Old Brewhouse Planned Action Decision Postponed until March 15

Old Brewhouse Planned Action Decision Postponed until March 15

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Above: The historic Old Brewhouse sits near the Deschutes River in Tumwater. Aerial photo taken in late December 2014. The presence of a proposed 1,000 vehicle parking structure located behind the brewery would wipe out the treed hillside containing legendary artesian springs, and its height could dwarf or wall off views to and from the historic Schmidt House, seen at upper right.

By Janine Gates

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

A public hearing by the Tumwater City Council on a proposed mixed use planned action ordinance for the 32 acre area around the historic, regionally beloved Old Brewhouse was held February 16.  Due to the illness and absence of three councilmembers, no action was taken.  

A follow up work session was held February 23. Another work session on the issue is scheduled for March 8 at 5:30 p.m.,Tumwater Fire Department training room, on Israel Road. Public comment is not allowed at work sessions.

The subject has been placed on the Tumwater city council agenda for consideration at their March 15th meeting at Tumwater City Hall. That meeting starts at 7:00 p.m.

Public Hearing

Kicking off the discussion on February 16, several members of the public and property owner George Heidgerken addressed the council.

Among three land use scenarios, Heidgerken and his project manager, Jon Potter, desire a full build out of the property to include housing and a 1,000 vehicle parking garage. 

The proposed garage would be several stories high and built into the hillside that contains the legendary “It’s the Water” artesian springs that attracted Adolf Schmidt in 1895 to build his brewery on the shore of the Deschutes River.  The brick brewhouse tower that is the symbol of Tumwater was built in 1906.

Potter said that the planned action final environmental impact statement was well written.

“There is a level of development that’s necessary in order to do the restoration work and get the financing necessary to do the restoration that we all want to occur on that site to bring it back to its original grandeur. That build out scenario is necessary in order for us to achieve that goal,” said Potter.

Councilmember Joan Cathey said her research indicates that eight out of ten planned actions used statewide were disastrous to the environment.

“This is giving - deciding - what we’re going to allow when we don’t even know what it is….I feel really emotional about this…this does not seem like the place for density when you can’t even get a vehicle down the hill,” said Cathey, who added that she couldn’t even imagine a 1,000 vehicle garage behind the Old Brewhouse.

The exact height of the garage is undetermined.

When Cathey asked Mayor Pete Kmet when it was decided as a city that this was going to be a planned action, Kmet did not directly respond, but said that this is the first time it’s ever been done in Tumwater.

Chris Carlson, city planner and permit manager, said that the intent of a planned action is to have a detailed environmental analysis conducted ahead of time to streamline the permit review process and is more often used in subarea plans. 

Developers like planned actions because they reduce the overall costs for the project and provide predictability in the process. 

A key sticking point for environmentalists is that planned actions are not subject to State Environmental Policy Act appeal procedures. Their use essentially reduces or eliminates the possibility of legal challenges to individual projects within a study area.

Councilmember Nicole Hill expressed concern that there was nothing in the ordinance that would prevent the owner, George Heidgerken, from destroying the iconic tower.

“I was expecting to see how the tower would be protected and restored…I want assurances for the community,” said Hill, who also mentioned the need for public access and trails.

Councilmembers expressed the importance of balance between restoration of the Old Brewhouse and new development, noting that the tower is deteriorating by the day.

Councilmember Tom Oliva said he is in favor of the full build out scenario and expressed confidence that Heidgerken can develop the property with sensitivity. 

Councilmember Eileen Swarthout agreed with Oliva and thought the council could craft a vision in a way that would be pleasing to the public.

Carlson said the ordinance could be reworked. After extended discussion about how the public could weigh in, Carlson suggested that the council could have another public hearing. That possibility was left up in the air.

In a surprise, rambling comment, Heidgerken mentioned that he is in conversations with the city to donate the tower to the city.

