of it, you can go look it up. Um, that kind of like, um, 57 00:05:49,989 --> 00:05:57,149 the precursor to Freddie Mae and Freddie Mac, and they were supposed to give, uh, 58 00:05:57,016 --> 00:06:03,066 mortgage loans to people who could not. Uh, who were too low income to afford uh 59 00:06:03,066 --> 00:06:11,045 loans on homes. So there, there were some regional banks and they across the country, 60 00:06:11,459 --> 00:06:19,026 and eventually it ended up with 6400 members. So today, only 61 00:06:19,026 --> 00:06:27,001 42% of those banks that are a member of this federal loan place. 62 00:06:27,549 --> 00:06:35,529 Have have originated mortgage loans since 2018. And 63 00:06:35,869 --> 00:06:43,066 the rest of the money is tied up with private equity 64 00:06:43,066 --> 00:06:49,739 companies who have grabbed all that money and put it in their own banks and then 65 00:06:49,739 --> 00:06:56,041 they're making $200 million off interest. So, um, there are 66 00:06:56,041 --> 00:07:04,019 6400 banks, only 42% of them. Have 67 00:07:04,019 --> 00:07:12,019 originated a single loan since 2018, which the purpose of 68 00:07:12,019 --> 00:07:18,047 was supposed to be for low income people. So you know this is and and the rest of 69 00:07:18,047 --> 00:07:24,899 the money has been taken by private equity firms who are making $200 million a year. 70 00:07:25,073 --> 00:07:32,091 Off in interest off of money that was supposed to be loaned to low income people 71 00:07:33,209 --> 00:07:39,089 for affordable housing. So you wonder why everybody's ending up on the street who 72 00:07:39,089 --> 00:07:46,025 should be in housing who, you know, they're kind of a little maybe a 100% over the 73 00:07:46,025 --> 00:07:52,097 poverty line, 80% on the poverty line, that's why. So then, of course, then we go 74 00:07:52,097 --> 00:07:58,609 down to people with disability. Um, who are trying to get permanent supportive housing 75 00:07:58,609 --> 00:08:05,075 in those empty units and those landlords, if they, if they, if they have a big portfolio 76 00:08:05,075 --> 00:08:11,519 and they have people going, um, you know, they leave a few units empty because they 77 00:08:11,519 --> 00:08:19,001 don't like the fact that their tax is over, they will leave those units empty, so 78 00:08:19,359 --> 00:08:22,959 that's the problem. OK, thank you, thank you. 79 00:08:25,023 --> 00:08:32,559 Come on up. OK. Try this again. So Linda Shad and 80 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:37,539 I'm here for the upper room. So I just want to explain that I've given my entire 81 00:08:37,539 --> 00:08:41,739 life to mentoring and encouraging young people, first as a juvenile probation counselor 82 00:08:41,739 --> 00:08:47,799 for 17 years. Uh, for Clown County and Jefferson County too. I worked on the, the 83 00:08:47,799 --> 00:08:54,169 west side of, um, uh, Clown County, um, and yeah, so my students today are not the 84 00:08:54,169 --> 00:08:59,045 students I taught or worked with 50 years ago or even 30 years ago, virtual experiences 85 00:08:59,045 --> 00:09:05,409 have replaced actual participation. Frankly, all of us need to get out, inhale fresh 86 00:09:05,409 --> 00:09:09,609 air, fill our sights and our memories with the beauty of nature, the exhilaration 87 00:09:09,609 --> 00:09:15,049 of hiking a challenging trail and making it to the top. There's nothing like hiking 88 00:09:15,049 --> 00:09:20,025 the Heidivide Trail or the 18 miles up the up the whole rainforest trail and encountering 89 00:09:20,025 --> 00:09:24,799 the Blue Glacier. How many of you have done that? Yes, so you know exactly what I'm 90 00:09:24,799 --> 00:09:29,009 talking about, depriving hundreds of thousands of visitors, the actual experience, 91 00:09:29,159 --> 00:09:35,909 the actual experience of the Hall of Mosses Trail. It is not acceptable. Many families 92 00:09:35,909 --> 00:09:39,077 come from cities where they live frenzied lives and visiting the rainforest is the 93 00:09:39,078 --> 00:09:45,078 therapeutic, is