HomeMy WebLinkAbout101420GouldWessenTF comment attachmentGloria Gould-Wessen
905 56th Street, Port Townsend WA
October 13, 2020
To: Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners and Port Townsend City Council
RE: PUBLIC COMMENT: Jefferson County Fairgrounds Homeless Encampment
Dear Members of Port Townsend City Council and Board of County Commissioners,
We stand before you today (via this letter) concerning the homeless encampment at the
Jefferson County Fairgrounds. We would like this letter read into the record.
Over the past several months, you have received numerous letters and emails from residents on
this matter. We have made calls and had onsite meetings with leadership and Fairgrounds staff
all in an effort to inform you of the escalating problems associated with this encampment. We
have tried to be part of the solution, bringing forward alternative options and locations.
Homelessness affects a broad range of people. There are the individuals and families that have
fallen on hard times during a very hard time for us all. These people are good citizens who will
obey shelter rules and honor the gift of care they are being provided. Thank you for supporting
them. Then there are the homeless/substance-abusers that remain at the Fairgrounds because
they won’t obey shelter rules. They remain, apparently, with no social safety net or management
and they will be facing harsh winter conditions in the exposed North Beach area where the
Fairground is located. Your 5-year Homeless Housing Plan, passed November 18, 2019, directs
you to address these long standing community needs. What are you going to do for these
people?
Your apparent inaction is a type of action, and we are all the victims of it, including the people
who are struggling with homelessness. If nothing is done, the neighborhood will continue to be
inflicted with property crime, frightening public disturbances, and constrained by the lack of
safety in our once pleasant walkable neighborhood. This encampment also makes the Fairground
dysfunctional for any other public uses. After one night in the craziness of the campgrounds,
tourists move on and the Fairground’s reputation becomes sullied. Another season of this
encampment reinforces the collective notion that the Fairground is the de facto place for
homeless/substance-abusers to live in perpetuity.
Your inaction becomes the action that will cause hundreds of families that surround the
Fairground to lose peace, safety and security, and the larger community of Jefferson County will
lose an asset that generations of Jefferson County families worked so hard to preserve. Your
inaction also results in the abandonment of the weakest members of society. You have CARES
Act funding to support humane housing options. Please use it accordingly.
None of you would welcome such an encampment into your neighborhood. Why would you
consider it is acceptable for ours? Please help us find a long term solution to this problem.
Sincerely,
Gloria & Gary Wessen George Thomas Brian & Else Young June & Roger Mills
Linda Egan Chris Witkowski Kevin Alexander Jack & Johanna Perkins
Mike Hilt Lisa Greenfield Marga Kapka Aric Branden Spencer
Jerry Johnson Linda Noble Lisa Thomas Glenda Tavernakis
Lisa Frankel Helen Wilson Marianne Sears
Cc: Intergovernmental Collaborative Group
Housing & Homelessness Task Force
Port Townsend City Police