“…That probably will happen because it’s the right thing to do. On projects like this, you’ve got to do a lot of that ‘right thing to do stuff’ because projects like this add up very quickly….Projects like this can take up $150 million in no time at all and you don’t know when you start these things that that’s going to happen….The old Custer building (the RST Cellars building) in a lot of ways looks like hell. It’s a building that needs to stay. It needs to look like it fits in – that means brick it….If we don’t make this site look good…we’re going to darn well wish we did when we’re done, and our intentions are to do that….” said Heidgerken.

Neither councilmembers nor staff elaborated about these conversations with Heidgerken.

In October 2014, the City of Tumwater issued a stop work order at the site after Heidgerken was found to be illegally filling in wetlands and grading a road at the site without permits. Heidgerken has a history of committing environmental offenses.

The stop work order was lifted when Heidgerken was issued a permit in September 2015 to begin groundwater monitoring. The permit allows his company to place 644 cubic yards of fill in the vicinity of the southeast corner of the Old Brewhouse building. Groundwater monitoring is required as part of soil remediation work associated with a paint shop that was formerly in this area.

Heidgerken has yet to start work, said city staff.

Above: The six story Old Brewery tower is in severe disrepair. Several areas are roofless and exposed to the elements. Photo taken from within the tower in October 2014.

Discussion Continued at February 23 Council Work Session 

The conversation continued at a council work session Tuesday evening. At both the February 16 and 23 meetings, the written comments by Tumwater resident Nancy Partlow were mentioned by councilmembers. 

“I see very little in the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) that reflects an imaginative or creative vision for redevelopment of Tumwater’s most iconic site.  What’s being proposed are the same highly impactful, highly engineered solutions to perceived problems that would be proposed for any other property in the city. There is nothing here that acknowledges, honors, or works with the very special cultural, historical, or natural features of the area,” wrote Partlow.

“What would these buildings look like on-site and in relation to the current buildings? How would the currently-treed hillside south of the Old Brewhouse buildings and north of the Schmidt Mansion change in appearance with the building of a parking garage, condos and a new access road? How would the view north from the Schmidt Mansion site be impacted by a parking garage being built on the hillside below?  Would the roof of the new structure dominate the foreground of the view?  

“To say that the loss of the hillside trees, which are growing in highly challenging circumstances on steep slopes and rocky substrate, can be mitigated by Tumwater’s Tree Protection Ordinance, or the forest restored in any meaningful way or length of time, is highly questionable….These hillside springs and seeps have been a natural feature of this site from time immemorial. It was this fresh water that drew Adolf Schmidt to the site to make his beer. They are also an important component of Tumwater’s nearshore environment. 

“I ask the council to deeply ponder whether the mitigations proposed in the Final EIS are sufficient to counterbalance the substantial impacts an urban-intensity development would have on that older site history, and upon the beautiful, quiet natural area that currently exists,” wrote Partlow.

Sharron Coontz attended Tuesday night’s work session about the Planned Action EIS and submitted written comment to the mayor. 

“A Planned Action EIS is a dangerous tool. It allows the developer incredible flexibility.  After the project is underway, changes can be made that have environmental impacts never considered in the original EIS.  Developers in the past have stated that these changes are covered since they’re working under the aegis of a Planned Action EIS.  Hearing examiners have upheld that claim,” wrote Coontz.

“It completely negates the rights of citizens. If no one appealed the original Planned Action EIS, seeing no serious danger listed in the environmental impact section, then hearing examiners have said that none of the individual projects can be appealed as they arise. Changes can be made to the original project and citizens are helpless, with no legal recourse.

“We’re discussing an iconic, historic site, important to many of us who, like my family, have generations-long roots in the area….No developer should be given the leeway allowed in a Planned Action EIS, and certainly not one with Mr. Heidgerken’s track record,” wrote Coontz.

Speaking of flexibility, city staffer Chris Carlson said that, indeed, the specific uses identified within the planned action area, such as the proposed condominiums and restaurants, could be switched around within the footprint of the site.

Discussion centered on the size of the proposed 1,000 vehicle parking structure. Councilmember Nicole Hill said that the tower should be the centerpiece and the design of the garage would seem to overshadow the tower’s appearance.

