City Council - Special Meeting

Recording in progress.

Good afternoon. Welcome to the Thurston County

Board of County

Commissioners meeting for this Tuesday, 04/21/2026. It is 02:03PM meeting time and search. I have the board. To my right is vice chair, commissioner Wayne Foyer, commissioner Caroline Mukia, to my left, commissioner Rachel Crane, commissioner Emily Clouse, county manager this is the county managers, Josh Cummings,

Jennifer Walker, with our clerk of

the board, Amy Davis. We are going to get started with the pledge of allegiance to be led by commissioner Graham.

I'd also like to start today with a land acknowledgment. I 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, the Squali, and Shailesh people. Truth and acknowledgment are critical to building mutual respect and connection across all barriers of heritage and difference. The purpose of this acknowledgment is to disrupt ongoing erasure of injustices done and to remember history is a stepping stone towards healing, commit to working together to honor our past and build our future with truth.

Thanks, sir. Next up, we have, approval of agenda as well as a proposed motion to make a couple of changes consistent with our discussion this morning.

I move to approve the agenda the agenda with the following amendment. Move consent item seven, contract with City of Olympia for operations of Quin Street Village to department items and to postpone consent item 12, contract with the City of Chicago for law enforcement services for revisions to the contract to be considered by the city.

Okay. We have a motion and a second, and this is a motion to amend the agenda in the way described by commissioner Fornier. Is there a discussion on that motion? Call for the vote. All in favor say

aye. Aye.

Aye. Now is there a motion to approve the amended agenda?

I move to approve the agenda as amended.

Motion and second to approve the agenda as amended. Any discussion on the motion?

For the

vote, all in favor, say aye. Aye. A motion carries. Alright. Next up is presentations, and we have a special one this, meeting for National Counties Month. And the Board of County Commissioners is proclaiming the month of April 2026 as National Counties Month in Thurston County. And I believe I turned things over to the county manager for next steps.

Yep. Thank you so much. First of just welcome everybody. We're so glad to have so many partners here. We have a quick presentation we'll go through.

This board elected officials and county employees are committed to serving Thurston County's more than 300,000 residents each and every day. As the sixth largest county in Washington State and one of the fastest growing, our residents get to enjoy Mount Rainier, the state capital, rich and productive farmland, and parks and forests that stretch from mountains to sea in their own backyards. Just yesterday, director of Arai and assistant county manager and I were out riding side by sides through a farm about four hundred days. Almost 3,500,000,000 tourists visit Thurston County each year. We have the highest population of middle class households among The US metropolitan areas and veterans making up almost 13% of our community.

National Counties Month is an opportunity to highlight some of the key services that Thurston County provides for our community, including elections, courts, parks, and trails, road maintenance, and emergency services. We're also committed to protecting our shared waterways, sustainable growth, public health, and infrastructure, and public safety. At Thurston County, we're building partnerships that build communities. This board and elected officials and staff across the county have built a network of partners locally at the state legislature and with our US government representatives partnering with state and federal officials to bring home federal funding for special infrastructure projects and programs. We have partnered with the cities of Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater, or rural communities of Yale, Taino, Rainier, Yokota, Rain Mound, the Rochester, and the Shalish, Squaxin, and Esqually tribes.

We work together to solve regional issues, advocate for our residents and share in a shared environment, and bring state and federal funding to Thurston County projects. We host community events across the county like the county fair, resource hub block party, adoption and reunification days at the courts, and the award winning fix it fairs. You can count on us during emergencies. Thurston County's emergency services and public works teams are always planning, training, and preparing for community emergencies. They coordinate regionally with communications and emergency response for wildfires, floods, earthquakes, and windstorms.

So everything works fast and smooth when we need it the most. We think that roads and parks or community can get back to the state of normal as fast as possible. We build faster community safer communities through investment in law and justice. The sheriff's office patrol, investigators, and support staff build complexities of public safety. It's work that can be difficult and dangerous, but a key part of protecting and improving the quality of life here in Thurston County.

Our our courts focus on fairness, transparency, partial pursuit of justice for it. We're committed to public health through prevention, treatment, and expanded access to care. The county has teams of people inspecting septic systems and monitoring the cleanliness and safety of our drinking water so that you never have to worry if the water coming from your tap is safe for your children, your pets, or yourself. We provide training, permitting, and inspections to ensure your favorite dishes are safely stored, prepared, and served at local restaurants, food trucks, and events. We're one of the few local governments that permit food stamps so residents can start their business on a budget safely and with a proper training.

One more way that we balance health, safety, and economic development for all. We're taking toxic blooms for cleaner water. The county's ponds and lakes are great for spending the day in the sun, but they also contribute to water filtration. We work to keep vegetation cut back, tackle noxious weeds, reduce the chemicals flowing into our waterways so that they're safe for pets, children, fishing, and fun, and frogs. We're focused on fair and transparent elections.

Thurston County takes it seriously, and we're partnering with our community members to oversee every vote with a new ballot processing center. Our award winning voting and elections teams are smart, hardworking, and well prepared. They've been planning and budgeting and thinking about every aspect of the voting experience, including the safety, security, and the integrity of ballot counting. We build and maintain the roads and bridges that take you across this beautiful county. Counties maintain 44% of public roads and 38% of bridges across The US.

Thurston County is responsible for a thousand miles of roadway, 150 bridges, 100 miles of sidewalk, 17,000 traffic lights, and connect connect connections

for

for more than 310,000 residents to jobs, services, and other opportunities inside the county. We're managing eight parks in over 47 miles in trains from the edge of South Puget Sound under the canopy of old growth forests to to across the acres of Open Prairie, we're working to provide a rich and accessible network of outdoor spaces. Our parks and trails serve both recreation and conservation needs for our growing growing community. And to say the least, the county does quite a bit of work, and we are very, proud of all of our employees, elected offices, and all the staff that make it happen. Now it's my pleasure to welcome and to introduce Derek Young from the Washington State Association Counties to say a few words.

Thank you for being here, Derek.

Thank you, Leonard. Hey. Like that? Yeah. It's good enough.

Just alright. Thank you, commissioners, for inviting me today. On behalf of the Washington State Association of Counties representing the elected commissioners, council members, and executives across the state, I appreciate the opportunity to celebrate National County get Government Month and to recognize the innovative work taking place right here in Thurston County. For example, last year, Wausauk launched the project of impact awards, and Thurston was among the first recipients for the Your Neighbors Your Elections project, a voter education initiative that builds trust, public trust by highlighting the dedicated individuals behind elections and addressing skepticism and misinformation. County government often works behind the scenes to keep counties, communities strong, providing essential, infrastructure, public health, safety, and justice services, just as you all heard from the county manager there.

Let's be real, though. Nobody runs for county government to get famous, but your close connection to residents ensures your work has a significant impact on daily life. At Wausauk, we believe in strong counties. The the strong counties build a strong Washington. Your leadership in Thurston County demonstrates how addressing challenges directly can create better futures for all residents.

Waseck is also undergoing some changes organizationally to better support the needs of our members and their staffs. We're launching Wasex services to help reduce costs and are excited to provide health and voluntary benefits and fleet and equipment services. That last part you may not have heard yet. There are couple of you gotten a sneak preview, but you'll be hearing more about that here soon. Our goal is not only to use our collective buying power to deliver more value to your residents, but also to use that income to further our our service expansion.

Waseck will also be launching this year a new foundation in partnership with the University of Washington, Evans School to provide additional education and workforce development opportunities. This proclamation recognizes the important work of your county staff, and we're looking forward to serving them better in the years to come. And it also informs the public about the essential services your team provides every day. Thank you for your steady leadership, partnership with Wausauk, and dedication to Thurston County. I look forward to continuing our collaborative, our collaboration towards our shared goals for a thriving, resilient community.

