Myself and other community members are growing increasingly angry with our city’s leaders.
I can’t take my kids to a park, walk the Olympic Discovery Trail, shop at Safeway, ride the Olympic Adventure Trail, go to the bank, or take a walk in my neighborhood without coming into contact with the many byproducts of substance abusers and the homeless: piles of trash/junk, fecal matter, abandoned vehicles, and used drug paraphernalia to name a few.
It has become embarrassing, depressing, and unsanitary to live here in Port Angeles.
One has to wonder if this has anything to do with the generous resources that Port Angeles has to offer to these individuals,. I think the resources attract them here and that they stick around for them.
I now understand why some in Sequim do not want the MAT: they don’t want to become another Port Angeles.
Some may think this is just the state of affairs across the state, or the country. I have seen first hand that this is not true: I do not see these things when I travel to Sequim, Port Townsend, Kingston, Silverdale, or to Idaho, Kentucky or Alabama.
What are we doing wrong here in Port Angeles? Why are we coddling these individual’s existence? Our local taxes increase yearly, while our quality of life decreases. We must demand action now. We must vote for better leaders and policies at the next local elections. We must save our city from its current downward spiral.
Michael McGuire
Port Angeles