Mayor Kmet and Councilmember Hill asked staff to reorganize the documents comments in a searchable format that allows councilmembers and the public to better read the impacts and the proposed mitigations.

To see the final planned action environmental impact statement, go to http://www.ci.tumwater.wa.us/home/showdocument?id=8603. To search the document, save it to your desktop or other preferred folder and then open it up with Adobe Reader and search. For more information, contact Chris Carlson, City of Tumwater, (360) 754-4180 or ccarlson@ci.tumwater.wa.us. The proposed ordinance is No. O2016-003.

Editor's Correction, February 28: The following quote should have been attributed to Nancy Partlow, not Sharron Coontz: 

“....The developer should work with the site’s natural elements to make this project not only environmentally and ecologically 'sensitive' but a model to others for how it can be done. This is an opportunity to do things differently, in a truly special and unique way. I am not seeing that in this document.”

For past stories about Tumwater, the three planned action land use alternatives for the Old Brewhouse property, George Heidgerken, the stop work order in 2014 and related stories and photos, go to Little Hollywood, www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com and type key words into the search engine.

HB 2362, Police Body Camera Legislation, in Rules Committee

HB 2362, Police Body Camera Legislation, in Rules Committee

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Olympia Mayor Pro Tem Jones Testifies in Support of Police Worn Body Camera Related Legislation

By Janine Gates

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

At Olympia’s city council meeting Tuesday evening, Mayor Pro Tem Nathaniel Jones read a statement he wrote, confirming the city's commitment to police worn body cameras. It received council consensus, and gave the city’s Ad Hoc Committee on Police and Community Relations additional guidance on its role exploring public involvement on the issue.

How little or far the city wants to go in terms of its policies around the issue is up to the community, but the camera's use and related record keeping will also be heavily influenced by state law.

Police worn body camera recordings are currently public records subject to the state Public Records Act and present a whole host of privacy issues, especially for juveniles, crime victims, and witnesses to crimes. 

While some subjects and information are exempt from the law, a 2014 opinion by the state Attorney General determined that body worn camera recordings are not generally subject to the Privacy Act, and that conversations between on-duty police officers and the public are not considered private.

A bill sponsored by Washington State Representative Drew Hansen (D-23), HB 2362, would exempt body worn camera recordings to the extent they violate someone's right to privacy. The bill has passed out of the House Judiciary Committee and is now in the Rules Committee.

The bill also requires law enforcement agencies and corrections agencies that use body worn cameras to establish policies regarding their use, and requires the legislature to convene a task force to examine the use of body worn cameras by law enforcement and corrections agencies.

The bill was the result of a year of work involving groups interested in working to develop a broad, statewide framework around the issue. The bill still allows local jurisdictions to set some of their own policies. 

Despite the efforts, bill opponents, especially those representing communities of color such as the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, want video footage by officers deleted if it does not have accountability value. They are also concerned that footage could be used for surveillance purposes.

Others groups, such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys expressed concern that the bill does not go far enough to protect individual privacy, and also believe footage could be used by law enforcement for local and national security related surveillance activities.

Olympia Mayor Pro Tem Nathaniel Jones testified in support of the bill at a hearing on January 14th, along with representatives from the cities of Seattle, Bellingham, Poulsbo, the Association of Washington Cities, the Washington Association of Counties, the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, and many more.

“This is very difficult legislation….I told the committee that Olympia needs support from the Legislature to reduce the financial and legal risks associated with unresolved privacy and records management concerns. The bill is helpful but should go further in these areas,” Jones told Little Hollywood on Wednesday.

For more information about the City of Olympia Police Department, the Ad Hoc Committee on Police and Community Relations, and other Olympia police related news, go to Little Hollywood, www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.comand type key words into the search engine.

To track bills through the Washington State legislative process, go to www.leg.wa.gov

Work, Laughs, and Tears: 2016 Olympia City Council Retreat in Review

Work, Laughs, and Tears: 2016 Olympia City Council Retreat in Review

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Above, left to right: Olympia city councilmembers Jeannine Roe, Nathaniel Jones, Jessica Bateman and Jim Cooper work in small groups at their council retreat this past weekend.