Congratulations and thank you for allowing me to be here to be part of this moment. And I will just note this is the second time I've gotten to come and address you all here. Not once has my own county, Pierce County, just to the north than your south sound cousin invited me for theirs. So what I'm what I'm saying here is, you know, maybe I need to move from Tacoma.

I don't know. Thank

you.

Thank you, Derek. Next, I'd like to invite up Ben Miller Todd, the director of emergency services.

Perfect. Thank you very much. Good afternoon, commissioners. My name is Ben Miller Todd. And as the director of emergency services, I get the privilege of representing the hundreds of volunteers and career professionals striving to keep our communities safe and resilient.

We live in a corner of the world that is, quite frankly, showing off. Between the shadow of Mount Rainier and the reach of the Puget Sound, Thurston County is a place of incredible beauty. But as anyone has lived through a Western Washington winter knows, nature's beauty often become comes with a side of unpredictability. When the rivers rise and the wind howl or a heart stops, we don't panic. We don't panic because the pillars that stand quietly, yet firmly beside our homes, Thurston County Emergency Management and Thurston County Medic One.

First, let's talk about Thurston County Emergency Management. Their job is, in many ways, the ultimate thankless task. If they do their job correctly and perfectly, nothing happens. I appreciate that. We go about our Tuesdays without a second thought, but behind that calm is a massive engine of preparation.

Preparation is the difference between a disaster and a manageable event. Emergency management is the brain of our county's resilience. They are the ones monitoring and preparing the weather impacts, coordinating and issuing alerts and warning, training community members and volunteers in CERT, and efficiently and effectively managing recovery and financial impacts. They ensure that when the big one comes or just maybe the medium one, we aren't just reacting. We're responding with a plan.

Whether it's floods, wildfire, or major incidents, emergency management turns chaos into coordination and ensures our communities bounce back stronger. At the end of the day, their mission is simple. Help protect our residents, support our responders, and make sure Thurston County is ready for what needs come. And then there's medic one. In a world of prehospital care, Thurston County medic one isn't just a service.

It's the gold standard. And it isn't just a service, but an EMS system made up of 12 public agencies, three private agencies, and two hospital systems. We were the first in the nation to implement a county wide tiered response system, and decades later, we are still leading as the first to implement an accredited pre pre hospital ultrasound program. When you see those lights in your rearview mirror, you aren't just seeing a vehicle. You're seeing precision.

Paramedics and EMTs trained to bring the emergency room to your front door. Innovation. A system funded by the community for the community, ensuring that regardless of where you live from Downtown Olympia to the reaches of South Sound, the saving care is minutes away. And results, our cardiac arrest survival rates consistently outpaced national averages. In Thurston County, hope is not a strategy.

It is a clinical outcome. The true the true impact of these agencies isn't found in spreadsheets or budget reports. It's found in the quiet moments. In the mother in the grandmother who gets to see another birthday because an EMS team arrived in six minutes. In the neighborhood that stayed dry because emergency management coordinated sandbagging efforts before the crest hit.

It's the community investments in in preparation, training, and recovery that make Thurston County resilient. To the volunteer and career professionals serving our communities in coordination with emergency management and medic one, you are the shield and the lifeline. You represent the best of us. The idea that we are responsible for one another. To the community, let us never take this for granted.

We are safer, stronger, and more resilient because these volunteers and career professionals show up every day to do the hard work so that we can enjoy the beautiful life that we built here. Thank you for your service, and thank you all for supporting these vital lifelines. I get the pleasure of welcoming up Maria Ponte, our HR director.

Good afternoon, commissioners and the audience here. I'm really excited to see this presence to show appreciation for our valued employees. My name is Maria Ponte, HR director. I just wanna start with every day I get to work with people across the county who show up because they gen genuinely care about this community. They want to make a difference right here at home.

And when you come to the county to vote, to sit on a jury, or get a license or permit, you're being helped by your neighbors, people who understand this community because they're a part of it and who are doing their best to make government easier to navigate. That kind of commitment is rare and it really matters. These days when the average employee changes jobs every three to five years, this is this level of service is like running a marathon. For some, it adds up to more than ten thousand days of dedicated service to the people of Thurston County through recessions, pandemics, earthquakes, and floods. We appreciate their dedication.

As we head into our public service recognition week, which starts the week of May 4, we're celebrating 171 employees hitting major milestones, some reaching thirty, thirty five, and even one an incredible forty years of service. Each year represents a choice, a choice to serve, to care, and to make a difference in the lives of others. We are proud to serve Thurston County. As both a leader and an employee, I can tell you that although we're celebrating milestones of service today, the spirit behind that service is here every single day. We value our role serving the public in Thurston County.

Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your story. We look forward to many more chapters together. Thank you. And with that, calling Ashley Arai, and she's going to present for a moment.

Hello. Ashley Rye, community planning and economic development director. And I feel so honored to be the first one up here because I can't think of a better person and employee that represents everything that's already been said. And it is really important to, like, pause and celebrate people that have dedicated so much of their time to this great place. So this is for you, Delicia.

We are proud to recognize you for an incredible thirty years of dedicated service to our county. Delicia joined Thurston County in 1995 as a temporary employee, and we impressed her enough that she accepted her first permanent role in March 1996 as an office assistant in development services. Over the years, she's held six different roles within administrative services and has been a steady guiding presence through four evolutions of our department's name and structure. And don't worry, I'm not

experience make her a

true expert, and her consistency has helped shape the department into what it is today. And beyond her accomplishments, she is known to all of us, and probably a lot of you in here, for her kindness and warmth and positivity. She's highly productive, exceptionally organized, and always willing to lend a hand. Her integrity and reliability make her someone we trust completely, and her contributions have had a lasting impact on both our team, our work, and this county. She is without question a tremendous asset, and we're grateful for her years of service.

From all of us at CPED, thank you, Delicia. Woah. I was told this is heavy. This is really heavy. This is a presenter of an award. Don't drop it. We don't want to call Medic One for any broken toes. And then here's an award.

And

now I get to invite our County Sheriff Derek Sanders up here for the next award.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Oh, boy. Can sergeant Odegaard please join me? This one's weird.

This is dangerous.

Well, we're here to celebrate sergeant Ottegaard's thirtieth year with the county. And well, he was my first sergeant, 22 year old deputy Sanders. This is who they sent to wrangle me in, and that's not what happened. It got worse. It's the only person who's nearly tased me in the field. Very close. Very close. We have been in some very sticky situations together. But, you know, Otoguard around the agency is kinda known as the the old guard. Right?

He's been around for a little while. He he's got a lot of knowledge up here. And, you know, for for new employees coming in, you kinda get the story about, you know you know, Odegaard, he's gonna ride you hard. He's he's gonna he's gonna ride you hard. But what you come to find out after well, for me, it was a couple months is that it's really coming from a place of love for his employees, for his staff.

Sergeant Odegaard is someone who he's gonna make sure you're doing the right thing, but if you've done the right thing for the right reason at the right time, there is nowhere that he will not go for you to ensure that you are covered and that you're taken care of and that you're treated correctly. And, you know, I really wanna thank you for thirty years of service to Thurston County. I've only been here for ten, so I'm only a third of your career. You talk about all the sheriffs you've worked for throughout your career, but it's pretty obvious how big of an impact you've had on the sheriff's office and all the people that you have coached up and and led in. I mean, a lot of people that worked under you are now in command positions and are are doing other things in their career.

And I know that that's something that you take very highly and and that you've you've done a good job of kind of preparing the next generation for law enforcement. He's also in charge of our CSU unit, our volunteers, which is now 16 strong, might be the biggest that we've ever had. So also in line with our volunteers, sergeant Notegard has really taken a hold of that entire unit and just completely promoted it and allowed it to grow. They assist with all of our handicap parking checks, house checks, parades, traffic control. So I am just greatly greatly appreciative of all your contributions to the sheriff's office.

Thank you.

She's right. This is very heavy. Are we taking a photo now? Okay.

Brief ones, and then we'll take ones out in the hallway as well.

