Board of County Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Recording in progress.

All right, good afternoon. Welcome to the Thurston County Board of County Commissioners meeting for Tuesday, July 21st, 2026. It is 2.04 p.m. My name is Ty Mentzer. I'm chair of the board. To my right is Vice Chair Commissioner Wayne Fournier, Commissioner Carolina Mejia. To my left is Commissioner Rachel Grant and Commissioner Emily Klaus. To the chain virtually, County Manager Leonard Hernandez, Assistant County Manager Josh Cummings, Assistant County Manager Jennifer Walker, and the clerk of the board is Amy Davis. We are live streaming this meeting to the Thurston County YouTube channel, and written public comment may be received up to two hours in advance of the meeting and distributed to the board. Legislative action may be taken at this meeting. We are calling to order and beginning with the Pledge of Allegiance to be led by Commissioner Mejia.

If you'll please join me.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands,

Next, we'll proceed with the land acknowledgement, Mr. Vice Chair.

We'd also like to start today with the land acknowledgement. We would like to acknowledge and thank the indigenous Salish peoples whose elders and ancestors have lived on and stewarded the lands and waterways of this county with great care, and who continue as sovereign nations today, specifically the Squaxin, Nisqually, and Chehalis people. Truth and acknowledgement are critical to building mutual respect and connection across all barriers of heritage and difference. The purpose of this acknowledgement is to disrupt ongoing erasure of injustices done and to remember history as a stepping stone towards healing. We commit to working together to honor our past and build our future with trust.

Thank you. Next, we have approval of agenda. I move to approve the agenda as presented. Second. Motion and second to approve the agenda. Any discussion on the motion? for the vote. All in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. Okay next we have presentation section. We have a proclamation and the presentation of some awards. Before we do that I did want to recognize that last week the Board of County Commissioners, we didn't have a formal board meeting, but we voted and approved a proclamation for Keith Phillips and the Tenino Stonecarvers to recognize their inclusion in in the United States Congressional 250th Anniversary Time Capsule. And a stone, a Tanino sandstone apple was placed into a time capsule that will be placed underneath the Capitol building.

Somewhere in the ground in Washington, DC until 2276. OK. At which point robots and aliens will unveil it. I don't see Keith. Is Keith here?

Okay, we thought Mr. Phillips might actually be here, but we did want to recognize and call that to attention. It's something really neat. It was also written about in the newspaper, and I wanted to give Mr. Phillips the floor if he was here. But since he is not, we will move on to our next piece, which is about the Thurston County Fair, and I'm going to pass this to Ellen Massey.

Thank you so much, Chair. Good afternoon, Board. Yes, I'd like to present today's proclamation, which is to celebrate the Thurston County Fair. We have some few speakers for you, and I'd like to first invite up Thomasina Cooper.

I have some friends.

Sorry, buddy. Here's what I need you to do. Go hand one to each of them. There you go.

Thank you. OK.

Thanks, guys. Start it there. Start with Commissioner Mejia.

It's a little tall for me.

Thank you commissioners for your grace in this moment and understanding the limitations of our young volunteers here. So you are receiving today invitations to our welcoming ceremonies for the fair. We will get to more of that in a few moments, but I wanted to acknowledge and thank you very much for having this proclamation today and most importantly for all of your work to support the Thurston County Fair. It is a big village to put on a fair And you can see today we have brought with us some friends, just a little touch point to the fair. We've got chickens and bunnies and guinea pigs and outside we had a sheep and a goat. So it's a whole menagerie and that's just a tiny, tiny piece.

I'm sorry, Thomasina, what was the sheep's name?

The sheep is named Big Booty Judy. Sorry, what was that? Highly recommend it. She's a sweetheart. Also in attendance today is Kentucky Fried Goat. Kentucky Fried Goat will be available for purchase at the market sale. More to come on that particular note. So I am here to thank you and represent the fair and all the prism of all the different facets that fair represents in our community. It's a vibrant reflection of all of who we are, and it's really quite incredible. We've got broad talents, colorful quilts, flowers of all types, visual arts. We've got kids making presentations on projects they've worked hard on for a year. It is really a neat, neat thing, our fair. it is a blessing that we have it and i will tell you it is very busy we have got a packed schedule this year as of yesterday we had just shy of 4 000 exhibits registered and we still have open class exhibits coming in so i expect that we're going to get even more here pretty soon So as you know, this year we are celebrating America's 250th birthday, and the fair has taken that on with great vigor. We have Colonel Beaks the Eagle seen here on this little logo as our mascot this year, inviting you to soar on into the Thurston County Fair. So we have some special exhibits for our 250th birthday. We've got a special exhibit from the Secretary of State Archives Office, excuse me. All sorts of neat historical things from the state and from our local area. We also will be welcoming the four-foot Billy Frank Jr. statue, Maquette statue, and be able to share more about his work in our community. And we will also have a civic storytelling project where folks are able to come in and share their story about what's important to them about fair, why fair matters. We can use that to help start feeding into our second volume of our fair history book. So we're doing some good stuff. Now, of course, you will also see George Washington roaming the grounds. Pretty impressive. An authentic representation of George Washington roaming the grounds. We've got him coming in. He's going to do some speeches as George. He's going to stroll the grounds and interact. So that's going to be pretty funny. He'll learn some history. Now, we are also happy because this year we are having the elections office return to do our mascot election, and they have got a ballot with four mascot names. Have you heard this yet? The mascot names that the kids get to choose from. Mr. Cloppity. Galloping Gertie, Turbo, or Harry Trotter. Time will tell what the kids choose. And the nice thing is it gives them a chance to interact with voting, which we all agree is important. So we are deeply, deeply grateful for all of the volunteers and the people who come together to make this event happen. We have got fair board members. We've got fair foundation members. I'm surrounded here literally by 4-H and FFA members. We have got folks from the North Thurston School District, the Thurston County Youth Market Sale, The partnerships that go into making fair are abundant and endless. So we are thrilled to be able to offer this and we are thankful to the fair and to the Thurston County Commission for your support of our fair. So I'm going to wrap it up quick and then I think there's somebody else who might have something to say. We have got fair coming July 30th through August 2nd, nine days from now. not that we're freaking out or anything, but opening day is $1 entry with a donation to the Thurston County Food Bank, a long-time partnership that we're very, very proud of. Of course, on opening day is also our welcoming ceremony in which you've been invited, and I will tell you I have been going around to other school board and elected official meetings, city council meetings, inviting them to come participate at the elected officials contest. So watch out, because I'm making you some competition, so be ready. Be ready. We also have a pretty unique trophy for the winner. Friday, we have got our Carnival Wristband Day by a $50 wristband ride for all the hours, 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. And you can also join us for our first annual Kitty Crawl Diaper Dash. So we're going to have kids crawling on the main stage. We'll see who's the fastest one in Thurston County. Prizes, of course, for the winners. Bring your crawler. We have got Saturday as our Commissioner's Pancake Breakfast. Thank you very much for feeding our fair family and our fair goers. It makes a big difference and helps them get the day started off right. Saturday, we also have a special edition of a monument unveiling. This is in partnership with the Historic Commission, acknowledging the history of our own heritage hall, which is really, really cool. We also have all sorts of fun things. We've got fire dancers. We've got people all over the grounds on stilts. Thank you very much. All sorts of activity happening throughout the weekend. And then we have got on Saturday night, of course, our market sale, which is a great place. to invest in some local food grown by local families. If you would like more information, you can find it online, thurstoncountyfair.org. I want to thank you again, and before I step away, I believe that my friend here has something she would like to add. Iris, this is Iris and her chicken.

I just wanted to say thank you for making the fair possible. I'm really excited to show my chicken apple seed.

All right, now with that, I believe we are going to hand it over to Mr. Longwell, Paul Longwell, our fair board president. Thanks all.

Well, she had a lot to say. Well, I'd give my speech, but the goat ate my homework. Anyway, I found a different copy. Good afternoon, everyone. I want to sincerely thank Thurston County Commissioners for their continued support for the fair. and the many programs that strengthen our county and the dedication you have to preserve the agriculture heritage and make every events like this possible. This year's fair is especially meaningful to our nation celebrates America 250. Celebrating 250 years of our founding of the United States. As we mark the historical milestone, we honor the generations before us that have built strong communities serving their neighbors and creating opportunities for those of us who followed. The Thurston County Fair reflects the same American values. It's where families gather, neighbors reconnect, and young people proudly showcase their talents We celebrate our farmers, our ranchers, our artisans, our businesses, our volunteers, exhibitors, and the many organizations that make Thurston County a wonderful place to live. Whether you come for the livestock, 4-H exhibits, entertainment, carnival rides, or the food, there's always something for everyone at the fair. On behalf of the Thurston County Fair Board, thank you for your county commissioners, sponsors, volunteers, exhibitors, and everyone whose hard work makes the fair possible. We invite everyone to us at the county fair as we celebrate community, our heritage, and 250 years of the American story. Thank you. God bless Thurston County, and God bless the United States of America.

Thank you, Paul. Next, I would like to invite up Kevin Jensen, who is the Agricultural Program Manager here at Thurston County and a lifelong fair participant. Mine is a few years, but that's okay. We'll let it slide.

I'm up here again, Wayne.

There you are.

GOOD AFTERNOON, COMMISSIONERS, MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC. THANKS FOR COMING OUT TODAY. MY NAME IS KEVIN JENSON. I'M THE AGRICULTURE PROGRAM MANAGER FOR THURSTON COUNTY. IN MY SPARE TIME, MY WIFE AND I RUN A CATTLE RANCH IN SOUTH THURSTON COUNTY. Everything I do involves agriculture, whether it's life at the ranch or life at the county. But we're focusing today mostly on the fair and what it means to me and how I grew up. So I was a fair kid. I lived in the barns growing up. I was showing cows and chickens, quite the mix, from around 1995 to 2003. So every year I attended the Thurston County Fair with a whole string of animals. I learned skills that carried me through life from that. So some of the main things as I was thinking back today that I probably took away were the responsibility. All of a sudden I have an animal that if I don't feed it, it dies. It really teaches a kid clear responsibility around and taking care of this living thing all of a sudden. Teamwork. So in the barns, In the buildings, you have to work as a team, as a 4-H club, FFA group, cleaning, taking care of the animals. If it's 95 degrees out, they're obviously drinking a lot of water. And then I think the biggest thing that is a takeaway would be the community engagement. Because all of a sudden, the kid is now the ambassador of the animal, of the project, of the fair. And the public is there looking to them for information on that critter, on the barn, on the facility, the fair as a whole. So it's really cool to watch that shift from the parent to the kid, teaching the kid about the fair, to all of a sudden the kid is now portraying this back to the public. So my kids are now showing. We're going into the second year. So I'm kind of recharged on the fair side of things after taking a few years not being in direct contact with the fair, obviously attending. But now that I'm going to be living there in my camper again next week, I have lots of time to think about the fair.