By Janine Gates

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Seven Olympia councilmembers have chosen to take on the challenge of establishing policies for just over 51,000 residents of Washington State’s capital city.

With a 2016 annual operating budget of about $129 million, and a 2016 – 2021 Capital Facilities Plan that features about $133 million in projects, Olympia councilmembers juggle a hefty workload. 

Their collective responsibilities include attendance at weekly council meetings, bi-weekly study sessions, and service on 16 intergovernmental committees, 10 city advisory committees, three council committees, and other committees and meetings as needed. The city calls it a part-time job that takes 15-20 hours a week, but in reality, it takes much, much more to do it right.

A retreat is an opportunity to get to know each other better, but there is a delicate balance: if councilmembers develop a “groupthink” mentality, don't question staff or consultant assumptions, understand the issues, or work well together for the common good, the results can be stressful and unproductive for them and the public.

Worse, such a dynamic can lead to the creation of policies, ordinances and actions that can be downright harmful to residents, the environment, or local economic success.

So, with two new councilmembers, Jessica Bateman, who was elected, and Clark Gilman, who was appointed last Monday, and Councilmember Cheryl Selby in her new role as mayor, the council spent time solidifying their responsibilities at their annual retreat this weekend in a Port of Olympia meeting room near the Olympia Farmer's Market. 

No blood or sweat, but there were plenty of laughs and yes, there were tears.  

In terms of longevity on the council, Councilmember Jeannine Roe, first elected in 2009, has participated in 15 retreats, including mid-year retreats, while Councilmember Jim Cooper, as the second runner up, has participated in a total of nine retreats. Both strongly agree that there was cohesiveness in the group that has never before been seen during their tenure.

Longtime city manager Steve Hall agreed, saying that in the 45-50 council retreats he has attended, he has never seen a more collaborative, open attitude among councilmembers.

The group explored their core values, discussed 2016 council goals, divided up council committee and intergovernmental assignments, and dreamed big. It was serious work that involved some new ways of thinking.

Above: City of Olympia staff members Rich Hoey, director of public works, Mark Barber, city attorney, and Susan Grisham, executive secretary to the council, work on their Three Big Wishes for the City of Olympia.

Looking Forward to 2016

Councilmembers discussed several city challenges in 2015: the officer involved shooting of two African American men, finding new ways to engage the community and better ways to use city advisory board member’s time, city staffing changes, and issues around homelessness.

For accomplishments, councilmembers mentioned the hiring of an economic development director, passage of the Metropolitan Parks District initiative, movement on strategies for downtown revitalization, the election of new mayor, budget completion and work toward sustainability, creation of the Ad Hoc Committee on Police and Community Relations, and the transformation of the old Sears/state office building on the corner of Franklin Street and Legion Way into businesses and housing.

Besides ongoing projects, councilmembers will adopt the 2016 Parks, Arts, and Recreation Plan and implement the Metropolitan Parks District initiative while tackling a whole host of community priorities that fall under the categories of downtown, the economy, the environment, neighborhoods, and community, safety and health.

Leonard Bauer, city deputy director for community planning and development, provided a brief report on those priorities and programs and how they directly relate to the Comprehensive Plan, its action plans, and major planning projects in progress.

Using new user friendly informational graphics and data on the city's website, Bauer showed councilmembers how Olympia residents will soon be able to better track their area of interest, such as urban forestry, police body cameras, sea-level rise, public restrooms, parking and downtown strategies, West Bay habitat efforts, neighborhood pathway projects, and more.

To better communicate with the community, the council also discussed the creation of a city annual report that the city would insert into utility bills.

Creating a ‘Gracious Space’

For its retreat, the Olympia city council used the facilitation services of The Center for Ethical Leadership, a Seattle based nonprofit organization. The Center provides philosophies and tools for helping communities and specific groups such as cities, businesses, schools and individuals work through difficult issues.

