City Council - Regular Meeting

Offered guidance with humility. On behalf of the Board of County Commissioners, we extend our heartfelt condolences to Senator Hunt's family, friends, colleagues, and all who had the privilege of working with him and learning from him. We are grateful for his many years of service, and we join the community in honoring his memory. May Senator Sam Hunt's legacy of kindness, dedication, mentorship, and public service continue to inspire us. We are joined by elected officials, who would also like to say a few words.

I will, invite them at this time if they would like to say a few words in his memory. I know, auditor Hall.

Thank you. You know, many of us in this room can count Sam as one of our closest friends. He's the reason I am standing at this podium today. He supported me in 2011 when I told him that I would like to be your next county auditor, yet I didn't know a single soul in Thurston County. I did not participate in county politics, but he believed in my experience and my skills, and I'm very grateful to have had him as a mentor.

Senator Hunt always had Thurston County in mind. He knew that we were special in state government because we were the state capital. And much of how we run elections today in the state of Washington is due to senator Sam Hunt. He served as chair of state government in the house and then as in the senate, and he was the one who championed so many of our democracy laws. Same day voter registration, which is the reason I stepped up.

I was happy to partner with him on that. Same day voter registration, the Voting Rights Act. He sponsored every single redistricting bill that we needed when they forgot little sections in the corrections of these bills following redistricting in 2020, 2010, and 2020. I also have to give him credit for state funding of elections. I want to just share something that we came across.

This was an article from 1993, States Should Pay. The Auditors Association had tried for decades to get this legislation passed. Every junior taxing districts paid their share of election costs except the state of Washington. And when I was elected, I also took that on as one of my missions because budget was difficult. And you weren't here in the early years, but when we would come to the board in even years, we were asking for a huge piece of that pie.

You know, senator Hunt championed this bill fourteen twenty one. He sponsored this bill. He took me into the State Senate dining room. We sat at a table that every senator had to walk past. Every single ways and means member that walked past our table, he called them over so I would give them my thirty second elevator speech.

We got that legislation passed in 2020 and finally recognized state revenue for the first time in 2022. He filled a budget hole in this county that was huge, and not just in this county, but the state. And when it comes to election legislation, you know, Sam not only affected the laws in the state of Washington, but through his work with the National Council of State Legislatures, National Council of State Government, He took our amazing election legislation from Washington state, and it has applied in many, many states across the country. And he was known every election conference I met to. People knew senator Sam Hunt from Washington because of his work.

We are all going to mess miss him. I I miss him already. He was such a champion for our county, for our state, for democracy, and I just wanna thank you for recognizing him today. And my heart goes out to his family, and there will be a celebration of life on the May 30 at South Puget Sound Community College. So thank you. Thank

you. At this time, I would invite everyone to join us in a moment of silence in memory of Senator Sam Hunt. Thank you. Vice chair, I would also like to make a motion to lower the county flags at half mast until the end of the week in honor of senator Sam Hunt. Second.

We have a motion and a second to to direct the county manager to have all flags at county buildings lowered to half staff for senator Sam Hunt until the end of the week. Is there any discussion? Comments from commissioners?

I think that's a great idea. I appreciate the suggestion, Commissioner Mihiel.

All right. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Those opposed? Motion passes. Thank you. That brings us to public comment. This is the first of our two public comment periods. The Board of County Commissioners welcomes comments from the public at all meetings. There are guidelines governing such comments to ensure they are appropriate and do not take advantage of the fact that most meetings are televised.

Please introduce yourself and the address you reside in the county, the state which which agenda item you are speaking to, address the board, not the audience or staff, silence your cell phones. The board does not respond to public comments, but the county manager may follow-up with specific items as needed. Speakers have three minutes to address the board. Meeting attendees do not cannot donate their speaking time to another person. Please be respectful.

The board reserves the right to restrict a person's opportunity to address the meeting for good cause. No comments that are lewd and offensive, inflammatory, hateful, defamatory, or discriminatory in nature. No outbursts of any kind. No comments that are commercial in nature, such as promotion of a for profit business. All materials provided to the county may be considered public record subject to public release upon request pursuant to the Public Records Act, chapter 4,256, withhold remarks about pending land use agreements, permits, or similar matters that could eventually come before the Board, and no electioneering.

Thank you for your cooperation. Our first comments are on agenda items. And we have Ali Fuller up first with Stefan Birmath deck.

Hello. My name is Allie, and I work with Intercity Transit's Walk and Roll program located right next door at 510 Patterson Street. I just wanna thank you all for welcoming me here tonight and also for once again proclaiming May to be bicycle month in Thurston County. I am a new face here, but bicycle month and our local celebration of it, the month long bicycle community challenge, is far from new. It is a long established annual tradition.

