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Residents press Mason County on illegal camping and question aid for closed shelter
Summary
Speakers at public comment urged the county to remove large camps, enforce illegal camping rules, and decline county funding or infrastructure forgiveness for Community Lifeline after the shelter’s closure and alleged mismanagement.
Speakers at the Mason County Board of Commissioners’ April 29 public comment period urged immediate cleanup of large homeless camps, enforcement of illegal camping laws and transparency about county support for Community Lifeline, a shelter that has closed amid reported financial problems.
"My name is Dave Mortensen. I'm a long time committee member," Mortensen said, identifying himself as part of a volunteer effort called No More Coalition. He said the coalition’s top priorities include "getting rid of that ETS truck" and enforcement of illegal camping in Shelton and Mason County, and asked the county to inform landowners when people are camping on private property so owners can pursue legal cleanup.
Dean Jewett, who described himself as a lifelong Mason County resident, told commissioners the volunteer group found large camps on county and City of Shelton property and urged action. "We don't need to hear the talk. We actually need to see the action," Jewett said.
Speakers raised specific concerns about Community Lifeline, which several public commenters said had been placed about $400,000 in debt. Mortensen told commissioners the coalition opposed any county financial assistance for Community Lifeline and asked the board to confirm whether infrastructure assistance had been provided to the organization and whether any grant or public funds would need to be repaid if the shelter stopped operating.
The speakers said they used mapping tools to document camps and that some large encampments are on City of Shelton land. Jewett said volunteers encountered fire risk in some sites and estimated "2,405 gallon buckets of human feces flowing in to Oakland Bay every year," a figure he described as conservative.
Commissioners invited the speakers to provide documentation and to meet with staff after the meeting; no formal county action or vote on the issues was recorded in the meeting minutes. Several speakers asked County Administrator Mark Neri for details about any county investments in infrastructure at Community Lifeline; commissioners and staff said they would follow up and suggested continuing the conversation outside the three‑minute public comment period.
The public comments closed with the commission encouraging the speakers to discuss details with staff and to provide records that could inform potential enforcement or cleanup actions.
