Board of County Commissioners - public_hearing

Good afternoon. Welcome to the Thurston County Board of County Commissioners public hearing. And we have a single public hearing this afternoon. The topic is Ordinance 16635, Development Moratorium of Detention Facilities. The purpose of the public, let me just call it kind of, role here. My name is Ty Mentzer, Chair of the Board. Commissioner Fournier, whose Vice Chair is online, as is Commissioner Grant. To my right is Commissioner Carolina Mejia. To my left, Commissioner Emily Klaus. County Manager Leonard Hernandez, Assistant County Managers Josh Cummings and Jennifer Walker, and Clerk of the Board Amy Davis. and it is 3.34 p.m. So with all that, we'll go through the kind of overview, and then we will have our public hearing. The purpose is to consider and accept public testimony on Ordinance 16635, approved June 16th, 2026, adopting a development moratorium pursuant to RCW 3670A390, prohibiting the siting, expansion, or establishment of certain detention facilities involving involuntary confinement. This is a hybrid public hearing. Those wishing to testify have joined by Zoom, emailed in comment, or mailed in comment. If you wish to testify, please visit the Thurston County homepage online and select BOCC meetings, hearings, and work session agendas. The information to join this public hearing remotely is posted there. If you are not providing testimony but would like to follow along, please visit the Thurston County YouTube channel. Ashley Arai, Director of Community Planning and Economic Development, will provide background information on this topic. Anyone who is on Zoom and wishes to testify, you do not need to sign up in any particular manner. I will read your name aloud and you'll have opportunity to provide comment. You'll have three minutes. Time may not be given to another person. When you are called on, please state your name and address for the area of the county which you reside for the record. and I will call up Andrew Bond from Community Planning and Economic Development to present background, summarize any written comments submitted, and then provide any additional information requested by the board. Great.

Commissioners, good afternoon. Andrew Bond with CPEDS Community Development Manager. The purpose of this agenda item is to hold a public hearing and receive testimony regarding ordinance number 16635, which established a moratorium on certain detention facilities. The board adopted this ordinance on June 16th, 2026. It established a one-year pause on accepting and processing permit applications for new public and private involuntary detention centers and correctional facilities in unincorporated Thurston County. This work began as a board initiative in March of 2026 to evaluate the county's existing land use regulations for detention facilities. Because land use regulations must be applied consistently to similar uses, the moratorium addresses the broader categories of public and private and voluntary detention and correctional facilities rather than a particular operator or level of government. Today's hearing is being held in accordance with RCW 3670A390, which requires the county to conduct a public hearing within 60 days of adopting a moratorium. During the moratorium, staff will evaluate the potential permanent development regulations through the county's development code docket item, new uses and related standards. This work will include reviewing existing regulations, evaluating potential standards, and preparing recommendations for consideration through the county's legislative process. The hearing was noticed through the legal notice published in the Nisqually Valley News on July 2nd, 2026. A webmail and press release were both issued on July 7th. As of noon today, staff received over 30 written comments, generally in support, which those comments have been forwarded to the commissioners. Today's hearing is one opportunity for the public to participate. Additional notice and opportunities to review the comments And comment on the proposed regulations will be available throughout the docket item process. Thank you, and I'm available for any questions.

Questions for Andrew? Covered things that I wanted to hear about process. So we will go to public comment. Robin Vasquez, you're signed up, and you're the only one signed up at this point. Go ahead.

I did sign up, thank you. Hello, members of the county commission, honorable county commissioners in the room and online. I appreciate the opportunity to come here before you today and provide public comment. I know that this is an ordinance that's already been implemented, but I wanted to show up today and express my strong support for the action that the commission has taken on this issue. So I think that putting a moratorium in place, while not a permanent action, provides an opportunity for thoughtful review of the legal ramifications of future detention facilities being cited here, whether it's behavioral health, involuntary detention centers, jails, or other uses. I think that it's a complex area where we know that there are a lot of impacts when we cite a facility like this in terms of not only taxation, right, because often these facilities are tax exempt, but also impacts to resources like water and electricity if we put a new facility like this into our community. So this moratorium is providing us with time to do that additional research. I think implementing the work plan may have secondary benefits in terms of identifying future barriers and opportunities if we need a detention center, because I know a lot of the time our capacity in our jail is kind of at its limit, right? And that's not unique to Thurston County, but it is a challenge that we face in the future. I ALSO WANTED TO SIMPLY ADDRESS SOME OF THE OTHER REASONS THAT A FACILITY LIKE THIS MIGHT BE BUILT HERE. AND I'LL JUST SPEAK FRANKLY THAT I'M FAMILIAR WITH THE TACOMA IMMIGRATION CENTER, THE NORTHWEST DETENTION CENTER RUN BY THE GEO GROUP IN TACOMA. and a number of the problems and legal challenges that that facility has faced. I think that facility is a stain on the moral fabric of our community. I wish that it was shut down and dismantled down to the studs. And I absolutely do not want a facility like that built in Thurston County. And that's largely why I'm here today to provide supportive comments on this action that the commission has taken. I don't want concentration camps in Thurston County. So thank you for being thoughtful about the way that we look at this area of policy. And yeah, I really, really appreciate you taking this step. Thank you.

Anyone else that's not signed up that wanted to provide public comment? You're up, sir.