With the help of materials from the Center, trained facilitator Diane Altman-Dautoff helped councilmembers move forward to create what the Center calls a “gracious space,” for working together. This concept was embodied in the phrase, “A spiritand setting where we invite the stranger and learn in public.” 

Wrapping their heads around this new way of thinking, councilmembers discussed the phrase, and how it feels for them, for example, during council meetings at public comment time, to hear emotional pleas and requests, and not being able to respond or have a conversation with the speaker. They also discussed what it must feel like to be the speaker making those requests, or expressing those concerns.

That unsatisfactory dynamic set up the groundwork for discussing how the city can set up meetings to be more welcoming.

Asked by the facilitator to name a meeting they have attended where they felt welcomed, councilmembers mentioned the Ad Hoc Committee on Police and Community Relations forum at Risen Faith Fellowship, at their homeowner’s association meetings, at board meetings of Garden Raised Bounty (GRuB), and at a recent wedding.

One noted common thread was the presence of food, which led to the free-thinking suggestion of the possibility of coffee and cookies at council meetings and having councilmembers greet the public as they come into the council chambers.

Still focusing on the phrase, “A spirit and setting where we invite the stranger and learn in public,” councilmembers, staff, and others present held moving, small group discussions about implicit bias after watching a brief, powerful Tedx talk by Verna Myers, filmed in November 2014. 

Questions such as, “What happened when you first experienced a difference between you and others, related to your racial or ethnic background?” brought up a wide range of experiences, thoughts, and emotions of being discriminated against, based on a whole host of reasons.

Finally, during a ‘Three Wishes’ dream-big exercise, councilmembers, staff and others present were invited to individually write down three things they would wish for, for the success and well-being of the city.

Those thoughts were then shared with another person, merging the six wishes into three. Then, with another pair of participants, the six wishes were merged into three. After all the wishes of 19 individuals were reported and posted, the group chose two, relatively quickly, about which they felt most strongly:

One: “Everyone has a home that is safe and affordable,” and two, “A thriving downtown economy with no empty buildings, ample parking, sea level rise solved, dirty soils cleaned, seismic risk gone, and transportation solved.”

Sometimes, great ideas emerge out of “crazy” dreams.

For more information about The Center for Ethical Leadership, go to www.ethicalleadership.org

To see the November 2014 Tedx talk about implicit bias by Verna Myers, go to: https://www.ted.com/talks/verna_myers_how_to_overcome_our_biases

For more information about the City of Olympia, go to www.olympiawa.gov

 Above: Renee Sunde, City of Olympia economic development director, and Olympia councilmember Clark Gilman collaborate at this past weekend's council retreat.

Editor's Note: An original version of this article stated that Councilmember Jeannine Roe was first elected in 2006. She was first elected in 2009.

Clark Gilman Appointed Olympia City Councilmember

Clark Gilman Appointed Olympia City Councilmember

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Above: Clark Gilman, left, greets Doug DeForest after Gilman was chosen Monday night by the Olympia City Council to be appointed to the council. He replaces Cheryl Selby, who won the mayor's seat in November. Gilman will be sworn in at Tuesday night's council meeting and serve out the remainder of Selby's term. 

By Janine Gates 

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Westside Olympia resident Clark Gilman was chosen Monday night out of eight candidates who applied for appointment to the Olympia City Council, Position #4. 

The position became vacant when Councilmember Cheryl Selby won her election and was sworn in as mayor.  

Gilman will serve for approximately 23 months, until the November 2017 general election results are certified and will be sworn in at Tuesday night’s Olympia City Council meeting.

Gilman is a grantwriting and organizational development consultant for a local company, and a special education paraeducator for North Thurston High School in Lacey. 

Prior to that, he worked as a manager for the Harvesting Clean Energy program for Climate Solutions and co-founded a residential carpenters union local in 1996.