In fact, the bicycle community challenge, or BCC for short, is now in its thirty ninth year. It is always fun, free, and open to people of all ages and abilities within Thurston County. With the primary goal of getting more people on bikes during May, we invite people to cycle throughout the month for any reason. But here are some of our the reasons our past participants have provided. Many choose to cycle in order to lower their transportation costs.

During a time of sky high fuel, vehicle, and insurance prices, cycling prevents presents a low cost alternative. Others cite environmental impacts as a leading motivation since cycling can dramatically reduce an individual's consumption of fossil fuels. The US Department of Energy has cited that over 51% of vehicle trips nationwide are six miles or less in length, so these are the trips that could most easily be replaced by bicycle trips. Yet others choose cycling for its numerous benefits to both physical and mental health. And finally, cycling is very fun.

Participants enjoy cycling to see new places, meet new members of their community, and just be in the moment and enjoy the ride. When asked the question, what would lead you to bike more frequently? The answer is almost always the same, and that is safer and more connected bicycle infrastructure. It's been proven that more space designated for pedestrians and cyclists can improve roadway safety for everyone. This year's theme for the BCC is enjoy the scenery along the route.

I'll leave some flyers here today. And so I wanna take just a moment to retrace the path that walk and roll took through 2025. Walk and roll grew in size and scope over the past year. Throughout Thurston County in 2025, walk and roll taught over 2,600 people bicycle safety skills. We taught 433 people about bicycle maintenance, distributed 277 new and refurbished bicycles to community members, and participants logged over 76,000 miles in the bicycle community challenge.

We look forward to all the next year has in store. And the BCC already began on May 1, so it is now time to ride for a healthier, cleaner, and greener community. Participating is as easy as hopping on your bike, going for a ride, and then logging your ride on the Bicycle Community Challenge website. Ride as an individual or as a member of a team, and you can attend one of our many in person events, such as bike anywhere day on May 14, which is our celebration of bike to work day. Attend the bike month celebration ride on May 20 or our youth bike summit ride on May 31. So please visit our website at bcc.innercitytransit.com. Thank you so much, and happy cycling.

Mister Stefan Berman, you're next, sir.

Commissioners, public, and staff, thank you for the opportunity to provide public comment on, bike month. I'm Steven Bernath. I am I've been a resident of Thurston County since 1988. I'm a volunteer at bike walk and roll as a mechanic. I'm, one of the members of Bike Thurston.

I've ridden STP nine times, if you can't tell. But I I just wanna point out that I do it mostly for health when I was working. I'm retired now. I used to also commute, both out to ecology when I worked there four miles and downtown to DNR when I worked there for five miles. It especially since COVID, it has become more dangerous to ride on roads, both the increasing population in this county, plus when everybody went home except for the essential workers, things just got speedier on the roads and less, polite to other people on the roads.

And it's really important now to continue to have safe in infrastructure. I wanna thank you for the budget you've put forward for the Chelis Western Trail. I had an accident on the trail last year, which ended up pulling my bicep off the bone because of one of the potholes on the trail out by Yelm. But I use that trail a couple times a week, and I just wanna recognize that, you know, there are a lot of people that aren't as fortunate as I who have to use bicycles every day to get to work, to get to school. We've got 1,100 kids in North Hurston School District that are homeless.

We need people to be able to recreate. A lot of that happened during COVID, and, of course, it creates community. I just wanna thank you again, and I appreciate the fact that you're recognizing bike month. And I encourage all of you to get out on your bikes this month. The flowers are, you know, all blooming now. So have a good one. Thanks, sir.

That's all the names I have on my list for public comments on agenda items. Is there anyone in the audience that has an agenda item that they'd like to comment on?

All right.

We'll keep moving on. Next item, county

managers update. Thank you, Vice Chair. And just wanting to highlight the May proclamations that were by consent, Older Americans Month, bike month, Therapeutic Corp Month, Public Service Recognition Month, National Emergency Medical Services Week, APWA National Public Works Week, Civic Engagement Appreciation Month, Missing Person Awareness Month, and Affordable Housing Week. We'll also now turn to, the treasurer's award. Pearson County's investment policy has officially earned a national certification from Government Investment Officers Association, proving that our taxpayer dollars are managed to the highest professional standard.

Treasurer's office also won a state award in January, as you remember, a certificate of excellence award for investment policy from the Washington Public Treasures Association. This national award is important because it shows we're not just adhering to strict standards, We're meeting the stricter national standards. We have the treasurer here with us today to say a few words, and then afterwards, we'd like to take a photo with the award with the board.

Good afternoon. Is this working? Yes. First of all, want to introduce Rodney Reynolds. He is the investment banking officer in my office, and he is responsible for managing and administrating our investment pool.

