## Meeting Overview The Port Angeles City Council held a unique multi-part meeting on Tuesday, March 17, 2026 - St. Patrick's Day. The session began at 4:30 PM with a council photo opportunity, followed by mandatory annual training on the Open Public Meetings Act, Public Records Act, and ethics. The regular meeting commenced at 6:00 PM with an unprecedented agenda: seven detailed presentations on housing, homelessness, and community services, reflecting the city's deep engagement with these critical issues. Mayor Kate Dexter presided over the meeting, with all seven council members present. The evening carried special significance as it marked the final meeting for longtime City Attorney William Bloor, who was retiring after more than 20 years of service beginning in May 2004. The meeting attracted an unusually large audience, with extensive public comment focused on homelessness and camping policies, followed by comprehensive presentations from community service organizations. ## Annual Ethics and Open Government Training Senior Legal Assistant Jane Roberts led the required training, beginning with a disclaimer that she was "the chosen sacrifice this evening" and could not provide legal advice. The training covered three critical areas of public service compliance. **Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA)** Roberts emphasized that Washington's definition of a "meeting" is deceptively broad: "meetings means meetings - that's not gonna help us a lot." The key components are quorum (four council members for Port Angeles) plus action. "Action is actually a really huge category," Roberts explained. "Simply discussing a topic is actually an action. This is not super intuitive." The training highlighted the danger of serial meetings - when council members inadvertently create a chain of communications about city business without proper public notice. "If you have a difficult topic up for council discussion and you want to know what one of your fellow council members is thinking, and so you call up one other person and discuss the topic," Roberts illustrated, continuing the chain through grocery store encounters and emails until "a meeting has happened and none of it has been public." **Ethics Requirements** Roberts stressed the severity of contract conflicts: "If you stand to benefit directly or indirectly from a contract, that is prohibited and there are serious penalties - you can lose your office for violating this." The key principle is proximity to decision-making power and personal benefit. "If you can draw a line from the decision that council makes to approve the contract for the city to some personal benefit that you might derive... that is a problem." Council members cannot accept anything of value related to their service. "Even if it's just a little thing that you're receiving, still a problem," Roberts warned. "If you think that someone is giving you things or buying you coffee or giving little treats because of your position on council, then you need to refuse." For remote interests - where council members have minimal control but might benefit somehow - disclosure and recusal during discussion is required, but members don't forfeit their seats. **Public Records Act** Roberts explained the broad scope using the acronym POOR: records that are prepared, owned, used, or retained by the agency and related to government conduct. "We have some of the most transparent public records laws in the country," she noted, with only five days to respond to requests. Council members must immediately forward potential records requests to City Clerk Kari Martinez-Bailey. "As soon as you receive anything that looks like it maybe a public records request, just send it to Carrie and make it her problem," Roberts advised. "These are actually hot potatoes" because of the tight response timeline. For council members using personal devices or accounts for city business, they must participate in records searches when requests arrive, providing records on thumb drives with sworn affidavits of complete searches. **Council Questions and Discussion** Council Member Drew Navarra inquired about automated social media archiving software to help council members comply with records retention requirements for their Facebook and other social media accounts. The current process requires manual screenshots of all posts, making social media participation burdensome. Council members asked detailed questions about what constitutes public records (including handwritten notes taken during meetings), serial meeting scenarios (including lunch meetings with multiple colleagues), and retention requirements for personal device communications about city business. ## Retirement Recognition for City Attorney William Bloor Before regular business, Mayor Dexter acknowledged that this would be Attorney Bloor's final council meeting after beginning service in May 2004. Bloor reflected on his tenure with evident emotion: "I remember the very first city council meeting I attended was in May of 2004... I told them that one of my favorite people