Opponents of a camp for the homeless at Cape George have put protest signs on the gate leading to the county property.

Leader photo by Brian Kelly

A proposal to move the homeless camp from the Jefferson County Fairgrounds to county land in Cape George has left residents shocked and angry.

The controversial plan, pushed by County Commissioner Greg Brotherton, also split the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners Monday after the District 3 commissioner insisted the tent city for the homeless be immediately approved, despite a paucity of details about potential impacts of the encampment in a rural location that currently lacks power, water, transit and other services.

A RUSHED PROPOSAL

Brotherton first briefed his fellow commissioners about the idea at their meeting last week.

The early plan centers on moving homeless people who have been living at the county fairgrounds since the early weeks of the pandemic last year to a new location after the moratorium against evictions ends June 30.

Brotherton proposed creating a tent city for the homeless on the former equestrian park in Cape George until a permanent location is ready. About 10 vaccinated homeless could be accommodated at the American Legion shelter in Port Townsend.

A border fence would be installed, and several portable toilets would be brought in, as well as a hand-washing station. Plans have been made to tow functioning and inoperable vehicles and trailers used by campers at the fairgrounds to the new location, Brotherton said.

The Cape George property does not have public transportation, and Brotherton said a twice-a-day shuttle could be set up between Cape George and services in Port Townsend.

Up to 50 people could be residents at the tent city under the county’s rules for temporary homeless camps, Brotherton said.

During Monday’s briefing, other commissioners noted the Cape George site was not close to social services, grocery stores, bus routes or the library.

When asked how the camp would be paid for, Brotherton noted there was not funding in the budget for the project.

The tent city proposal comes as the population of the homeless encampment at the county fairgrounds has reportedly grown in recent weeks, from 30 or so to nearly twice that number, according to one estimate. Many of the new arrivals are from Clallam County, according to people familiar with the homeless living at the fairgrounds.

The siting of a homeless camp at the fairgrounds — a property rimmed by dense residential neighborhoods — has been controversial since the start. Neighbors have long complained of late-night noise and disturbances at the campgrounds, trash left on residential streets, and a rise in drug use and other crime-related police calls due to the homeless encampment.

At the commissioners meeting June 7 where his proposal was announced, Brotherton noted another incident of a homeless camper overdosing on drugs.

IMMEDIATE OUTCRY

By the time the tent city plan came before the county’s Affordable Housing Task Force last Wednesday, word of the plan had circulated in Cape George and residents began to rally against the tent city proposal.

More than a dozen residents wrote emails opposing the plan.

“Your proposal to move the homeless out of the city fairgrounds and move them to the county, rural neighborhoods off Cape George Road is simply unacceptable. Do your job and address the issue! Don’t just ‘kick the can down the road,’” Cape George resident Basha Berl said in an email to Brotherton.

“There is no public transportation, no shower/bathroom facilities not to mention it is in the middle of some of the finest neighborhoods in the county! What could you possibly be thinking? Out of sight out of mind is not a solution. DO YOUR JOB,” Berl added.

“I do not believe it will end up being temporary,” wrote Steve Gimber of Cape George.

“You have been having meetings since September looking for other alternatives and you have not found any. Once you move the people out of town and out of sight, there will be little incentive to find another place.”

He also pointed out the lack of water, sewer, public services, and cellphone coverage.

“How will people wash and clean themselves and their clothing and their eating utensils? Where will they get water to drink? How will they relieve themselves?” Gimber asked. “There is no transportation to health services, counseling, and other support. What if someone is hurt and needs to go to the ER? In town they can walk.”

Cheryl Hanan of Cape George said campers would create a fire hazard with campfires and cigarette smoking.

“I cannot believe that the people chosen to represent us are making such a dangerous, stupid decision,” Hanan wrote.

“We had a fire that almost reached Beckett Point houses a few years back and you cannot tell me that we aren’t going to have campfires and cigarette smoking going on - a fire hazard and reckless decision.”

Hanan called out Brotherton personally and said he should spend time living at the fairgrounds to see what goes on in a homeless encampment.

The proposal was “absolutely reckless,” she said. “Thanks, Brotherton. You have made a lot of enemies with your reckless stupidity.”

EXTENSIVE OPPOSITION

The new location for the homeless encampment was nearly universally decried at last week’s task force meeting.

Cape George resident Paul Happel decried the lack of public notice on the proposal.

“The present encampment at the fairgrounds at least has the basic facilities and infrastructure to handle the clientele of homeless. It is also close to Port Townsend so the clientele can access the town and its facilities as well as health care if needed.

“It is just wrong to just drop a homeless camp in the middle of a clear cut as an encampment with out any infrastructure or facilities,” Happel added.