I just want to say how proud I am that we have won this award. This is actually the second time we have won this particular award or gotten this certification. We go out every four years for recertification. It just says that our investment policy is rock solid and does follow the best standards. I just want to remind you all that I brought in over $43,000,000 last year.

That was for the county and all of the taxing districts, and it's all because of this guy. I wanna thank you for acknowledging this. Too often, it's so easy to ignore the good things that we're all doing and then to get to the extraordinary things that we're doing, and I really appreciate the recognition. Thank you very much. Wonderful. Take

a photo.

Alright. Thank you.

Yep. Yep.

Thank you. I

shared just a few more announcements. As we all know, Earth Day was 04/22/2026. County continues to be committed to our parks and natural environment. Public works, parks and trail staff took part in Earth Day events at two of our beautiful parks. At Burford Park, 40 participants cleared three large sections of English ivy in collaboration with Boston Harbor Association.

Commissioner Mejia presented a word of recognition to volunteer Meredith Rafferty for dedicating many hours in restoring the butterfly memorial garden areas. At Fry Cove Park, 12 participants cleared weeds from planters, pulled English ivy, and pruned shrubs in collaboration with Steamboat Lions Club and the Park Foundation. Green businesses. In line with Earth Day, the county was recently recognized as a regional leader in sustainable sustainability by Thurston County Chamber of Commerce. In 2026, green Jurisdiction of the Year award is a truly kudos to the board and staff for environmental planning and policy and green business practices and the delivery of community led climate, water, and waste solutions.

Much of this work was accomplished with grant funding like our lower carbon emissions, higher miles per Gallon County fleet, and our energized Thurston program, which installed two twenty heat pumps in mostly low and moderate income households. The chamber put together a short video that highlights a few of the ways the county is working to keep Thurston green and, wanna give a special shout out to the staff who participated in that video. Think we're gonna play it now. For those on Zoom, they will not hear the video audio, but it will be playing on the YouTube, and they can view it at a later time.

Thurston twenty forty five is a visioning document based on input from the community. Not only does it create the vision, it also has actions embedded in it that are meaningful to our community.

We have a unique regional partnership called the Thurston Climate Mitigation Collaborative and allows us to share the workload and get more done in a shorter amount of time. An example of how we work together has been in the past couple of years. Our staff team has shared the workload of our Energize Thurston program. Energize Thurston is our residential heat pump program that provides discounts, rebates to help our residents install new, modern, and highly efficient electric heat pumps and heat pump water heaters in their homes. In 2023, Thurston County received SoulSmart Silver designation from the National SoulSmart Program, which recognizes communities for making it faster, easier, and more affordable for our residents, businesses, and nonprofits to install solar energy.

The Thurston County Central Services Department is working continually to increase the number of electric vehicles and plug in hybrid electric vehicles in our county fleet. We received a grant through the Department of Commerce to install publicly available electric vehicle chargers in the city of Tenaino.

A lot of the work we do

is around keeping our water clean. Our storm water management program is actually a model for the region. We have, an extensive education and outreach program. You might know us more as Stream Team. 22% of our overall waste stream was made up

of durable items. And our programs help people realize that their decisions really make a difference. Fix It Pairs are community centered free events where residents can bring their items to be repaired or mended. The Master Recycler Composter Program expands public awareness related to waste reduction and composting. Our compost giveaways are really great events where people can take food and yard waste that they put into the organics food and yard waste bin. The bike rescue program is a partnership with Intercity Transit for a one year bike rescue pilot. We offer free services such as the recycling drop off centers. We work to integrate these programs seamlessly and really take into account what folks are looking for.

Thurston County appreciates the recognition as the municipality of the year for the Green Business Award. It is a clear recognition of the hard work that our staff put into and the clear direction that the Board of County Commissioners has provided in protection and stewardship of our natural environment.

Commissioner, you may not have recognized, but that was Josh Cummings sitting here putting

Josh Cummings. But

he's he's not in his usual

Sunset Air, we've been in business for fifty years now. It's our fiftieth anniversary. We have around a hundred and fifth

There we go. And this award was presented to the county at a chamber event, and we're thankful that commissioner Mahia was able to attend accept the award on behalf of the county. This will be up in the county commissioner's office.

Thank you, commissioners. Alright. Thank you, county manager. Next item in the agenda is the consent agenda items one through 11. Do we have a motion?

I move to approve the consent agenda. Second.

We have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda items one through 11 as presented. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor?

Aye.

Those opposed? Motion passes. Thank you. Department items. Item six, community planning and economic development. Official comprehensive plan and development code amendment dockets for twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven.