in history is Theodore Roosevelt, and one of his highest words of highest acclaim was that he was 'delighted' with something or someone. And I can tell you now I have been delighted to act as your city attorney." He described the position as "the very best job for me in the whole world. I think any attorney would love to have this job. You, all of you collectively - the council, the staff, the citizens - have brought me some of the most intriguing, complex, thought provoking, and absorbing questions that I have ever encountered." The council planned a more formal celebration at a future meeting. ## Transit Employee Appreciation Proclamation Mayor Dexter presented a proclamation recognizing Transit Employee Appreciation Day (March 18) to Jason McKnickel, General Manager of Clallam Transit. The proclamation highlighted Clallam Transit's service area of 1,738 square miles with approximately 100 vehicles, 13 fixed routes, two microtransit routes, and free service. McKnickel noted the timing coincided with new service changes implemented that Monday and praised the drivers' dedication: "Our drivers do spend a great deal of time with different schedules throughout the week that impacts their family. They're working throughout all kinds of weather conditions... but they really do care about you so much so that we've had the safety star award for best medium sized transit agency four times in a row in the last four years." ## Extensive Public Comment on Homelessness and Camping The meeting featured the most extensive public comment period in recent memory, with over a dozen speakers both in person and online addressing homelessness, camping policies, and community responses. The comments revealed deep divisions within the community about appropriate approaches. **Voices Supporting Housing-First Approaches** Multiple speakers read statements from individuals experiencing homelessness, emphasizing the humanity and dignity of unhoused community members. Maxilo read a powerful testimony: "Port Angeles is small enough that everyone sees everything... We are visible, but being visible is not the same as being seen." The statements described the devastating impact of displacement: "When something like that is taken from you, it doesn't feel administrative, it feels devastating... Blue flashing lights in the rain don't create safety for someone who has nowhere else to go." Connie Low continued the testimony: "When policies focus only on clearing spaces, what happens next? People don't disappear, they scatter, they move deeper into wooded areas farther from services, farther from visibility, and often farther from safety." Bradley Calloway presented specific policy recommendations opposing camping bans and supporting designated camping areas, safe parking with sanitation access, and housing-first strategies. He shared statements from long-term county residents experiencing homelessness, including a 48-year-old man who noted: "Camping bans are biased. Rich people in certain neighborhoods are allowed to have people living in RVs. Bans aren't evenly enforced - they just go after us." **Business Community Concerns** Mary Sue French from Cabled Fiber and Yarn described escalating problems in the downtown breezeway, including fires set next to her building. "We came home from our two-week vacation to a fire that had been set going at night next to the wood part of the building," she testified. She described constant cleanup of human waste, drug paraphernalia, and trash, noting safety concerns for customers and staff. Joyce Stewart, representing outreach organizations, advocated for practical solutions like more garbage cans and tent cities, emphasizing that "not every single person who's homeless is a drug user, and the drug users who are homeless - it's not what's wrong with you, it's what happened to you." **Law Enforcement and Policy Perspectives** Stephen Playle challenged the focus on service presentations rather than enforcement: "We've heard presentations from Serenity House and Salvation Army and tonight TAFY, yet these organizations are doing important work... But they're also not responsible for running the city. That's city hall." He called for reports from department heads on how parks, public works, and police are dealing with vandalism, theft, and property crime, stating: "I want to challenge our city manager Nathan... The status quo is unacceptable." Lori Mittman distinguished between service provision and public safety: "The current safety and environmental crisis is associated with a small percentage of the homeless who refuse assistance and want to continue with their lifestyle of drug use and crime, and that's what is affecting the rest of us." **Legal and Legislative Considerations** Adam Gross warned about pending state legislation: "House Bill 2489 is moving through the Washington State legislature. This bill will negate any camping bans established by municipalities in Washington State. You pass a ban and by June 1st, before the ink is even dry on it, it may be a moot point and it may open the city up for