therapeutic for body, mind and spirit. People come from all over 94 00:09:45,078 --> 00:09:50,679 the United States. They also come from Europe and Asia, the Middle East, Turkey, 95 00:09:50,859 --> 00:09:56,064 Saudi Arabia, and India. Everyone in search of a peaceful, majestic and magical place, 96 00:09:56,849 --> 00:10:01,809 and this is the one that is on their bucket list. I had not planned on being here 97 00:10:01,809 --> 00:10:06,013 this morning. I didn't sleep all night but felt compelled to speak after last night 98 00:10:06,013 --> 00:10:10,489 when it was brought to my attention that we needed to raise $20,000 by Tuesday at 99 00:10:10,489 --> 00:10:14,619 noon or there would be no funds available for the upper repair of the upper Road. 100 00:10:14,969 --> 00:10:18,369 I've never raised money through a GoFundMe account, but it seemed like that that 101 00:10:18,369 --> 00:10:25,038 would be the only hope of coming up with something. My reply to here's what I got. 102 00:10:25,044 --> 00:10:29,719 Most figured that it was a scam. They ranted and raved about how money is spent in 103 00:10:29,719 --> 00:10:32,084 Jefferson County. Some claimed the federal government should fix this. Others said 104 00:10:32,084 --> 00:10:36,919 the state would fix it. Others said the road needed to be moved. Others made statements 105 00:10:36,919 --> 00:10:42,219 that use language I don't use. I'm an English instructor, and by the way. George 106 00:10:42,219 --> 00:10:47,299 Orwell in politics and the English language uh instructs us to let the meaning choose 107 00:10:47,299 --> 00:10:53,000 the word and um that's what I teach in English 101 and force my students to read 108 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:58,729 that. Um, my reply to many of these very angry responses was simply that this was 109 00:10:58,729 --> 00:11:04,729 what was offered to us, and yes, it meant paying more taxes, but at least this tax 110 00:11:04,729 --> 00:11:10,025 is a choice, and one could choose not to pay the tax without losing a home or going 111 00:11:10,025 --> 00:11:17,489 to jail. So, um, with that, I just want to say I was up all night because I've never 112 00:11:17,489 --> 00:11:24,369 had that kind of reaction. Um, I don't know if there was any money, uh, uh, received, 113 00:11:24,082 --> 00:11:29,409 but that I, I think the most important thing is that there would be transparency 114 00:11:29,078 --> 00:11:34,455 and that the meetings that are had by various people. That we know about them and 115 00:11:34,455 --> 00:11:40,265 we know what's going on and I was told that this actually was an investment and if 116 00:11:40,265 --> 00:11:44,174 it if it's a duck, and I mean if it walks like a duck and cracks like a duck and 117 00:11:44,174 --> 00:11:49,335 looks like a duck, it's probably a duck, and George Orwell would say let the meaning 118 00:11:49,335 --> 00:11:53,076 choose the word. It's a tax, but I'm willing to pay it. And so are a lot of other 119 00:11:53,076 --> 00:12:01,003 people. But I guess we just call it a tax and. That's it. Thank you. 120 00:12:01,059 --> 00:12:05,789 All right. Thank you. Would you like to make a comment this morning? No, but I will 121 00:12:05,789 --> 00:12:08,789 anyway. OK. I love that. 122 00:12:12,088 --> 00:12:17,088 I haven't slept in a week. I'd like to start with a quote from the Ironman of the 123 00:12:17,088 --> 00:12:22,034 Ho, a settler who moved to the upper hoe in 1890. He doesn't it. 124 00:12:26,019 --> 00:12:32,239 Go ahead. It said, uh, his wife, his daughter wrote a book, uh, about the, the legend 125 00:12:32,239 --> 00:12:35,009 of the Iron Man of the Who, and she said he spent his life waiting for the road, 126 00:12:36,159 --> 00:12:41,799 but he realized, he said, uh, our numbers are insignificant and our, and our votes 127 00:12:41,799 --> 00:12:47,789 don't count. But and so, but the thing about the Iron Man and the whole, um. And 128 00:12:47,789 --> 00:12:52,369 maybe you know his legendary Packer who got paid double