Smile.

And next up, director of public health and social services, Jennifer Fry.

Thank

you. Thank you. I'd like to call up Al Kyocho, who is our thirty five year county employee. And as Al walks up, Al began his career with Thurston County Public Health and Social Services on 01/17/1991. Although his initial role with the county was as an intern in the 1988.

Wow. He spent his summer exposed to programs in the section of what was then called resource protection. We may have to go back to that. Working alongside sanitarians and water quality for lakes monitoring and shoreline studies as we are still doing today. He had exposure to many of our other environmental health programs, and the experience of seeing public health professionals who are both passionate and serious about protecting the environment impressed him enough for him to come back to Thurston County in an official capacity.

He was hired on as a temporary position as an environmental health specialist one in 1990 with on with the on-site program, then hired on full time in 1991 in the food and schools program where he exists today. That year, he also passed the registered sanitarian exam and was subsequently promoted to environmental health specialist two in 1995. Over the years, Al has remained steadfast in his mission, providing both educational outreach and regulatory guidance with integrity and consistency. His work has helped shape safer environments across our community, often balancing enforcement with a genuine desire to inform and support those he has served. So Al has been comic relief in our department as well Mhmm.

And always serves as the historian. So we thank you very

much for your thirty five minutes.

There you are, sir. Thank you.

I'll put this here.

Great. Thank you.

Thank you

for those words.

And next up is Christie Peters.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, commissioners. Christie Peters, chief of staff of the prosecuting attorney's office.

Hi. Oh, good.

I was just

gonna make

sure you got up here. So today, we have the privilege of recognizing an extraordinary milestone as we celebrate Wendy Ireland for thirty five years of service for Thurston County. The level of dedication that Wendy gives to the county is rare, and it's truly remarkable to see the genuine positivity that she has carried throughout a career spanning decades, especially given the nature of the work that we do. Wendy's depth of experience shows in the way that she leads with steady judgment, technical skills, knowledge and a grounded presence that people trust. After beginning her career as a paralegal with our office, she was then promoted to lead the legal support team for nearly twenty years.

Her current recent transition to now the administrative services manager, she is now responsible for keeping our office moving forward, often behind the scenes, ensuring that everyone runs smoothly and everything runs smoothly, and that others have what they need to succeed. But what truly sets Wendy apart is her compassion. She leads with empathy, supports her colleagues without hesitation, and exemplifies what it means to be a servant leader. Wendy also pioneered our office's Courthouse Dog program and has served as the caregiver to our beloved marshal for over the last ten years. This role truly highlights her kindness and dedication, not only to our office, but also the community and victims that we serve.

Wendy, your impact is immeasurable. Thank you for your leadership, your compassion, and your thirty five years of service to our community. We are all better because of you. And now it's my pleasure to introduce, I believe visiting us remotely, is the county auditor Mary Hall.

Good afternoon. So it is my honor to talk about two auditor employees today. First, I'd love to like to talk about Mary Kinsey who works in our licensing and recording department. She is a recording or a licensing recording specialist three. Mary has been with the county for thirty years.

She actually came to the auditor's office from central services, and I'm very, very grateful that she decided to make that switch. She is truly amazing in that she helps anybody who asks for help. She's the kind of person who provides exceptional customer service skills. And it takes a lot for a customer to actually reach out and say, what a wonderful job somebody did helping them one day. And I can't tell you how many of those calls and letters and emails we get from the public.

She's always willing to help staff whenever they have questions, especially new staff. And what many of you may or may not know, she is also the local president of ASME Local six eighteen. She does a phenomenal job of balancing her work, representing all of you who are represented by the union and balancing her work in the auditor's office. And I think she does a fantastic job at both. So I would just like to say congratulations, Mary.

We are so lucky to have you on our team, and I hope you're with us for many more years to come and hit that next ten year milestone. And I believe somebody else is handing off the award.

Alright. Alright. Thank you.

Next, I'd like to talk about one of my staff who has actually been here forty years, Carrie Walk. She's actually serves an IT function primarily in elections. And Carrie actually started in our recording department when she started forty years ago, but was one of those techie people that just grasped everything technology and was always the person that people went to, you know, in the early days when technology was being introduced in the workplace. So that became her her job was to handle all of the technology needs in the auditor's office. She ran solo for many, many years.

But as many of you know, elections has become incredibly demanding. Technology has changed a lot. And she now represents all of the elections department, services all of the technology there, make sure that everything is online, that we can print labels when people come in and get ballots, and just does an amazing job. I think one notable accomplishment is during the 20 during the pandemic, when we were forced to close our office during a presidential primary and had a state primary election and a presidential election in front of us. And there was no way that we could do it at the county courthouse, which was up on the hill at the time.

And we looked around, and the best place we could find was South Puget Sound Community College. But the security that you are required to put in place to run an elections is perk clean. It is huge. And we had to have technology between multiple buildings on campus. She facilitated the pulling of cable between buildings, getting a secure network set up at South Puget Sound Community College, ensuring that all of the cameras worked, all the label printers worked, that everything was up and functional for the primary election.

They started that effort in May. And that alone is just an amazing feat. And I will always remember her my entire life for making that happen and the number of hours she put into that. And then next, we moved into our ballot processing center, which has been recently totally remodeled. Starting from scratch, they're also working with IT to make sure everything was cabled correctly and and everything was up and functional by our deadline.

And in elections, we have hard deadlines. So, Carrie, we are so lucky to have you. You are always available. This poor woman, it's very difficult to take vacations when you're, you know, the excellence of of one. Fortunately, she does have a backup now a little bit.

But, boy, forty years, you have contributed so much to democracy, to the auditor's office, and I just thank you from the bottom of my heart. And, you know, I know you said you're never going to retire, so I'm really grateful for that. You're awesome. I have awesome staff everywhere. I just wanna say that.

The entire auditors team.

Wonderful. Thank you so much. I appreciate everyone coming today and all of the, incredible staff that have been, shared today. And I will turn it back over to you, chair, to read the proclamation, and then we can recess for a bit, take some photos outside, and a little bit of orders.

Okay. Very good. Thank you.

This is a proclamation of Thurston County for National County Government Month, whereas in The United States, 3,143 counties are serving more than 341,000,000 Americans, provide essential service to create healthy, safe and vibrant communities and whereas county government plays a vital role in the daily lives of Thurston County residents by providing essential services that promote life, public safety, health, justice, infrastructure, environmental protection and quality of life and whereas Thurston County government serves as a direct and responsive level of government working in partnership with cities, tribes, special districts, state agencies and community organizations to meet the diverse needs of its residents and whereas County Government Month provides an opportunity to increase public understanding of county government functions, recognize the contributions of public servants and encourage civic engagement and transparency and whereas each year since 1991, the National Association of Counties has encouraged counties across the country to elevate awareness of county responsibilities, programs and services and whereas Thurston County has been serving residents since 1852, Now, therefore, be it resolved, the Board of County Commissioners of Thurston County hereby proclaims April 2026 as National County Government Month and encourages all residents, county officials, employees, and school residents to participate in their county government adopted this April 2026 by the Board of County Commissioners.

All right. We're going to take a recess. We're going to have photos. Thanks everybody for coming. I really appreciate that. That was awesome. Never retiring. I wrote that down.

And

then we'll have some there's some light refreshments outside. And we will be back in session at 3PM to pick up with item three for public comment on the agenda.

Boarding in progress.

Okay. It's 3PM. We are back to our business agenda. The first item up, the next item up is public comment related to agenda items. I'm going to read through the guidelines. Board of County Commissioners welcomes comment from the public. There are guidelines governing such comments to ensure they are appropriate. You're being called to introduce yourself in the area of the county in which you reside. State the agenda item you are speaking to. Address the board, not audience or staff. Silence your cell phones. The board does not directly respond to public comment, but the county manager may follow-up with specific items on an as needed basis. Speakers will have three minutes to address the board. Meeting attendees cannot donate their speaking time to other speakers. Be respectful.