liability." **Personal Stories of Resilience** Christina Davis shared her own experience becoming homeless while caring for her mother with dementia: "The difference between myself and our unhoused neighbors is access and privilege. The same could easily happen to any of us in this room." ## Peninsula Housing Authority Presentation Executive Director Sarah Martinez provided a comprehensive overview of the Peninsula Housing Authority's structure and services. As a public body corporate and politic created under state statute, PHA serves both Clallam and Jefferson counties after consolidating in 2001. **Housing Programs and Impact** The authority manages over 550 owned or managed properties: 96 units in Forks, 421 units in Port Angeles, and 40 units in Port Hadlock. Most properties serve people at or below 80% of area median income, with many requiring even lower income levels. "We have programs that work with individuals that have no income," Martinez explained. "If you are somebody that has no income, the subsidy will pay your rent while you work to find income, whatever source that might be." The authority's largest program is Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher, distributing about $6.6 million annually in housing assistance payments. Other programs include Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH), emergency housing vouchers, and the mutual self-help homeownership program. **Development Projects** Martinez outlined current development efforts, including a 24-unit project at East 7th Avenue and Gales that is 85% funded, with construction planned to begin by October 2026. The authority also plans a 60-unit senior housing project at Mount Angeles View, representing a significant expansion of services for vulnerable older adults. The mutual self-help program has constructed about 125 houses since 2004, requiring families to contribute 32 hours weekly of labor on their own and neighbors' homes, creating small communities within the larger community. **Council Questions** Council Member John asked about density priorities in development decisions. Martinez explained that funding sources typically dictate project types, with mutual self-help limited to single-family homes while other programs support multi-family development. Council Member Latricia Miller inquired about transitional housing capacity and organizational capacity constraints. Martinez noted the authority primarily provides permanent housing solutions, working with partner agencies like OlyCAP and Serenity House for case management when needed. With only 35 employees, capacity remains a challenge for the small agency competing for limited state funding. ## Serenity House Presentation Executive Director Sharon Maggard, who assumed leadership in April 2020, presented comprehensive data on Clallam County's homeless response system. Serenity House serves as the state-designated homeless response agency for the county, operating from Blyn to Neah Bay. **Service Delivery and Scale** The organization served 4,749 people in 2025 across multiple programs: 2,525 through coordinated entry, 1,856 in adult and family shelter, 113 in youth programs, and 80 in permanent supportive housing. The adult shelter operates 24/7, providing 47,000 meals annually along with showers, laundry, and clothing services. "We are 24/7 and we serve 47,000 meals a year out of the shelter," Maggard noted. The organization owns and operates three permanent supportive housing sites with 61 units total, restricted for permanent supportive housing use until at least 2050. **Financial Impact and Community Benefits** Serenity House brings approximately $5 million annually into the community through various channels: - $1.34 million to landlords and utilities - $2.87 million in employee salaries and benefits for 70 staff members - $238,000 in sub-contracts to other nonprofits - $931,676 in food, supplies, and contractor payments About 40% of employees come directly from homeless programs or shelter residents, providing employment pathways for people experiencing homelessness. **Cost Effectiveness** Maggard highlighted significant cost savings compared to alternatives: "Hotel cost $119/night versus Adult Shelter & Meals cost is $38.24/night. Assisted Living $5,495/month versus Permanent supportive housing $1,306/month." The thrift store provides 10% of agency income while supplying clothing and furniture to help people transition to permanent housing, reducing requests for government funding. **Point-in-Time Count Trends** Preliminary 2026 data showed 337 individuals experiencing homelessness (compared to 331 in 2025), with concerning demographic shifts. The senior homeless population (over 55) has grown 30% since 2023, representing a major challenge for service providers. The count showed 138 unsheltered individuals, 157 in shelter, with most unsheltered individuals being men aged 25-54. However, the growing population of homeless seniors requires different service approaches and specialized care. **Federal Policy Challenges** Maggard addressed significant federal