wages for packing double 129 00:12:52,369 --> 00:12:58,299 loads. I wrote about him about carrying a, a load of frozen pizzas in a microwave 130 00:12:58,299 --> 00:13:02,979 oven from Forbes. It's just totally erroneous. He's actually packing a stove full 131 00:13:02,979 --> 00:13:07,077 of potatoes, you know. And so they could never get roads, but what did they do? The 132 00:13:07,077 --> 00:13:12,013 locals went to work to pay off their taxes. They built something called the Pacific 133 00:13:12,013 --> 00:13:18,002 Trail, a road out of split cedar from Forks to Moclips with side roads to Oil City, 134 00:13:18,057 --> 00:13:24,001 Goodman Creek up the, up the Clearwater, up the Queets, all with local labor. And 135 00:13:24,001 --> 00:13:29,409 so now, of course, we can't cut cedar, you know, without getting arrested. And so 136 00:13:29,409 --> 00:13:34,028 we come up with every idea we can for the locals to help open this road. One of them 137 00:13:34,028 --> 00:13:40,219 was the GoFundMe, which, you know, got no reaction and is now we get 48 hours to 138 00:13:40,219 --> 00:13:43,929 raise. We don't know how much money we need, but you know we probably can't raise 139 00:13:43,929 --> 00:13:50,869 it in 48 hours. But the point is. Uh, since 1890, the Hillstocks have paid a lot 140 00:13:50,869 --> 00:13:58,309 of taxes. Glenda's grandmothers started a ranch for packing up though in 1927, 98 141 00:13:58,309 --> 00:14:02,909 years ago. They've been paying taxes. They've been trying to help, so we're trying 142 00:14:02,909 --> 00:14:10,099 to stop, you know, open the road as part of an effort to Preserve our national parks, 143 00:14:10,179 --> 00:14:14,969 which you realize are under attack being shut down, and we're trying to do it through 144 00:14:14,969 --> 00:14:19,026 local action and we really appreciate some help. That's all I gotta say. Thank you. 145 00:14:20,064 --> 00:14:25,096 I'm wondering if I should It was a big review before more public comment. people 146 00:14:25,096 --> 00:14:26,969 are out of the loop, 147 00:14:29,219 --> 00:14:34,559 yeah, maybe before you go online, OK, so before we go to online comment, I would 148 00:14:34,559 --> 00:14:40,159 like to share some news with the community. Um, I, I can't believe we're getting 149 00:14:40,159 --> 00:14:43,549 criticism this morning, but I have been working double time for the last two weeks 150 00:14:43,549 --> 00:14:48,359 in Washington DC, Olympia, and right here at home, including on Saturday on a Zoom 151 00:14:48,359 --> 00:14:54,919 call with our Good governor Bob Ferguson, who has pledged to the money to repair 152 00:14:54,919 --> 00:15:01,089 the road, the upper Hill Road. The issue is that that source of funding because this 153 00:15:01,089 --> 00:15:08,038 is different. Um, than the way we've repaired the road in the past. In the past, 154 00:15:08,046 --> 00:15:13,001 we've repaired the road using Federal Highway Administration emergency repair funds. 155 00:15:14,015 --> 00:15:17,429 That were administered through the Washington State Department of Transportation. 156 00:15:18,219 --> 00:15:22,063 I've been on both coasts of this great nation trying to see if we could free that 157 00:15:22,063 --> 00:15:28,038 money again to do the repair before the spring and summer season, and the answer 158 00:15:28,038 --> 00:15:35,027 has been unequivocally no from the Federal Highway Administration. We can all speculate 159 00:15:35,027 --> 00:15:43,007 as to why that is, but our governor has been awake at night worrying about this 160 00:15:43,007 --> 00:15:47,009 issue since he saw it on the front page of the Seattle Times and came up with a solution. 