Doug Lind of Cape George wrote: “It appears your only justification is to get them out of the fairgrounds. Provide a couple of porto potties and sweep them under the carpet.”

“How would these people be supervised for law enforcement?” asked resident Gina McMather.

“I am aware of the problems that have been occurring at the fairgrounds as I have a good friend who lives a block away from there. To move those problems to a rural residential area puts many vulnerable people at risk. I am fearful for my safety and that of my neighbors,” she added.

Lana Mulder called the tent-city proposal “folly.”

“This is a waste of resources that could be and should be used for finding a better resolution for the homeless to be where there are resources for them rather than in the country with a proposed fence with no access to any help,” Mulder wrote. “This is a complete disaster for all concerned and shame on all of you for trying to slide this through instead of being open about the options you have been looking at.”

Dave Drewry of Peninsula Sportsman noted his business and property have shared a property line with the county.

“Over the years we have endured a substantial clear-cut, consistent illegal dumping, shooting, wildfires, crime and trespass from the adjacent property as Jefferson County has consistently proved to be a bad neighbor,” Drewry recalled.

He said neighbors had not been told of the proposal.

“Only now does this community know about the proposal.

“Over the past year, the currently existing fairgrounds camp includes a myriad of vehicles, tents, derelict RVs, pets and homeless with a failing record and reputation for trespass, substance abuse, crime and overdose. The idea to simply drop these people in a small gravel pit off road in the woods, away from town with no living resources and no social welfare access, is a certain disaster for the camp and surrounding residents,” Drewry wrote.

“I can assure you that our family and our neighbors will not accept this terribly inadequate proposal without a fight and that is certainly not what is best for the homeless community,” he added.

Cape George resident Susan McKay added: “You are moving way too fast.”

“The committee knew that this would be a controversial proposal. By pushing the proposal through without adequate public education and opportunity for public comment, the message that you are sending me is that the thoughts and questions of the residents of the Cape George Road ... do not matter,” McKay said. “Maybe you thought that you could hide the encampment and no one would notice it.”

THE PUSH TO MOVE

Brotherton continued his push to have the homeless camp moved from the county fairgrounds in Port Townsend to Cape George during Monday’s meeting of the board of county commissioners.

Commissioners, however, heard extensive public comment against the idea.

There had already been a suicide last month at that location, Peter R. Langley said in an email to the commissioners, and now they wanted “to hide more trouble there.”

“No water, no septic, no power. No phones,” he added. “You need to take responsibility for the problem and not just sprinkle pixie dust on it and hope it goes away.”

“This is an awful idea,” added Bobbie Hasselbring.

“This is a rural area filled with families and retirees. It has no infrastructure — no social services, no transportation, not even any grocery stores. It is ill-equipped to house people who have no transportation and who require mental health, addiction and other services,” Hasselbring continued. “Basically, Mr. Brotherton is suggesting putting these homeless people out into the country where few will see them.”

Some said if the commissioners wanted to move the encampment out of the fairgrounds, that they should put it in their own neighborhood.

“Drug problems, thefts, crime of all types. Keep it where it is and swallow it,” Wayne Parker said in an email to commissioners.

“Please take a tarp and sleeping bag and live at that location for a week,” Lisa Stoutmoose said of the Cape George site.

“No toilet, water, shower, food, transportation, internet. Then get back to us,” Stoutmoose added. “Trying to hide the homeless for tourist season is cruel. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.”

“I lived in a community that built a fenced, monitored ‘temporary’ homeless encampment five years ago,” added Moira Dossi.

“It was a stopgap measure that was supposed to last six months. It’s still a homeless encampment. And with it the accompanying trash, syringes with needles, crack pipes, feces, vermin, etc. Fires were constantly being extinguished by fire crews and this was in an urban, paved area. Fires in the proposed setting could be disastrous.”

IMPORTANT INFO LACKING

But Commissioner Kate Dean and Commissioner Heidi Eisenhour repeatedly said that Brotherton had not shared enough details on the move.

Information on actual costs had not been provided, they said.

“I still am not convinced that the risks of this site are worth the benefit,” Dean said.

She said she wanted to better understand what’s at stake, and said the county really needed to drill down on the potential costs.

Dean also said she was worried about accidents or other law enforcement issues that could come up, with people put at risk due to longer response times.

Even so, it wasn’t an outright rejection of the idea, she added.

“I don’t want to put the kibosh on it,” Dean said.

Dean said more information was also needed the potential purchase of a 14-acre site in Port Townsend that the county would use as a “housing hub” for the homeless, a project that would include services, temporary housing and a camping site.