policy changes from HUD in December 2025 that threatened to reclassify permanent supportive housing as temporary housing, potentially destabilizing the entire system by requiring people to move every two years. The Washington State Attorney General filed an injunction that is currently in court. "This reclassifies all people in those programs to homeless, removes them from PSH housing in 2 years, [and] increases the costs for each agency," Maggard explained. This change would particularly impact the aging homeless population who need stable housing for disability-related care. **City Partnership Requests** Maggard praised the Port Angeles Police and Fire Departments for their consistent support and requested city assistance with utility costs for shelter operations (approximately $75,000 annually) and replacement of solar panels and roof at Maloney Heights ($200,000 project). She encouraged community members to join the "Advocate" program at $15 monthly, with a goal of 3,000 community advocates to address annual funding shortfalls. ## Strategic Plan Update Adoption Although originally planned for extensive discussion, the council moved quickly through adoption of updates to the 2025-2026 Strategic Plan based on their February 24 work session. Through previous consensus, council had directed staff to remove two items (Neighborhood Association Proposal and Develop Funding-Ready Community Solar Projects) and add seven items including Criminal Justice Services, Joint Public Safety Facility, Camping and Encampment, Enhanced Tribal Consultation, Re-writing Council Rules of Procedure, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe Sewer Project, and Senior Center Memorandum of Understanding Implementation. ## Consent Agenda and Equipment Purchases The council efficiently processed routine business, approving the consent agenda including: - Meeting minutes from February 24 - Expenditure report totaling $2,884,189.57 - City Council Chambers audio system refresh ($69,548.90) - Light operations temporary building lease extension - Police Department mobile data terminal replacements Council Member Navarra added two items to consent: portable radio purchases and 24-hour public restroom procurement. ## Additional Presentations - Overview Due to the extensive nature of the meeting and time constraints approaching 8:00 PM, several additional presentations were delivered in abbreviated form: **TAFY (Teen and Family Yarrow)** presented their community outreach and direct service work, including their sprouting hope greenhouse, community gardens, food pantries, and support for at-risk youth and families. They shared survey data from 25 participants about safe camping and parking needs, with strong support for structured, managed spaces with basic amenities. **Port Angeles Waterfront District** detailed ongoing challenges with camping in the downtown core, including specific locations where camping regularly occurs and safety concerns for businesses and customers. Executive Director Sam Grello emphasized the need for coordinated responses that balance compassion with public safety and business viability. **Olympic Peninsula Community Clinic** reported on their REdisCOVERY program serving over 11,000 individuals with 81,877 total encounters in 2025, highlighting the scale of behavioral health and substance use challenges in the community. **First United Methodist Church** showcased their long-standing community service programs, including the Friday Night Dinner program serving 85-105 patrons weekly since 1992, and their support for safe parking initiatives and behavioral health services. **Olympic Community Action Programs (OlyCAP)** presented the most sobering data of the evening, focusing on the regional need for skilled nursing and dementia care for aging adults experiencing homelessness. Director Viola Ware reported that 43% of documented homeless individuals in Clallam County are over 55, with 68 of those unsheltered. The presentation called for regional coordination between Clallam and Jefferson counties to address this growing crisis. ## Closing and What's Ahead The meeting concluded near 10:00 PM after more than five hours of presentations and discussion. The extensive agenda reflected the city's commitment to understanding the full scope of housing and homelessness challenges from multiple perspectives - service providers, business community, law enforcement, and individuals with lived experience. The presentations will inform a comprehensive work session scheduled for April 7 at 4:30 PM, where council will deliberate on potential policy directions. The evening demonstrated both the complexity of homelessness issues and the community's deep engagement with finding sustainable solutions. The meeting also highlighted ongoing tensions between immediate public safety concerns and longer-term systemic approaches, between business community needs and humanitarian responses, and between local policy options and state and federal constraints. These tensions will undoubtedly shape council deliberations in the coming months as they work toward policy decisions that balance compassion, public safety, fiscal responsibility, and legal compliance. The volume of public testimony and the diversity of organizational presentations underscored that homelessness and housing affordability have become defining issues for Port Angeles, requiring sustained attention and collaborative solutions across all sectors of the community.