And have you been in the camper for me?

No. Oh, dang. No, I got to draw the line. You have to get your own campers. So when I think of agriculture in Thurston County and South Puget Sound, I really think that the future of ag in this area is in the barns at Thurston County Fair. I really think it's that black and white. If we don't keep the fair going, if we don't have the support in the barns and the next generation learning these skills, the responsibility, the teamwork, the community engagement, I really feel like ag is not going to be successful in the future. I really think it's that clear. So, you know, with the work I do at Thurston County, it involves ag preservation, ag viability, all these big words that get thrown around a lot. But kind of, you know, molded within that melting pot of stuff stewing around around agriculture is this little floating Thurston County Fair. It's right there. It's part of it. Sometimes it's not in the middle of the discussion when we want to protect farmland and all this stuff. The fair might not be part of it, but it truly is. It's the future of us being able to buy local foods that are produced here in Thurston County. Since Thomasina took on, and I feel like there's kind of a new charge of energy around the fair. Things are happening, conversations are happening. I think we're moving in a good direction. I think in the past there's been You know, a culmination of things that have happened, you know, where the market sell isn't quite, you know, everyone always compares it to our neighboring market sales at other counties. But I just throw this out to everyone. You know, you go into the Ford dealer to buy a truck. Before you sign the paper, just hold it over their head. Hey, there's market sell coming up. IF YOU WANT THIS 80 GRAND FOR A TRUCK, I NEED TO SEE YOU AT SALE. LIKE, I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE, AND WE'RE ALL INTERCONNECTED INTO ALL THESE. YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME THAT TWO WEEKS AGO. SEE, I'M TELLING YOU, YOU DROP THE PINS IN ALL THESE PLACES. SO, YOU KNOW, TO BUILD UP THE MARKET SALE, TO BUILD UP THE FAIR, IT TAKES EVERYONE. IT'S NOT THE KIDS' FAULT. IT'S NOT THE PARENTS' FAULT. IT'S NOT THE FORD DEALERS' FAULT. WE'RE ALL IN THIS COMMUNITY TOGETHER. WE START DROPPING THESE PLUGS for the Thurston County Fair, for the Thurston County Market Sales, it's going to start building this thing back up as a whole. And I think we're on the rise. I think we're steadily heading up, as the guinea pig said. So that's all I have. Thanks, guys.

Thank you, Kevin. Next, I would like to invite up Celeste.

Hi, everyone. Thanks for having us and taking the time to recognize the fair. I'm going to build upon a lot of what Kevin said. He was a year behind me. We weren't in the same barns. I was showing goats and he was showing steers. But my name is Celeste Winther, and I have the honor of leading the group of volunteers that make up the Thurston County Youth Market Animal Sale Committee. We're a registered nonprofit that works in partnership with the fair. We have a very tight relationship with Thomasina. Her and I text all week long.

I'm back here. I got you, girl.

We work in partnership with the fair, 4-H, and FFA programs. For 35 years, this organization has facilitated a live auction at the county fair where the 4-H and FFA youth are able to sell their culminating livestock projects to buyers for consumption. In just the past five years alone, we've facilitated the sale of beef, pork, lamb, goat, rabbit, chicken, turkey, and sponsorships in the amount of over $1,077,914. We talk a lot. Thank you. We talk a lot about options for local, slow, ethical food in our county. And this is truly the nexus of that, to build upon a lot of what Kevin said. Youth raise and invest in these project animals with the utmost care and quality. They bring them to the fair and exhibit them. And our community rewards that hard work on Saturday night with their dollars. The committee handles all the processing logistics for buyers in order to make the choice to support local an easy one. The youth that go through this program learn not just how to feed, raise, and care for an animal. They learn how to budget. They learn marketing. They learn promotion, public speaking, and leadership. They go on to be active members of our community. They know the business end of a shovel, and they know what it takes to earn a dollar. So I invite you all to fill your freezers on Saturday night of the fair at 6 p.m.

Thank you so much, Celeste. So that concludes our speakers. I do want to acknowledge everyone in the room. Thank you all so much. All of our two-legged friends, all of our four-legged friends. We have FFA here. We have 4-H. We have the Fair Foundation. And we have, as everyone's spoken about today, all of the friends and family of the fair. So really appreciate everyone taking the time to come today. I'll turn it back to you, Chair, to read the proclamation. Then I believe we'll turn it over to the county manager for the next presentation.

Thank you. Thank you. Before I read the proclamation, I just want to thank all the fair people, the leaders and enthusiasts. This is my daughter's first year getting ready to show a sheep. So I've gotten to watch her really take that seriously and kind of grow with the sheep and learn how to raise it and take care of it exactly as Kevin was talking about. And I've helped care for its hoof. I had some kind of hoof issue that I've been taking care of the last two weeks, which is kind of interesting too. And if you go and you find Potato the sheep, and you take a selfie with Potato, and you send it to my Facebook page, we're going to do a contest for the best Potato selfie, and I'm going to give $100 to the winner. So everybody look for Potato at the fair. Go and visit all the animals and visit all the kids, but be sure to find Potato. This is a Thurston County proclamation for Thurston County Fair, whereas for 155 years, the Thurston County Fair has been a cherished community tradition, bringing together residents from across Thurston County to celebrate our agricultural heritage, local talent, and community spirit, and whereas the fair highlights the important role of agriculture and natural resources in the history and economy of Thurston County while fostering education, stewardship, and appreciation for rural life, and whereas the dedication of volunteers, exhibitors, sponsors, staff, and community partners makes it possible to provide a safe, welcoming, and enriching experience for residents and visitors alike, and whereas the fair strengthens community connections through educational exhibits, entertainment, competitions, cultural activities, and family-friendly events that celebrate the diversity and vitality of Thurston County, and whereas the Thurston County Fair serves as a crucial link between our rich agricultural heritage and our contemporary society, celebrating community agriculture, local artists, thriving businesses, and our youth, and whereas we extend our sincere gratitude to the many partner organizations who helped make the fair happen, including the North Thurston School District Shuttle Bus Program, the Thurston County Youth Animal Market Sale, 4-H and FFA programs, and many others, all of which are a testament to their commitment to community, whereas this year's mascot, Colonel Beeks, hopes you will soar into the fair and invites all to partake in the festivities, and now therefore be it resolved that the Board of Thurston County Commissioners hereby proclaims July 30th, 2026 through August 2nd, 2026 as the official Thurston County Fair. All residents are encouraged to recognize the Thurston County Fair as an invaluable community asset and participate in its enduring legacy adopted this 21st day of July 2026 by the Board of County Commissioners.

Okay, so next up, we're going to look at the National Association of County Achievement Awards. County Manager, you wanted to introduce this, and we'll recess to actually present the awards.

Correct, Chair.

Thank you so much.

What a wonderful day with a lot of great stuff going on. Today, we're welcoming all the National Association of County Award winners. These are our own staff members who are innovating programs and making a real difference in the lives of our community members. If you remember from last year, the county brought home 19 awards, which was an impressive. And this year we blew right past that and brought home 30 awards, which again is the top in the state. Eight of those are from public health. and social services department. In several cases, public health and social services work across offices and departments. NACO is the only national organization representing county governments in the United States. Their awards honor outstanding achievements in county government programs that increase government efficiency and serve as a model for counties nationwide. These awards were won in a dynamic environment where the county is undergoing budget cuts and layoffs, uncertainties, and many other changes. We are very proud of all our staff and our leaders. Now, Chair, if we can look to a 20-minute recess, we'll move to the lobby to present the awards.

Okay, it's 2.29. We'll be in recess until 2.50. PROGRESS. 253, WE'RE BACK IN SESSION AFTER THE PRECESS FOR PRESENTATION OF A WEEK OF ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS. AND I HAD EARLIER HIGHLIGHTED A PROCLAMATION WE DID LAST WEEK FOR KEITH PHILLIPS, AND HE IS PRESENT, AND I JUST WANTED TO GIVE HIM THE FLOOR. A COUPLE OF MINUTES WOULD BE JUST FINE. COME ON UP TO THE PODIUM, AND WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU The rest of the board.

Well, I thank you for all the... Hello? Hello?

Yep, you're good. Pardon? You're good.

Oh, okay. I thank you all for the proclamation. Wonderful. Over-the-top proclamation for my work and for the group that we're establishing in Tenino to continue the legacy, a historical legacy in this area for... Tenino Sandstone, and for architectural restoration, both in Tenino and Wilkeson Sandstone. The capital building is Wilkeson Sandstone. That comes from Wilkeson up by Enumclaw. And then, of course, the old capital building downtown is Chuckanut from Bellingham, and the building behind the old capital is Tenino. But we're continuing. Dan Miller has taken over from me. And what can I say? I say thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Keith.

Thank you for coming, Keith. I know I speak for the board. We're very proud of the work you do, and we're very proud of the history. that you've outlined, and it's something that we always want to take the opportunity to highlight when we get the chance. So thank you for being here. Okay, so next up is public comment related to agenda items. I do have a list here. I'm going to go through this list. If you have, we do have public comment related to general items toward the tail end of the meeting. If you have a time constraint that doesn't allow you to stay till the end, you can come forward. When I get done with the folks who signed up, just raise your hand. But we do like to keep that structure if at all possible. So first up, let me give the advisements. Thurston County Commissioner welcomes comments from the public. There are guidelines governing such comments to ensure they are appropriate. When you're called, introduce yourself and the area of the county in which you reside. For this period, state the agenda item or topic you're speaking to. Address the board, not audience or staff. Silence your cell phones. Board does not directly respond to public comment, but the county manager may follow up with specific items as needed. Speakers will have three minutes to address the board. You may not donate speaking time to other speakers. Please be respectful. Board reserves the right to restrict a person's opportunity for good cause. No comments that allude offensive, inflammatory, hateful, defamatory, or discriminatory in nature. No comments that are commercial in nature, such as promotion of a for-profit business. withhold remarks about pending land use permits or similar matters that could eventually come before the board on appeal, no electioneering comments, and finally, all written material provided to the county may be considered public record and subject to public release upon request pursuant to the Public Records Act. So with those advisements, first up is Bonnie Peterson with John Pettit on deck.