Good afternoon, commissioners. The green business award video was a good lead into this since this is also a visionary item for you today. As you mentioned, this is an item where you get to adopt the final 2026 and 2027 official comprehensive plan amendment and development code amendment dockets. Every two years, through the Growth Management Act's required docketing process, the Board sets CPET's work plan for both comprehensive plan amendments as well as our development code updates. The comprehensive plan docket charts the county's long range vision.

It guides future growth, it shapes policy direction, and proposes refinements to zoning. And in turn, the development code docket gives that vision, form, and function by translating policy into the standards that govern land use and permitting. This cycle is especially meaningful as it follows the Thurston 2045 periodic update you all adopted just last December. That milestone reflected more than three years of thoughtful collaboration with you all, the Planning Commission, and the broader community. And the dockets before you today are rooted in that shared effort, carrying forward the comprehensive plan's vision for rural housing growth, climate resilience, and the conservation of our natural resources.

We're also grateful for the Board's clear and intentional guidance in identifying priority areas of focus. These include exploring urban tree provisions as part of our joint plan updates, strengthening the effectiveness of our code compliance program, and thoughtfully examining emerging uses such as battery energy storage systems and data centers. This document underwent the required twenty day public comment period and closed on April 1. We received over three sixty comments, which we reviewed with you at a work session on April 22. At that work session, you also gave us a feedback to establish what's in front of you today.

So the two dockets encompass five comprehensive plan amendments and 10 development code amendments. There is one project that was retained on the preliminary docket that will be reconsidered by the Board in 2028. Each of these items will move forward through its own process of analysis, which will include public hearings and many continued opportunities for community engagement. Together, the dockets reflect your vision for the county's future to advance thoughtful growth, resilient communities and the conservation of our working lands, while also ensuring development remains safe, responsive and forward looking. So CPED wants to thank you, and also, I'm here to answer any questions.

Thank you. I I thought CPED did a great job leading leading us through it. The the docket process is one of the really as as you explained, one of the most important things that we deal with. And and I I, for one, really enjoyed the the process this year. So is do any commissioners have any questions for miss Araya?

Commissioner Meeha?

Thank you. And then, kind of just making sure on the you know, there were kind of two components, I think, that commissioners brought up during those sessions, which one was in in terms of, like, kind of the tree ordinance updates and and within the UGA and, making sure that, right, while we are working with the jurisdictions that also the county's priorities remain, you know, at the forefront. And so, could you speak to to that piece, Ashley? Just kind of walk us, like, how it's going to be rounded rounded in? And I sorry. Do not mean to put you in this spot.

Did not

give you a heads up.

Yes. No. It's fine. So we will be moving forward with the state required joint plan and joint code updates for the UGA's, and what was asked was establishing with the Planning Commission and the community that one of the priorities there was looking at urban tree provisions and how to balance the protection of our landmark and heritage trees with also this need for housing. And so that will be baked into what we bring before the Planning Commission and what we'll be working on with the cities as we go through that process.

Thank you. And then the next part was the working land provisions, which, well, not explicitly in the docket. It is something that we will be getting updates on. But there was a certain provision with the TDRPDR. Could you expand on that piece?

Yeah. So the item that got docketed is a deeper look into our transfer development rights and purchase development rights programs, which we are hoping will be integral tools in our conservation toolbox. As of right now, they're they're not exactly functional. So that will be a piece that specifically has to be docketed because it will involve updates to our code. In addition to that, there are a number of programmatic updates that we're excited to share with the board here in the near future regarding working lands conservation. Those will be integrated into Conservation Futures, our Agriculture Community Program, as well as our Habitat Conservation Program.

Thank you.

Thank you. Any further comments or questions? All right. I'd like to entertain a motion at this point.

I move to approve the twenty twenty six-twenty twenty seven official docket of comprehensive plan amendments and the twenty twenty six-twenty twenty seven official docket of development code amendments. Second.

It's been moved and seconded to approve the twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven official docket of comprehensive plan amendments and the twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven official docket of development code amendments. Is there any discussion or debate? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Those opposed? Motion passes. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next item. Well, next two items are public health and social services. Item number one, contract for local home funds with BHR BNB Building LLC for BNB Apartments redevelopment.

Yes. Thank you. Director Jen Freiheit of the Public Health and Social Services Department. And this is a request for the board to move to approve the contract with Behavioral Health Resources, B and B Building LLC for the total amount of 950,000, and this is from the local home fund, for the redevelopment of the B and B apartments for affordable rental housing. It was in March 2024 that BHR submitted an application to the regional housing council, and then that went to our affordable housing advisory board's annual request for proposal process.