“I am a person who can work hard as part of a group and live with the decisions of the group. A career as an elected local leader and a regional staff person for the Carpenters Union offered me a great deal of practical experience in this area….As a regional leader of the Union, I would often represent the organizations’ position on contentious issues to diverse interest groups and use my position to work towards resolution of those difficult issues,” Gilman said in his application to the city.

Above: Eight candidates applied for the appointment to the Olympia city council. Left to right: Dr. Karen Johnson, Paul Masiello, Allen Miller, Marco Rosaire Rossi, Max Brown, Clark Gilman, Chase Gallagher, and Peter Tassoni. The interviews were open to the public, and taped for replay on Thurston Community Television (TCTV). 

Councilmembers took turns asking questions of the group of eight, in two groups of four. Candidates had two minutes to answer each question. After the interviews, councilmembers voted for three candidate choices. Although the council unanimously chose Gilman as a choice in its first round, they chose to do a second round, asking the top four vote getters an additional four questions. 

In the first round, Gilman received six votes, Johnson received four votes, and Brown and Gallagher each received three votes. In the end, allowed one vote, five councilmembers voted for Gilman. Councilmember Jeannine Roe chose Max Brown.

Jimmy Haun, political director of the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters which covers six western states, came down from Seattle to attend the interviews and lend moral support to Gilman. He expressed full confidence in Gilman’s abilities to be a councilmember for the city.

“Clark has been an advocate for carpenters working in the residential construction market for many years. In most cases, carpenters who are not represented by a union are not aware of their rights and are victims of payroll fraud. Many of these workers are Latino and are not familiar with how overtime works or how much they should be getting paid on prevailing wage projects. Some are misclassified as "independent contractors" by their employers who avoid paying Labor and Industries premiums and payroll taxes. Clark worked to help educate these workers so they were able to collect the wages that they were duly owed. He also help found a residential carpenters local, and a vast majority of their members are Latino,” said Haun.

For the City of Olympia, Gilman is chair of the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee, which he said allowed him to have a closer look at the work of the council.

“As chair of the BPAC my focus has been on taking care of the committee members and the process. I have worked hard to make sure that every voice is heard and that our decisions reach consensus as often as possible. With support from Council we have moved forward with modestly funded innovative initiatives that kept the bicycling and walking agenda in action through the leanest of city budgets,” Gilman said in his application.

During the interview, Gilman said he feels blessed to have developed broad constituencies and relationships with shop owners downtown, neighbors on the westside, colleagues he works with, and people he has represented as a union representative.

 

“…I take very seriously the trustee role of overseeing a municipal corporation.  I see that as a responsibility and as a call to look at the best interests of the community, putting aside some of those particular issues and constituencies dear and closest to my heart….

“I generally feel really good and excited about where Olympia is at right now today…I am very proud of the work that the city staff’s been doing…so I don’t have any hesitation in putting my energy toward the agenda the council has right now and trying to push implementation of the good work of the staff,” said Gilman.

Gilman did gently suggest that the council has gradually shifted its attention over the years from overseeing the big policy picture to spending too much time on details about programs that the city implements such as the comprehensive plan and downtown strategies.

When asked by Councilmember Jim Cooper, in a hypothetical scenario, how he would pick one parks related project, have five million dollars to spend, and build community consensus around it, Gilman said that if the purchase of the LBA Woods was already accomplished, he would be responsive to and satisfy the community need for a dog park.

Gilman said he lives near Sunrise Park and was part of a group that had concerns about the dog park in that area. The park inadvertently became a regional magnet for pent-up city-wide off-leash dog park needs and was disruptive to nearby neighbors.

As a result of those concerns, he said he spent about a year working with a parks and recreation subcommittee to try and find another location, and spent days riding around with city staff to look for appropriate land with buffers that would not adversely impact neighbors.

“I think it would be such a different ride if I had that check in my hand,” Gilman said, eliciting laughter from councilmembers and the audience.

Without the benefit of running a recent campaign and hearing first hand from voters what is on their minds, Gilman was asked by Councilmember Bateman what he thought were the top three issues most important to the community members. He responded: the use of the Parks and Pathways fund and lack of land acquisition; safety, particularly since the officer involved shooting of two African American men in May; and the condition of downtown sidewalks.