Hello, commissioners. Good afternoon, and county managers. I am Bonnie Peterson and I am taking the day off so that I can speak here freely to the commissioners and the managers and it's on behalf of our child death review and femur meetings that we have the review and it and I'm just I have been involved with child death review for at least 10 years and and has This whole program has evolved into such a very good program. I'm very proud that it really works. It's been, to my knowledge, it's on holding. There's no decision made, but the person that was running the program is now off the program and is now going to fill in my position because I'm retiring at the end of the month. And I've been at the health department for 47 years, working with families that are low income and children with special health care needs. And then doing this child death review. But I really feel that it's important that we continue this work. This work is giving us an insight to what's happening in our community. What's happening to our women that are losing their fetus. And so we're looking at statistics and data on that. And then we're also looking at then infants and child deaths. And I have statistics on that. The rate of infant deaths in Thurston County for 2024 was 5.02 per thousand. And King County was 3.67. And Snohomish was 2.95. And Pierce County was almost similar to us, but look at the bigger county, it was 5.6. So we're really having a problem with having a higher level of infant deaths. And then when we look at fetal deaths for 2024, we're looking at 4.68 out of the births, which was almost 3,000. But then if you look at King County's, It was lower, 4.28. And Spokane, which is a bigger area, more populated, was 4.16. And Snohomish was 3.86. So we're in that ballpark of having higher levels of fetal deaths. So that's why then. we got together and decided that this was something that needed to be addressed and looked at on prevention. So we've done a lot of different programs to try to look at and looking at what we can do to prevent these deaths. And one of them was that... We got the Count the Kicks program. So this is women who, if they do that in their last trimester, they can see if the babies are having some problems and can get in right away to the doctor to prevent any type of death, for fetal death. And then there's also, we got funding for child abuse and prevention. Um, we also had, um, one case where the child had died and the doctor, we, we reviewed that and saw that he could change practices. I mean, he needed to change some practices. So out of that he did. And so now that's going to be a prevention that other children probably won't die, but the baby just died of malnutrition. And yet now he's really changed about how he, he practices these children. Um, we also, um, had, um, Let's see what other interventions. I have them all written in my...

I need you to wrap up, but you can provide any stats or materials to the board.

Yeah, but I just want to get you the important stuff that out of this work, we've had the Blue Band Initiative for preeclampsia, the Pack and Play Program for partnership for the first responders. We developed a suicide advisory board for the schools and providers and care providers. The one thing that I noticed that we do when we... do these reviews that we have people that come together that never do talk to each other. like a medical examiner to a detective. And out of there, they come up with better solutions to deal with these deaths or deal with the family. So I think it's real important that we have this opportunity that we do this quarterly, not just once a year, but quarterly, to really address these issues and to work at, like, preventions. But, you know, we've done a lot more. I'll put it in that sheet that I sent to you. But the QPR, which is one of the things that came out of that work, You look at prevention of suicide even so and that's this state That's countywide that we did we have that program But I'm gonna let the other people that are wearing we're part of the board a part of the review board for quite a long time, too So this won't let you know that I'm leaving but I hopefully that this this program will continue because I think it's really important for our County to have this Any questions?

John Pettit is next. Terry Ballard on deck.

Good afternoon, commissioners. I'm John Pettit from Rich Road area. I see in the agenda, I believe it's item number six, is that there's an intent to move forward with the purchase of a $2.5 million building located on leased property. Well, some of you would know that after 50 years of myself being in real estate, I find that having reviewed the purchase and sale agreement to begin with, it specifically states that the title will process through a statutory warranty deed. You will not get a statutory warranty deed. That is a false thing. I can't imagine people doing something of this significance and not understanding. This is a leasehold estate. It's not a fee simple estate. They don't have a right to give you a deed to property that they don't own. So that's the first error. The next error that I see is in terms of how did you decide that two and a half million dollars is a figure that's appropriate for this particular building? The assessor's office made a determination that the entire building portion and improvements is one and a half million. Anybody on the outside would typically wonder who's getting the payoffs? Was there a appraisal done according to this county code 5.64, which is an MAI appraisal by an independent source, and I say independent because you can't use your own real estate guy that's gonna receive a benefit, a financial benefit by closing a deal to ask him, is that a good value? You aren't stupid people. You may not be informed about real estate and principles, but you clearly know when somebody's paying a million dollars more for a potential million and a half property, it gives the highlight of a probability of corruption. Do you wanna be looked at as being potentially corrupt? I don't think so. This sale needs to be put on hold until you answer some questions. I would like you, I'd like to hear today about where is the actual hard independent appraisal that ever occurred? Or did you just agree to the value because some staff told you, well, that's okay. It's not okay. Your whole purpose is in fact to protect the funds of the public. And if you wanna be able to see the value, it's all on here on the assessor sheets, noted as being a lease property separation. If you wanna see the fact that you've been paying $22,000 a month for the lease of that property currently, And I will wrap up shortly. But the fact of the matter is that through this process of using bond money you're paying 5% interest on, plus you're going to do maintenance, plus you're going to do an $8,000 a month land lease payment, you're going to be over $30,000 for something you're paying $22,000 for now. You need to get a grip on, well, either someone's giving you bad information to fill their own pocket... or you need to get a grip on people that are actually going to give you some good advice. Thank you.

Thank you, Terry Ballard. Melanie Rivaglia on deck.

Good afternoon, Commissioners. My name is Terry Ballard. I'm a previous veteran of 35 years total service and 29 years towards an active duty retirement in the U.S. Army. I currently live in unincorporated county, Tanglewild. I have a couple challenges with your consent agenda. On number three, the Lake District keeps on paying for everything. Why does the Lake District keep on paying for that when Lake Lawrence belongs to the state? Where's the state funding for all this stuff? You're letting the housing people that pay to live near that lake in the Lake District to come up with the cost of maintenance. Why isn't the state? I know they ran out of money. That's not an excuse. They own it. Item number eight, appointment of the Veterans Advisory Board. I know John O'Callaghan, but my question is, is John O'Callaghan part of the Veterans Committee for a veteran organization and the representative of that veteran organization? determination, and is he bringing the information back to them as their representative per your own ordinance? Of course, they're not. They're just a veteran. They're just a veteran, a paying veteran, and I have like four of those in my pocket right now. The voucher list. Where's where's the transparency of your voucher listing and where's the transparency of your financials which both are offline? Okay, where's the transparency that we don't know what you're spending when you're spending we have no idea as far as item number as far as item number As far as item number seven of your agenda, the capital facility plan. Capital facility plans are very concerning to me because you don't have one to pay for this building. You don't have one to pay for the new court building. You never had one to pay for the sheriff's building, which is outside the county seat, and he's supposed to be located in the courthouse as per the revised code of Washington state. And you're not even in the, you're not in the county seat of government. This part of the property was annexed to the city of Olympia in 1964. Widening of it does not, widening of Olympia does not widen your county seat. And that's a violation of the Washington State Constitution item, Article 11, Section 2. You can't follow your own rules. You can't follow the rules that you put on the codes. You can't follow anything, and it's impacting us, the people. Thank you.

Melanie Ravagli with Shelley Willis on deck.

Greetings to you all. For the record, my name is Melanie Rabalia, residing here in the great state of Washington, working for a living here and for the great county of Thurston. Today, I'm here for a few reasons, and one is actually on the agenda. Amazing procession of the species. I want to thank you all, commissioners. I want to thank the county managers, specifically Joshua, because I've heard this. I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS EVENT TO OUR COMMUNITY AND TODAY PROVIDING TEMPORARY SPACE. AS I SAID EARLIER THIS YEAR ABOUT OUR NEEDS, WE ALWAYS NEED SPACE. I AM SURE THAT YOU'VE HEARD THE PROCESSION RECEIVE THE NONPROFIT OF THE YEAR FROM THE THURSTON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL. So, of course, I was hoping for some more money in 2027. I still have two plus minutes, and I'm going to cover the rest of what I wanted to update you on. Public comments and employee recognition. Public comments. I take off two hours of my vacation time to do this. Thankfully, I have a job where I can. Imagine if I was a nurse, a construction worker, a restaurant, fast food worker. I understand this is your time to do county business. However... HEARING FROM THE PUBLIC IS YOUR COUNTY BUSINESS. ADDITIONALLY, WITHOUT A REASONABLE TIME FRAME, IT SEEMS PRETTY DISRESPECTFUL OF YOUR CONSTITUENTS' TIME. I APPRECIATE THE OFFER FROM TOY TO TESTIFY BECAUSE YOU JUST CAN'T WAIT. SORRY, MY CATHOLIC GUILT DOESN'T REALLY ALLOW ME TO HAPPEN. BUT TODAY, DUE TO THE AGENDA, I MENTALLY COULD SLIDE THIS IN. I JUSTIFIED IT. ADDITIONALLY, THERE WAS A RECENT CONVERSATION ABOUT THE FACT THAT THERE'S MORE OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT. The perception of the fact is the opposite. It reminds me when Fish and Wildlife tells me that I can fish earlier in June, but there's no fish in the river in June, so it doesn't really do me any good. I've had coworkers in Public Works and other departments tell me that they wouldn't waste their time doing this. Just saying. Next, employee recognition. For a number of years, there's been Thurston County employee nights at the Rainier Games, and I'm sure that plenty of folks are participating. However, there's plenty that won't. The ticket package includes a ballpark meal, which includes a hot dog. Some of us don't eat meat. Additionally, Cheney Stadium rules are no outside food. Other concerns are the parking is limited and it's not free. We're advised to arrive an hour to an hour and a half before the game, so that would be 3.30 or 4.30. $18.83 times two is $37.66 plus $10 to park. $47.66 for my husband and I, and we still need food. Wow, no, thanks. Totally enjoy local Sweetie's ice cream. They understand their audience. They have gluten-free. I think that's wonderful. My boss gets to eat ice cream. So I still have 22 seconds. I'm out of here. Going to go back to work. See ya.

All right, Shelly Willis with Betsy Norton on deck.

Thank you. Shelly Willis, rural Thurston County, Woodard Bay area. Good afternoon, commissioners and county managers. My name is Shelly Willis, Executive Director of Family Education and Support Services. And I'm here today to ask you for your continued support of the Thurston County child death review process and to encourage continuation of regular quarterly reviews. Every child fatality is a profound tragedy, but these reviews serve a critical purpose. They help us identify patterns, learn from difficult circumstances, and implement prevention strategies that save lives. The recommendations from our local child death review have led to meaningful community improvements, as mentioned before, suicide prevention training, safe sleep initiatives, and gun safety education. It has also promoted stronger coordination among health care providers, law enforcement, child welfare, and community partners. I understand the county's facing significant budget challenges. However, prevention depends on timely information and timely action. Annual reviews simply do not provide responsiveness needed to identify emerging issues and mobilize community solutions. Quarterly reviews allow us to recognize patterns sooner, coordinate across systems, and take prevention action before additional children are harmed. I respectfully ask you to sustain this vital prevention effort and preserve the frequency necessary to make it effective. And thank you.

