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Clallamity Jen's avatar

Here’s a great thing to consider when Ozias says: In the case of people living homeless on someone else’s land, the enforcement action would be against the owner, not the person camping. The owner would then need to move the person along.

So, if the land someone is camping on is public land, then, by his rationale, it would be up to the owners of the land to move the person along. And yet, how many city councilmembers continue to push the idea that moving a homeless person doesn’t solve the problem, it only moves it somewhere else.

Well, apparently that is what the owners of the land have a right to do — move the person along, according to Ozias.

Granted, Jake Seegers addressed this issue by showing that the law uses the word occupancy, not ownership. Like the case of a local property where the owner has passed away and now the squatters have taken over. No owner doesn’t mean public health hazards can go ignored when the land is occupied, not just owned.

And just like I pointed out in my Clallamity Jen article today; the commissioners think they have a say over ICE, a federal agency, when it comes to wearing masks, yet they don’t have the same interest in having a say over their own county and the laws that regulate it.

Delusional dolts, that’s who is running this county and it shows.

Steven C. Pelayo, CFA's avatar

I am shocked Ozias wrote this... "it is important to understand that it is not harm reduction that is causing people to live on the street and/or to be addicted to drugs. Rather it is the lack of affordable housing and a decayed social safety net that are leaving people without options."

His framing leaves out a critical piece: personal responsibility.

A lack of affordable housing does not cause addiction. People don’t become addicted to fentanyl because rent is too high. Addiction is a behavioral and medical issue that requires accountability and treatment.

What we’re seeing is the combination of widespread drug availability, reduced enforcement, and systems that offer services without requiring change. When there are no expectations or consequences, behavior doesn’t improve.

Housing matters—but it does not explain open drug use, or the chronic homelessness that refuses services. Many people face high housing costs and do not end up on the street.

If we want better outcomes, the approach has to be balanced: support and housing, yes—but also enforcement, expectations, and accountability.

Without that, we’re not solving the problem—we’re enabling it.

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