HomeMy WebLinkAbout092320MoreyTFFrom:Carolyn Gallaway
To:Julie Shannon
Subject:FW: 4PM Meeting: Apparently, It Takes A Whole County to Shelter Our Most Invisible Homeless
Date:Thursday, September 24, 2020 4:25:28 PM
From: Barbara Morey <housingadvocatebem@yahoo.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2020 4:02 PM
To: Carolyn Gallaway <carolyn@co.jefferson.wa.us>
Subject: Fw: 4PM Meeting: Apparently, It Takes A Whole County to Shelter Our Most Invisible
Homeless
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----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Print Team" <hello@pwprint.com>
To: "shelter4jc@outlook.com" <shelter4jc@outlook.com>,
"gbrotherton@co.jefferson.wa.us" <gbrotherton@co.jefferson.wa.us>,
"housingadvocatebem@yahoo.com" <housingadvocatebem@yahoo.com>
Cc:
Sent: Wed, Sep 23, 2020 at 2:01 PM
Subject: 4PM Meeting: Apparently, It Takes A Whole County to Shelter Our Most
Invisible Homeless
Dear Lizanne,
Please share this information in the 4PM Joint Oversight Board Meeting, too.
Thank you,
Helen Wilson
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject:Apparently, It Takes A Whole County to Shelter Our Most Invisible
Homeless
Date:Wed, 23 Sep 2020 13:35:11 -0700
From:Print Team <hello@pwprint.com>
To:housingadvocatebem@yahoo.com, shelter4jc@outlook.com,
jeffbocc@co.jefferson.wa.us <jeffbocc@co.jefferson.wa.us>,
gbrotherton@co.jefferson.wa.us
Dear Housing Task Force and BOCC:
As a concerned citizen who shares the fence with the individuals currently living at
the fairgrounds, I have first-hand experience with this situation, and it is grave... I
have been living with this every summer since 2016 and this year has brought
danger to our entire neighborhood of 100+ residents that surround the property.
My dining window is just 20ft from the fence line and across the fence line lives
Janna. I know more about Janna than anyone should ever know about another
person without being formally introduced. She is bi-polar and self medicates with
alcohol and hemp powder. Janna is exposed to the elements, crimes against her,
attacks, harassment, the current pandemic and health hazards, the recent canister
fire explosion that sent flames and sparks 10ft into the air, right beside a spot
where children are camping in their car. Just last night, I had to call out to a man
named Nicholas, to walk away from Janna and leave her alone. He kept saying 'It's
alright, it's alright'. I said it's not, or she wouldn't be yelling at you, so just walk
away. Janna said, 'Just walk away' and he spoke again. I said, It's going to be me or
the police. Fortunately, he left. I said to Janna, if anyone bugs you, just yell. She
said, "thank you, where are you?" I responded, "Right behind you." They are in
survival mode, or dying and being helicoptered in life flights to the hospital from
drug overdoses.
The BOCC is scrambling to spend 1.2 million dollars that has been granted by the
Washington State Dept of Commerce, which oversees Homelessness, while they
continue to ignore the individuals living outdoors in the campground. We, the
Fairgrounds neighbors have been trying to help these individuals and the
fairgrounds board by addressing the BOCC and the Intergovernmental Group
directly because of the domestic violence, overdoses, struggling mentally ill, theft,
destruction of property, and a noticeable spike in crime in the neighborhoods
surrounding the fairgrounds. My own request on 9/6 to the BOCC to amend their
RFP and include this group were ignored and so far, crickets.
We're racing the clock now, and these people deserve some of the Emergency
Covid funds, please see the highlighted in the attached. The BOCC owns the
responsibility for sheltering our homeless and the Emergency Covid Funds come
from the Washington State Dept of Commerce, which governs homeless initiatives
and funding for WA.
The BOCC needs to take action in this tragic situation and grant emergency funds in
their 9/25 Intergovernmental Group Meeting, OR SOONER, and not just read this as
a courtesy, but as an actionable item allocating some of this funding to relocate
these individuals NOW over to H J Carroll Park, for a Temporary Emergency Winter
Shelter during this pandemic. where portable shelters, toilets, showers, and
laundry can be placed and kept warm. This property is away from residential areas,
schools, trails where children walk and ride, and along a bus route to health and
human resources. They need their own space which is managed by professionals
who are onsite 24/7 to protect those who need it, help them navigate the systems
and resources, intervene with ODs and drug use, dangerous behavior and help
those with mental illness.