Thank you.

Betsy Norton.

Hi, Commissioners. My name's Betsy Norton, and I live in Olympia. I would just like to make another comment regarding the new market purchase. I really didn't talk to Mr. Pettit before this, but I am one of those people who has questions based on the presentation. I just have two questions related to increasing transparency so we all understand how this works. I do not know in detail commercial real estate agreements. It's a little hard for, I think, most lay people to Make their way through that so the first one is is there any estimate of the closing costs associated with the transfer of this property? Because it's going from one public entity the port of Olympia to another public entity Thurston County and so I would just like to know exactly how much that's costing us in terms of private transaction fees Secondly, is the third party consultant who analyzed the need and recommended the solution associated with either of the commercial real estate entities who are going to receive the closing costs? And this is going to the, you know, the potential for questioning the even handedness with which the recommendation was made. So if you could just, as the sale goes forward, I just request that you fill in what I see as the information gaps, and perhaps also provide a link to the assessment that came up with the recommendation for this particular building. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, those are the folks who signed up on agenda-related public comment. Is there anyone who needs to go earlier because of time constraint? It won't be long before we get to general public comment. Anyone online who did not get a chance to sign up for agenda-related public comment? Okay. And we're going to get there. Thank you so much. Okay. So let's move forward then. We've got county manager update next. Nothing to report, Chair. Thank you. Consent items, we have 1 through 10. Is there a motion to approve?

I move to approve the consent agenda as approved.

Second. Second. To approve consent items 1 through 10, non-debatable and motionable, call for the vote. All in favor say aye. Aye. Okay, next item up is Central Services New Market Property Acquisition.

Good afternoon, Commissioners. My name's Mike Lohman, Capital Projects Program Manager with Central Services. We are requesting board approval to authorize the county manager or designee to proceed with the closing of the purchase of the property located at 7721 New Market Street Southwest in Tumwater, and to complete the reassignment of the Port of Olympia ground lease in accordance with the approved purchase and sale agreement, which was signed on May 29th of 2026. The property will serve as the Thurston County Sheriff's Office's dedicated facility for large evidence storage, vehicle impound yard, and large vehicle storage. Acquiring this site will provide a secure, purpose-specific location that supports operational efficiency while meeting both current and future operational needs. This acquisition is a result of a collaborative effort between Central Service, central services and the sheriff's office to identify the most effective long-term solution for these functions. Over an extended period, staff evaluated multiple alternatives, including constructing a new facility at the sheriff's headquarters, relocating operations to another site, and developing a new facility from the ground up. After carefully assessing each option, purchasing the new market property where these operations are already located under existing lease emerged as the most practical and cost-effective solution. Remaining at the current location minimizes operational disruption, supports day-to-day functionality, and avoids a significantly higher cost associated with new construction or relocation. The county has entered into a purchase and sale agreement to acquire the property for $2,500,000 plus closing costs. The acquisition also includes the assignment of the existing ground lease with the Port of Olympia. As part of the county's due diligence process, Central Services completed an independent third-party appraisal, comprehensive building inspections, and a feasibility assessment. These evaluations confirm that the property is well-suited to support the Sheriff's operational requirements and represents a sound long-term investment for the county. This project is included in the county's 2026 to 2031 capital improvement program and will be funded through the public safety sales tax. Staff respectfully requests board approval to authorize the county manager or designee to complete the purchase and execute all documents necessary to finalize the transaction. And I'd be happy to answer any questions the board may have.

Thank you. Okay.

Yeah, thank you for covering the independent appraiser. I believe there were also some other questions that we heard, and I'm wondering in terms, is there an estimate for the closing costs and those private transaction fees?

We have an estimate at this point of $5,000 or below. $5,000 is the high side of that.

And Commissioner Mejia, just maybe Assistant County Manager Walker could speak to the ownership of the building.

The buildings will be owned by the county. The property, the land will be leased from the Port of Olympia. Who's the current owner of the property? It's a private property owner. The buildings are not owned by the Port of Olympia. The buildings are owned by a private property owner who leases from the Port of Olympia. and we will be assuming that lease should the board authorize this and the Port of Olympia approve it.

Can I ask one more question? From the first commenter on the independent appraisal piece and that the independent appraisal match, you know, what we...

offered uh to purchase this building for yeah so the appraisal did look at the leasehold interest because the port of olympia owns the property as miss walker said and that um appraisal i don't have the exact number but it was substantially higher than that it was four million dollars four million that's going to be my question because i remember that the

People always people often confuse tax assessed value and market value and They'll go on the assessor's website and look at the tax assessed value and assume that that is the market value Can you are you able to explain the difference between market value and tax assessed value and why those are often different?

I am NOT I would not be the person for that I can get you that information. I

Commissioner, you're right. There is a difference between the tax assessed value, which has limitations about how much it can be assessed every year, versus the market value, which is going to look at, in an appraisal, they'll take a look at similarly sized facilities, buildings with the same qualities, and then come up with the market value as to what we should pay for it. In this situation, the appraisal was significantly higher than the actual cost of the building. And just for the public's awareness, I think we said this in the board work session, but the County was in a current lease with this building with a private building owner, and they've indicated that their desire to go out and sell, which put the County in a place where, although we had been having conversations and collaborative conversations with central services and the sheriff's department, and I believe that some of this has gone to the commissioners in times past about where do we put this essential function for the sheriff eventually, the need to advance that conversation more earnestly came when the property owner indicated that they were going to sell the facility. And so that's when we took a real honest look at what are our options here, which could have included signing into a long-term lease with the facility, but at an economic value that as we presented it, would not make sense. It actually made a lot more sense to purchase the facility. And I think one of the key components is that Central Services is handling this transaction, but the real user of the facility, the sheriff, had identified, both the undersheriff and the sheriff, that this is a critical need for their operation. And while the county made tremendous progress in securing their headquarters, this use was not able to be addressed at that time. So it left an outstanding issue that staff worked collaboratively with the sheriff to address so that we could look at having some certainty for the sheriff long term.

Could we invite the sheriff or undersheriff to come up and explain what the use of this building is for and why it's critical?

I just saw the sheriff give us a smiley nod, so he's on his way up to the podium.

Thank you, County Manager. While he's coming up, I just want to say that I appreciate people coming and asking questions because we've had a lot of work sessions, but they have to. Happen in executive session for the most part because we're talking about negotiation Values and our assessment of value and those are all covered by executive session So it doesn't create the kind of transparency for the public that you would like in other contexts So I appreciate the questions and our ability to address them here before we take action You wouldn't want to go out and purchase a house and have the other person's real estate agent know what you and your

House, your fellow homeowner, your real estate agent we're talking about.

It only costs us more taxpayer money to do things, do business that way. Sheriff, welcome.

Good afternoon, Chair and members of the board. Just some context for this from the Sheriff's Office operations side. So prior to the move-in to the Israel location, The sheriff's office was kind of the redheaded stepchild of living quarters. So we had moved from different buildings to different facilities. And then over the last decade, at least since I've worked here at the sheriff's office, our patrol deputies and narcotics task force detectives worked at the new market building, which is the one that is before you today. but there wasn't enough room inside that facility. There was very limited office space. The way it's kind of set up is there's a few offices, and then most of the structure is an outdoor impound lot, some outbuildings, and then a large warehouse. The building itself used to be a playground factory, so it kind of gives you an idea that most of it is kind of suited towards large warehouse storage space. And then the detectives, command staff, and support staff worked up at the courthouse in Building 3. When we moved into the new headquarters building, all of our staff, with the exception of corrections, are now under one roof. And conversations early on with central services were going into, hey, we still need an impound lot. We still need large vehicle storage. We still need... A place to store our outdoor evidence and things like that. And so the search was kind of on and Newmarket was always an option, but we did explore other opportunities. For the same reason that we did not build a new police headquarters, we could pretty much early on scratch out building a warehouse. That's not a cheap endeavor to find the land, develop it, permitting times while we're still paying for this lease here at this other building as well. And then additionally, one of my initial proposals was the potential of maybe building a like a pole barn type warehouse at the new facility. But based on the needs for a certain number of parking spaces and the building is large at our new headquarters, but the property is not. I believe the property is two acres, roughly somewhere in there, two to four acres, maybe four acres. And there's just not enough room to go build, you know, a large warehouse at that that property that we purchased earlier. And so in having conversations with central services, this made the most sense. As we were going through this process, I was kind of also saying to myself like 2.5 million seems like it's a little on the low end for what we've always had conversations about when it was time to think about purchasing this building. We were always thinking more close to the three to four million dollar range. So with that being said, what's what the future need is for this building is exactly what's already in it. So right now there is going to be some vacant office space, which we've had some conversations about what that would be utilized for. I think there's some revenue opportunities for the county in the future. However, the actual warehouse side of things, that is where we store our large evidence. So when cars are involved, for instance, in homicides, and the CSRT team from State Patrol needs to come examine that and completely pull every last DNA fiber, those cars cannot sit outside in the rain. So those vehicles get stationed inside the warehouse, and it's all alarmed. So we've already made some of those investments through the lease over time. We've been in this building for a long time, so the county's already kind of invested in it through rate increases through the lease. So there have been times in the past where we've said, hey, this is what we need, and they say, okay, we'll raise the rates and we'll make those improvements. Additionally, this is also where our large equipment is. So when we think about like the SWAT Bearcat, our rescue river rafts, that is where we keep our large comms van for crisis negotiators. At those scenes, all of those items are parked inside that shop as well as some of our heavy equipment. And then outside, we have a couple outdoor impound lots. Those are for our critical pieces of evidence that do not require indoor parking. So these are going to be vehicles involved, for instance, in fatal crashes where alcohol is involved. Those cars can be out in the elements per se, but the prosecutor may want those for evidentiary value in the event that, you know, defense demands to see that vehicle. They'll go and do that evaluation of that vehicle. So All the infrastructure is already there. And so that is what the future need is for this building. We have to have a place to have those different items, not just for sheriff's office operations, but also for evidentiary value as well. So that is the reasoning for this. This was always going to be projected. And given that we got such a good deal on the headquarters building and we were under budget on renovations, this was always planned in terms of being under the cap of the $20 million bond that's been budgeted through the public safety sales tax.

Any questions for the sheriff?

Thanks. Ready for a motion. I move to authorize the county manager or designee to proceed with closing the purchase for the property located at 7721 New Market Street, Southwest, Tumwater, Washington, for the purchase and sale agreement signed on May 29, 2026, and the assignment of the Port of Olympia ground lease.

Second. Motion is second to authorize. All for the vote, all in favor say aye. Aye.

Aye.

