After attending the Aug. 8 presentation by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, followed by a lengthy comment session, I wanted to compliment everyone there for a useful and civil meeting on a difficult subject.
But I was dismayed to receive in the mail a large postcard from the Save Our Sequim group, obviously composed before the informational meeting, and full of fear-mongering, inaccuracies, and misleading information, for example:
“GIANT 25,000 sq. ft. Methadone Distribution Facility.”
It would not be a Methadone Distribution Facility, but a medication-assisted treatment facility, administering one of three different drugs and including individual and group therapy, and other medical and dental services.
Regarding a “GIANT 25,000 sq. ft.” facility, that would include the Phase I clinic and the Phase 2 inpatient psychiatric unit in a structure slightly bigger than half an acre.
The presentation provided these and many other facts, including that the treatment will be voluntary, with patients contracting to return home at night, that they will start with a small number of patients and check for any security problems, they are working with our sheriff’s office, etc.
I wish SOS had waited to attend the meeting and ask their questions before sending out their postcard and scaring people needlessly.
The meeting showed that the tribe intends for this to be an excellent program, and that they will be attentive to accurate community concerns along the way.
Rebecca Morgan,
Sequim