161 00:15:48,549 --> 00:15:53,539 And the source of funding that we're going to use to do this repair comes from the 162 00:15:53,539 --> 00:16:01,014 state Department of Commerce, and it requires a private match. Of $5 to $20,000 was 163 00:16:01,014 --> 00:16:06,005 the range that was given to us on Saturday. So Commissioner Randy Johnson, I'm just 164 00:16:06,005 --> 00:16:10,539 clarifying this for everyone. Commissioner Randy Johnson from Clallam County put 165 00:16:10,539 --> 00:16:16,005 out an email with the low end of the range. I, being the eternal optimist in the 166 00:16:16,005 --> 00:16:20,033 room, said our community can do more than that, and we'll I'll put out the high range 167 00:16:20,033 --> 00:16:26,609 of the the high range. I was on a Zoom call with 20 people on Saturday. 10 of them 168 00:16:26,609 --> 00:16:33,045 have already pledged $100 each to this effort. I pledged $500. OK, great. So I'm 169 00:16:33,045 --> 00:16:39,849 gonna add you to the list. Put me down for 100. Yeah, OK, 170 00:16:40,052 --> 00:16:47,002 OK, I'm doing this real time, but anyway, um, so we've been working very hard to 171 00:16:47,002 --> 00:16:51,739 come up with a solution, a new, a new recipe to repair the road, and we've come up 172 00:16:51,739 --> 00:16:56,729 with one. And our public works team has already talked to the contractors and already 173 00:16:56,729 --> 00:17:01,719 has materials in place. We just haven't had the funding to hire the contractor, so 174 00:17:01,719 --> 00:17:07,078 we're optimistic that um a repair will be. Imminent and that's why it was 2 days 175 00:17:07,078 --> 00:17:12,054 because we want the money as quick as possible to get the repair going, to get the 176 00:17:12,054 --> 00:17:16,038 contract signed and the repair going. We're not going to sign a contract without 177 00:17:16,038 --> 00:17:22,459 the funding, so the private fundraising we're doing is to free up the over $600,000 178 00:17:22,459 --> 00:17:27,003 in public funding. That the governor has pledged to do this repair and just to be 179 00:17:27,003 --> 00:17:31,025 clear, Heidi, we couldn't use county funds for this match. It has to be private, 180 00:17:31,005 --> 00:17:35,819 right? And the requirement for this source of funding is that it's private. I said 181 00:17:35,819 --> 00:17:43,099 that private dollars that match. Do we need cash in hand or will pledges sledges 182 00:17:43,099 --> 00:17:50,006 will suffice. So what do I do with if I actually, if I even get anything in the GoFundMe 183 00:17:50,006 --> 00:17:55,076 I've never done. You've gotten $250 so far. I just because Anna sent me the link 184 00:17:55,076 --> 00:18:01,005 and I've seen so I put out an email yesterday saying the money needs to come to Jefferson 185 00:18:01,005 --> 00:18:05,069 County. That's what we agreed to on Saturday on the call, and I put out a PO box 186 00:18:05,569 --> 00:18:11,369 1220 Port Townsend, Washington 98368. I posted that and everybody said it was a. 187 00:18:11,895 --> 00:18:18,165 It's not a scam. So that's that's that's personal prerogative, right? It's not a 188 00:18:18,165 --> 00:18:23,494 scam. I can show you the picture of the Zoom room on the call. It was the city of 189 00:18:23,494 --> 00:18:29,324 Forks, um, Claudam County, Jefferson County, many people from the state of Washington, 190 00:18:29,655 --> 00:18:35,185 all participating in this call and coming together on this solution, and I have $270. 191 00:18:35,334 --> 00:18:40,091 That's what people were saying to me and so I got. Lots of pushback. OK, we're not 192 00:18:40,091 --> 00:18:45,016 gonna do back and forth because now the list of people online who want to make comments 193 00:18:45,016 --> 00:18:51,054 is growing, so we're gonna go to them now. So, um, that was a brief update, but I 194 00:18:51,054 --> 00:18:55,359 just want to wanted to share that with folks because I felt like it was going to 195 00:18:55,359 --> 00:19:00,004 waste a lot of public comment. Um, I'm gonna start, I'm gonna go to the top of the 196 00:19:00,004 --> 00:19:05,076 list. So let's start, let's bring everyone over and we'll start with Anna Peterson 197 00:19:05,076 --> 00:19:08,088 when she gets into the Zoom room. I think that's Anna Maia. 198 00:19:11,329 --> 00:19:14,018 Well, I'm reading what's written on that Zoom list. 199 00:19:16,027 --> 00:19:22,042 Good morning, Anna. Hi, and I'm actually here at Upper Hill Road. Um, I do want to 200 00:19:22,042 --> 00:19:28,043 say we are very grateful for the progress that has been made over the last 24 hours. 