Re: HJ Carroll - The BOCC can now afford to bring in portable toilets,
showers, and laundry trailers - used or rented until they can update the
septic system. And, for shelter - they have electrical there, they can bring in
small and large steel sheds and insulate them. With deliveries, this could all
be done in a week, if they made them a priority, or simply just an add-on.
They could even set up a large steel shed for meals and counseling where
Judd and other agencies can help them - right there. Video of HJ Carroll Park
As neighbors, we're actually afraid and growing increasingly so, as the BOCC talks,
but does not take emergency action to intervene - to help any of us in this
emergency situation - the struggling individuals, the Fair Board, who have been
grossly taken advantage of, and our neighborhoods, which have been overrun by an
800% increase in crime since this began, according to Judson Haynes, PTPD
Navigator.
Increasingly, Barbara Morey's proposal for emergency shelter for these individuals
makes the most sense and has the most detail to support this lost segment of our
homeless population and needs to be re-addressed. Barbara now has the full
support of this 100+ resident community, IF it can be located at HJ Carroll Park or
some other appropriate county owned property AND be managed by Health and
Human Services with the help of Bayside Housing, as these people need safety,
structure, and support to survive and thrive.
Please read the attached and message below.
Sincerely,
Helen Wilson
Dear Members Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) and the Jefferson
County Fair Board:
The following is my statement regarding the current
problems created by the individuals who have set up tents
at the Jefferson County Campground one-by-one, since it
officially opened for the summer of 2020, and have
remained without paying. Below please find what I have
witnessed while inside my home with windows closed and
open, and from my deck, also what I have learned about the
situation from those looking for solutions, my
request/recommendations, and contact list. This is not my
area of expertise, so I'm sure to have left out critical areas
of consideration, and while my compassion for these
unsheltered, struggling individuals remains, their behavior
and crimes are something that I have had to endure while
remaining inside due to the pandemic.
During the time that OlyCap leased space from the
Fairgrounds Board, there were dozens of homeless who
chose not sleep in the sheltered area because they could
not abide by the shelter rules and regulations. As a result,
my neighbors and I, who share a fence with the
campground became increasingly frustrated and worried by
the screaming, shouting, physical violence, drinking, drug
use, public urination, defecation, and littering of spoiled food
in the camp sites along the back fence and began to place
calls to Sue McIntire, Eric Johnson, and Terry Berge, as
well as, the Port Townsend Police Department via 911.
We also spoke to one another, and were each assured that
the program would end soon, and there would be a week of
peace and quiet, as the grounds were cleaned, and
vandalized areas repaired to accommodate the opening of
the 2020 camping season. As promised, everything went
back to normal, it was cleaned up and the campground
opened for regular business - we were all relieved and felt
safe again.
Within two weeks of opening, some of the same individuals,
who we had previously witnessed committing crimes, began
returning to the campground. And, the crimes returned. New
recurring "campers" who have joined these individuals,
arrive in vans, and a jeep, some pay, some do not. These
individuals are drug dealers, who are supplying this
transient drug using population in Jefferson County. Each
week, we are seeing more and more individuals find their
way to the campground to squat and do what we have
heard them refer to as, "gaming the system" because they
can not be evicted or arrested due to the pandemic. As a
result of domestic violence calls placed to 911, some
individuals have grouped together at one end of the
campground and some at the other, with the rest scattered
in tents, or in campers that can not be moved.
These are not the homeless people referred to in the
proposals that you are receiving, as evidenced in the
attached, Fairgrounds Housing Proposal and the ICC
Human Services Team proposals for BOCC, dated
9.4.20, which recommends the use of the Beausite
Campground in Chimacum, at the cost of over $240k, but
plans, "to select the guests that would like to go to the
remote facility and are most likely to be successful in
abiding by shelter rules and regulations. The agency
would be targeting families for housing at this site."
The individuals who are currently living in tents at the
fairgrounds campground are IV and meth drug users, and
their dealers. I, along with my neighbors, have witnessed
these individuals crowd around the designated dealer vans
or jeep each time they arrive to buy drugs. We can see
exchanges occur, individuals getting into these autos and
then coming back out, staggering and jerking around - trying
to walk. I know of two life flights that have occurred at the
fairgrounds this year due to heroin overdoses, and I have
heard from neighbors that there has been a third.