### Meeting Overview The Port Angeles City Council held a special hybrid meeting on March 17, 2026, beginning with council photos and mandatory training on the Open Public Meetings Act, Public Records Act, and ethics. The regular meeting focused heavily on homelessness and housing issues, featuring extensive public comment and presentations from seven organizations involved in addressing these challenges. ### Key Terms and Concepts **Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA):** Washington state law requiring that government business be conducted transparently with proper public notice and access, with specific requirements for what constitutes a "meeting" (quorum + action). **Serial Meeting:** A violation of OPMA that occurs when a quorum of council members discusses city business through a chain of private conversations, even if they never meet together in person. **Public Records Request:** A formal request for government documents under Washington's Public Records Act, which must be responded to within five business days and covers most city-created documents. **Executive Session:** A closed portion of a public meeting where council can discuss limited topics like litigation, real estate transactions, or personnel matters, but must still be publicly noticed. **Ethics Violations:** Illegal activities by elected officials including accepting gifts related to their position, having direct financial interests in city contracts, or using their position for personal gain. **Coordinated Entry:** The centralized system that manages homelessness services in Clallam County, determining who gets access to housing programs and support services. **Point-in-Time Count:** An annual count of people experiencing homelessness, conducted in January, used by federal and state agencies to determine funding allocations. **Housing Choice Voucher/Section 8:** Federal housing assistance program that helps low-income individuals and families afford rental housing in the private market. ### Key People at This Meeting | Name | Role / Affiliation | |---|---| | Kate Dexter | Mayor | | Deputy Mayor Carr | Deputy Mayor | | Drew Novara | Council Member | | Amy Hamilton | Council Member | | John Hodgeson | Council Member | | Scott Miller | Council Member | | Mike Schwab | Council Member | | Latricia Suggs | Council Member | | Nathan West | City Manager | | Calvin Goings | Deputy City Manager | | Bill Bloor | City Attorney (retiring) | | Kari Martinez-Bailey | City Clerk | | Jane Roberts | Senior Legal Assistant (training presenter) | | Sarah Martinez | Executive Director, Peninsula Housing Authority | | Sharon Maggard | Executive Director, Serenity House | | Susan Hilgren | Executive Director, TAFY | | Sam Grello | Executive Director, Port Angeles Waterfront District | | Scott Brandon | Chief Executive Officer, Olympic Peninsula Community Clinic | | Bennie Grace Nabua | Pastor, First United Methodist Church | | Viola Ware | Director of Housing and Community Development, Olympic Community Action Programs | ### Background Context Port Angeles is grappling with a significant homelessness crisis, evidenced by the extensive public testimony and multiple presentations from service organizations. The city has been conducting a series of informational sessions with various agencies to better understand the scope of available services and identify gaps. This represents part of a broader strategic planning process focused on housing and community resilience. The meeting occurred against the backdrop of potential policy changes, including discussion of camping ordinances and ongoing state-level regulatory changes affecting permanent supportive housing. Multiple speakers emphasized the need for coordinated regional approaches rather than city-by-city responses to what they characterized as a regional problem. The lengthy public comment period revealed deep community divisions, with some residents and business owners expressing frustration about safety and cleanliness issues downtown, while advocates for unhoused individuals emphasized the need for compassionate, evidence-based solutions rather than enforcement-focused approaches. ### What Happened — The Short Version The meeting began with required annual training for council members on open meetings, public records, and ethics laws. Senior Legal Assistant Jane Roberts explained the rules around what constitutes a meeting, how to handle public records requests, and ethical requirements for elected officials. The main portion focused on homelessness and housing issues. Twenty-five people spoke during public comment, representing both unhoused individuals (through advocates reading their