When asked by Councilmember Jeannine Roe who he would choose to be the next councilmember if the councilmembers didn’t choose him, Gilman said Dr. Karen Johnson, saying that she was eloquent, gracious, and would be an asset in the process of group dynamics.  In answer to the same question, three other candidates also mentioned Johnson, who received the most votes of confidence by interviewees.

Mayor Cheryl Selby and councilmembers thanked all the candidates for their knowledge, ideas, and passion, and welcomed them all to stay involved in city issues. The meeting was Cheryl Selby’s first as mayor, and Jessica Bateman’s first as a councilmember. 

Above: Jimmy Haun, political director for the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters, greets Dr. Karen Johnson, during a break Monday night of the interviews for Olympia city council. Johnson received four votes of confidence from other applicants when asked who they would chose for the seat, other than themselves.

Karen Johnson Seeks Olympia City Council Appointment

Karen Johnson Seeks Olympia City Council Appointment

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 Above: Dr. Karen Johnson of Olympia has announced her application for appointment to the Olympia City Council. File photo. 

By Janine Gates

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

In a video released at https://vimeo.com/147920545 Dr. Karen Johnson introduces herself to the community and shares why she is seeking appointment to the Olympia City Council. The video is three minutes and twenty-five seconds.

The Olympia City Council is accepting applications for Councilmember Position #4, which will be vacant January 1 due to the election of Cheryl Selby as Mayor. The person who is appointed will serve for approximately 23 months, until the November 2017 General Election results are certified.

Johnson has lived in Washington State since 1997 and in Olympia since 2005. She works for the Washington State Department of Social & Health Services as the agency's Strategic Initiatives Executive.

Johnson is president of the Olympia-Centennial Rotary Club, a co-founder and president of the Black Alliance of Thurston County, a member of the Thurston Thrives Governance Committee.

In the video, she explains that she is an ordained minister, a hospital administrator by training, and has a doctorate in urban management. 

Her focus will be on homelessness, downtown economic development, and fair and impartial policing.

“I see Olympia as a diamond in the rough and the reason why I want to be a city councilmember is so I can help polish this beautiful diamond in the rough. I envision Olympia as a city that is beautiful, productive, and thriving – a place where all its residents want to live and work and play and stay….” says Johnson.

Johnson says her strengths are inspiring trust, working collaboratively, and having good common sense.

In what seems to be an unprecedented approach, Johnson also has a website, www.AppointKarenJohnson.com, urging supporters for her appointment to contact current city council members.  

The annual stipend for the council position is $16,640. Signed applications and required documents must be received by the city council’s assistant at Olympia City Hall, 601 4th Avenue East, no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, December 14, 2015.

Interviews will be held at 5:30 p.m. on January 4, 2016, (and January 6, 2016, if needed) in the Olympia City Council Chambers, 601 4th Avenue East. The sessions will be open for public viewing and taped for replay on TCTV.

For more information about the vacancy or to apply, go to www.olympiawa.gov

To read an October 4, 2015 article about Dr. Karen Johnson and the Black Alliance of Thurston County, go to Little Hollywood, www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.comand type key words into the search button.

Olympia Community Speaks to City Council About Police Shooting of Two Men

Olympia Community Speaks to City Council About Police Shooting of Two Men

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Above: Outside Olympia City Hall tonight, many expressed their support for Andre Thompson and Bryson Chaplin and their families.

By Janine Unsoeld

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

The Thursday night police shooting of two young African American men, Andre Thompson and Bryson Chaplin, has created an unprecedented outpouring of emotions, perspectives and demands that were heard this evening at tonight's council meeting at Olympia City Hall.  

“We need to take this wake up call very seriously and not sleep through it,” Neil Peck said as he concluded his comments in front of Olympia city councilmembers and the community tonight.