Thank you. Yes, I appreciate the opportunity here. My name is David Lovell. I've been a resident of Olympia for I think nine years now. But before that, I've worked as a criminal justice analyst for the state of Washington, at the University of Washington, also for Napa County, and also more recently. So I'm very familiar with the criminal justice issues that have been alleged as a reason for the need for these detention centers. And I just want to say, not just my feeling based on data and experience, the entire premise of the policy is a lie. Undocumented immigrants' crime rates are one quarter that of native-born people. There is no basic problem of undocumented, illegal, violent criminals. There are some violent criminals who are illegal, but it's the job of law enforcement to arrest, detain them, lock them up. When they are locked up and go to prison, when they leave prison, they are transferred immediately to ICE. This is the policy, this is what happens. The only change that's been made in the last 10 years since under Obama is that many jails are no longer holding people longer than they otherwise would who committed minor offenses in order for ICE to come and get them. So if someone is arrested at a traffic stop and they don't have documentation, normally, they're booked, they're decidedly released, or if they have something a bit more serious, they're detained for a couple of days in jail. I have the data, I've done these studies, right? What jails are required to do is expand their capacity, use up the rate by 10 or 15% at enormous expenses to hold people on minor offenses that ICE hasn't come to pick them up. This is what the federal government means when they say they're not cooperating with us. They're not spending needless money to hold non-violent immigrants in custody. So I just want to emphasize that the entire thing is based on a lie. It's all a lie. It was never true. It's not true now. There's absolutely no need for the detention facility. And if there were, it does not have to be run the way it is run. You go 60 miles west of Stafford Creek, you will find a prison that is run the way prisons ought to be run. Nothing like these detention facilities. So I just want to say that based on just feelings, but actual study and experience. So it's offends me greatly as a scholar, and a student of criminal justice policy for 45 years to hear these lies be promoted and really rarely even challenged in public. That's all I have to say. Thank you very much for listening to me.

Thank you for coming in. Anyone else? Public comment in person? Online? Is there anyone here to give public comment on this topic? Come off mute if you are.

Okay.

BJ came off mute for a second.

BJ Latch. Hello.

Yes. Well, you know, I thought somebody might speak, but there was only six of us in here. So I'll just add to the conversation. I'm in alignment with the previous two commenters. I think it's a nightmare for our community to imagine that we would stain our ourselves with having a torture camp. We know the atrocities that are being committed in places like this, and we know that they're building these things to a capacity that far exceeds all the legal and illegal immigrants in this country. So why is that? And are we going to be digging our own graves here? Anyway, that's my comment. I thank you guys for all the hard work and sacrifices you make. Thank you for being here. Let's not have ICE detention centers in our backyard. See you.

comment is that miss upper left miss stewart marie marie stewart miss stewart were you here for public comment no i was not okay i'm here as an observer thank you perfect thank you okay um then we can close the public hearing is there a motion

Chair, before we close the public hearing, I do have some comments. While we approve this, I kind of wanted to wait until the public hearing to kind of make my comments. I've made high-level comments before, but before I say anything else, I really want to thank every person who came here today, and thank you to those of you who shared your stories and your concerns, and thank you to all who submitted written public comments. As Andrew mentioned, we received 30 written public comments, and I've gone through them. This one is personal for me. Not because I'm a county commissioner, because as many of you know, I'm an immigrant. And I know what it means to arrive in this country carrying dreams bigger than your suitcase. I know what it means to work hard, to contribute, to build a life, and to believe that if you do everything right, your family can have a better future. But I also know something else. I know what it feels like when the sight of an unmarked vehicle or the sound of a knock at the door can send fear through an entire neighborhood. I know what it means for children to ask their parents if they'll be home after work. I know what it means for families to wonder whether going to school, to church or to a doctor's appointment or simply driving to work could change their lives forever. Those are lived experiences and for many in our community, They are the reality. That is why I brought this moratorium back in March. And I'm so grateful for the board support and for staff work on this item. Not because I believe Thurston County can decide federal immigration policy. We unfortunately cannot. And not because I believe local government can solve every challenge surrounding immigration because we cannot. But because I believe we have a responsibility to decide what kind of community we want to be and how we use the authority entrusted to us. That our community is not defined by fear. That our public decisions should be guided by transparency planning and the well-being of the people who call this place their home. And I have often said that everyone deserves to feel they belong in Thurston County. That is the principle of diversity, equity, and inclusion. There's the belonging piece. Not because of where they were born, not because of the language they speak, not because of the documents they carry, not because of who they love, but because they are human beings, because they are our neighbors, and because they are a part of the fabric of this community. As an immigrant, I carry my family's story every day. And as a commissioner, I carry that responsibility of every resident in this county. So today, I think those responsibilities have come together for me. And to every immigrant and every mixed status family, every child who has wondered whether their parents would come home, and every person who has ever felt invisible or afraid, I want you to know that I see you, that you belong here. Your voice matters. and your county government is listening. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you for bringing this forward. We do a lot of really hard decisions. This was an easy decision, and I'm really gratified to read all the public comment that seems to support what we're doing. Is there any other discussion before we...

I want to thank Commissioner Mejia for bringing this forward quickly. She was very prompt in bringing this forward as soon as other jurisdictions started drafting this legislation. She was in communication with them to ensure that what she brought forward was sound and that it was a smooth process for our legal team and our management team to review and bring forward. So this happened quickly and it's because of the collaboration that happened when Commissioner Mejia brought this forward and started that conversation. I just really appreciate that, and I also am grateful to be part of a board that unanimously supports this action. I think it says a lot about Thurston County, that our residents don't have to worry about us being on the fence about something so important. So, yeah, thank you, Commissioner Mejia, and to the board and staff who worked on this and made this possible.

Is there a motion to close?

So moved. Second.

Motion to close public hearing. Seconded. Call for the vote. All in favor say aye.

Aye. Aye.

Aye.

Motion carried. Public hearing is closed. Thanks everybody.