statements) and business owners expressing concerns about camping, safety, and cleanliness downtown. Many speakers opposed potential camping restrictions, while others called for stronger enforcement. Seven organizations then presented their work: Peninsula Housing Authority (affordable housing development), Serenity House (homeless services and shelter), TAFY (youth and family services), Port Angeles Waterfront District (downtown business advocacy), Olympic Peninsula Community Clinic (mobile healthcare), First United Methodist Church (food and safe parking programs), and Olympic Community Action Programs (regional coordination and specialized needs like dementia care for homeless seniors). The presentations highlighted both the extensive network of existing services and significant gaps, particularly in permanent housing options and regional coordination between Clallam and Jefferson counties. ### What to Watch Next - April 7 work session on homelessness and housing strategies starting at 4:30 PM - Potential action on camping/encampment ordinances based on the strategic plan discussion - Updates on Peninsula Housing Authority's 24-unit Eklund at Gales project seeking additional county funding - Progress on safe parking program at First United Methodist Church - Regional coordination efforts between Clallam and Jefferson counties on specialized care needs ---

**Q:** What are the two essential components that define a "meeting" under the Open Public Meetings Act? **A:** Quorum (majority of council members) plus action (including discussions, deliberations, reviews, or evaluations). **Q:** How many council members constitute a quorum for Port Angeles City Council? **A:** Four members (majority of the seven-member council). **Q:** What is a "serial meeting" and why is it problematic? **A:** When council members discuss city business through a chain of private conversations that collectively involve a quorum, violating the requirement for public meetings. **Q:** Within how many days must the city respond to a public records request? **A:** Five business days, though they can provide a reasonable timeline for complex requests or ask for clarification. **Q:** What happens if an elected official has a direct financial interest in a city contract? **A:** The contract is prohibited and the official must choose between resigning their position or the city forgoing the contract; recusal is not sufficient. **Q:** Who is the city's public records officer? **A:** Kari Martinez-Bailey, who serves as both city clerk and public records officer. **Q:** How many people experiencing homelessness were counted in Clallam County's 2026 Point-in-Time Count? **A:** 337 people (preliminary count), up from 331 the previous year. **Q:** What percentage of Serenity House shelter residents are now over age 55? **A:** About 30%, representing a significant increase in senior homelessness. **Q:** How many housing units does Peninsula Housing Authority own or manage across both counties? **A:** Just over 550 units (96 in Forks, 421 in Port Angeles, 40 in Port Hadlock). **Q:** What is the annual economic impact of Serenity House operations in the community? **A:** About $5 million annually through payroll, landlord payments, and local purchasing. **Q:** How much does it cost per day to operate Serenity House shelter compared to a hotel room? **A:** $38.24 per day for shelter including meals, versus $119 per night for just a hotel room. **Q:** How many people does Serenity House serve annually in Clallam County? **A:** About 4,700 people, representing roughly 6% of the county's population. **Q:** What is the occupancy rate for downtown Port Angeles buildings according to the Waterfront District? **A:** 93% occupancy downstairs, 51% upstairs, with about 277 total housing units downtown. **Q:** How many businesses operate in downtown Port Angeles? **A:** About 252 businesses, all small businesses with no corporate chains, supporting at least 252 families. **Q:** What upcoming deadline affects Peninsula Housing Authority's Eklund at Gales project? **A:** May 1, 2026 deadline for Federal Home Loan Bank grant application worth $500,000. **Q:** What major federal policy change is affecting permanent supportive housing programs? **A:** HUD wants to reclassify permanent supportive housing as "temporary housing," requiring people to move out after two years. **Q:** How many meals does Serenity House serve annually? **A:** About 47,000 meals per year through their 24/7 shelter operations. **Q:** What regional coordination challenge was highlighted by Olympic Community Action Programs? **A:** Need for skilled nursing and memory care for aging homeless adults, requiring coordination between Clallam and Jefferson counties. **Q:** When will the comprehensive work session on homelessness and housing be held? **A:** April 7, 2026, starting at 4:30 PM. **Q:** What percentage of Olympic Peninsula Community Clinic's activities occur outside their clinic building? **A:** 86% of their activities occur outside the clinic through street outreach and mobile services. ---