Board reserves the right to restrict a person's opportunity to address the meeting for good cause. No comments that are lewd, offensive, inflammatory, hateful, defamatory, or discriminatory in nature. No outbursts of any kind. No comments that are commercial in nature such as promotion of a for profit business, withhold remarks about pending land use permits or similar matters that could eventually come before the board on appeal, no electioneering comments, and all written materials provided to the county may be considered a public record and subject to public release upon request pursuant to the Public Records Act chapter forty two fifty six of RCW. Thank you for your cooperation. Mr. Pettit, you're up first. Even though we removed that item, you're good to go. If it was on

there go. Okay. I'm John Pettit from East Olympia area. The item you removed, of course, has to do with the sheriff providing police services to Tenaino. I obviously have no problem with the idea that we need to provide police services to Tenaino in the absence of them having adequate police, the budget to work with it or whatever the circumstances may be. One of the particular things that I took a look at in order to understand the police, the budgetary aspects, is, Taino has basically if you go back a year, you look at about 6 to 800,000 is what they were budgeting for their police services.

How much?

Taino require 6 to 800,000. The which it's a chunk of change, and one of the things that was helped would help the them was when there was a vote cast for a public safety sales tax, The city of Tonaino currently receives between 6 and $8,000 a month for that tax. Now that being said, the contracts that was being presented as potentially accepted, it looks like you're eyeballing it at about $18,000 a month for providing the sheriff service to the that community. I cannot even imagine that you can be anywhere near that in order to provide some type of legitimate, full time service because you can't you're one officer, you're paying a $150. You're about $200 just for one officer, you know, on a schedule.

And so how do you do that for what should be a twenty four hour schedule? Three officers per day. How do we actually come into that? The second part to that is, of course, why should we not only be supplementing them for budgeting, for the cost of the officers, but we're also, through their program, they're getting the benefit of $6 to $8,000 of that $18,000 amount through the public safety sales tax. Now if if it's for the purpose of providing additional safety, all of that should be given in addition to an appropriate budget amount for the cost to actually have Thurston County provide the services.

So there needs to be some considerable look into this about what's appropriate for the number of dollars. And should the county be providing city services or city level services for what is actually a county type

expense. I

got that?

Hold on. That was the only sign up for agenda items. Anybody else related to agenda items for public comment? Or if somebody has a burning need to leave before the next period, we would take Anyone online who's here to give public comment related to an agenda item? Okay. Next up

I'm online.

Is mayor, Susan Mayer. Go ahead.

I am. Okay.

You have three minutes.

Okay. I'm I want to address two issues regarding Timberland Regional Library. First, I applied to the board of trustees three different times starting in August 2025 with a vacant slot for a Thurston County board member open until 2026. I received automatic confirmations but never heard back. I felt confident that my qualifications would be appropriate for consideration with frequent library use for my PhD, for dissertation research, later publications, and lifelong reading.

I mentioned working on financials in the business world with responsibility for major projects and budgets and library usage, love of reading, knowledge, and enjoyment, and it has been multigenerational in my family. I'm asking the reason I was never contacted after three different time applications to the board of trustees. Was I the only one to apply or were there others, and did they also experience the same no reply as me? The second issue is about the Tumwater's branch redesign changing the library for major indoor children's playground at the cost of patron usage. This past summer when the library users entered Tumwater branch after the major remodel, I was shocked to see that it was not a library as we know it, but a dramatically changed space with bookshelves in the distance and a very large and attractive children's area up front five times the original size.

For those who wish to get away from the noise wanting to read and look at items, they need to go to the far end of the library. There's a complete reduction of the magazine collection and seeming reduction of books in the open stacks. The visual messages that books and literature are no longer a top priority. The large children's section with elaborate playground items, spaces, furnishings have a few low bookshelves. I often observed that the children play happily, but sadly few if any are looking at books.

In hearing from others, the Tom Woodard Library draws visitors from all over the county and beyond. For the indoor year round playground, a good place for all seasons. But bringing children to fund space is not the major purpose of a library, and Tumwater has drastically reduced and redefined its purpose. Were the librarians, patrons, and taxpayers consulted? I asked the librarian.

No. It was the administration that made the decision decision for the change. I'm not only amazed, but object to such drastic decisions making made without asking the local property taxpayers who cover 93.7% of the funding for the library. I'm requesting explanation for this extreme remodel design with a claim that it has improved spaces for all patrons. Not so.

The patrons had no input. Also, I'm requesting final cost of the renovation and timing for the drastic remodel. Initial estimate was close to half $1,000,000 with same time outstanding annual 3,800,000 budget shortfall. Major decisions have been made in the hands of a few with no public involvement and especially the patrons that carry the financial burden for the Timberland Regional Library. Thank you.

Thank you. Miss Mayor, I'm gonna go ahead and respond to your first, item. I'm not sure why the trustees didn't respond, but it's the Board of County Commissioners that make appointments to the Board of Trustees. And we have made an appointment. We had a slew of applicants. We interviewed nine of them. We selected and we're waiting for May we're waiting for the other counties to to affirm our selection and there's been some wrinkles there but we're still hopeful to have the the selection that we made affirmed by all the counties. So that's the situation with that. But thank you for your public comment. Next up is county manager update.

Yes. If it's related to an agenda item or you have or you you can't stay for the later period, then go ahead. Yes.

I have

some maps that I'd like to pass out to the commissioner.

You add them to the clerk, and she'll take care of that. Thank you.

Good afternoon, commissioners. My name is Beth Provo and I live on the West Side Of Olympia. I live in Thurston County and 1305 Kaiser Road. On March 23, an application was submitted for a timber harvest of one eight acres 100 in a truly unique forest on the border of the UGA in Thurston County. Access to a network of miles of trails on this parcel is just off Kaiser Road.

If you're familiar with the San Francisco Street Bakery, Jay's Farmstand, that's the area that I'm referencing. With its proximity to downtown, these extensive trails built and maintained by volunteers are accessed by a wide range of user groups from mountain bikers to dog walkers to runners and birders. It is so popular there that the HOA of Ken Lake built a connector trail to access this network. I want to speak on a couple of issues. I want to start by raising a serious concern that I have about potential runoff and flooding from this timber harvest.

Since 2014, my family has observed how heavy rain events increase water flow down the hillside onto our property. This is something we actively monitor and manage. The slope above us is very steep with a high percentage of basalt rock and very little natural absorption. A clear cut in these conditions will significantly increase runoff and accelerate water moving downhill. This concern is shared by my neighbors who've experienced flooding following earlier harvest activity in this area, and they'll speak to it today as well.

This impact goes beyond individual properties. Increased runoff and erosion could affect the surrounding landscape, including the city of Olympia's Marjiong Park, impacting trails, habitat, and long term sustainability. These effects of the harvest would not stop at the harvest line. And to address this, I'm asking for a comprehensive site wide hydrological review. I also want to emphasize that this area is not just Timberland.

It's already a well used and highly valued community recreational asset. Established network of mountain bike, hiking, and dog walking trails used by a wide range of people from organized groups like South Sound Bird Alliance, Trail Sisters, OLI Trail Runners, to local families, hikers, and dog walkers. For over a decade, this land has been stewarded through a strong partnership between Friends of Capital Forest, local volunteers, and Mankey. That effort has built not just trails, but a real sense of community investment and care. As a result, the area has developed a growing reputation as a mountain bike destination.

Riders are already traveling from places like Bellingham and Seattle. And the trails are widely shared on platforms like Strava and AllTrails. There's an active local base, the Sub Black Hills Group. And they alone have hundreds of engaged members who participate in trail work and group rides. These trails are known for being technical and challenging, which fills an important niche and attracts experienced riders.