I continue to hear and see felonies being committed, such
as, domestic violence, drug deals, and drug use, along with
daily threats, harassment, drunken and high individuals
staggering around, loud sex, screaming at night, casual
conversations and arguments about drugs, money, where to
move to, people yelling at one another "This is my area,
leave me alone, leave me alone, leave me alone", public
urination, defecation, littering, large rats crossing the chain
link fence and climbing down behind tents to reach the trash
surrounding the tents. And, people who go into tents and do
not come out for a week... But, I can hear them whispering,
crying, arguing, coughing, sniffling, and babbling
incoherently. These people are just that close to our
windows, which we can no longer open during this heat
because of the smells, noise, and coughing. And at night,
they need to remain closed because it's not safe.
The ICC Human Services Team proposal does not offer
solutions for low barrier sheltering, but proposes to allocate
"15, 000.00 A COVID Navigator for Jefferson County
serving residents that need case management support.
Many residents of Jefferson County and the City of Port
Townsend struggle with complex and urgent mental,
physical, and substance -related health needs, which
have only grown more urgent in the COVID era. It is no
secret that these individuals often interact with the
criminal justice system and are disproportionately likely
to have frequent contact with emergency services.
These contacts cost county tax dollars and increase the
potential for COVID exposure for both those seeking
services and the service providers themselves.
Currently, emergency services aren' t coordinated in a
manner that follows -through to address ongoing needs
of the individuals after an emergency has abated.
Navigator programs are beginning to emerge to provide
" on scene" resources and divert people who most
frequently engage with emergency services, but there is
currently no program in place to " take the ball" from
the navigator in order to assist these individuals bridge
the gap between emergency contact and ongoing care.
If OlyCap were empowered to do so ( through COVID-
related funding), it could hire and train caseworkers)
who' s specific job it would be to work with vulnerable
populations in non -emergent capacity (i. e. to schedule
and transport people to medical appointments, take
them to DSHS to sign up for services, etc.). Funding
this type of program would be cost- efficient, by
mitigating the need for constant (and very expensive)
emergency department and jail visits and increasing
public safety by keeping emergency services from
being unnecessarily tied -up during the pandemic. This
person would work the next 14 weeks (through
December 315L) at a rate of approximately $26. 00 an
hour, 40 hrs week, 14 weeks. Someone that has the
skillset being sought will require a higher wage than
other positions at the agency."
Of the two proposals that I have read, neither cover the cost
of alternative low barrier Winter sheltering in a secure
location away from homes, little league fields, a school,
trails frequented by minors and seniors with good security,
lighting, video surveillance, and 24/7 monitoring for
domestic violence, theft, drug use, and drug dealers who
can't or won't follow any of the rules set forth by OlyCap,
Bayside Housing, American Legion, churches, and other
organizations that are currently housing, caring for, and
feeding the homeless population.
A 'self-governing' housing project ANYWHERE, especially
in the center of a residential neighborhood like ours, is
unrealistic, unsafe, and largely unsupported by
neighborhoods subjected to the crime. I have copied 42 of
my neighbors who not only oppose the fairgrounds
proposal, they are concerned because we are all now
unsafe on our own streets, trails, yards, and homes. I hope
they will all make themselves known to you by emailing their
concerns.
My neighbors have made me aware of; a home invasion on
San Juan, cars broken into and robbed along Jackman and
in front of the fairgrounds, used needles on the sidewalk of
Landes and San Juan, vandalism and theft of a small family
honor farm stand East of the Fairgrounds, stolen mail from
Jackman and Hill Streets,now torn and littering the trails.
During this time period, I have been calling 911 to report, as
requested and police arrive, quiet down the situation, and
then leave. Only to return again within days.
Conversations with the Fair Board, PTPD, and BOCC
As a result of escalating crimes and problems, I started talking
to more neighbors and found that groups of neighbors were
forming to discuss the situation. There were rumors and fears
that we could lose the fairgrounds and this situation would
become our norm. So, I began calling around the town and
county to learn what is actually happening.
According to Sue McIntire - Jefferson County Fairgrounds
Board Treasure and Manager and Eric Johnson, Jefferson
County Fairgrounds Board, Trustee at Large, Maintenance,
and volunteer for many years, the proposal by Barbara Morey
is will not be approved by the Fair Advisory Board, who will
meet during the 2nd week of September. They do want to hear
from us before this meeting, and they want us to email the
BOCC. They will not approve this proposal because they have
done their part to support the community. And, the proposal
doesn't address how to physically or financially responsibly
manage the above criminal and security problems or address
the vandalism, IV drug use and littering of needles in the
campground bathrooms or theft of camping fees paid by tourist
campers. The campgrounds become so soggy that tent
campers are washed out, vehicles have to be towed out
because the ground is all mud (which I have witnessed in years
past from my window), and then the grounds freeze making it
impossible to stay there without heating or dry shelter. Both Sue
and Eric has said to me - We have done our civic duty and it
backfired because of all of the vandalism, destruction and costly
repairs and now we are being taken advantage of by individuals
who are now here doing the same damage to the property, yet
no one is paying for their stay, damages, or late fees when the
time comes for collection of all these costs that we are no
paying to cover.