Motion carries unanimously, thank you. Next up is a commissioner's office item, resolution for 2026-27, biennial budget, special amendment one, Summer Miller, budget and fiscal manager, to brief the board, good afternoon.

Good afternoon, Commissioner Summer Miller, Budget and Fiscal Manager. This is a resolution for the 2026-2027 Biennial Budget Special Amendment Number 1, authorizing supplemental operating and capital appropriations to the 2026-2027 Biennial Budget. Amendment 1 was adopted by Resolution 16633 on June 2nd of 2026. AFTER WHICH IT WAS IDENTIFIED THAT CHANGES TO THE APPROPRIATIONS WERE NECESSARY TO CORRECT ERRORS FOUND IN FUND DEPARTMENT COMBINATIONS, KNOWN AS INVALID INTERSECTIONS, AND AN ENTRY ERROR IN EXPENDITURES VERSUS REVENUE. SPECIAL AMENDMENT ONE WAS PRESENTED TO THE BOARD ON JUNE 23, AT WHICH TIME THE BOARD PROVIDED DIRECTION TO PROCEED WITH THE NOTICING OF THE 2026-2027 BIENNIAL BUDGET SPECIAL AMENDMENT ONE. Additionally, through unanimous vote, the board took action to authorize the auditor financial services staff to load the tentatively approved special amendment corrections into the financial system to maintain continuity of county operations and avoid disruptions to departmental activities. The overall increase to the 2026 expenditure appropriations to the general fund is $0. And the increase to all other funds is $1,487,750. There's no increase to the 2027 expenditure appropriations for general fund or all other funds. And this special amendment one was published in the Nisqually Valley News on July 2nd, July 9th, and July 16th as per RCW 3640-100. Happy to answer any questions. Any questions for Summer? I have a motion.

I move to approve the resolution to adopt the 2026-2027 biennial budget, Special Amendment 1, pursuant to RCW 36.40.110, authorizing supplemental operating and capital appropriations to the 2026-2027 biennial budget. Second.

Okay, motion second. Regarding Special Amendment 1, any discussion on the motion? Call for the vote. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye.

Thank you.

Next up, we have three items from Public Health and Social Services. First is Developmental Disabilities Administration County Program Agreement. Dr. Jen Freiheit, Director of Public Health and Social Services, to brief the board.

Yes, thank you. Dr. Jen Freiheit, Director of Public Health and Social Services. And the first item is a request for the board to move to approve the county agreement with the Washington State Department of Social Services, Department of Disabilities Administration in the amount of $7,830,473 for the period of July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. And this is a renewal of a longtime program agreement with DDA that we receive annually. The county developmental disabilities program uses these funds to provide services for adults with developmental disabilities in Thurston and Mason counties as a shared service and to provide information to the community and training for clients, families, and community members and contracted service providers. I'm happy to answer any questions on that one.

Questions on this item?

Is there a motion? I move to approve county program agreement number 2663-69510. WITH THE WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES ADMINISTRATION IN THE AMOUNT OF 7,830,473 FOR THE PERIOD OF JULY 1, 2026 TO JUNE 30, 2027 AND AUTHORIZE THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES TO SIGN THIS AGREEMENT AND ANY AMENDMENTS THAT DO NOT EXCEED 10%.

I MOTION AND SECOND TO APPROVE THIS COUNTY PROGRAM AGREEMENT DISCUSSION ON THE MOTION. Okay, I'll call for the vote. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. The motion carries unanimously. Next up is professional services agreements for supported employment, high school transition, Job Foundation and Community Inclusion Services.

Yes, thank you. So whereas the past one was to accept the money in, this next one is to get the money out to the community. So this is a request for the board to move to approve the Thurston Mason County Developmental Disabilities Professional Services Agreements for a combined amount of $7,830,473 for the period of July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. And this money gets distributed to several agencies, including CareerQuest, Centerforce, Compass Career Solutions, Exceptional Foresters, Morningside, and Vadis. So this is the distribution of the agreement now that we received from DDA. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Questions on this item? Move to approve the Thurston Mason County Developmental Disabilities Professional Services Agreements with CareerQuest, Centerforce, Compass Career Solutions, Exceptional Foresters, Morningside, and Vadis for a combined total of $7,830,473. TO PROVIDE SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT, HIGH SCHOOL TRANSITION, JOB FOUNDATION, AND COMMUNITY INCLUSION SERVICES FOR THE PERIOD OF JULY 1, 2026 TO JUNE 30, 2027, AND AUTHORIZE THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES TO EXECUTE THE AGREEMENTS AND ANY AMENDMENTS THAT DO NOT EXCEED 10%.

SECOND.

MOTION AND SECOND TO PROCURVE THESE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENTS. DISCUSSION ON THE MOTION? Okay, call for the vote. All in favor say aye. Aye. Make sure, Klaus, I'm reading your lips, even though somehow your volume's not coming through, but I'm seeing your votes, so thank you. Last up is 2027-28 Veterans Request for Proposals.

YES, THANK YOU. THIS IS FOR THE VETERANS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. WE'RE SEEKING NEW PROPOSALS THAT WILL START ON JANUARY 1, 2027 FOR THE VETERAN PROJECT GRANT, OFFERING UP FUNDING FOR $1 MILLION OVER A TWO-YEAR PERIOD. SO THAT'S $500,000 FOR EACH OF THE TWO YEARS. THESE FUNDS WOULD SUPPORT PROJECTS SPECIFICALLY FOCUSED ON DIRECT SERVICES FOR IN-NEED VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES. AND THIS PROJECT BEGAN LAST JANUARY 2026, PROVIDING ONE-YEAR FUNDING. AND SOME OF THE, I JUST WANTED TO CALL IT SOME OF THE VERY GOOD POINTS THAT HAVE COME OUT SO FAR, AND WE'RE ONLY SIX MONTHS INTO THAT PROGRAM, IS THAT WE HAVE 25% MORE RIDES PROVIDED BY THE LACY VETERANS SERVICE HUB AS COMPARED TO THE SAME TIME PERIOD THIS YEAR BEFORE. THURSTON COUNTY FOOD BANK HAS DEVELOPED PARTNERSHIPS WITH RURAL AREA ORGANIZATIONS TO INCREASE AWARENESS OF LOCAL FOOD PANTRIES AND THE VAP. AND REBUILDING TOGETHER, THURSTON COUNTY HAS ASSISTED WITH ROOF REPLACEMENTS, REPAIRS, HVAC, AND DEC REPAIRS TO IMPROVE SAFETY FOR OUR COUNTY VETERANS. SO IT'S ALREADY A VERY SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM, AND WE'RE EXCITED TO BRING IT BACK AGAIN NEXT YEAR. HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.

WHERE CAN FOLKS FIND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TO MAKE PROPOSALS?

We will have that posted to our website, and we'll make that available through several media channels.

Okay.

Any other questions? Okay, ready for a motion.

Move to authorize the Public Health and Social Services to issue a request for proposals for the 2027-2028 Veterans Assistance Program Veterans Project Grant.

Second.

Okay, motion and second to authorize the request for proposals. Discussion on the motion? Commissioner Klaus.

Can you hear me now?

Yes.

All right. Thank you.

Okay. Then call for the vote. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Dear commissioners and county managers, I'm Bo Foster. I spoke with you at your March 31 meeting regarding the idea of creating a building permit amnesty program for older homes that were built without permits. At that time, I presented a possible framework for how such a program could work. For your convenience, I am enclosing again a brief summary of that proposal, which I will hand to you. When I made my previous presentation, I came before you as one individual with an idea that I believe could benefit many Thurston County residents. Since then, I have spoken with many homeowners, real estate professionals, and many other members of our community who believe that establishing an amnesty program is both practical and worthwhile. Rather than asking more than 200 supporters to attend today's meeting and crowd this room, I invited them to demonstrate their support by signing the proposal. I have here over 200 signatures. The response was overwhelmingly positive, with everyone I approached expressing support for the concept. Among the signatories are many local real estate brokers. Through our work with buyers and sellers, we regularly see the challenges created by older, unpermitted homes. While I gathered these signatures through my own professional contacts, I believe they represent only a small sample of many people throughout Thurston County who would welcome a practical solution. A number of people told me they strongly supported the proposal but chose not to sign because they were concerned that doing so might draw attention to unpermitted improvements on their own properties. Others whose hide have no permitted structures themselves or do not even own a home. But simply, they believe that encouraging voluntary compliance is a fair and sensible public policy. During our research, we found that Pierce County previously implemented a time-limited building permit amnesty program between 2008 and 2010. While we recognize that state law has changed over time and that Thurston County must operate within current legal requirements, this demonstrates that Washington counties have previously explored innovative approaches to encourage voluntary compliance. We understand that there may be legal or practical limitations to some aspects of our proposal. Our request is not that the county circumvent state law or weaken building standards. Rather, we are asking the county to work collaboratively to identify local practical pathways that encourage homeowners to come forward voluntarily and bring older homes into compliance whenever possible. Accordingly, I respectfully ask that you direct county staff to explore the feasibility of such a program, identify what options may exist under current state law, and report back to the board with their findings and recommendations. If additional authority from the state legislature is ultimately needed, We would welcome the county's leadership in identifying these challenges and advocating for them. I believe such a program would improve public safety by bringing more homes into compliance, Encourage homeowners to voluntarily address structural, electrical, septic, and environmental concerns. Reduce the need for costly enforcement actions. Increase property values and over time the county's tax base. Create a more cooperative relationship between the homeowners and the permitting process. Benefit not only individual property owners, but the community as a whole. This proposal is ultimately about creating a practical pathway that encourages cooperation rather than avoidance. When homeowners feel they can approach the county without fear of unreasonable penalties and impossible hurdles, everyone benefits. Thank you for your time, your consideration, and continued willingness to engage with the community on this important issue, respectfully. And I will submit this list of signatures. And on a different subject, I would like to remind you that Rainier Roundup Days is happening the fourth weekend of June. And my office is sponsoring a street dance that Friday night with a wonderful band. I would love for all of you, it's open to everyone free. I would love for all of you to come. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Mr. Hanauer, you've got three minutes. Mr. Chair?

Yeah. Just, county manager, would it be okay if, after Ms. Foster and I met like six months ago, Ashley and CPED, she did a bunch of research into this request, and Ashley and I spoke about it extensively. If there's time in the next few weeks, maybe Ashley could come and speak to the board at one of our work sessions on this topic, because she is very knowledgeable on it after I met with Ms. Foster. She did a bunch of research. So it wouldn't be much to ask to have a quick presentation.

I'd like to hear that. Yeah.

Yeah. Happy to connect with Ashley and see what research she's done. Thank you.

And we'll be sure to do it where it's televised or whatever, and you'll be able to watch it on YouTube and hear what staff have to say. Thank you.