This momentum is especially important as the city will develop the Marjiong Park. It's 75 acres at the end of Kaiser Road. This trail network directly connects to that property. Already a built in user base here to support and activate this as a real recreational gem. So I'm realizing time is up, but I'm encouraging that we don't lose building on this momentum. I'm asking you to address the risks of the harvest and not then just stressing the not building on this momentum would disregard the established and growing value of this area and the community that already relies on it. Thank you.

Hello. I am Jamal Bright. I'm also here to speak on the same it's the same issue. I am the head coach of a youth mountain biking league, and we utilize this Mankey property and the the network of trails a lot. Both in the fall and the spring, we have two different leagues, seasons, and we have kids from fifth grade through twelfth grade.

And we're out there riding all the time. We feel very grateful that Mankey has allowed us as a community to to use their property and to for people to build trails. It's it's really a hidden gem that a lot of people don't realize is there. It it it lies between Delphi Road, the Mottman Road, and it borders 101. Ken Lake kinda goes into it.

You can access it through the back of Ken Lake. It's quite a trail system, and I think it's important for the county to just to realize what a hidden gem it is and how I don't know what kind of a relationship could be built with Mankey so that we could keep this in the community. But it's it a lot of people don't even realize it's there. And we have about 30 to 50 kids on our team, and it's it's just incredible for us to be able to utilize that property. It's really convenient because on Wednesdays, the kids have a early release from school.

And so we can get in there. And with the short daylight hours in the winter, we're able to get in there and and have our practices. So I just, hope you guys can maybe reach out to Menke and and and create some kind of a a partnership with them maybe so that, we can keep utilizing this property. Thank you.

Chair. Can I ask some clarifying questions, please, just to understand? So this parcel is not owned by DNR. It is owned by a private Correct. Company, Menke. And we also received some running public comment, and there is a DNR. Are they applying for a permit tomorrow? Is that the situation? The on. Sorry. Yeah.

You to the microphone, it would help.

Yeah, thanks for asking clarifying questions. A permit was submitted and the comments that you received were from concerned user groups and that was part of the comment period that went through April 6. And so now DNR is making their final decisions about the application that Mankey submitted for the timber harvest.

I think from from my user group's point of view, that the main interest would be that we we continue to have access to the property. You know, not not to make Menke mad and, you know, have us kick kick us out of there, but or that that Thurston County could somehow create some kind of a partnership with them.

And that's something that has been expressed by the property owner as well. The idea of building a coalition of local government to be able to preserve this as the recreational gem that it is.

It's a pretty steep area. It's been deemed not really buildable for it's not like you could put a housing development in there because it's it's pretty rugged. I don't know if you're familiar with that area, go down Kaiser Road, up over the bridge over at 101. You know, that road's a dead end. There's an orange gate to the right. Go in there. Go walk in there sometime. It's it's amazing.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Hi. Hi. My name is Mike Lathrop, and I've lived on the Kaiser Road my entire life. My mother and father moved to the dead end of the Kaiser Road when I was six months old. My dad put down $50 and a shotgun and got him in the house of the old pig farmer.

Keizer Road then was just two ditches, two ruts down the road. That hill, our hill, has, evolved over the years. I've lived long enough to see the runoff when we have those so called hundred year storms that they talk about or the five hundred year storms. People don't believe it, but I actually rode a boat from the Keizer Road to Ken Lake. It does happen.

I've seen those roads wash out. Before Ken Lake was built, that, that area used to continually flood. Once it was developed and the houses on the would be the West Side of Ken Lake were built all through the gravel strata that was the downflow of the of the hill. And I have seen those houses all flooded. My family has a plumbing business.

The the family plumbing business is still there. We've been under every one of those houses over the years, and they've had Ken Lake has had lots of issues with the water runoff. I've seen the Kaiser Road washed out completely from previous storms. That hill is 2,000 feet of basalt rock. On that hill are nine dry drilled wells.

Every well driller in the world promises he's gonna find water there. So the water is so there's so little surface water, surface dirt to absorb the water. It hits the rock and flows out. So those of us who live there who have successful wells are shallow dug wells. Shallow meaning less than 30 feet. I hand dug most of them on the Kaiser Road as a as a youth. They could lower me down the bucket. Those wells are all working. So when that mountain gets logged off again and this is second growth. It's already been done once, so we're hundreds of years later, and it's being, proposed to be logged again.

There's gonna be a serious problem of the runoff. I don't know how they can stop it because you can't stop it now. But I'm I'm sharing with you. I've seen it. I've lived it. It's there. In full disclosure, I happen to like the Mankees. I've worked for them. My family has worked for them. As a contractor, I bought many a beam and timber from their place to build homes all around Thurston County. So I'm very familiar with the Mankees. They have an excellent reputation. But, that hill is gonna be a problem for not only us, but everybody downstream. And I thank you very much for your time.

We're moving on to county manager's update.

Thank you, chair.

Nothing else to report.

Consent agenda items one through 15. Is there a motion to approve? I move

to approve the consent agenda.

Second.

Motion and second to approve consent items one through 15, nonavailable motion. I'll call for the vote. All in favor, aye. Aye. Motion carries. I'll move to department item six, auditor's office, office and secretary of state, elections information security grant.

Good afternoon. We spoke about this this morning. This is the fourth year in a row that the secretary of state's office had all has offered us $80,000, to use any way we see fit for security around elections. And this is a grant that's given out to all 39 counties. So my ask of you today is to approve this grant so that we can have that added to our budget authority.

Any questions for the auditor? Is there a motion?

I move to approve the grant award of 80,000 from the office of the secretary of state to improve Thurston County's election security efforts, including security improvements at the election ballot processing and voter registration and new election center and authorize the auditor to accept the funds.

Second.

Motion is second to approve the grant award from the officer of secretary of state. Discussion on the motion. Commissioner Klaus?

Thank you, chair. So we had this item. We discussed this item this morning. I appreciate the board for, and the auditor for moving this to the department list so we can have a bit more conversation about it. This morning, I indicated that I would not be in support of the motion, but I wanna make it clear for the record that my decision is not because, I'm debating whether or not election security is important.

It absolutely is important. My decision is about being asked to approve AI surveillance spending with a very minimal amount of information and, refusal to answer basic questions under the claim of unspecified law, which I can't go into very much because it was during executive session. But, being told that there are state laws that protect this information from even simple questions like why we have a worksheet in front of us that states and this is a public facing document that states that we are we would be using the funds to purchase software licenses, two different kinds of licenses, and we would be purchasing 90 licenses for only 42 cameras. And this morning, you know, we learned that the licenses are for the cameras, but the discrepancy there doesn't quite make sense to me. And since my questions weren't able to be answered this morning, combined with the pattern of bypassing established processes in IT related to AI cameras for the auditor's office, these just raise red flags that I cannot ignore.

So I will be voting no on this item.

Auditor Hall, I see your hand.

So this is not a decision or a discussion about how I, as an elected official, choose to secure my ballot processing center. This is a discussion and the approval of accepting money so I don't have to spend it out of the county budget and the county general fund. So this question is really about accepting a grant. And to be honest, as an elected official, I have the latitude to put in the security measures that, are recommended to me.

Other discussion on the motion? Commissioner Mihiel?

No. I just, you know, for the public, what we are approving today is a is a grant. It is a a funding piece of this. We are not approving any technology. And I think just you know, I kinda wanted to clarify that this is just a a funding decision to approve a grant.

And this can be used on anything that relates to security.

Commissioner Claus.

I would just add, you know, commissioner Mahia is right. The action before us today is to approve the grant. However, attached to the agenda are documents that state what the money would be spent on, including AI licenses to convert regular security cameras into AI cameras, 90 licenses, again, for only 42 existing cameras. So there's a question there of whether we're adding more cameras or what is this 90 what are these 90 licenses going to be used for? There's also licenses for threat detection for one year, having software licenses to specify weapons and other weaponry monitoring and detection, which is important.

