Dr. Jeff Duchin

Director, Public Health for Seattle and King County

After learning what King County and Seattle had in store for Seattle residents in the fall and winter of 2021 I decided to take action and discovered the document that would determine the likely behavior of the local gym to which I was hoping to return. What I discovered was unfortunate, for it would require that I visit a nearby clinic twice weekly to wait in line to have a clinician stick a WuFlu probe stuck up my nose. This requirement was clearly an act of extortion on the part of the county and city to force me to become a guinea pig in what I knew to be a highly controversial experiment in gene therapy.

According to the document the decision was made based on a study produced by the University of Washington that I read. Rather than arguing the science of the study, however, for which there was some, but not entirely convincing evidence of significance, I took a different route -- and this, because there was no mention, neither in the study, nor in the document issued by the city and the county, of any study having been conducted in regard to the negative ramifications of the city and county's health requirements on the individual economic and social ramifications of the county and city's imposition.

It was matter of fact that good public health policy would look at both sides of an issue and examine the costs and benefits of a particular policy imposed on a community's residents. As my knowledge of the imposed WuFlu crisis was fairly profound by this time -- already a year and a half had passed since our State was first shut down --, I strongly suspected that no cost-benefit analysis had taken place.

So, I took a cue from the Aaron Siri at ICAN.org and asked to see the results of the county and city's investigation into the negative ramifications of its decided policy.

At first I called the number provided in the document, but there was no answer. I tried to fax, but this failed as well. So, I made a hard copy of my letter and took it to the physical location indicated by the address in the document. When I arrived there was no one present, and the doors were locked shut. As it was mid-morning, I suspected foul play, and looked for another way to gain entry that was not the front door. Whereupon I discovered a nearby café with a door that accessed the lobby and the building's elevator banks. It is in this moment that a uniformed official appeared and asked me about my business.

I explained that I had a letter to deliver, and the official offered to deliver it for me. I politely declined and explained that I would like to meet the person to whom the letter was addressed. I was told that I could not use the elevators. Alright, I thought, then would you please contact the individual and tell him that there is someone with a letter in the lobby who would like to meet him.

The official made a call, and I was told that I could send my letter to the same address whose fax number had previously failed. So, I requested that the individual come down to the lobby to receive the letter. Whereupon I was told to leave the letter at the desk, and it would be delivered. Someone would descend later to pick it up. Mind you, the Office of Public Health for Seattle and King County is a government office that is suppose to serve the general public.

As the official who handled the telephone call appeared both friendly and competent, I asked that he write his name, the date, and the time, and add his signature to the sealed envelope that contained the letter, and that I would take a photograph. He agreed. It was September 21st.

The ordinance, the reception that I received at the Public Health Office, and all that I had experienced for more than a year and a half in Seattle since the city had been locked down, suggested to me that I would not receive a reply -- and this, for the simple reason that that for which I was asking in my letter was unavailable. In other words, no attempt was made by the Public Health Office to consider the damage collateral that would be incurred by the implementation of the ordinance. The Public Health Office was all about doing good .... And, what could be better than saving lives and avoiding a greater CoVID health hazard than was necessary. Never mind the myriad of other health hazards associated with lockdowns.

As I did not receive a reply -- let alone an acknowledgment of receipt -- to my letter by Friday, I spent a portion of my weekend exploring what would be my next step. The ordinance was to go into effect on October 25th.

Unfortunately, there was no obvious next step. So, I spent many hours during the following week exploring my legal options, and decided to request a formal hearing.

As I strongly believe that this ordinance is neither appropriate by law, nor properly justified by science, I am requesting a formal hearing to discuss the matter before the ordinance is scheduled to go into effect.

Once again, I waited a week, but there was neither response, nor acknowledgement. The county was simply not accessible. This time, however, my next step was clear, and on October 11th I began an online query with the King County Law Library regarding the procedure necessary to obtain a court injunction against a state approved public office for the administration of public health safety. After three days of intense online dialogue I had come up with a plan. It was at this point that I received a reply from the County Clerk's Office inviting me to attend the next online meeting of the King County Board of Health. I was informed that

Please be advised that the County Council, the legislative branch of King County government, does not conduct hearings on local health officer orders.

For a brief moment I believed that I was being taken seriously and would be given an opportunity to have a real conversation about what the Office of Public Health was doing. So, I signed up for the next board meeting.

There was no opportunity to enter into dialogue and what I witnessed appeared farcical. It were as if, everything that was decided at the meeting had been discussed elsewhere. The entire meeting was a series of unanimous votes with no discussion. What is more, the matter of the pending ordinance was not even addressed.

By this time the ordinance had already been implemented, and I was forced to reassess.

Already more than a year and a half had past, the longest that I had ever been away from the gym in the past 35 years. Would six more months make a difference? Would the county court treat me any better than the county clerk's office? And, where were all of the people on whose behalf I would be sacrificing my time and energy?

Alas, there was something more important.