She wondered if there was a way to keep the homeless camp at the fairgrounds for a short extension of time.

Brotherton, however, said time was running out and the homeless campers at the fairgrounds face a June 30 eviction by the fair association.

He said he had promised “stakeholders” — which include residents in the neighborhoods around the fairgrounds who have endured ongoing negative impacts from the encampment, as well as the campers — that the camp would be moved as soon as possible.

“To me, it’s personal,” Brotherton said.

“To go back on that word is unconscionable to me,” he said.

Dean noted that the county is planning to spend “a huge chunk” of federal COVID-19 relief funds, as well as capital funding, to purchase property for housing the homeless.

That’s different, she said, than saying, “Sorry ... you’re just on your own now.”

Brotherton said the county had done its due diligence on moving the camp to Cape George, and repeatedly accused Dean of being disingenuous.

Eisenhour stressed the financial impact still lacked details

“I still want to know how much it’s going to cost for a year. I don’t know what I am voting on or not voting on,” Eisenhour said.

Brotherton said the financial impacts were known, and that the costs of services would remain the same as what’s currently being spent at the fairgrounds.

For other costs, such as supplying water, electricity, and garbage disposal, he offered vague estimates.

Supplying electricity to the site would cost about $35,000, he said.

Brotherton said he expected Jefferson Transit to absorb the cost of providing transportation to the Cape George camp.

Dean suggested holding a meeting with the sheriff and fire marshal to get feedback on the proposal. And the back-and-forth between commissioners became personal at times.

Eisenhour noted the whole idea had only come up last week, and many questions had been raised.

“It’s just due diligence. It’s not me trying to come down on you, Greg,” she said.

“I need to know more. This is a big decision,” Eisenhour said.

Brotherton would not relent. He recalled trying to get other agencies to assist with finding a site, with no help. Other locations were considered but found lacking.

“This is not a great solution. I agree,” Brotherton said, and again noted the June 30 date as the end of the moratorium against evictions.

“There are not other sites,” he said. “We don’t have time to have a series of meetings about this.”

“That is not our deadline,” Dean said of June 30.

“That is our deadline,” Brotherton shot back. “Are we going to take this problem on our shoulders or not?”

“To say we should have some meetings is insulting,” he added, and accused his fellow commissioners of undermining the work he had done on the county’s behalf.

“You can’t expect us to make a decision with very little information and significant risk,” Dean replied.

“What risk is there?” Brotherton asked.

“Life/safety risk,” Dean said. “Fire and law enforcement response times.”

MISSING THE BASICS

Brotherton said the Cape George location was within 3 miles of Port Townsend, and said there was no more safety risk than the one currently with the fairgrounds encampment.

He added that the sheriff had told him that the Cape George location would not be problematic, and Brotherton also noted a fire station that was nearby.

While the proposed location was not perfect, the county needed to move quickly, he added.

“We are already behind the eight ball on this,” he said.

Still, Eisenhour and Dean would not commit.

“I would like to see a budget. The basics. I know you outlined it,” Eisenhour told Brotherton.

“I feel like you’re angry with us because we’re not just saying yes, Greg. And I can’t just say yes,” she said.

“You guys have avoided eye contact with me all day because you don’t want to say yes. I’m frustrated,” Brotherton replied.

“In two weeks what are we going to do if not this?” he asked.

Dean again noted the lack of information on Brotherton’s proposal and said the solution may be getting a short extension from the fair board on keeping the encampment at the fairgrounds.

She said she did not want to sink a lot of county money into a location that may not be safe.

Dean noted there had been one fatality already and the county would face enormous legal liability if it knowingly put people in harm’s way.

Brotherton accused his fellow commissioners of breaking the concept of a “working board,” and said the costs would likely be no more than $75,000.

“That’s the first time I’ve had this number,” Eisenhour said

“I understand your impatience. I’m just asking very basic questions. I’m trying to understand what I’m being asked to decide,” she said.

Dean again called for another meeting on the proposal rather than an immediate decision and accused Brotherton of “brinksmanship.”

“I would never bring one solution to you guys to consider a yes or no,” she said.

“You’re doing the same thing by forcing our hand when we’re asking for more information,” she told Brotherton. “I don’t feel like that’s in good faith, either. We need information. We don’t have all the information.”

“My frustration is that we just don’t have any time,” Brotherton said.

“I’ve been looking for other locations and just can’t find them,” he said. “It’s not acceptable to me to just not do anything and I feel that’s the direction we’re heading.

“There’s an urgency here that needs quick decision-making,” Brotherton said.

In the end, he didn’t get it.

Commissioners decided instead to continue their review of the proposal at a special meeting set for Thursday, June 17.