HomeMy WebLinkAbout102125 email -RE_ Encampment EmergencyALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
Thank you, Heather, for your consideration in this plan. You would have been proud today sitting at our staff meeting with so many Bayside employees engaged and bringing up some of
these viable ideas to provide immediate relief, and I will add without a place to relocate to, there is no question these individuals will suffer increased trauma. Ditto on “We Can
Do! ~J
James Holthaus, CCIS II
Director of Housing &
Supportive Services
E: jholthaus@baysidehousing.org
M: (360) 215-0852
A: 310 Hadlock Bay Rd.
PO Box 927
Port Hadlock, WA 98339
Proudly served in the U.S. Air Force,
Navy, and Army.
“Kindness is the only service that will stand the storm of life and not wash out." -Abraham Lincoln
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From: Heather Dudley-Nollette <HDudley-Nollette@co.jefferson.wa.us>
Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2025 3:33 PM
To: Gary Keister <gary@baysidehousing.org>; jmauro@cityofpt.us; ebolin@cityofpt.us; Greg Brotherton <GBrotherton@co.jefferson.wa.us>; Viola Ware <vware@olycap.org>; Holly Morgan <hmorgan@olycap.org>;
pastorscottrosekrans@gmail.com; James Holthaus <jholthaus@baysidehousing.org>; beulahk@dovehousejc.org; Andy Pernsteiner <APernsteiner@co.jefferson.wa.us>; Tom Olson <tolson@cityofpt.us>;
Josh D. Peters <JDPeters@co.jefferson.wa.us>
Subject: RE: Encampment Emergency
Thank you for this, Gary. And your timing is great. I’m in an all-day budget meeting with the other commissioners and staff today. And you’ll see that I’m bound by the Open Public Meetings
Act to remove the other two Commissioners from my response here. But I’ll ask staff to communicate with them (adding Josh Peters here).
As soon as we finish this meeting, I’ll be able to finalize and send a follow-up message to the BHC. I will include your offer here to the list of options for consideration.
And as some of the options you’ve proposed here are within the county’s jurisdiction and some are within the city, I’m very willing to talk with you further about the feasibility of
the county-based options you’ve proposed here.
-Heather
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From: Gary Keister <gary@baysidehousing.org <mailto:gary@baysidehousing.org> >
Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2025 3:23 PM
To: Heather Dudley-Nollette <HDudley-Nollette@co.jefferson.wa.us <mailto:HDudley-Nollette@co.jefferson.wa.us> >; jmauro@cityofpt.us <mailto:jmauro@cityofpt.us> ; ebolin@cityofpt.us <mailto:ebolin@cit
yofpt.us> ; Greg Brotherton <GBrotherton@co.jefferson.wa.us <mailto:GBrotherton@co.jefferson.wa.us> >; Viola Ware <vware@olycap.org <mailto:vware@olycap.org> >; Holly Morgan <hmorgan@olycap.org
<mailto:hmorgan@olycap.org> >; pastorscottrosekrans@gmail.com <mailto:pastorscottrosekrans@gmail.com> ; jholthaus@baysidehousing.org <mailto:jholthaus@baysidehousing.org> ; beulahk@dovehousejc.org
<mailto:beulahk@dovehousejc.org> ; Andy Pernsteiner <APernsteiner@co.jefferson.wa.us <mailto:APernsteiner@co.jefferson.wa.us> >; Tom Olson <tolson@cityofpt.us <mailto:tolson@cityofpt.us>
>; Heidi Eisenhour <HEisenhour@co.jefferson.wa.us <mailto:HEisenhour@co.jefferson.wa.us> >
Subject: Encampment Emergency
ALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
Good afternoon,
The days are quickly passing, and I have no information as to a delay in the closure of the encampment. I reviewed Viola's
E-mail as to the Warming Center and there is no reason to disagree. However, it does not address the emergency at hand. I think the time for discussions are over and we must agree on
a plan now, albeit not necessarily what we all would want. Therefore, Bayside, by the first of November could house the following:
3-5 campers at Woodley proper
5 -7 campers at the back lot of Woodley Place for those living in their cars or tents
3 women and 5 men at the downtown shelter
3 campers at both Pete's and Pat's Place
We could also use our San Juan property, but it would require temporary permitting unless the emergency housing ordinance could be employed.
Olycap may be able to take some campers at Caswell-Brown.
In total these sites could take most of the campers, as some campers will want to remain independent. Wherever we are able to move these people we must address their mental health and
substance abuse issues. With the cooperation of Discovery Bay Behavioral Healthcare, Jefferson County Public Health, Olycap, and Bayside we can provide case management.
We will be preparing a minimum budget for the costs associated with this option/plan.
I am further concerned that using law enforcement to displace the encampment will lead to arrests and citations which create criminal records making it even harder for these people to
get jobs and housing.
As stated in the meeting last Friday, if we as a community don't find a successful strategy, we will be fighting this problem indefinitely. No one wants that, yet the only alternative
is to act boldly and to act now.
Bottom line, we must invest in resources, as the only successful programs create housing units and provide comprehensive case management. Our state's Encampment Resolution Program moved
75% of participants into housing and funded hundreds of new housing units. We can do!
Respectively,
Gary Keister
Bayside Housing & Services