I did look into it after we met. Yes. Thank you. Mr. Hanauer, you're up. Henry Valls is on deck. Go ahead.

Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Scott Hanauer, and I am respectfully encouraging you to restore funding for the Thurston County Child Fatality Review Team. The Child Fatality Review Team has played a critical role over the last year and a half or two years in improving how children, families, youth access behavioral health services in our region. I serve as a member of the Thurston County, Thurston Mason Regional Kids Mental Health Network. Our task force, the Kids Mental Health Task Force, collaborates closely with the county's Child Fatality Review Team to share data. Identify needs implement research supported and evidence-based strategies that strengthen families in In our community in our region our partnership is grounded in data and collaboration first our region has recently become a statewide leader in helping kids remain safely at home and in our community and RATHER THAN RELYING ON SENDING KIDS TO HOSPITALS AND RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT PROGRAMS, IN SOME CASES, OUT OF OUR STATE, WHERE THAT'S HOW FAR THAT THEY ARE SENT. RESEARCH INDICATES THAT LONG-TERM HOSPITALIZATION AND RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT PROGRAM HAVE VERY LITTLE POSITIVE IMPACT ON KIDS, SO OUR GOAL is to keep kids safely at home and in our community where we can provide wraparound services for those kids. That work is done in collaboration with the Child Fatality Review Team. Second, the data recently collected by the Child Fatality Review Team has identified in our region that suicides for young people happen in clusters. And it is often the case if one person attempts suicide or dies by suicide, additional attempts follow that. In response, Kids Mental Health and the Child Fatality Review Team are partnering with local schools, to recognize these patterns and to implement strategies to prevent ongoing tragedies in those schools. Third, our community has broad access to evidence-based suicide prevention training. I am trained in what's called question, persuade, refer, QPR suicide prevention training. Over the last number of years, I've trained just myself. There's others from the public health department that are also trained. AT QPR, JUST MYSELF, I'VE TRAINED PROBABLY CLOSE TO 1,000 PEOPLE IN THE LAST NUMBER OF YEARS. AND THE TEAM AT THE CHILD fatality review team probably has equal number of people. Finally, Kids Mental Health Washington and the Child Fatality Review Team are partnering, even today, partnering with University of Washington Social Development Research Group to expand prevention services in our community. Our goal is to provide families with effective early recognition or prevention, early intervention to keep kids safely at home and in their community. Sending them out, sending those youth to hospitals in other parts of Washington or across the country shows very little positive outcomes. The work we are doing, accomplished by Kids Mental Health Washington and the Thurston County Child Review Team, is making measurable differences in the lives of children and families in our community. This progress is made as a result of the strong collaboration between Kids Mental Health Washington and the Child Fatality Review Team. I need you to wrap up, Mr. Hanna. Pardon? I need you to wrap up. Okay, sorry. Good times. Restoring funding for the child fatality review team is critical in keeping the momentum for this work going. Thank you. Thank you.

Henry Volz is next. John Pettit's on deck.

Hello, thank you for your time. Henry Volz, West Olympia. July is Drowning Prevention Month nationwide, and Saturday is National Drowning Prevention Day. We often discuss public safety, however, drowning prevention does not seem to often come up. But drowning safety is public safety for our children and their parents. Drowning is the number one cause of accidental deaths for children one to four, and number two for ages five to 14. For children with autism spectrum DISORDER, DROWNING RATES ARE 160 TIMES GREATER THAN THEIR PEERS. FOR CHILDREN OF COLOR, THESE RATES ARE 2.6 TO 5.5 TIMES GREATER THAN THEIR PEERS. 79% OF CHILDREN IN THE U.S. WITH A FAMILY INCOME LESS THAN 50,000 HAVE NO ACCESS TO SWIM LESSONS. IN THURSTON COUNTY, THIS INEQUITY IS FAR GREATER DUE TO A LACK OF PUBLIC POOLS. DROWNING STATEWIDE HAS DECREASED. HOWEVER, IN WASHINGTON STATE, IT HAS INCREASED OVER THE LAST DECADE. THIS IS UNFORTUNATELY NOT SURPRISING AS WE HAVE LOST ACCESS TO SWIMMING FACILITIES OVER THE LAST THREE DECADES. FOR THURSTON COUNTY'S CHILDREN AND THEIR PARENTS, DROWNING IS A PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUE. IT IS AN EQUITY ISSUE AND IT IS LITERALLY A LIVABILITY ISSUE. LESSONS AT THE YMCA NOW CLOSE IN LESS THAN AN HOUR AFTER THEY OPEN. SWIM LESSONS SHOULD NOT BE HARDER TO GET THAN TAYLOR SWIFT TICKETS. THE OLYMPIA HIGH SCHOOL SWIM TEAM IS CURRENTLY HOSTING OUR CAMP. AND LAST WEEK, WE HAD 123 CHILDREN IN THE WATER IN A SIX-LANE POOL. 50 KIDS. THIS WAS THEIR FIRST REAL SWIM LESSONS. AND NOW WITH THE CLOSURE OF EVERGREEN AND NOW RIVER RIDGE CLOSED FOR THE TIME BEING, WE ARE DOWN TO 17 LANES IN ENTIRETY AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC FOR OLYMPIA TUMWATER AND LACY. And the time we attempted to rent is now full, and we cannot get any more time to provide lessons. 123 kids in six lanes is not tenable, but there is nowhere else for us to go anymore. And the overuse of those three remaining pools are going to cause further closures and further elimination of those pools as well. The Timberline pool is 50 years old. The North Hurston pool is 70 years old. and a current effort to get something on the ballot hopes to get on the ballot by as early as 2031. We have a letter of intent now out to the Evergreen Pool to rent the Evergreen Pool on the desk of the president. Over 5,000 people have signed the initiative. The repair costs have come way, way under budget, and we now just need the support of community leaders in words and deeds. We believe we are doing our job, and this is something we cannot let go. We ask the county to include in its safety plans drowning prevention and in its budget a comparison of aquatics access relative to its peers, state and nationwide. Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you. John Pettit, Terry Ballard on deck.

Good afternoon, John Pettit from Rich Road. Well, I do appreciate some of the information given because clearly the county manager has now suggested that an appraisal was done. Of course, appraisal without being to the county standards per county code isn't really an appraisal. It's a lie about getting an appraisal done properly. So we need to dissect this because we've had a history of being told that Oh, we'll provide you evidence. And then we turn around and say, well, I guess we really don't have that. The trouble is, is transparency doesn't exist. Unfortunately, you as commissioners are very dependent, too dependent upon people telling you things. You believe it and you act accordingly. I sought to have an appraisal, a copy of an appraisal, For instance, on the Plum Street property, I couldn't get any documents. You know, you can apply for it. You can apply for those things through public records request, and that'll be another two months. It's all a deception and a bunch of lies that come out or delay in the truth coming out. I don't know what you're going to do about it, but I have a whole bunch of records regarding the Plum Street project. I realized that it was highly manipulated and there, it looks like there was even a false document created and which from a standard standard, it's clearly not, it wasn't written by the person that was claimed to be written by. We need to prosecute these people who give you bad information. And I would request since they clearly have told you there's an appraisal for this project out there that, rather than look to get a public records request so I can get it in two months, that you go ahead and have them hand me a copy of it immediately. Let's resolve whether it's really true and meets the standards or not. Once again, when I'm talking to you, I'm trying to give you information to overcome bad information. Otherwise, We just call them the puppet master and you're all puppets. Just doing what you're told. You know, I can train chickens to do things too. The bottom line is, is we always come up here. Oh, well, we all agree. We all this, we all that. It's based upon what you're told and the information you're told. It's not based upon you looking into the records yourself and having those questions answered. If we want to find the truth, show me. Don't tell me, show me. Otherwise, it's just another attempt to persuade. So I do hope that things can get better and more honest and transparent. That's all it says right there, right? Protection with transparency and accountability, of which right now, Thurston County has none.

Mr. Ballard and then Betsy Norton.

Good afternoon, my name's Terry Ballard and I live in unincorporated Thurston County in Tanglewild. Don't worry about this building, about not being in the county seat, about you being responsible, personally responsible for all funding, that you don't have any written guidance or information from, but you prove it, which is not knowing it to be true is a false report, and a false report is a gross misdemeanor. Anyway, to carry on, I have produced this document. with all the revised codes of Washington State, Attorney General opinion, everything that you can ever imagine about this building not being in the county seat and a violation of the Open Public Meeting Act for you making decisions outside the county seat, about meetings that are done in Zoom, Okay, where a firefighter's on a fire call and he's zooming into this meeting while he's on a fire call on his phone. Really, that's really, and I put this to the Committee on Constitutional Amendments and the local government committee. And I provided it also to every legislator, every state legislator that belongs to Thurston County. So something has to happen here, and it's gone so long that you can't get out of it. You can't. And to further this quagmire that you call an agenda, unincorporated road funds are not used for buildings and structures that aren't in unincorporated Thurston County. Okay, that's another problem. The late district, of course, I already discussed that. As far as these RCWs that was quoted, the 100 and 101, you guys kind of need to look that stuff up because it's for a final plan, a final budget. You can't just keep on changing the budget. And as far as the facility plan, the capital facility plan was approved last year for this year. You can't add to that. And then you're funding. You're using bond money to fund some of this stuff. And that's not the purpose of the bonds to begin with. You have no right to spend that bond money. And that bond money, per the RCW again, should be used to pay down our debt. You're not paying down our debt. You're making more of a debt. Now we're into another safety use tax. Are you going to put that out to the people and lie about it too? We need more officers that we need for unincorporated... patrol of the sheriff's department, okay, and then come back and say, oh, we need to get rid of a couple more, okay, reduction in force at the sheriff's department. This has gone on too long. You guys need to do something out of it to protect yourselves, and you're not. You're going to screw yourselves by this. And I hope a legislator, and I'm also, excuse me, I'm also working on federal guidelines because you're using federal money in an unimproved building outside the county seat. There's a bunch of USC's and codes and regulations against that federally. So you can keep on continuing to do what you do or get somebody to help you out. Okay?

Thank you. Betsy Norton is up, and then Suzanne Beatty.

