Flashback Friday

Clallam County Watchdog · Jul 18, 2025 · 39m

In 2019, Reps. Mike Chapman and Steve Tharinger told residents that a new MAT clinic in Sequim would reduce crime and homelessness — dismissing critics as fearmongers. Six years later, with overdose deaths at record highs and public disorder growing, their bold predictions haven’t aged well.

In 2019, Reps. Mike Chapman and Steve Tharinger defended the then-proposed MAT clinic in Sequim with bold confidence in a Peninsula Daily News article. Critics were dismissed. Concerns about public safety and unintended consequences were waved off as political fearmongering.

“Fear works in politics,”…