Of course, you know, like I stated, election security is extremely important, but we can't ignore the fact that there are attachments here that specify that the money will be spent on AI related software licenses. And we also have other AI equipped cameras and software that has just been pushed forward despite the fact that we have a pending ordinance, you know, regulating the use of AI software in the county. That ordinance has not been able to come back to the commissioners. And so until we have that in place, I'm not comfortable approving whether it's a funding decision or a policy decision. What we have before us is information that tells us this will be used for something specific.

The auditor, of course, has the latitude to spend the money how she sees fit, but I can't ignore that there is concrete information in front of me now that states it will be used for something that I don't understand. So I can't and my questions were not able to be answered again, due to some unspecified state law. And so without being able to look into the specifics or know, what exactly is going on here, the ongoing threat of AI software and how it's being used and the mistakes that it's making, I just am not comfortable moving forward with something that we don't understand.

Picture like a Ring camera. It's like a Ring camera in your house for a ballot processing center. That is what this is, commissioner Klaus. And I will say I will leave it at that.

Discussion? Call for the vote. All in favor, aye.

Aye. Opposed? No.

Motion carries. Thank you, auditor. Next up is public works item contract award for payment preservation 2026 chip seal project CP65003. Matt Anselman, county engineer to brief the board.

Good afternoon. Good afternoon, commissioners. Matt Anselman, Thurston County engineer. Public Works is requesting permission from the board of county commissioners to award a contract for the pavement preservation, the 2026 chip seal project. On March 19, we received two bids for the project.

The low responsive bid was received from Doolittle Construction of Snoqualmie, Washington in the amount of $2,290,949.35. Contracts include chip sealing 29 miles of road in the southeast quadrant of the county. The cost for this project will be paid from the county road fund, and the project is scheduled to begin later this spring if we get some good weather or typical of Washington, it'll probably be early summer before we get some warm enough temp temperatures before we can start chip sealant. With that, I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Questions for Thanks. K. Move to approve

move to award the contract for pavement preservation 2026 chip seal project, CP65003, to Doolittle Construction LLC of Snoqualmie, Washington in the amount of $2,290,949.35 for a schedule a and schedule b of the bid and to authorize the director of public works to execute the contract and any change orders for this project due to unforeseen conditions only, not for changes in scope, up to 9.1% of the contract, $208,476.39, or an aggregate of 2,000 2,499,426.

Second.

Motion and second to award this contract for chip seal. Discussion on the motion? Call for the vote. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Motion carries.

Thank you, commissioners.

Thank you. Next up is item eight, public health and social services, contract with City of Olympia for operations of Quincy Street Village.

Thank you. Good afternoon.

Jen Fryheit, director of public health and social services. Yes. This is a request for the board to move to approve a contract with the City of Olympia to support operational costs for the Quincy Street tiny home village in the amount of 440,000 as recommended by the regional housing council at their 03/25/2026 meeting. The City of Olympia operates the Quint Street tiny home village project, which provides 100 tiny home shelters. The annual operating budget is approximately 1,700,000.

The city of Olympia contracts with Catholic sorry, Catholic Community Services for operations. And in the past several years, a portion of operational funding has been provided through the state's encampment resolution program. During the twenty twenty five, twenty twenty six state fiscal year, this funding was reduced, leaving an operational funding gap. And therefore, the city of Olympia made a request to the regional housing council to cover 440,000 of the funding gap through 06/30/2026. This is provided from local home fund sales tax revenue collections.

In 2025, local home fund sales tax collections exceeded projections resulting in a $440,000 of additional revenue, and providing this funding will not have any negative impacts on the existing projects in the homeless response system. And just in addition, the over the coming months, the regional housing council will also be working to identify strategies and priorities to address funding needs for Quint Street operations for the twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven operational year. I'm here to answer any questions for you.

So just to be clear, this is a temporary stopgap and the the ongoing funding is yet to be identified, but that's being worked on?

Correct.

Thank you.

Other questions for doctor Fahadheit?

Is there a motion? Move to approve a contract with the city of Olympia to support operational costs for the QuinStreet tiny home village for the amount of 440,000 as recommended by the regional housing council and authorize the director of public health and social services or designee to execute the contract and any amendments that do not exceed 10%.

Second.

Motion and second to approve the contract at City of Olympia. Any discussion on the motion? Call for the vote. All in favor, say aye. Aye.

Thank you.

Public comment related to general matters. Mister Pettit, you're up first. Sally Turnbull on deck. Good

afternoon, commissioners. John Pettit from East Olympia. I saw that the county seems to be working through some more issues, and I wanted to remind the board of county commissioners that in December, this last December, four months ago, roughly, you adopted a biennial budget. At one point, I suggested perhaps a single year budget, but the board of county commissioners decided to go forward with a biennial budget. The significance of the reason I'm bringing this up is is that I've heard from a variety of parties, that now there's debate about potential additional, cuts to budget and, such for different departments personnel.

I, I need to make on the record here that officially under RCW thirty six point forty one hundred, which I had them make a copy for each of you, the budget has been set. For the next two years, there's no reduction in any of the budgets by state law. You can add money to it through finding extra state available state or federal funds or unanticipated other revenues, but there is no provision for reducing funds. It's causing a lot of distress on county staff to be under the, assumption that their jobs are subject to being re removed and everything. It's irresponsible to continue to discuss the idea of adjusting the budgets downwards or reducing elements when the budget has been passed.

And since I have a little time here, I'll put this I'll read some of this. It's not a very long RCW. The estimates of expenditures itemized and classified as recovered in RCW 3640 and as finally fixed and adopted, you remember you did that in December, in detail by the board of county shall constitute appropriations for the county for the ensuing fiscal year. And every county official be limited in the way of making expenditures or incurring liabilities in the amount of the detailed budget appropriations, provided that upon resolution formal adoption by the board, a regular special meeting, and entered upon the minutes, transfer or revisions within departments or supplemental appropriations to the budget from unanticipated federal or state funds may be made. Provide further that the board shall publish notice of the time of the additional meeting.

You're gonna have amendments. That's understood. It's expected. But under no circumstance are you to be removing any additional amount of money and is absolutely irresponsible and inappropriate for anyone to suggest that you're gonna reduce their budgets and cause harm to the wonderful employees of Thurston County. Thank you.

Sally Turnbull with Melanie Rubaliya on deck.

Good afternoon, commissioners.

I don't know

if I need this or not. I think I can talk really loud. My daughter says I can.

That picks up for the folks listening online.

Oh, okay. Thanks. My name is Sally Turnbull. I've resided in Olympia for fifty two years, and I'm retired from Washington state government. I am before you today to express my grievance to receiving no reply to my 12/09/2025 submission of an appeal of a tax assessment on one of my homes.

I've talked to county staff, and they've called my property an anomaly as it is a tiny home, Two bedroom, one bath, 900 square feet, no outbuildings, no garage. And so, there's difficulty finding comps. I submitted my detailed analysis, and I strongly believe that the amount you want to assess me will be ultimately reduced. So here are my questions. What's the county's plan to deal with the three year backlog on appeals?

That's number one. Number two, how do you plan to reimburse citizens if they have overpaid without their consent? Three, will the amount overpaid be returned with interest? And lastly, what are my options? So that's pretty short and sweet. Anybody wanna take my other minute? Do you have any questions?

Do you have your contact information, Sally?

I'm sorry? Your contact information, did

you write it down? Yes.

I do. Have an address, but, if you wanted to write leave a phone number or email with the clerk, it could be useful in case a commissioner wanted to follow-up.

Okay. Okay. So but is there anything you know about this backlog or how it's being tackled?

We don't there's no public back and forth during public comment, or there's not really supposed to be.

We can say, chair, is we'll get your information and

Okay. So but no clarifying questions.

No. We've worked on the backlog. We've been that's been a frequent topic of conversation among the board for a couple of years.

So how can I get answers to my questions?