Hi, Commissioners. My name is Betsy Norton. I live in Olympia, and I am here representing the South Sound Bird Alliance. I am co-chair of the Conservation Committee. The South Sound Bird Alliance is a 1,200-member chapter of the National Audubon Society with the regional scope of Thurston, Lewis, and Mason counties. Our mission includes conserving wildlife habitat, promoting environmental justice, and mitigating the effects of climate change. This comment's in response to a business media item from Chair Menser last week regarding a grant which would enable accounting to take action to protect mature, structurally complex forest land in Capitol Forest. We would just like to thank Chair Menser and the rest of the BOCC for your advocacy on behalf of conserving mature, complex forests and saving them from timber harvest. We hope you are successful in getting grants so that county beneficiaries see no loss of revenue while conserving this high-quality forest habitat, which supports such a broad range of birds and other wildlife. We also recognize that retention of these older standing forests is a way to optimize use of the forest ecosystem services which help mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. One of the areas this grant could help conserve is currently pending sale. The bear's parcels are upslope and therefore physically connected to McLean Creek, a favorite destination for SSBA's birding walks. And we have one on Saturday at eight o'clock if anybody's interested in joining us. We are concerned that clear-cutting bears will increase the risks to water quality and quantity in the creek and its beaver ponds. Clear-cutting the bears' parcels would increase habitat risks for the chum that migrate and spawn in McLean Creek, for the 140 species of warblers, owls, raptors, waterfowl, and other birds in and around the creek and its uplands, and for the rough-skinned newts living in the beaver ponds, among other wildlife. The bear sale's been paused until 2027. We are keeping our fingers crossed that you guys will be successful in receiving grants that'll help conserve this key forest habitat. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Suzanne Beatty, and then I'll call for anyone online.

Chair Bincer and board members. My name is Suzanne Beattie and I'm a taxpaying resident of Olympia, Washington. I thank you for your interest in the Timberland Regional Library Board of Trustees situation and your statement of concern released on June 24th affirming, quote, TRL system exists to serve all members of our communities without exception. Your statement also wisely notes that, quote, TRL is navigating a serious financial crisis that will require the trust and support of communities across the counties to resolve. Actions that alienate library patrons, demoralize already strained staff, and signal that some community members are less welcome than others undermines that trust at exactly the moment it's needed. TRL Board of Trustee members have signaled to an ad hoc levy live committee that includes leaders of the patron coalition of local libraries That they intend to move forward with a levy lift that campaign this fall given the last seven months of the Board of Trustees interactions with library patrons friends of the library the public at large and in Board of Trustee meeting attendees, it raises serious concerns about the health of the TRL system and the Board of Trustee accountability. In order for a levy lift campaign to be successful, the culture of the Board of Trustees must change. To this end, I encourage you to place TRL into receivership until vital and comprehensive cultural and financial work on the system can be done. The consideration of a levy lift on the November 4th ballot, basically three months from now, does not give time for this essential TRL system work to be done in order to restore the community's trust in the library system. Thank you.

Anyone online who would like to provide general public comment? Okay. Thank you for all the comment today. We'll go to the next item on the agenda, which is Commissioner's Community Reports. Commissioner Klaus, do you want to start?

Yes, I can start. Over the last couple weeks, I did a lot of things, but I tried to summarize it to the most important or relevant things for the community to hear. And I'll start with, based on the comment we just heard, over the break, I met with the Timberland Regional Library Interim Director to talk about plans for rebuilding relationships with staff and plans for how to address a levee live lift. I was pretty satisfied with how that meeting went and I'm hopeful for the future of TRL, but I also really appreciate community members continuing to come forward to tell us what's going on because it's hard to follow all the details. It's hard to watch every single meeting. I try my best to keep up with it and I know that other commissioners do as well, but I just appreciate the public coming forward and helping us fill any gaps that we might not have caught along the way. So that's a conversation I'm still having with TRL staff and then the patrons coalition as well. I attended the hope and healing clinic block party with commissioner grant. I attended capital city pride and I got to watch cheer Tacoma perform at pride. I don't know if other commissioners were able to make it, but that performance was amazing and they threw people even higher in the air than they did at the atrium. So that was really fun to watch. I also met with community members who have worked extensively on homeless services data to kind of understand how we can bring that data to the forefront of our conversations when we're talking about policy issues. And that's a really fascinating system. There's so much data behind the homeless services system that we don't really see or talk about. So I'm excited to see how... I can work with community members and other elected officials can work with people who have been collecting data. And we can kind of pull that data forward as we're making important decisions with regards to funding and programming for homeless services. I've also met with a few constituents related to the child health programs that we heard some comments about today. And I'm interested in learning more about what's going on with the child death review program and the infant fetal mortality review program. So I'm hearing, you know, all these comments and it is concerning to me. And I know that we have had to make some really tough decisions with budget cuts, but we don't always know like what the actual impact will be of those budget cuts until the operational decisions are made at a different level than ours. And so hearing from the public and from staff that are concerned about these programs just has me really concerned. interested in learning more and maybe having a board briefing if that's possible. But I did send an email to the county manager just a couple minutes ago related to that. So maybe the first step is to meet with staff before we decide if the board wants a briefing. But I am very interested in learning what's going on with those programs and what the future looks like. I also met with a couple of constituents related to the Home Energy Score Ordinance, and I spent a week, well, almost a week in Baltimore at the Local Progress annual convening. And I learned a lot about policy issues that elected officials are facing across the country and how to kind of make important policy decisions here in Thurston County. Just learning from other elected officials around the country, how they've dealt with big issues around housing and, you know, other big topics we talk about related to land use, AI, data centers and all that. It was very fascinating. And then I attended Steady last week virtually, and I also met with the Lawrence Lake Management District members. to talk about various issues that they're facing, that they wanted me to be aware of. And I think that they met with all the other commissioners as well. So I'm caught up to speed on the Lawrence Lake issues now. And that's all I've got. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. It's been a busy couple of weeks. Okay, so for me, right off the bat, I attended the garden party for Interfaith Works where they gave out awards. I also attended the Hope and Healing Clinic block party. It's always great to see kind of the great work that they're doing, and the block party was very well put on. I attended the Thurston ADC Business Awards, and then right after that, I swooped in and did a staff welcome for the new staff for BHASO for their 988 program, and so it was really great to welcome them, and you know, it's It is so exciting that our region has taken over that. If you were to call 988 beforehand, it would take over seven minutes for someone to answer the phone. You would be to try to get someone local. So you would be transferred to somewhere up in Everett. And then after that, you would have to wait to get get transferred to someone in Thurston and Mason. And for someone in crisis, those seven minutes are really life and death. So just very happy that we were able to take that over. And I know there's a lot of work that has gone into getting that set up. And so huge shout out to all the staff at our Thurston Mason BHASO and taking that on. And I know me and Commissioner Grant have been kind of GETTING REGULAR UPDATES ON THIS. I ATTENDED THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HISPANIC COUNTY OFFICIALS, ALSO ATTENDED THE WASHINGTON PARTNERSHIP COUNCIL ON JUVENILE JUSTICE RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES MEETING, AND I GOT SWOOPED INTO THE PARTNERSHIP COUNCIL ON JUVENILE JUSTICE BY-LAWS WORK GROUP. SO ME AND JUDGE TONY B. ARE WORKING ON OUR BY-LAWS FOR THE PARTNERSHIP COUNCIL, AND IT'S VERY been very exciting and just kind of updating those. It's been a while since they were updated. So then had a couple of meetings for legislative steering committee. One was in regards to operating procedures and just talking about how we're going to be moving forward. So Homish Council submitted a letter in terms of tort and how they wanted to partner up for that legislation next year. And so After that, we had a second follow-up meeting where we just focused on kind of some language, and we're working with other groups to see if we can make some amendments this year in the legislative session. Had the honor of presenting for the Business and Community Leadership Youth LTC. Always great. It was a great panel and just fantastic. SEEING HOW MANY YOUNG KIDS ARE GETTING ENGAGED AND THEY WERE REALLY INTERESTED IN AND WHAT WE HAD WHAT WE DID AND THE ROLES THAT WE HOLD ATTENDED THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY MEETING AS WELL AS THE PUBLIC HEALTH LEADERSHIP ACADEMY THIS WAS THE THIRD SESSION AND JUST KIND OF HONING DOWN ON WHAT THE GOALS ARE ATTENDED THE TRANSPORTATION REGIONAL PLANNING COUNCIL MEETING AND THE NATIONAL COUNCIL National Association of Towns, oh my gosh, NACO, Pre-Conference Federal Relations Committee with Commissioner Grant, and they kind of gave us a rundown on things to come, some of the policies that were going to be presented. Attended also the first Women of WSAC meeting, so we finally have a WOW, we're calling it WOW, and it was pretty great that we were able to get that set up. We talked a lot about, interestingly enough, just about what every county is doing. And we got into the conversation of regional jails. And so Snohomish has a regional jail. They were talking about it. I have asked them to send me the ILA. So as soon as I get it, I'll share it with everyone because I know that's something that we as a board have prioritized and have talked about. And Kitsap County, I learned also has one. And so ask for their ILA as well. So I know Pierce County was looking into doing something similar and kind of, they're kind of in the same situation where we are, where they are competing with a tribal nation and their jail and kind of trying to figure that out. So I'm really excited to kind of receive those. And once I do, I will be sure to share those with the board so they can kind of look at them and see if MODEL CAN BE DUPLICATED HERE. ATTENDED THE COMMUNITY WORKFORCE AGREEMENT DISCUSSION WITH A DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY AND IT WAS WITH A COUNTY MANAGER AND KIND OF LET THEM KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, THE BOARD WAS GOING TO BE PROPOSING A LETTER KIND OF THAT'S OUR GOAL FOR THE CAPITOL DESCHUTES LAKE. SO WE'RE WORKING ON SOME LANGUAGE AND THEN WE'LL BE BRINGING THAT IN FRONT OF THE BOARD IN THE FUTURE. but just wanted to let the board know that that conversation went very well. And attended the Partnership Council Juvenile Justice quarterly meeting, as well as the BHASO board meeting with Commissioner Grant, as well as a study. Always a great time, and it was great that we could all be there. For NACO updates, I just want to do two big things. So our emergency response that, you know, we kind of created here passed at NACO. So it is part of our official policy at National Association of Counties. So it was very exciting. And I know, Commissioner Fournier, you worked really hard on that. And, you know, we were able to get it through. So it is now officially a part of the NACO policy for this coming year. Oh, sorry. And then I also wanted to do on a side note, a huge congratulations to Sarah Benatar from Coconino County in Arizona. She is the new second vice chair of the National Association of Counties. I think you have all heard me talk about my work with the National Association of Hispanic County Officials, and she's been the chair of that. And seeing Sarah in this new role and capacity is very exciting. So Thank you, Commissioner Grant and Commissioner Menser and Commissioner Fournier for your endorsement of SARA. It's really great that, you know, we have that connection now and the leadership for NACO. So other than that, community, a lot of community conversations in regards to TRL, Legacy Forest, and a couple of other topics. Thank you, Chair.