The redevelopment will replace an aging seven unit single story apartment building with 19 units of newly constructed affordable rental housing, serving individual with incomes below the 30% AMI and those between 3050% AMI who are struggling with mental health and substance use. Four of those 19 apartments will be reserved for individuals who are houseless, and all residents of the new project will have the opportunity to receive supportive services through their extensive outpatient programs. At the time, the THAB recommended and moved forward to the RHC at their 05/08/2024 meeting, receiving unanimous approval. And then the Board of County Commissioners approved the preliminary funding award for this project on 06/18/2024. And this award will require an affordability period of twenty years, which will be secured through a lean package.

All the pre contract requirements are completed, and the BHR is ready to proceed with the project and happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Are there any questions for Doctor. Fryhite? I don't have a question. I just want to also just mention that I am worried about QuinStreet village funding and dipping into the local home fund. I understand that this is a this is a project that has long been, worked on. But anytime we talk about local home funds, I'm gonna probably bring that up until we've got some type of solution offered for the the funding for for that project.

And and, Cher, we have a conversation. I believe it's scheduled for next week in a board work session So we can bring Tom Webster and doctor Freiheit to the table so we can talk about the cons what constitutes the regional housing funding, some of the decisions that will be coming to the board so we can get the board's perspective and input at that time.

Thank you. Thank you. All right. If there's no further questions, I would entertain a motion.

I move to approve the contract with BHR BNB Building LLC for the total amount of $950,000 for the redevelopment of the BNB apartments for affordable rental housing and authorize the Director of Public Health and Social Services to sign the contract and any amendments that do not exceed 10%. Second.

It's been moved and seconded, as stated by Commissioner Grant. Is there any debate? Hearing none, all those in favor?

Aye.

Those opposed? Motion passes.

Thank

you. Next item, request for proposals for opioid settlement pooled funding community grant applications.

Yes. Thank you. We're happy to bring, forward the, the hopeful ability to issue the 2026 request for proposals for applications related to the opioid settlement pooled funding, for community grants. The BOCC approved pooling of 500,000 for the calendar year 2627 biennial budget process to pool with the other local jurisdictions for opioid settlement pooled funding community grants. And with the pooled funding from Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater, there is a combined total of $2,000,000 for this one time funding opportunity.

We would elicit proposals for services related to expand access to medications for opioid use disorder and other treatment, connections to care, and or address the needs of criminal justice involved individuals. And all eligible proposals are welcome. And with the approval today, an RFP will be released tomorrow with proposals due May 31, and recommendations will be carried forward to the regularly scheduled opioid abatement council on June 3. And then we will bring those forward to the Board of County Commissioners for approval with contracts beginning on July 1.

Vice Chair, if I may. I appreciate the board pulling this item so that the public could hear a little bit more about it. It is significant. I think this is a great step forward for the county. We really appreciate the hard work of public health and social services.

Katie Strozek, the program manager, has done a fantastic job moving this forward, and we're extremely thankful to doctor Freiheit for her leadership with the entire department. And this is yet another positive sign of public health being put on a good track, moving things that were a bit long jam in the past and working through that with the jurisdictions, moving it forward, providing support to the frontline staff like Katie, who spent a lot of time. I've seen the emails go back and forth coordinating and wrangling with attorneys, city managers, and elected officials to really get these dollars where they need to be out serving the public, out serving those who are in most need on our streets and and the highways and byways of Thurston County. So we appreciate the board highlighting the importance of this. Special thanks also to Commissioner Grant, who has been a champion of this as she has sit on the committee of moving it forward and making good solid decisions, bringing a wealth of experience from other areas of her professional experience into this area.

We're fortunate to have her there.

Thank you, county manager. Are there any other comments? No? No? I'll I'll I'll do it after I'll

do it after the motion.

Okay. Then make the motion. Mhmm.

Alright. I move to authorize public health and social services to issue the 2026 request for proposals for application related to opioid settlement pooled funding community grant.

Second. Alright.

You're ready go.

So, yes, I have a statement. Yeah. I wanted to take a moment to recognize this milestone. It really is a big milestone. As we move forward with our opioid settlement RFP, these dollars really do represent an opportunity to It's a chance to make meaningful, lasting investments in our community.

Investing opioid settlement funds the right way can be a game changer. It will allow us to strengthen prevention, expand access to treatment, support recovery, and build systems that help people stay stable long term. For too long, communities have been responding to the impacts of our opioid crisis without the level of resources that they need to truly get ahead of it. This funding gives us the ability to be more intentional, more coordinated, and more focused on solutions that work. This is more this is about more than funding.

It's about changing outcomes. It's about reducing overdose deaths, supporting families. Always cry. It's like my it this is about building a system that meets people where they are and helps them move forward. I also want to give a special thanks to Katie, our coordinator, for her leadership in helping move this forward and to all of the work of public health and and, those who are working on on these issues. So, your work behind the scenes has been instrumental in getting us to this point, and thank you for that. I'm excited about what this means for the future of our community. That's it.

Mister Claus, you're being awful quiet.