The the clerk will connect you with Okay. The staff that will be able to take a look at your issue and then respond.

I've already talked to a variety of people, and nobody knows what to do. So there's no answers from staff.

We'll make sure you get an answer, ma'am.

Oh, can I say one thing, chair? Sure. Ma'am, if you are here when the meeting ends, I can come talk to you. Like the chair said, we've had this is an ongoing topic, so I'm happy to touch base with you if if you're still here after the meeting is.

Okay. I just wanna know if there's any policies in place at this point in time. Thank you.

Melanie, you're up. Recession this weekend, I don't know if you know that.

I don't know if you know that either, Gaby. And and and and we'll get to you. So I have my formal thing. Hey. For the record, my name is Melanie Ribaglia residing here in the great state of Washington, working for a living here for the great county of Thurston. And I'll state that I'm at thirty four years this year. You guys really celebrating milestones. I figured that out. Now back to commissioner Fornier. I read your statement, quote, reinvesting in our tourism industry and events is critical to the success of economic development in our community. I am proud to be the chair of Thurston County Lodge and Tax Committee and the funding allocations we made this year. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank all of you for providing funding for our yearly event that is happening this weekend. Three days, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday night. Luminary begins at 08:30. Saturday, the twenty fifth procession begins at 04:30. All while all while ArtsWalk is happening.

ArtsWalk happens on Friday night until, like, 10:00 at night and goes, all day during procession also. So today, I'm here as usual to invite you to join us this weekend. The focus of procession is to reuse, reduce, recycle. Just like the county promotes through the public works department, We have an education outreach section and three recycling and waste reduction specialists, April, Maggie, and Rob, have been hearing me talk about how we can focus for next year's procession, bats and fire ants, recycling different items. Recycling.

Did you know that all of the cotton sheets for this boutique the boutiques that are done are donated from the hospital central services that's located in Auburn, Washington, where all of the hospital sheets around the Puget Sound get washed. And when they figure out that that's too thin to put on your bed, they put it in a pile to give it away. And we go and we get some of those. So that's where the material comes from for the boutiques. I have recycled from my attire, reusing, which is reducing.

I've scoured garage sales, thrift stores, and even a going out of business sale with this great pink dress from Eddie Bauer. Regularly a $100 down to 6. K? This is this is wins in procession. So another focus of procession is the species, maybe even endangered. Ben posted about pangolins. It is the only scaled mammal. It looks like a cross between an anteater and a lizard. Eight species living in Africa and Asia, and they're heavily trafficked for meat and scales, food and medicine. If the current rate of poaching continues, they will be extinct in twenty years.

Ben will have a pangolin puppet that's constructed from cane and the cotton sheets with batik illuminated with fairy lights. So he will not only be in procession, but he'll also be in luminary. Stay informed. The route and the frequently asked questions is on the web page, www.procession.org. Facebook page is Olympiad, Procession of the Species. And the Humboldt Squid says, see you there.

I'm going back to work.

My boss is waiting for me. Going stay there.

Any other public comment? Come on up. Good afternoon, commissioners and staff. And hello, public. My name boss is Lisa Randlett.

I am in Commissioner Mensler's district. I live at 3424 Overholz Road Northwest. I came in today, and I wanted to commend the staff, particularly Brian Hernandez at the Community Planning and Economic Development Department for helping me with this project that I'm grappling with. My neighbor has been clearing and grading their property without a clearing and grading permit. And they have also cleared and graded part of my property.

We're talking she has two acres, and I have two acres. And they have substantially come onto my property a good 100 by at least 50 feet. And so I've been, first of all, speaking with ORCA, the air pollution control folks, about the burning activity. Because not only do they not have a clearing and grading permit from you, they are noncompliant with their burn permit. They've had oversized, like, 20 by 25 foot wide multiple piles of burning material.

And they've been leaving them burning for multiple days unmanaged, no one managing the site. And so I'm just concerned about I am very sympathetic to the staffing limitations, as we've heard, and we've all experienced one way or the other. But I would very much hope that this situation that I would be able to get some staff consideration for actually looking at this as an enforcement action because it's an ongoing situation. And there are like I said, there are multiple piles of very large material that they intend to burn. And when I spoke with the logger who has basically cleared part of my property, they were not very accountable.

They just felt that they had every right to do what they're doing out there. So it's affecting people's public health. IRCA, I've spoken with the fire department. And the only other thing that I can think of is how we can, in a unified fashion, take some kind of enforcement action. In the meantime and I very reluctantly, because it's a major cost in looking at retaining an attorney. And unfortunately, my neighbor is an attorney, so

I don't

know what this is about. But I would like some help with this investigation. Thank you.

I have a ma'am, I have a little bit of confusion. Our compliance process runs through CPED. And you said you've spoken with someone at CPED?

I said what?

You said you'd spoken with somebody, Brian, somebody or other

Brian Hernandez.

At CPED? Computing Planning and Economic Development?

Yeah. I spoke with him about the clearing and grading permit and whether or not my neighbor had a clearing and grading permit. I wanted to verify that they do not.

Okay. Well, there there is a compliance process, and you kinda you have to sort of report that something's happening outside of, you know, permit. And then that's the county process is is working through folks. May not be Brian. It might be somebody else.

No. No. No. No. I know. I'm just I'm saying a commendation for the help that I got this afternoon. I was here a week ago Yes. Trying to figure out how what the process was for compliance. And I just kinda did a full loop between ORCA, DNR, fire department to realize that I had to come back to you for the clearing and grading permit, that it isn't the fire department and that it isn't DNR. And then ORCA doesn't do enforcement on there.

Sure. I

can assist with the constituents' concerns

after the meeting.

I'll connect her with

the right people at CPED.

Yeah. We can get you connected because we would be walking with you right over to CPED and maybe

Yeah. And I filed an investigation request.

Yeah. So

that's the first step.

Because there is no there's no application. There was no CPED.

Okay.

I got no notice.

But we have a process, and hopefully, that'll be worked through.

And I Thank you. And I commend your staff and what they're able to do with a very, you know, limited budget. So thank you. Awesome.

Thank you. Any other public comment online or in person on general matters? Okay. And we'll go to commissioner community reports. Commissioner Klaus, would you like to start?

Yes. Thank you, chair.

Okay.

So I attended another one of the first in climate action team's climate catalyst speaker series events. We heard from an author, Jenny Morgan, at a workshop at the Soul Cafe downtown. She focused on cancel culture and how it can hinder climate action and how better communication and collaboration can help with solutions. We did some hands on activities, and participants left with some practical ideas that can be applied. That was a pretty good workshop, and I've been excited to continue my involvement with TCAT.

I also attended the NACO Justice and Public Safety Steering Committee monthly call. This was a very robust discussion. We heard about county storytelling efforts from the Texas Association of Counties, including campaigns that highlight local services. I believe commissioner Mahia also attended that with me, but they covered a wide range of topics including ICE and CBP funding, d h the DHS secretary stepping into the role, and FEMA review council reports. So there was quite a bit of information included.

I also attended the youth homelessness prevention work group meeting where we talked about implementing the state's youth homelessness strategy, talked about some bills that move forward and some bills that did not move forward, including housing and program funding fix fixes, which led to funding cuts and ongoing challenges for youth homelessness prevention programs. So there is some planning there are some planning efforts ahead for the next legislative session to better support youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness. I also met with the coroner team to discuss the rising suicide rates in our community and to explore options for better understanding the trends and potential creation of a suicide fatality review team. We also reviewed existing processes, related to child and infant death reviews using the multidisciplinary, approach to analyze cases. And so I'll be getting a little bit more involved with that to see, what can I understand better about the situation with the suicide fatalities?

The over the last two years, the suicide fatalities have almost doubled each year, and that's a really concerning trend. While we are also seeing that the school districts are, struggling with their funding and cutting staff, including school counselors, mental health counselors at the schools. And for those of us who are on the board of health, we heard from a lot of youth in the community during the interviews for the new youth board member, and every single youth talked about mental health needs at their school. And it's just a very concerning trend. So I'm hoping to explore that more and help figure out some sort of solution or support for young people in our community that are struggling.