Eric and Sue explained that we need to keep calling the
police and emailing the BOCC, and Fair Board so that they
also hear from us, about what has become of our
neighborhood and how we feel about use of the
fairgrounds.
Terry Berge - Campground Host for 15 years has stated to
me and a neighbor when we visited him, that he now has to
collect the camping fees from tourists directly because the fees
were being stolen from the drop box at night. He has also
stated that he is the camp host, a resource for tourist and
county fair campers and not equipped to handle the crimes and
destruction that is happening out there now.
After speaking with the above three, I left a message for
Judson Haynes LMHC, SUDP, PTPD Navigator and called
Wendy Davis, PTPD Community Services Officer.
I asked Wendy if more visible signage stating campground rules
and municipal codes were posted around the fairgrounds, along
with better lighting, could the police remove those individuals
when neighbors or Terry calls to have them removed, for not
following them. She was helpful and said she would look into it
and call me back. In our next conversation, she explained that
due to Covid, these individuals believe that they can not be
removed 'evicted' from the campground and they won't be
arrested because there is nowhere to put them right now. And,
under Covid, arrests are only being made for DUIs and
Domestic Violence. She recommended that no one, including
Terry, address these individuals or try to intervene. She
confirmed that she is aware of a few drug dealers in town and
that they can not be made to leave town. When I described two
vans and a jeep, she confirmed them. I said, if they are carrying
and dealing drugs, then the probably have weapons to protect
themselves and their money and she agreed.
I told Wendy that I was working on an anonymous feedback
form for residents, if they did not want to get involved, she said
she thought that was a good idea and I asked about contacting
the newspapers to ask them to write an objective story that will
help bring about awareness more quickly and asked about
requesting records of 911 calls and crimes in the area to share
with my neighbors. And she said, well, it depends what you
want to do with them. I said, inform my neighbors about the
reality of the actual dangers right next to our homes. I asked if
the Fairgrounds and surrounding neighborhood is being
watched by PTPD detectives and she said she would speak to a
detective to find out and share our conversation. She was very
understanding, informative, and helpful.
I asked Wendy what we can do in the neighborhood and
she recommended that we all stay out of harms way, call
911 if we see a crime and keep emailing the BOCC.
Next, I spoke with David Sullivan - BOCC, District 2. David
also confirmed that Barbara Morey's proposal before the BOCC
is a non-starter. The group that is requesting funds to place
homes on the fairgrounds property (county owned, Fair Board
leased through 12/2022), did not consult the fairgrounds
advisory board,or other organizations mentioned before
submitting it, nor did the proposal address 24/7 monitoring,
security, etc. He said that these individuals will not be removed
before the campground closes because they will just go back to
committing crimes and living on private property - where they
came from originally. He said, it's better that they are
somewhere they are supervised. And, I said, no they are not
supervised by anyone. We have all been warned to stay out of
harms way, away from them. No one is taking responsibility for
their crimes, fees, behavior, or drug use, until they overdose
and die out there. Only then are they taken away, dying or dead
by helicopter.
David Sullivan recommended that we email the BOCC, that
they want to hear from us, and most importantly call 911 if
we see a crime being committed. He emphasized that he
doesn't want to hear rumors and I emphatically reminded him
that I have been suffering as result of hearing and seeing most
of the crimes being committed and that he will surely get 1st-
hand accounts of what is truly happening at the fairgrounds
because I share a chain link fence with these people, can see
and hear every sniffle, sneeze and toot, right through it!
