PORT ANGELES — The Clallam Transit System will hire a local firm to provide security at Gateway Transit Center while it contacts the Port Angeles Police Department to discuss establishing a more dependable presence at the downtown transportation hub, which the agency says continues to be a site for unlawful activity and loitering.
The Clallam Transit board unanimously approved a two-year contract last week with Security Services Northwest of Sequim to monitor the transit center Monday through Saturday from 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The security guard on duty will not be armed, but they will carry pepper spray and tactical gear.
Clallam Transit will pay Security Services Northwest $75,000 for the first year and $78,000 for the second year of the contract.
A recurring issue has been students gathering at the transit center on weekdays after school where they loiter, skateboard and create problems for transit staff and passengers with their behavior, said Jim Fetzer, Clallam Transit’s general manager.
“It’s not really dangerous, but it’s not a pleasant environment,” he said.
There also continue to be incidents involving individuals with behavior and substance abuse issues who sometimes become violent, despite the posting of a public resource officer at the transit center, Fetzer said. A supervisor recently was attacked, he added.
It was a rise in reported vandalism and crime at the Gateway Transit Center that prompted the transit system in 2023 to commit $125,000 for four years to hire a full-time downtown resource officer. The city of Port Angeles and downtown businesses also contributed money to fund the position.
The presence of the officer has significantly reduced overall problems at the transit center when he is there in the morning, Fetzer said. It’s when he isn’t on site that the number and seriousness of incidents increases, he added.
Scheduling a security guard to work when the resource officer is absent could act as a deterrent for unlawful activity and resolve issues if they arise, Fetzer said.
Board chair Brendan Meyer suggested that expanding the transit system’s agreement with the city to hire a second resource officer would provide better security and be less costly than contracting with a private service.
“For me, security guards aren’t necessarily the best investment,” Meyer said. “I would much prefer to have a police officer, if we could work that deal.”
Fetzer said for that to work there would need to be a different agreement with the city that prioritizes the transit center. As it stands, the resource officer has to answer calls in other parts of the city, which means he is not necessarily downtown.
“If we could get another resource officer, he would have to be there most of the time and not sent out on other assignments,” Fetzer said.
Such an arrangement likely would cost the transit system more money and would depend on staffing at the Port Angeles Police Department, board members said, but they agreed it was a conversation worth having.
Board member Mike French said kids are allowed to be in public places even if they are annoying, but there is a big difference between annoying behavior and illegal activity.
“I don’t think that it would be a good use of money to hire a security guard just to get kids to move on,” French said. “But I do think it’s a good use of money to hire a security guard to make sure that there are not violent situations happening that put our staff in danger and that make it a secure, clean and friendly area for the public that’s using the bus.”
The board agreed to explore alternatives that might better address the transit system’s security needs and would include discussing how that might be achieved with police department.
The board also unanimously approved a measure last Wednesday to allow Clallam County Health & Human Services’ Harm Reduction Health Center to place a Narcan dispenser at the Sequim Transit Center.
In June, the board approved the Harm Reduction Health Center’s request to place a Narcan dispenser at the Gateway Transit Center; it was installed on Oct. 7.
“We really haven’t had many problems,” Fetzer said. “They’ve kept it stocked, they’ve kept it cleaned up, and so that’s going very well.”
At its Sept. 18 meeting, the board approved extending the transit system’s zero-fare policy, and on Wednesday it approved the fare structure for that policy. The new fare structure eliminates fixed route, Clallam Connect and Dial-a-Ride fares, and transit pass and discount pass programs. Fares will remain on the Strait Shot and the Hurricane Ridge Shuttle.
Fetzer said Clallam Transit and the Jefferson Transit Authority are in the early stages of planning a joint park-and-ride at the Olympic Peninsula Gateway Visitor Center on Beaver Valley Road in Port Ludlow. The project would enable passengers on the Strait Shot to transfer to Jefferson County’s Kingston Express and ride to the Kingston-Edmonds ferry, and for Kingston Express passengers to transfer to the Strait Shot and ride to the Bainbridge-Seattle ferry.
Grant funding for the planning phase of joint agency transit projects was available from the state Department of Transportation. Fetzer estimated the cost at about $150,000 to $200,000 and would require a 10 percent match that would be split between the two transit systems. Funding for paving and other upgrades is available through the state bus and bus facilities grant program, he said.
Fetzer added he’s heard from a number of people expressing interest in a way to travel from Port Angeles to Kingston to catch the ferry.
In other news, Clallam Transit System staff will hand out candy on the Boo Bus at Gateway Transit Center during the Downtown Port Angeles Halloween Trick-or-Treat event from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 31.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
