PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County’s board of commissioners have voted unanimously to reassert their support for the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s proposed medication-assisted treatment clinic in Sequim.
The board agreed Monday it would draft and send a letter of support, to be signed by Chair Greg Brotherton, to city of Sequim officials that could serve as official testimony in a now-canceled appeals hearing before the city’s appointed hearings examiner.
The commissioners still plan to send that letter, Brotherton said Tuesday, but not until the issue of jurisdiction that led to the hearing’s cancelation is resolved.
Second letter
The letter would be the second submitted by the commissioners in support of the tribe’s planned clinic, which would provide medical services to residents of Jefferson and Clallam counties with opioid-use disorder to reduce cravings, treat withdrawals and prevent overdoses.
In a letter dated Aug. 26, 2019, the commissioners applauded the tribe’s plans and encouraged the city of Sequim to maintain support for the project.
“While there will always be community members who use fear and misinformation to stoke public opposition to expanded MAT access,” the commissioners wrote, “we want the Sequim City Council to know that Jefferson County strongly supports this effort.”
While the hearing was set to address six appeals to the tribe’s building permit application, Commissioner Kate Dean said she asked that the county’s letter of support stress “the need for serving the regional population with medically assisted treatments and not focus on land use.”
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Jefferson County senior reporter Nicholas Johnson can be reached by phone at 360-417-3509 or by email at njohnson@peninsuladailynews.com.