No. I don't

have Making me nervous.

Keeping you on edge. Mhmm. I don't have a prepared statement, but I do have thoughts. And I guess I'll just say, thank you to doctor Freiheit. Thank you to Katie for all of your hard work on this, your patience as we work through the political dynamics of talking across jurisdictions to figure out, the best coordinated path forward for the region.

Katie's work has been instrumental in that process, and, I know sometimes when we're battling it out at the board level, staff, you'd behind the scenes, making sure everything goes as smoothly as possible, and we have all the information we need to move forward and make wise decisions. And, I wholeheartedly believe in the staff that we have behind this. I've seen the progress that Thurston County has made in just the short time I've been on the board, and I know for years before that, this has been in the works. And you all have been working extremely hard to make sure these dollars get to the right place so that we can save as many lives as possible. And we see that in the statistics when our coroner comes forward, and we learn that overdose deaths are going down in Thurston County despite the increase in overdose deaths around the state and around the country.

So I know that we have a really strong team here in Thurston County, and I'm really proud of our team and all the work that you've done. So thank you.

Thank you.

I think Commissioner Grant, Commissioner Klaus have have covered it very well. Just a lot of gratitude and excitement for this next step.

Yeah.

Same. My I just have my one request, and I think I said it last time is, as was mentioned by Commissioner Klaus, there's been a change in statistics. Right? The the the number of deaths have decreased. And according to Medic One, the number of responses have decreased by, like, twenty five percent. So whatever whatever has caused that, if we can understand that and when we evaluate proposals, put more resources into whatever may have caused that. If it's an if it's an organic thing or if it's something we're doing, something law enforcement's doing, something Medic One's doing, if we can invest in that, that would be my only hope. But other than that, thank you for all the hard work you do. So we have a motion with no no further discussion. I'll call for the vote. All those in favor?

Aye.

Aye. Those opposed? Motion passes. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank All right. That brings us to public comment. Mr. Kim, thank you for your patience. At this point, I already read the rules for public comments, so I'm not going to go through that again. But you'll be given three minutes to speak on any general matters.

Can I stand here?

Yes, sir.

Okay. Thanks. Sure. My name is my name is Kim. I'm Korean American.

I got a problem and but I need to inform to the commissioner. Yes, this is a but what happened to me is only a part of something truly horrific. When public authority is abused, citizens suffers serious harm. On 03/30/2025, I was arrested by the police at my home. I asked why I was being arrested, they told me that a warrant had been issued for my arrest.

I was taken to jail. The next day when I was released, I checked my wallet and was struck with a shock as if lightning had hit my head. My driver's license and cash were gone. Only $20 remained. I asked the correctional officer why the money was missing from my wallet.

He said that the equivalent amount was on a debit card. Taking cash out of someone else's wallet and replacing it with a debit card containing that amount is clearly that amount is clearly intentional theft intentional theft. When I was booked into jail the previous evening, they did not properly check my belonging. If they had inspected my property and obtained my agreement on an itemized list, this problem will not have occurred. Their failure to do so makes it clear that this was intentional.

This is a theft. When I said my driver's license was missing, I was told to go to the sheriff's desk. It was around 07:00PM on March 31. Because I was under a no contact order with my wife, I could not return home. I decided to go to the sheriff's desk the next day to retrieve my license drive license.

I thought I could survive one night anywhere. But without an idea, I could not even enter. If a warrant had truly been issued for my arrest, that would mean I had committed a serious crime. Yet I did not know what crime I had committed. I became like a fugitive.

I became like a fugitive who could not even return home. I felt they had to overcome this situation. Somehow, the thought that the sheriff might be tracking my location filled me with a fear. A personal mobile phone is essentially a device that reveals one's location. I spent the night like a displaced wild animal, stripped stripped of my shirt.

By the power of the sheriff, the tragedy of Gaza and the shadow of Ukraine were my only sources of comfort in that wilderness. The next morning, I went to the sheriff's desk and pleaded for the return of my driver license. A sergeant mister North ordered the two of his subordinate to return it to me through a patrol team between mister North, the two sheriffs, and myself, between among. It felt like a solemn promise, like a peace agreement between nations. It was a firm and unbreakable commitment among four men, a place made with the dignity of guardians carrying loaded firearms to protect the public.

The agreed meeting placed was the Jack in the Box at 82215 Martin Way. I waited and waited and waited. Anticipation reminded me of my use when I once waited for beloved woman at a meeting place filled with adrenaline and excitement. I never imagined that such a feeling would return to me again in the later years of my life. Perhaps this is why people struggle to live longer than others, to feel such moments again.

