Rob Anderson says as Dr. Melnick prepares to retire, Clark County residents deserve the same scrutiny of him as Fauci is receiving and that accountability should not retire with him.

Rob Anderson, founder
Reform Clark County

The nation recently watched Dr. Anthony Fauci give testimony while carrying a presidential pardon in his pocket. Even with legal protection that removed any risk of self-incrimination, the performance struck many as a flex—an attitude that he owes the American people no real explanation. One observer called him a “made man,” insulated from consequence.

Rob Anderson

That national spectacle lands differently here in Clark County. Our own long-time Public Health Director and Health Officer, Dr. Alan Melnick, has announced he is retiring later this month. The question is simple: Will he face any meaningful scrutiny for his role, or will he simply ride off into retirement?

It was the inconsistencies, gaslighting, and manipulation coming from Clark County Public Health in 2020 that first pulled me into public advocacy. Those local failures opened my eyes to deeper problems in our institutions. Yet while Fauci is at least being questioned on a national stage, Melnick appears poised to leave without answering for the deaths, injuries, and broken trust that occurred on his watch.

The record is public. Early on, numbers were inflated by counting people who died with COVID rather than of it—including unrelated causes such as accidents and other illnesses—and by questionable hospitalization data.

On March 24, 2020, Melnick issued a Health Advisory directing long-term care facilities to accept residents with pending tests and respiratory symptoms. The Board of Health was kept in the dark. Worse yet, long-term care facilities were not properly prepared or staffed. Over eighty-one Clark County nursing-home residents later died.

On the other hand, one of the largest local outbreaks was kept quiet by Dr. Melnick. At a time when the public was being told the shots would protect them and their loved ones, an outbreak occurred at The Hampton at Ashley Inn, where 90% of the victims were already vaccinated. Trumpeting outbreaks was routine when it served the narrative; silence followed when the data undercut it.

The following year brought the glossy “I Got the Shot” campaign, which told residents the vaccine would stop transmission and protect others. Community leaders were recruited, and the narrative of protection was sold to the public. However, no conclusive data backed up this claim, but that didn’t stop Melnick or the deadly wave that followed a few months later.

Dr. Melnick’s efforts then moved to adolescents. In my own neighborhood, Ridgefield schools used student leaders and peer pressure to organize a vaccine clinic. Plans existed to vaccinate minors without parental consent under the mature-minor doctrine. When I filed a public-records request asking how many minors had been vaccinated that way, the response was essentially “we don’t know.” It triggered a two-month scramble to reconstruct records that had never been properly kept. Documentation was the main requirement to vaccinate kids without parents’ approval, but Dr. Melnick wasn’t concerned with details, just that shots got into arms.

Later, Melnick would target the wrestling community and shut it down while other sports continued—an apparent punishment aimed at parents who were not complying as desired. Meanwhile, Melnick met regularly with school superintendents, helping facilitate the fear and closures that contributed to the youth mental-health crisis later declared an emergency by Gov. Inslee.

Melnick leaves with a taxpayer-funded salary that approached a quarter-million dollars a year and a generous retirement package, no doubt. Whether additional pharmaceutical-related compensation existed may never be fully known. What is known is the human cost of the policies, the selective transparency, and the needless pressure placed on families and children.

Fauci is at least being asked questions. As Dr. Melnick prepares to retire, Clark County residents deserve the same. Accountability should not retire with him.