201 00:19:28,077 --> 00:19:36,003 Um, I think it, it was very exciting to get some of these emails. I do have to 202 00:19:36,003 --> 00:19:42,979 say the level of confusion now that we've heard this update was immense because we 203 00:19:42,979 --> 00:19:47,739 heard from two different sources, two different numbers. And so our excitement and 204 00:19:47,739 --> 00:19:54,859 our optimism with the $5000 was immediate. We knew we could do $5000. We have $4000 205 00:19:54,859 --> 00:20:00,054 in pledges already, and I've sent that to Ryan O'Connor because that was the address 206 00:20:00,054 --> 00:20:05,089 that I got to send that information to. So I'm sorry if that hasn't been shared with 207 00:20:05,089 --> 00:20:11,054 the commissioners. Um, so it's $1000 from Hard Rain Cafe, $1000 from Whole Valley 208 00:20:11,054 --> 00:20:19,042 Cabins, $1000 from Peak 6, and then from Glenda $500. So amongst our friends, 209 00:20:19,054 --> 00:20:25,001 family, employees, everyone we knew, we were up to $4000 already. And then what happened 210 00:20:25,001 --> 00:20:30,089 is yesterday I was driving, I stopped at a rest stop. I checked my emails and I got 211 00:20:30,089 --> 00:20:36,093 the emails from Ryan O'Connor and Ms. Eisenhower, and it said 20, and it just felt 212 00:20:36,093 --> 00:20:42,329 like we had been hit with a load of bricks. We felt hopeless and as soon as I got 213 00:20:42,329 --> 00:20:48,839 home, then I talked to Glenda and we set up the GoFundMe account. Um, and I do, I'm 214 00:20:49,199 --> 00:20:52,077 I just have to say, on one hand, super grateful that we're making progress. On the 215 00:20:52,077 --> 00:21:00,029 other hand, we need transparency and we need more open communication. I think that 216 00:21:00,077 --> 00:21:05,849 the situation is developing by the hour and so it's difficult to get that. But at 217 00:21:05,849 --> 00:21:10,969 the same time. I really feel like something that I learned in college in terms of 218 00:21:10,969 --> 00:21:16,068 communication when you're a business, is that you have to be as open and transparent 219 00:21:16,068 --> 00:21:21,969 as possible, and that needs to happen in a timely manner. And I think we're struggling 220 00:21:21,969 --> 00:21:27,189 with that, and I would ask for Maybe when we review the situation in the future, 221 00:21:27,199 --> 00:21:32,076 if we can look at how can we be more clear, like if we have a goal between 5 and 222 00:21:32,076 --> 00:21:38,189 20, that would have been so helpful to just put that out as a blast email to everyone 223 00:21:38,189 --> 00:21:42,088 that's on these meetings or everyone that has written emails in, so we're all on 224 00:21:42,088 --> 00:21:47,079 the same page, so we don't have this panic and confusion, so people don't lose sleep 225 00:21:47,079 --> 00:21:53,028 at night, um. I think transparency brings trust. That was what came to me this morning 226 00:21:53,028 --> 00:21:57,063 when I was thinking about this meeting. Transparency brings trust and we'll be better 227 00:21:57,063 --> 00:22:02,091 partners as residents and as business owners if we get that. Um, I'm glad that you 228 00:22:02,091 --> 00:22:07,775 all had a meeting and all. The important powerful leaders were in that meeting. It 229 00:22:07,775 --> 00:22:11,135 would have been nice to know that that kind of meeting was about to take place, even 230 00:22:11,135 --> 00:22:14,574 if you didn't know what the results would be. But just knowing that those meetings 231 00:22:14,574 --> 00:22:20,734 are happening is very helpful, um, for our sleep and also for our planning. Um, it 232 00:22:20,734 --> 00:22:26,844 was just a wild scenario of emails that have happened that's, that's 3 minutes. OK, 233 00:22:27,175 --> 00:22:29,244 thank you. I thank you. 234 00:22:33,038 --> 00:22:40,003 I don't know who's back on here. Let's see. You have you listened 235 00:22:41,199 --> 00:22:42,599 Liy Andros. 