HUGE TURNOUT AT SAVE NASELLE YOUTH CAMP TOWN HALL MEETING

Some 400 community members and Federation members turned out for last night's Save Naselle Youth Camp town hall meeting at Naselle High School in Pacific County.

Interim DSHS Secretary Stan Marshburn and other top DSHS officials faced the crowd that was adamant about saving the youth camp that's been an effective place for the rehabilitation of youthful offenders. Business leaders also said the youth camp is one of chronically depressed Pacific County's top five employers, and its loss of Naselle Youth Camp would have a devastating impact on the local economy.

Compelling pleas came from people like, Richie Whitwer, a "graduate" of Naselle.

"Staff at Naselle broke barriers, helped me make myself vulnerable and then taught me how to handle it," he said. "I came out a successful and productive young man."

David, who is a current resident of NYC who has also been confined at Green Hill and Maple Lane, wrote a letter to the panel.

"'The Hill' and 'The Lane' are very scary places," he wrote. "If you look, walk or breath the wrong way, you can get beat up. When you enter the juvenile system, we are told everyone just wants what's best for us. Naselle is best for us."

Naselle Youth Camp is the only medium security youth facility remaining in Washington's Juvenile Rehabilitation plan and boasts a unique vocational partnership with DNR and Parks.

Jane Anne Drechnowicz, a member of Local 2263 at the youth camp, explained that residents of NYC are leaders in restitution because of this unique partnership.

"I have seen the work ethic, I have seen the pride, and I have seen the value of the work," she said. "NYC is a program you can not duplicate anywhere else in the system. You can move the kids, but you can't move the program."

Timothy Cox, a teacher at Naselle High School, stressed that "hard times don't excuse bad decisions. My kids (NYC residents) are well aware of that. This is not about beds, it's about programs that work - it's about kids."

Sheriff John Didion urged the panel to "consider past the spreadsheets. This is a criminal justice issue. In my world one person is a crime wave," making the point that a single criminal can account for numerous crimes. "Public safety must be the first priority."

Speakers did a good of poking holes in a 2004 report justifying the closure. For one thing, it was out of date.

Many in the crowd questioned forecast of lower demand and pointed to sentencing and detention practices that keep offenders from being assigned to Naselle Youth Camp