Commissioner Fournier, if there's anything left for me to share. I'm sorry. I did the first leg of my parks tour yesterday. So every month I'm going out with some with park staff and public works staff and looking at some of our different parks. We have a lot of parks and then a lot of potential parks and then a lot of parklets. And so there's really a lot of cool spaces to share with the community and highlight and doing that through my county Facebook page. And it seems to be people are learning things that they didn't know about some of the public spaces that we have. So that's fun. And I think it's been positive. ALSO, ALONG WITH COMMISSIONER MEJIA, ATTENDED THE YOUTH LEADERSHIP THURSTON COUNTY AND THE EDC BUSINESS AWARDS. LAST WEEK I DID A TOUR OF OUR RECORDS CENTER AND ARCHIVES. IT'S, I MEAN, I SAY IT'S COOL, BUT IT'S JUST A BUNCH OF BOXES FULL OF FILES FROM LIKE THE LAST 150 YEARS, WHICH IS PRETTY COOL. And the staff there do a great job managing our records. It's really impressive what they can pull out if you request. I got to go through some funny looking old boxes to just, you know, kind of play, you know, find what you get. And I actually pulled out some NACO awards from like 1972. There's a lot of like microfiche of records. EMS reports from the 80s that you can look at so I I highly recommend it and you know, I I got a new level of appreciation of a little niche portion of the county that I had yet to explore and the staff were great and then I That one at one of the the director there invited me to go in October and tour the Washington State Archives where she likes to go every year and because they kind of do like spooky archives when they go there. And there was a, there's some, there is some acts there that she wants to show me that is related to a, an incident that happened in Grace Harbor like a hundred years ago. And I'm really a spooky. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it sounds kind of interesting, but, uh, so follow, uh, follow along and maybe I'll show that later. A flood authority meeting, steady meeting along with everybody else. Excited to report that, you know, I'm on the Billy Frank Jr. Statue Committee and Billy Frank Jr.'s statue arrived in Washington, D.C. July 13th and will be placed in Statuary Hall this Friday evening, replacing the Whitman statue. So that's historic. That is like huge historic and it's really exciting for our community and for our state and we're the epicenter of that. So just like, you know, we had KEITH PHILLIPSON HERE AND HIS STONE APPLE IS BEING PUT IN THE CONGRESSIONAL TIME CAPSULE. THAT'S HISTORIC AND HUGE. WE'VE ALSO GOT ONE OF OUR LUMINARY FIGURES FROM THIS COUNTY IS GOING TO BE COMMEMORATED FOREVER IN STATUARY HALL. THAT'S HUGE. WHEN THE ACTUAL DEDICATION IS PLANNED TO BE AROUND SEPTEMBER, WE'RE STILL FIGURING THAT OUT. And then the Emergency Response Protection Act. This is a really exciting development. So, you know, this is a, you know, as you all recall, there was a raid, a Border Patrol raid within an active wildfire last summer at Bear Gulch. And this board took some action to say that they wanted to explore and possibly pass, you know, a law within Thurston County that would protect emergency response activities. ZONES FROM FEDERAL INTERFERENCE. YOU KNOW, WE'RE STILL LOOKING THROUGH THAT, BUT, YOU KNOW, DUE TO THE SUPREMACY CLAUSE, IT WOULD BE LARGELY SYMBOLIC, BUT THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY'S OFFICE IS STILL KIND OF WAITING THROUGH THAT. SO, LIKE, YOU KNOW, JUST THE THOUGHT PROCESS OR THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS, LEARNING THAT THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING THAT IS LARGELY SYMBOLIC, WE THEN LOBBIED THE STATE LEGISLATURE TO INTRODUCE SOMETHING AND Representative Parsley introduced a bill along with some co-signers, and as you recall in this last legislative session, that received a public hearing, and it was largely debated, and it's still going to be something that's on the House floor, but again, because you need federal laws to change, it would largely be symbolic due to the Supremacy Clause. Thurston County's idea went even further and And there was a bill introduced by one of our congressional delegates, Emily Randall, into the U.S. Congress. And that bill was debated, and it's still being debated. And Commissioner Mejia and I took that idea to NACO legislative session this last year. And we asked that NACO consider it to be part of the national agenda for legislation with NACO. And this last week, that was debated in New Orleans. and it was adopted as part of the national legislative agenda. So that is just one more big step. I feel like I'm that little bill in the schoolhouse rock thing, and it's just moving along, and it's gathering more steam as it goes, and it's exciting. And it's not often that a county introduces an idea that goes all the way to the U.S. Capitol and is being considered. And so we entered the national dialogue at a time when things are very hot and being hotly debated about how federal government and federal law enforcement interacts in our communities. I personally think there was a time that came up where we were being lied to about something that happened. And we said, no, that's not the truth. We pushed back on a false narrative. that gain national attention. And that's something that we should all be proud of. That is moving the needle on a big, big discussion that is way bigger than Thurston County. So when we brought that forward, I want to thank everybody for being willing to participate in that. And that fight continues. So thank you. Thank you.

SURE. LET'S SEE. SO I ATTENDED HOPE AND HEALING CLINIC BLOCK PARTY WITH COMMISSIONER KLAUS AND OTHERS, AND IT WAS REALLY GREAT TO CELEBRATE SOME GREAT WORK GOING ON DOWNTOWN OLYMPIA AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH. DID THE PRAIRIE DAYS PARADE, HOSTED AND PUT TOGETHER THE PIE CONTEST, WHICH WAS REALLY FUN, AND THEN ATTENDED BINGO NIGHT, WHICH ALL WAS JUST REALLY GREAT AND COMMUNITY OUT IN YELM. ENCOURAGE FOLKS TO GET OUT DURING PRAIRIE DAYS NEXT YEAR AND PARTICIPATE. IT WAS REALLY GREAT. PART OF THE INDEPENDENCE DAY PARADE WITH OTHERS HERE. I WENT ON, I GOT OVER THE BREAK, I GOT INVITED TO GO ON A NISQUALI HYDRO ELECTRIC PROJECT TOUR AND THAT WAS REALLY COOL. WITH TACOMA PUBLIC UTILITIES. AND SO I GOT TO GO LOOK AT TOUR OF THE NISQUALI DAM AND ALL THE HYDRO ELECTRIC OPERATIONS AND WE GOT TO GO WALK and in and see all of the fish passage and the different environmental stewardship stuff that was going on. And it was really great. It was a one-on-one tour and it was really special. And so we spent a good day there and it was really great. And so I thank you to Tacoma Public Utilities for encouraging me to do it and for all of the great one-on-one time we got together. I had a CJTA or criminal justice training account panel meeting ATTENDED DRUG COURT GRADUATION. THERE ARE SIX DRUG COURT GRADUATES THIS TIME. ONE OF THEM WAS A GOOD FRIEND.

IT WAS REALLY LONG, BUT IT WAS ONE OF THE, IT WAS REALLY QUITE A GOOD GRADUATION THIS YEAR, THIS LAST ONE, AND I'M JUST REALLY PROUD OF THE PEOPLE WHO WORKED SO HARD TO GRADUATE.

AND THEN THURSTON COUNTY OPIOID TASK FORCE ATTENDED THAT, AND THEN THE CRIMINAL LEGAL OPIOID AND OVERDOSE WORK GROUP, IT'S A STATE WORK GROUP, I ATTENDED THAT, TALKED TO WITH COMMISSIONER MEJIA ABOUT ATTENDING THE GOVERNING BOARD FOR THURSTON-MASON BHO, INNOVATIVE JUSTICE MEETING, 9-1-1 ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING. WE HAD A PAC MOUNTAIN CONSORTIUM BUDGET ADOPTION MEETING AND ALSO WORKED WITH OUR NEW MEMBER, DENNIS NEAL, TO GET ORIENTED AND TALKED QUITE A BIT WITH PAC MOUNTAIN ABOUT BEHAVIORAL HEALTH WORKFORCE AND WHAT ARE THE EFFORTS THAT WE'RE DOING THURSTON COUNTY AROUND THAT THERE'S GOING TO BE QUITE A FEW NEW FACILITIES AND WE NEED TO BE FOCUSED ON EFFORTS AROUND THE CONTINUUM AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH WORKFORCE AND SO WE'RE WORKING ON SOME OF THOSE THINGS AT THE TRANSPORTATION POLICY BOARD AND ALSO I'M PART OF THE FEDERAL GRANT REVIEW PANEL AND SO WE HAD QUITE A BIT OF WORK GOING ON THERE AND attended the State Advisory Council on Homelessness, the SASH or ICH meeting, working on some bylaws for that group. And then what else did I do? So Yelm Chamber Forum, Steady, Nisqually River Council, also met with Representative Beth Dolio. And I wanted to mention this to you all because you all had meetings with Lake Lawrence regarding Lake Lawrence and some different things that Barry Halverson is working on. And I met with Beth to talk about Barry Halverson and to give him some credit. He's trying to pass or trying to put a bill forward that he hasn't had much momentum on. And so I'm trying to encourage some bipartisan support there. And so Beth is actually going to be reaching out to Barry and to talk about it because we all know that he's been working hard and he just has a few things to clean up in an RCW. So I asked Beth if she could get on board and I think she will be. And then a quick meeting today with the Office of the Administrative Courts and then a funding reallocation discussion this afternoon around CDBG. And that's what I've been doing.

That's it for me. Okay. Going long, so I'll try to be short. Lots of state building code council work. We've got weekly work sessions, multi-hour, plus a regular council meeting. Today we are working on the embodied carbon groundbreaking. regulations, they would be voluntary to get to encourage some tracking and for jurisdictions to take them on if they want to, but trying to track the embodied carbon within the built environment. So this is really important work and a lot of good discussion today about that. Timberland Regional Library met with our trustee appointment today, met with commissioners, those are those discussions ongoing. Met with lawyers and all sorts of other folks with respect to how the commissioners could interact with the trustees collectively through executive sessions or otherwise. So there's a lot of back and forth there. Met with the president of Summit Lake about some issues there. Met with Puget Sound Energy representatives about battery energy storage systems. Did the three cities meeting that's monthly. Did my Office of Public Defense Community Advisory Committee meeting. Folks related to Legacy Forest, including the Bears parcels we heard public comment about. Met with the chair of the Board of Supervisors of the Thurston Conservation District. Represented the county in the Lake Fair Parade. Met with the county clerk over some budget issues. Met with, attended study in person with my seatmates. Sentencing Guideline Commission did meet in July. I'm still the acting chair of that commission waiting for Governor Ferguson to decide who will be the permanent chair. And that is most of it. So I'll stop there. And you got something else, Commissioner? No. It's all those gritted teeth. And break. All right. So it's 428. We're at the end. If you don't mind, we're adjourned. Thanks a lot.