Editor’s note: This letter was sent to Dennis Braddock, secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services.

Merchants speak out against offender facility

The Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce (SVCC) strongly opposes your proposal to place a Secure Community Transitional Facility near North Bend. We support the efforts and arguments already put forth by our city, county and state representatives; the Safe Kids Task Force; and the Snoqualmie Valley School District.

In addition, we argue that this facility will severely damage North Bend economically. Our small, rural city has been in a development moratorium for several years due to the state’s inability to expeditiously process water permits. Many of our businesses have to rely on family tourism to stay afloat. Here are some basic facts about our family tourism industry:

* Mount Si is the second-most hiked trail in the state.

* The trails around the facility host thousands of bikers and hikers from all over Puget Sound.

* The Factory Stores attract nearly a million and a half visitors a year.

* Millions of families stop here for meals and gas on their travels to the Summit at Snoqualmie and Eastern Washington; we have one of the busiest McDonald’s in the state.

Being known as “that city with the sex offenders” will undoubtedly ruin our unique rural allure and diminish people’s desire to visit and spend their money at our shops and restaurants.

Furthermore, the facility is not in a good location for job-seeking offenders. The number of businesses in North Bend that could feasibly provide employment for these predators is extremely limited. Most businesses here have just one to five employees, employ teenagers, or welcome families as customers. They would not hire a person they didn’t trust around their other workers, nor would they hire someone who would discourage parents and families from patronizing their establishments.

Our family tourism-focused businesses simply cannot afford to battle this festering, ongoing public relations wound. We also cannot welcome these offenders as employees at our small businesses. We urge you to find another, less damaging location where the offenders would have better job opportunities in a city where the economic impact would not be so detrimental to businesses and the community.

The Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors

Upper Snoqualmie Valley

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