236 00:22:45,028 --> 00:22:50,066 Good morning, Lucy. Good morning. Thank you so much. I'm sorry I'm in my car. Um, 237 00:22:50,939 --> 00:22:55,699 I wanna thank the commissioners for all their hard work. Um, I know that, uh, the 238 00:22:55,699 --> 00:23:00,017 meeting after Rod let me know about it on Saturday, I was super excited about it, 239 00:23:00,053 --> 00:23:07,079 um, with, with Anna's, uh, pledges and, um, including Melinda's and so forth. We 240 00:23:07,079 --> 00:23:13,015 our list is at 12,000 here in Fork, so, um, and I know people are still willing to 241 00:23:13,015 --> 00:23:18,189 contribute if necessary so that doesn't include any of the pledges, you know, outside 242 00:23:18,189 --> 00:23:22,067 of the area because I'm not aware of those, but anyway, um, I'm hoping we can get 243 00:23:22,067 --> 00:23:26,819 this done quickly and I appreciate all y'all's hard work and I'll be sending my list 244 00:23:26,819 --> 00:23:34,189 over to Rod when I get it all finished. Thanks, Lucy. If you'll copy me and Ryan 245 00:23:34,189 --> 00:23:40,015 and um Representative Birnbaum's office, that would be great because those guys and 246 00:23:40,015 --> 00:23:46,069 Representative Birnbaum and Ryan are officially collecting the compiled list. OK, 247 00:23:46,189 --> 00:23:54,064 absolutely. Thank you. Yeah. OK, Ed Bowen. Uh, good morning, Ed Bowen, West Jefferson. 248 00:23:54,729 --> 00:24:00,489 I normally comment on the topic of this today, but in hopes that you are gonna have 249 00:24:00,489 --> 00:24:06,053 public comment during the upcoming work session next, I'll switch topics to something 250 00:24:06,053 --> 00:24:13,569 I'm hoping the chair has sat in on a while back in DC. So Secretary of VA Collins 251 00:24:13,569 --> 00:24:19,479 gave a briefing to the counties uh regarding veterans benefits. I hope the chair 252 00:24:19,479 --> 00:24:24,076 in the county is paying attention to that. It is a golden opportunity for not just 253 00:24:24,076 --> 00:24:30,479 getting the money in, in the service connected disability claims, but it's actually 254 00:24:30,479 --> 00:24:35,199 a way of connecting with the counties to get the actual benefit itself. The, the 255 00:24:35,199 --> 00:24:40,043 purpose of the benefit is not just money, it's medical care, it's everything. And 256 00:24:40,043 --> 00:24:45,009 uh I did take away from that listening to the secretary that he is very interested 257 00:24:45,009 --> 00:24:52,065 and very Engaged with the idea of uh bringing the counties into the equation. So 258 00:24:52,065 --> 00:24:57,003 I hope the chair participate in that. If not, maybe it's something to go back and 259 00:24:57,609 --> 00:25:00,028 take a look at. Thank you. Thank you. 260 00:25:02,239 --> 00:25:05,349 Uh, next on my Zoom screen is Shelly Arnell. 261 00:25:09,319 --> 00:25:14,042 I know Trisha has her hand up and so I think I'll just need her. Good morning. Good 262 00:25:14,042 --> 00:25:20,056 morning, Shelly Yarnell Brennan. Um, I too would like to talk on the Ho River. Um, 263 00:25:20,066 --> 00:25:28,005 in my opinion, it is, um, really dramatic that those who are hurt the most by 264 00:25:28,005 --> 00:25:35,459 this, um, problem with the river are the ones who are giving the most, and I think 265 00:25:35,459 --> 00:25:43,004 that needs to be noted. Um, you can feel the Heartfelt, um. 266 00:25:44,729 --> 00:25:51,056 Request for help. There has been an offer of a contracted piece of equipment that's 267 00:25:51,619 --> 00:25:58,989 meant to do this job, to be donated. We don't hear anything about that. 268 00:26:00,006 --> 00:26:07,349 This can be done. It, uh, you know, I. I agree with the transparency. We have this 269 00:26:07,349 --> 00:26:12,949 problem in the county with everything. The county can be way more transparent than 270 00:26:12,949 --> 00:26:19,189 they are and should be. All of these issues wouldn't be coming at you screaming and 271 00:26:19,189 --> 00:26:24,869 