SEQUIM – The Sequim city council Monday night voted down a proposal to conduct an online public survey regarding the planned Medication Assisted Treatment Center.

Councilmember Ted Miller, who believes that 88% of Sequim residents oppose the MAT clinic, proposed the survey as a way of clarifying their concerns so that the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe can address them.

“I think that if there is a documented concern, whether it be security or some other aspect of it, the tribe will bend over backwards to try to accommodate that. Don’t know that for sure but that’s based on the track record. And I don’t know any better way than a political survey. So I just want to find out whether the city council agrees with me. If they don’t, then I guess we’ll just have to let it go.

Miller proposed a starter list of questions ranging from whether respondents supported the clinic, didn’t, or wanted a different location.

Jennifer States said creating a survey that’s unbiased is itself a difficult and time-consuming job and would distract from the fact that the city has no authority to stop the clinic’s construction or to build it somewhere else.

“It’s disingenuous, is the word I was looking for, that I’m afraid that it creates…it’s insincere to try to raise questions that we don’t have the legal authority to address. I’d rather focus on how we can come together and address and mitigate the things that that we can address as a community and addressing safety and security and finding common vision and unity somehow in this community again.”

Toward the end of the discussion, Miller and councilmember Candace Pratt appeared to drill down to their core differences on the issue.

“I get the clear impression that there’s a lot of people afraid to take this poll and I think that’s the primary motivation. So I’m going to move for it. I acknowledge it is going to be defeated. But I want a roll call vote so that everybody knows our opinion on it.” “Well, I’m very sad to hear that you think that we’re afraid for the results. I’m not afraid for the results. I’m just discouraged with the fact that it is not statistically valid.”

At that time the council took a vote on whether to approve creating an online survey of resident’s opinions on the MAT clinic, and it was voted down 5-2.