When the sheriff's car arrived and the officers approached the entrance of Jack in the Box, it should have been a moment of emotion, celebration, and joy, a moment that deserved to exist forever, but they never truly came. The night I received the phone call saying that my license had been mailed, they said it had been sent from the terminal post office and that I would receive it my mailbox within a few days. This this explanation did not make sense. In terms of the sequence of events, it sounded like an excuse. Once again, I spent the night like a homeless animal.

The next morning, I went to the Tamil postal office, but my driver license was not there. The postal worker told me that if it were found, I would receive it in my mailbox within three to four days. I was terrified of the sheriff's action. I fear that it might be a trap to lure me to into contacting my wife, which could result in more severe punishment. I became a helpless fugitive with nowhere to go.

Later, I learned that no arrest warrant had ever been issued for me. This raises raises a serious question. Why would the sheriff's officers shielding deputy chief Nichols? I was arrested and jailed without a warrant, this incident was never even addressed in court. This is obstruction of justice and destruction of evidence. Mister Kim. It is a violation of human rights and the brutal sir.

Sir? Mister Kim?

Yes.

I appreciate your comments. We've gone probably an extra, like, three, four minutes. But I don't In

the short time, sir.

Yes. Thank you.

Okay. This is obstruction of justice destruction of evidence. It is violated human rights and the brutal trampling of cities and fundamental right. It is an act of terror, placing false charge charges on an innocent person. Yes. Please remain this. Yeah.

Thank you, sir. Hi. Can I can I ask

that the mister Kim about how deputy Nichols may have used my driver license? It could have been used in criminal activity. This is not merely a concern. It feels like a real and present danger. I need to travel to Korea. My eldest daughter has married

Excuse me, mister Kim?

Sir, mister Kim?

Must go see my grandchild.

I appreciate your comments, but can I ask that you meet with our Assistant County Manager, Josh Cummins?

Have been in contact.

Okay. And he can guide you on how to get the answers that you need.

So it's remained this part.

Understand, sir. But we have to be fair to everybody. Everybody gets three minutes. We've given you probably seven. Three minute left. I have to I have to go by the rules, and I've already kind of broke them for you. So I but I I would ask that if you if you continue conversations with the assistant county manager, he can give you the guidance that you need to get the answers to

your question.

Knows about Yes.

We have Ms. Betsy Norton with her hand up. I'm assuming that means you want to give public comment. All right. Now is your moment to shine.

Thank you, sir. Hi.

Dear county commissioners, my name is Betsy Norton. I live in Olympia, and I'm a member of the South Sound Bird Alliance. I'm speaking as an individual today. I just wanted to clarify a couple of comments that I think may have been misconcerned in the past. First, regarding the transfer of development rights, TDRs, which conserve contiguous habitat in the rural county are great as long as they concentrate additional development in areas which have infrastructure available to prevent degradation of habitat.

Typically, this infrastructure only exists in urban areas. In addition, TDRs in the rural county must result in clear and verifiable net ecological benefit. I hope when we have the stock at item discussion that it will receive a full and balanced analysis so the resulting policy and codes improve conservation outcomes. Secondly, with regard to procedural changes, which removed the BOCC from the appeals process, I'd just like to provide a different focus on the important concern that's running through many of the public comments on this item. First of all, nobody is advocating that the BOC violate the law or waste public funds.

My concern is simply to ensure that there is at least one institutional mechanism in place to ensure that the BOCC is held accountable for the implementation results on the county of the laws, policies, and rules that you have proved, particularly regarding the permitting process. In place of your role in the appeal cycle for individual permit decisions, I would urge you, the board of county commissioners, to put in place procedures which ensure you regularly review the recent and cumulative results of permitting decisions, including a review of the cumulative impact from applications application of discretionary variances, exemptions, and approved reasonable use exceptions. Some of those are just discretionary and some are not. Please assess the total results of permitting to see if the rules and policies as implemented are having the results you intended and are adequately protecting natural resources, the environment, and wildlife habitat. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Norton. I'm not seeing nope, nope. Nothing from me. You sure, sir? All right. We're going keep moving on then. No further public comments. That brings us to Commissioner's Community Reports. Mister Klaus, you've been awful quiet. You gotta have something to share with us.

Let's see here. I do have just a couple. Let me pull them up. Okay. So I only have two things for you.

One is I attended the North Thurston Public Schools, board meeting, and members were discussing the impact of recent budget cuts on district programs and services. During the meeting, the board also made the decision to postpone the vote regarding mental health counselors, allowing more time for consideration and further discussion of the issue, which I appreciated. I attended the meeting because I've heard, a number of concerns from the community, related to mental health, for youth in our schools. And when I learned that one of the resolutions on the table was specifically to cut a significant number of their mental health counselors. I was concerned and wanted to kind of hear what the discussion was about, and, I'm grateful that the board decided to postpone that vote for further discussion because as we all know up here, we've you know, some of us actually, most of us up here were present for the, board of health youth interviews for the youth member, and we heard every single young person that came forward talk about their concerns related to mental health for their peers, and it's just something in every domain of my life.