angry if we knew what was happening, and it's a simple solution if we would just 272 00:26:24,869 --> 00:26:30,068 do it. It's not the hoe. It's not the. Resort, it's not taxes it's not the pool it's 273 00:26:30,068 --> 00:26:35,719 the fact that it's not transparent we need to address the problem and address it 274 00:26:35,719 --> 00:26:40,869 as soon as we can and when there's comments that come through to the commissioners, 275 00:26:41,004 --> 00:26:46,439 be careful of your comments back to the public. That's a problem that needs to be 276 00:26:46,439 --> 00:26:53,068 handled and it needs to be handled immediately in my opinion. Thank you. Thank you, 277 00:26:53,008 --> 00:26:58,004 Shelly. Uh, over to Jean Bob. 278 00:27:01,068 --> 00:27:02,031 Good morning. 279 00:27:04,949 --> 00:27:12,008 Well, loop indeed. It it a little disturbed by the lack of pushing of information 280 00:27:12,008 --> 00:27:17,028 out to the public. If I didn't know about this, you know, I kind of tend to be ahead 281 00:27:17,028 --> 00:27:22,052 of the curve on information gathering. I'm, you know, kind of everywhere. Uh, It, 282 00:27:22,689 --> 00:27:27,028 how can other people know about this? How, how, how come I didn't know about it? 283 00:27:27,339 --> 00:27:31,369 How could I have found out about it? Why wasn't there an, an effort to push it? This 284 00:27:31,369 --> 00:27:35,081 is, that damn, this is exciting. My God, what shouldn't we be screaming this from 285 00:27:35,081 --> 00:27:42,079 the rooftops? Holy smokes. I'm coming unglued over here. This is really, really exciting. 286 00:27:42,369 --> 00:27:50,043 Why aren't we amplifying this message? Um, OK, so I have a concern. Um, I 287 00:27:50,043 --> 00:27:55,039 still haven't heard a whole lot from Doula or the National Park. Things are kind 288 00:27:55,039 --> 00:28:02,051 of, you know, undone over there. And I don't know if we can take advantage of the 289 00:28:02,051 --> 00:28:06,619 opportunity to repair the road. Can we then staff the visitor center? Can we get 290 00:28:06,619 --> 00:28:14,026 the, the trails open up the hoe? Um, Uh, those questions certainly need to be 291 00:28:14,589 --> 00:28:18,051 asked and answered. Uh, that should not, regardless of what those answers are, that 292 00:28:18,051 --> 00:28:21,005 should not stop us from getting this road repaired. Um. 293 00:28:23,589 --> 00:28:28,489 20 grand? Are you kidding me? I could raise 20 grand this afternoon to get this done. 294 00:28:28,819 --> 00:28:34,014 Seriously, that is, that is not a problem. Tell me these things. Oh my God. Thank 295 00:28:34,014 --> 00:28:37,003 you. Get this done. Send me some information so I can put this out and we can get 296 00:28:37,003 --> 00:28:39,849 the money. Please send me information. 297 00:28:43,014 --> 00:28:47,939 OK, I'll send you the link to the GoFundMe right now, um, and Tom Tears. 298 00:28:50,319 --> 00:28:54,088 Good morning, commissioners. Uh, thank you for keeping this public comment period 299 00:28:54,088 --> 00:29:01,088 open. Uh, switching subjects a little bit but also related to the, to, to roads in 300 00:29:01,088 --> 00:29:09,004 general in the county. Um, I, I wanna address this set of comments to the Transportation 301 00:29:09,004 --> 00:29:16,199 Benefit District, uh, board, if I could, which of course, are you folks, um. The, 302 00:29:16,209 --> 00:29:24,026 uh, you, you enacted a 0.1% sales tax increase, which will start in April, uh 303 00:29:24,026 --> 00:29:29,119 as, as a first step in funding the transportation benefit district of the county, 304 00:29:30,099 --> 00:29:35,699 but more money is needed for the roads because inflation is going to be increasing, 305 00:29:36,219 --> 00:29:41,729 I'm sure, and the cost of everything is going up very fast. So that money is gonna 306 00:29:41,729 --> 00:29:47,006 disappear pretty rapidly. Uh, so I would just encourage the Transportation Benefit 307 00:29:47,006 --> 00:29:53,219 District Board to put a measure on the ballot this November to increase