Peck lives 100 yards from where he heard the shots fired by Olympia police officer Ryan Donald last Thursday. Peck was the speaker who provided an account of what he heard that night at a community gathering that same evening at Temple Beth Hatfiloh.

Peck was the first of over 30 passionate, articulate speakers tonight who voiced their feelings, perspectives, and concerns to council members. The council dispensed with most of the evening’s agenda to accommodate the speakers, who spoke for about two hours straight. An overflow crowd sat in chairs and on the floor in the lobby, watching and listening to speakers on television monitors.

Several facilitators with the Thurston County Dispute Resolution Center met with individuals and groups as needed to record their thoughts. Regional television news staff and cameras stayed for most of the evening.

Above: Neil Peck speaks to the Olympia City Council tonight. He lives 100 yards from where Office Ryan Donald shot two men, and heard the shots.  

 

“….I don’t want Olympia to be one of those places where young black men get shot…where people just shrug it off….This needs to be a wake up call for Olympia…for our police…for all of us….I know the investigation is just getting started…but I don’t think we need to wait to say that this is simply the wrong outcome….,” said Peck.

Five speakers later, it was local attorney Jim Johnson who made the audience collectively gasp when he announced that, as a neighbor of Peck’s, he too heard the shots, but neither he nor Peck have been interviewed by the police.

“I’m Jim Johnson. I’m a witness. I live on the corner of Langridge and Cooper Point. My wife heard the first four shots. She woke me up. We checked on our kids. She called the police and she was on the phone with the police when the next three shots rang out. She and I debated about whether it was three or four. I was standing next to her when I heard the next four shots. That, those last four shots, I was able to count. You talk about being open and all this stuff, it’s like, nobody’s even said how many shots were fired. And there are witnesses who know how many shots were fired. Mr. Peck heard them. His wife heard them. I heard them. My wife heard them. My name was in the paper. My wife was on King 5. Mr. Peck spoke at the Thursday night gathering. None of us have been interviewed by the police. None of us have been interviewed by the police. That undermines the credibility of the investigation. I know you guys aren’t in charge, I know you’re not in charge, but somebody hearing this better straighten that out, because if this investigation is going to have any credibility, it has to have credibility in the people, and if there are witnesses around – I live – I had to talk to police officers to leave my house three times that day because they were blocking the road and nobody asked me my name, nobody asked me whether I had heard or seen anything, they’re not asking the witnesses anything….”

Regarding the purchase and use of body cameras, Johnson said he has advised a state agency on the legalities of recordings in public contexts.

“….I know the complexities of the area. This is not hard. This is not expensive. You just need to do it. I looked on Amazon. You can get a body camera for $46.18…and it will be here Thursday….(cheers were heard from the lobby at this point)…You need to buy body cameras, you need to require their use, you need to have discipline in place so that if officers don’t turn them on when they should, they’ll get in trouble….”

Regarding the potential lawsuits that may arise from the shootings, Johnson said, “….This is going to cost the City of Olympia an amazing amount of money. Body cameras are cheap.”

Mayor Stephen Buxbaum said that there will be many more opportunities for the community to express its thoughts about the topics discussed this evening.

Councilmember Nathaniel Jones agreed.

“We don't need to wait to begin the healing. Tonight's comments are part of that...I think we'll be mending for some time....”

One local non-profit, Media Island, will be hosting a meeting on Monday, June 1, 7:00 p.m., at 816 Adams Street SE, Olympia to discuss the formation of a police accountability civilian review board. For more information, call (360) 352-8526 or email mediaisland@gmail.com.

Above: Local attorney Jim Johnson provides his account to Olympia city council members of what he heard Thursday night during the police shooting of two men. He said he has not yet been interviewed by police.

 

Little Hollywood will continue to provide more information about this evening as time allows.

For more information about the Olympia Police Department and this case, including an account of the community meeting at Temple Beth Hatfiloh, go to past articles on Little Hollywood, www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com, and use the search button to type in key words.

Olympia City Council meetings are televised by Thurston Community Television. Go to the City of Olympia website for more information at www.olympiawa.gov.