Let's see. I also attended the arrest and jail alternatives advisory forum, and that was a really good conversation about the challenges folks are facing in the service community. I'm glad that that that group exists and that they're meeting regularly. I also with Craig Chance, the director of the housing authority, we toured the Lacey properties. This was my second time going out on a ride along to look at the housing authority properties, and I've learned quite a bit about the programs and the vouchers and how that all operates within the housing ecosystem in Thurston County.

So that's been pretty interesting. Let's see. I'm gonna kinda skip over a few since there was a lot going on the last few weeks. I attended the community built for zero meeting where we discussed updates on local homeless services, legislative changes, and con concerns about future funding. I also attended the LGBTQ elected officials virtual convening with the LGBTQ Victory Institute where we talked about, the movement advancement project and how to help trans youth with the issues they're facing now.

We also talked about issues related to transgender individuals updating the gender markers on their identification and the broader policy implications related to that. I finally attended my first fix it fair. It was very cool. It was really fun, and I forgot to bring an item to be fixed. So I kind of just floated around and checked out what everyone else was getting fixed and learned a lot about all the awesome things that they do at the fix it fair. I think the next one's coming up in November, so I will try to remember. I owe my nephew a a plastic throwing axe because I broke his when I threw it too hard, and it's been two years of trying to get to a fix it fair. So I I'm committed to doing that in November. And I also attended the study meeting along with my most of my seatmates, and that's all.

Yeah. I, let's see. We had a Thurston County, opioid abatement council meeting, had a meeting with Superior Court. Transportation policy board has been busy. Do we've been we had several meetings, over the last, several weeks, to interview community representatives.

And, and we did select a few and put them forward for nomination. And so they'll be coming up this next this next meeting. We actually had one of those meetings, the transportation policy board meeting, attended the innovative justice meeting. My executive aide attended the Nisqually River Council for me in my place last week. We, I had a Pac Mountain consortium meeting and then a bunch of events.

I briefly attended, the Olympia Farmers Market opening day, the Yelm Rotary meeting, Phoenix award luncheon, couple different fundraisers this weekend. You know, truly motivated transitional living out in Yelm. Had a amazing, fundraiser this weekend, and, they're, doing amazing work in the Yelm community for people in recovery. And then met with several constituents over the last few weeks. I'm keeping it short today.

I I will announce publicly that I'm gonna be taking some bereavement time over the next over the next few weeks, as I lost my father last Thursday. So, I am just hoping to get some grace, from folks as I cancel some meetings and, and take and take some time for my family. And that's my report.

My my condolences to Commissioner Grant. I lost her father. I I you know, we've had we had spring break over the last week, so most a lot of my meetings have been kind of internal, learning things from various staff as as kind of a lot of other things died down. The big meeting the biggest kind of one to report on is that and I most of us attended it. The study meeting was held in Bucota on Friday.

As always, it's a it's a great meeting. It was it was really cool to be in the the Bucota gym. The the Bucota the city of Dakota's cleared it out, and and they're doing a lot of rehab on it. They've actually got a lot of money coming in from various grant sources due a considerable amount of rehab. It's a historic old gym, that's need to be.

And I hadn't been in it and seen it cleared out since I was a kid. So it was fun to find a basketball at the end and play basketball with commissioner Mihia and George. I think George Sharp was playing basketball with us too. So it was really neat to see, and it'll be great to see what they what they do as they they move forward. And then I had a meeting with Bucota mayor and staff afterwards to talk about some some of their goals ongoing. So that was time well spent in Bucota.

Thank you. Also, condolences, Commissioner Grant, through this very difficult time. For me, past couple weeks, I attended the Juvenile Rehabilitation Ombuds Community Meeting. This was a partnership with the Office of Family and Children, and it was their first community meeting. And this was an opportunity for families, community members, and advocates learn more about the JR Ombuds program, ask questions, and share any concerns about the care of residents and juvenile rehabilitation facilities.

So it was very well attended, and it was just great to hear how they're going to be moving forward. Attended the NACO Justice and Public Safety Steering Committee. Attended the regional discussion about the Evergreen Pool, with Commissioner Menser and and, the county manager and just kind of heard back, on the kind of where Evergreen is at in terms of the poll and kind of trying to get through some of those numbers. Attended the TRPC Council meeting as well as the Thirst and Forward Summit planning meeting that is coming up on May 2. I attended a webinar on child care benefits used to drive economic benefits.

It was interesting what different areas are are doing to connect kind of that child care to kind of correct the child care deserts that we have all around the country. Got to attend the Thurston County chamber, and and we got the award for their green business. So that was pretty great. Huge congratulations to staff and all the amazing work that they've done for us to you know, for Thurston County to get that award. So attended the National Association of Hispanic County Officials Meeting.

Also had the honor of attending the American Public Transportation Association Legislative Conference in DC with Intercity Transit. Very grateful to the Intercity Transit team on this opportunity, and it was great to hear from different agencies across The US on, the impacts that they're facing, on on transit agencies. And we are very lucky is what I learned with our congressional delegation and their support for transit. The welcome from congressional delegates was definitely very warm. It was, very different from when counties attend.

Attended the quarterly partnership council on juvenile justice meeting. It was it was a very good meeting, and we received quite a few datas, especially on kind of the victim side side of things, and they've done kind of studies about who kind of the victims are in Washington State. And they're going to be kind of publishing that, and this is through the administrative office of the courts. They've they've done this kind of studies and kind of just the cuts to kind of victim services across the state, which, of course, were you know, the prosecutor has talked about kind of those impacts as well. Got to attend the Phoenix award luncheon with commissioner Grant, and and it was great to see recipients of those awards.

Attended the West Region monthly meeting for the National Association of Counties, attended study. I got to attend the spring planning at the l b L. P. Brown Elementary School, and I got to plant a couple of plants and a and a tree. And we were assigned kindergartners.

And so it was it was pretty great to go up and and and dig up. It was a lot of digging this this weekend. I also attended the Earth Day events by the Park Foundation and so did a couple of park cleanups there. And then also attended the Boston Harbor Ivy cleanup at Burford Park and their Earth Day celebration. A huge thank you to Public Works and and their parks team, and Marcin for attending and and helping out the community.

There was this huge area that was cleared. And on I'm also happy to announce that Doctor. Fryheit and I were selected to participate in the cohort for the National Association of Counties Public Health Leadership Academy. So we attended our first introduction meeting today and so we're very excited to participate and be a part of that cohort. We were one of around 10 counties that were selected across The US to participate in that and so we're very excited to kind of learn about different public health initiatives that are taking place across The US and what different counties are doing.

There is a variety of sizes of counties that are participating, so glad to be a part of that. That is all, Chair.

Congratulations. Thank you. That's awesome.

Okay. For me, lots of meetings in Innovative Justice, Citizen Guideline Commission, checking with District Court, employee event at LOT, an after hours chamber Thurston chamber event, Tenano Chamber of Commerce monthly meeting, three cities meeting at Tumwater, steady meeting in Bucota, a meeting with county chairs in Lewis County regarding the library system, meeting with our library trustee, attended a virtual information session that public works put on regarding tree cutting activities and road safety grant attended the stakeholder meeting that Commissioner he outlined regarding the Evergreen Pool and what could be done to coordinate our efforts, for a public facilities district with, what the plans are for the Evergreen Pool and the challenges. Attended the readers or leaders breakfast for the South Sound Reading Foundation, attended a multi care ribbon cutting event for their new Breast Center on the West Side Of Olympia in my district, and the Monarch Family Justice Center, where exactly what that's called, breakfast event last week, I believe that was. And that was it. So anything else?

It's 04:02. We have reached the end of our agenda, and we're adjourned.