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Arrested Economic Development: Can Sequim Survive Washington Government?

I am republishing this old blog post, originally published on May 30, 2016.

I was asked for a source regarding comments I made on the website BestPlaces and the source material is in this post that I unpublished. I have not altered anything in this post other than adding this beginning introduction. Therefore, if any of the source links are no longer working that is beyond my control. As a trained guardian of records and former court reporter I respect verbatim citations and always provide them. ~ Eve JenExx Penman 3/21/2019 ~


Isn't it amazing what new information you can discover for yourself when you research something and read? 

For instance, during tonight's research I discovered that the Clallam County Economic Development Council, a private non-profit organization advocating for commerce in Clallam County, has a working draft Strategic Direction 2014-2018 Report in which they make a bold statement. 

How bold a statement is it? It is so bold, upon reading it all I could hear in my head was John Travolta telling me that it is a bold statement. Now, that's a bold statement.
On Page 5 of the EDC's report at the bottom begins the section entitled Challenges and Constraints (or in other words -- Opportunities).  The fifth bullet point down, which is at the top of Page 6, states as follows: 
The tax and regulatory environment, both state and federal, make it increasingly difficult to sustain historic County natural resource-based industries, and create significant obstacles to expansion, and even survival, of business in general.

See, I told you it's a bold statement. 

When the local economic development council is saying that taxes and regulations from both state and federal agencies are creating difficulties for businesses to not only grow and expand, but to survive in general in Clallam County, it is finally time to get out of denial and recognize the obscene fact that businesses in Washington State are being run out of business by their own leaders in government.

And after that, then maybe, just maybe, people will start to recognize that government is not here to help the people. On the contrary, government is here to help themselves to the money that the people earn on their time...time which people will never ever ever get back, ever.
Pardon me for not painting a rosier picture of the reality I see around me and that has now been confirmed through the local EDC. 

The EDC's report isn't about the world at large, or America, or another state, or some other area of Washington State. The report is a reflection of the county where I live, my home base of operations; and even though I do not want to be here forever, I am here now and want to see this place grow in business, commerce, and thriving lives.

When I look around the Sequim area, I see so much potential for growth with the empty strip malls, store fronts, and business space; it truly confuses and saddens me why there isn't more growth going on for all the needs that are not being met in this area. 

But, is it really all because of Washington State's and DC's overwhelming taxation and regulations? That is what I have suspected all along since returning to this state in 2012, and after reading this report I don't know what else it could be; do you? Granted, more research may give me new answers, so the possibility of hope is there that something else is causing the arrested economic development of the Sequim area, even though the realist in me suspects there is no hope where government is involved. 

In a digressive conclusion, I ponder: 
1. Is Clallam County and the Sequim area forever doomed to dwindle away under business-crushing taxation and regulations from government bureau'rats...with nobody saying anything or taking a stand against it? 

2. And if the majority of people here don't care and don't take a stand against government, should the minority of people go along with it...to just give up and willingly die in government's crushing grip? 

Pardon my dissent, but I'm not gonna do that.
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