After a few messages and a very short conversation, I finally
had a long conversation with Jud Haynes, on Friday,
September 4, 2020, which was very disappointing. He said that
they PTPD are very concerned when the crime rate around
the fairgrounds goes up 800% in a matter of weeks. I asked
about better lighting and security cameras to catch them more
easily at night, until the campground closes in October, but he
confirmed that these people will not be removed while the
campground is still open, unless we can call the police in time to
catch individuals in the act of a felony. So, no amount of lighting
and expensive security will help because they have to be caught
in the act. He also said that he knows them, and they know him,
so when they see his car, they clean up and hide things so they
don't get caught. He asked if we could get close enough to
watch them or start going out there to monitor them that they will
probably start leaving on their own, because the last thing that
they want is attention. I reminded him that Officer Wendy Davis
recommended that none of us put ourselves in harms way. He
also said that when we call, if we are using words describing
what we think is happening or what we're afraid of what could
happen, that it is not a priority, compared to calling in an active
DUI or domestic violence situation. Because 'loud noise, not
feeling safe, afraid they will do, or have, etc., is not reporting an
active crime/felony. He said that he will think of proper 'words'
for us to use when we call 911, so that we report properly and
police come sooner. I asked Jud if would start thinking a more
appropriate, safer location for these people when the
campground closes in October and he said that he would. I
offered up exploring HJ Carroll day use park because it's county
property and currently in transition, looking for onsite caretakers,
is close to the county sheriff's office for easy surveillance and
quick response. It is also away from homes, mailboxes, at least
1/2 mile from a school, and on a direct bus line for access to all
resources and services.
When I asked Jud what we can do in our
neighborhoods, he said keep emailing the BOCC and
call 911 to report crimes. I then pointed out that there is a
reporting loop here - I have heard from everyone to call 911
and email the BOCC, but no one is taking any action about
the crimes being committed at the fairgrounds and in our
neighborhoods and we are all just suffering it, and he
agreed. He said that we would talk to some people and call
me back on Monday, September 7th.
Immediate Need for Intervention:
As far as what's to be done about these individuals
immediately, there is funding available per Greg Brotherton,
but no immediate plan to intervene and safely house these
individuals in another location. Nor is there a ready plan for
low barrier housing where these folks can relocate after the
campground closes in October.
Email from Greg Brotherton to neighbor, Linda Egan
regarding available: "Do encourage people to report thefts.
It’s important to document, even if it’s unlikely to get stolen
Property back.
A number of different agencies have received funding from
the CARES act for many purposes. OlyCAP has received
some directly, and the county has designated OlyCAP for
pass through funds for rental relief and housing the
homeless especially in the first months of the pandemic.
The county received $1.4ish million ( the exact number
escapes me now) for county needs (including making up for
lost revenue due to the pandemic, contact tracing etc).
Every bit of that the county didn’t need we are looking for
reimbursable applications in the community. On Tuesday
the 8th we’ll get proposals from 6 community groups on how
to allocate the $327k we have left over (plus we have $125k
as pass through micro grants to small businesses). We just
learned that we have gotten an additional 1.2 million and an
extended deadline to expend so will use much of that for
this purpose as well. Tune in on the 8th for our
deliberations."
Request to BOCC for the upcoming Affordable Housing/Homeless
Task Force Meeting on Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 2:00 PM.
Please recognize that this current situation constitutes
an emergency need for low barrier housing that must
be addressed immediately - not when the campground
closes. Please help ALL of us, at once. Please allocate
funds for the supervision and immediate relocation of these
individuals to safer county properties, such as HJ Carroll
park, which is in transition and near the County Sheriff. Or,
other unused county owned properties that are away from
residential areas, and schools and are more appropriate for
low barrier shelters.
Please also amend your RFP to those groups who are
presenting proposals - ask them to provide more detail and
include ways that they plan help this group with immediate,
mid, and long-term low barrier housing, where they can
monitor, and help these individuals 24/7, and keep it secure
and safe from drug dealers where they are sheltered,
allowing those organizations that are trying to proactively
navigate and help them - are given a fighting chance in a
safe, calm, and stable environment, to encourage them to
go into rehab and counseling programs, instead of
intervening with costly life flights and medical services -
when it is too late for them. Spend that money now to
proactively protect and reach them.
Contact information for those I have spoken with and copied on
this email:
Jefferson County Fairgrounds:
Sue McIntire - Jefferson County Fairgrounds Board
Treasure and Manager - jeffcofairgrounds@olypen.com
Eric Johnson, Jefferson County Fairgrounds Board, Trustee
at Large and Maintenance for many years -
jeffcofairgrounds@olypen.com
Terry Berge - Campground Host for 15 years -
terryberge@olympus.net
Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC):
David Sullivan - District 2, retiring in 2020 after 16 years,
dsullivan@co.jefferson.wa.us
Port Townsend Police Department:
Judson Haynes LMHC, SUDP, PTPD Navigator -
jhaynes@citypt.us
Wendy Davis, Community Services Officer - wdavis@citypt.us
911 - multiple calls in 2020 regarding crimes at the fairgrounds
Sincerely,
Helen Wilson
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