I'm hearing about it, and I'm very concerned about it. We also continue to see the suicide deaths, increase in our county, and so mental health right now is a huge concern. And I was just grateful to hear that we had school board directors who were willing to kind of pump the brakes a little bit and see if there's something else that can be figured out. The only other update I have is I participated in the County Road Administration Board or CRAB Spring Tour, along with commissioner Mahia who serves on the CRAB board. We visited several transportation project sites in Thurston County to observe ongoing work and improvements.

We stopped at multiple locations, including the Green Cove Creek Bridge project, 183rd Avenue pavement preservation project, The US 12 And Sargent Road roundabout, and the Tilly Road T 2 bridge site. At each stop, I had the opportunity to see project progress firsthand and learn more about the work being done to maintain and improve local infrastructure. So thank you, commissioner Mahia, for serving on that board, and, thanks to the CRAB staff that invited me and allowed me to come along. That's all I've got.

Thank you, commissioner. Mister Grant?

Just a few things. Well, first of all, I attended the procession of the species and arts walk and wish I got to see commissioner Mahia participating in. And, just wanna congratulate the community for another, cool, brilliant year of of, art and, and just, you know, it was just it was wonderful. I attended a tour of, a facility, Maple Lane facility down in near Rochester. I attended this with Patty Murray's office and the DSHS secretary Angela Ramirez.

And we were able to look at it's been growing over the last several years. And there's been all kinds of adjustments as they prepare for adding more beds. And so we were able to see what was going on down there. It was amazing. And I'm really impressed.

Programming that's happening, which is really impressive. And so I'll just leave it there. I had a meeting with our Pacific Mountain Workforce Executive Director and then met with Nisqually's planning department to talk a little bit about things that are going on out there. I attended the Thurston Mason BHO governing board meeting and met with district court yesterday for a check-in. And that's me.

Thank you, Commissioner Grant. I'll just share that and I think we all attended. Last week, we had the quarterly local official elected official social here at the atrium. It was very well attended. We took the opportunity to introduce some of the newly elected officials throughout Thurston County and then gave senator Murray's new regional staff member, Catalina M. How do

you Yeah.

Yep. You heard it. Who spoke on Senator Murray's behalf and introduced herself, well, to to the region. So it was it was a very successful event. Thank you for everybody that helped put

it on. Okay.

You want me

to go? Yeah.

Okay. I attended the enterprise for equity open house and and their new location. I brought the kids to participate in the take your child to work day. Great job to everyone who worked hard, all the staff who worked hard to put it together, and it's always such a great time to see all the kids and and their parents. Attended the open house at Sterling Pines.

That's a new location for the housing authority that they've been working on in Tumwater. It was I had the opportunity to see as it was being cons they were doing the the reparations for it, and it was great to kind of see, now that it's done and and, excited for, all the seniors that will get to move in. Attended the County Road Administration Board meeting, had a presentation from our public works team, and we also had a presentation on AI being used for transportation projects and the tools that are being used statewide. And it was a very, very interesting conversation. There was a lot of discussion on that piece.

And then the next day, as mentioned by Commissioner Claus, we had the tour for Thurston County sites that included past and upcoming projects. Attended the Thurston Regional Planning Council meeting. I'll give the board a broader update tomorrow And afterwards, attended the subcommittee retreat planning meeting. Attended the Thurston Forward Summit this weekend, so both Friday and Saturday. A huge thank you to our very own Kenny Yorbrough, who just really has taken off, and he helped so much.

The summit was a huge success, with a welcome from, our chair, Ty Mansour, the first day, to the participating tribes. And also the next day, he was able to kind of give an update on the work that Thurston County has been engaging on. And, you know, this is a huge effort that is put on by all the jurisdictions, but so many community volunteers who give so much of their time and expertise to make sure that the summit is a is a success. I attended one of my favorite events of the year, which is Pause for a Costume Contest. It is one, I think, one of the hardest decisions I have to make every year.

I wish all the puppies could win. And it was really, really fun to see. First place was a bat. Second one was Obi Wan. And third place was a little costume of of flowers.

So it is a great event. And then attended the Family Support Center Gala. On Sunday, attended a celebration for peacemakers event that is put on by this dispute resolution center, and we got to hear from two of the honorees this year, which included justice Raquel Montoya as well as the Mosque Gutierrez. And I got to hear their stories and as well as the people who nominated them and why they did so. So it was a really great event. And then as mentioned by Commissioner Grant, the BHSO governor. And that is all, Chair.

All right. Thank you. That concludes our meeting, and we will adjourn. Thank you.