that sales 308 00:29:53,219 --> 00:30:00,609 tax by the allowed 2.21%. Uh, that'll bring in another $2 million or some dollars 309 00:30:02,719 --> 00:30:09,028 a year desperately needed by our roads department. And uh, so again, I encourage 310 00:30:09,028 --> 00:30:13,056 you to, to add that to the November ballot for the voters to approve. I'm sure it 311 00:30:13,056 --> 00:30:19,839 will pass just like the one in Port Townsend did uh by what was it 80%, it's gonna 312 00:30:19,839 --> 00:30:24,004 be well supported because everybody knows that we need and want good roads in the 313 00:30:24,004 --> 00:30:31,017 county. Um, different subject. Last week, uh, in the discussion of uh putting the 314 00:30:31,017 --> 00:30:36,939 ordinance for the short-term rentals on, uh, your, uh, schedule for a hearing. Uh, 315 00:30:37,006 --> 00:30:41,055 you heard from, uh, Josh Peters DCD. I heard some something that, that caused me 316 00:30:41,055 --> 00:30:47,038 a great deal of concern. He said, well, there's capacity issues. I don't want to 317 00:30:47,038 --> 00:30:54,329 hear about DCD not having enough capacity to do their job. Uh, the short-term rental 318 00:30:54,329 --> 00:30:59,075 program is gonna involve, you know, 5, 600 properties that, that are. are going to 319 00:30:59,075 --> 00:31:04,079 need to have permits in order to operate a short-term rentals. And if you simply 320 00:31:04,079 --> 00:31:12,069 apply a reasonable fee such as those imposed by Shalan or San Juan County, uh, to 321 00:31:12,069 --> 00:31:17,349 each of those permits, you can raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in permit fees 322 00:31:17,349 --> 00:31:23,005 each year without hurting any of these uh rental owners very seriously. They're making 323 00:31:23,005 --> 00:31:27,739 plenty of money off their rentals. And you could basically operate the short-term 324 00:31:27,739 --> 00:31:32,699 rental program as an enterprise fund. There's gonna be enough money coming in from 325 00:31:32,699 --> 00:31:38,699 the permits in order for you to fund two people at least full time to do enforcement 326 00:31:38,699 --> 00:31:44,002 and managing of the permits, uh, do the math, it only comes up to one person having 327 00:31:44,002 --> 00:31:50,025 to deal with about 1 to 2 permits per day throughout the year averaged out, so it's 328 00:31:50,025 --> 00:31:55,295 perfectly doable. And again, I don't want to hear DCD complaining about lack of capacity. 329 00:31:56,344 --> 00:32:01,135 This is gonna be one of those programs where, you know, it does not have to cost 330 00:32:01,135 --> 00:32:04,625 anything out of pocket, it's just gonna be paid for by the people that are using 331 00:32:04,625 --> 00:32:09,599 the program. So, more to come in writing, but I just wanted to, to surface that concern 332 00:32:09,599 --> 00:32:13,709 before Josh Peters goes off and writes a proposal that says, oh no, we can't adopt 333 00:32:13,709 --> 00:32:18,949 the the the ordinance as written because it's gonna be an odious amount of work on 334 00:32:18,949 --> 00:32:23,469 our staff. Nope, not good enough, sorry. Thanks for the uh opportunity to comment. 335 00:32:24,109 --> 00:32:32,054 That's time, Tom, thanks. OK. Anybody else, uh, I see Patricia, you have your hand 336 00:32:32,054 --> 00:32:38,027 up. You're gonna need to accept the promotion to panelists to come over to make a 337 00:32:38,027 --> 00:32:44,849 comment, or we can unmute you from where you are, correct? So we are unmuting you 338 00:32:44,849 --> 00:32:50,028 from where you are. Oh, there you are. You're in. OK, you have 3 minutes for comment. 339 00:32:50,569 --> 00:32:55,729 OK, thank you. It's a, a different issue again and not necessarily as important as 340 00:32:55,729 --> 00:33:00,056 what's been going on, but important to us. Patricia Ernest from Marrowone Island. 341 00:33:00,081 --> 00:33:05,053 Good morning, commissioners, administrator and staff. Thank you so much for your 342 00:33:05,053 --> 00:33:06,849 consideration of Maristone.