The 2023 State of the Community Report

Every January, the Thurston Chamber hosts senior elected officials from Lacey, Olympia, Tenino, Tumwater, Yelm and Thurston County at the State of the Community Address. In addition, a State of the Community Report is included in the VOICE Magazine, where officials share their responses to two questions posed by the Chamber.

This year's State of the Community questions are:

1. What drives your optimism for 2023? 2. What exciting projects in your community are on the horizon?

You’ll find the answers to these questions, written by the elected officials, in the following pages. We encourage you to read their statements and then attend the State of the Community Address on Wednesday, January 11, 2023.

At the State of the Community Address, Lacey Mayor Andy Ryder, Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby, Tenino Mayor Wayne Fournier, Tumwater Mayor Debbie Sullivan, Yelm Mayor Joe DePinto, and Thurston County Commissioner Chair Carolina Mejia will collectively present an address and take part in a question-and-answer session moderated by Thurston Chamber President/CEO, David Schaffert.

This is a unique opportunity to engage with our elected officials and be part of the conversations on important community issues. We look forward to seeing you there.

We have faced – and risen to – a number of unprecedented challenges over the past two years. Proudly, the City has never faltered in providing exceptional services to the community.

Looking out at the economic and geopolitical landscape, we certainly have challenges ahead. However, what makes me optimistic is knowing that there is nothing we can’t do if we work together. We have an exceptional Council and extraordinary staff who are passionate about meeting the needs of Lacey residents and businesses. Bright spots on the horizon in Lacey include a number of incredible initiatives and projects:

Andy Ryder

• New Leadership. We look forward to finding a phenomenal new City Manager to lead Lacey for years to come. • A south sound gem – Greg Cuoio Park: The first development phase of this 500+ acre park will get underway this year. Phase 1A includes adding access, parking, two miles of trails, disc golf, a community shelter, an ADA walkway, and an allaccess playground. • Enhanced Shelter Partnership: The City is proud to partner with Washington State, Thurston County, and the Low Income Housing Institute to acquire the hotel located at 8200 Quinault Dr NE and convert it into an enhanced shelter. Funded by the Right of Way Initiative, this shelter will provide 118 living units for some of the community’s most vulnerable members. • New Lacey Police Station: Lacey’s current police station is nearing its fourth decade and is no longer able to accommodate the needs of our community.

Design of the $40M+ facility will wrap up this year with construction commencing in 2024. • Housing &

Development:

In 2022, permits were issued for 15 Multi-family buildings with 197 units. After up-zoning of residential areas in 2022, the City is now focused on updating its Neighborhood

Commercial Districts. • Midtown Matures: Building off past momentum,

Midtown is becoming a thriving community hub with the opening of the 6th Avenue mixed-use building, the (re)development of The Landing, and the At Home department store moving into the Sears building. We’re also very excited about the expansion of the Food Truck Depot nearby to include special events and a local market. • Infrastructure enhancements: While not exhaustive, we’ll be adding electric vehicle charging stations, performing roundabout design, replacing a bridge, and implementing a number of transportation and utility infrastructure improvements!

Visit CityofLacey.org to learn more! Lacey

1. What drives your optimism for 2023?

Ifeel Olympia is making progress in the right direction on many fronts and I’m confident that progress will continue into 2023. In 2022 we made significant headway addressing our homeless crisis with major efforts like relocating the

Mitigation Site, establishing the Quince Street Village, resolving the challenges at Ensign Road, and launching the Journey2Jobs program which is connecting currently homeless individuals back into the workforce. We’ve also laid the groundwork on many new affordable housing developments that will start to take shape in 2023. These include a project with the Family Support Center in

West Olympia, a unique partnership with Urban Olympia to build work force housing on the former Griswold’s building on 4th Ave., and our collaboration with Habitat for Humanity for the development of over 100 owner-occupied affordable homes on city owned property on Boulevard Rd. We continue to build powerful connections with the private and non-profit sectors to tackle the housing crisis and our recent wins give me hope that we’ll win this battle.

Cheryl Selby

2. What exciting projects in your community are on the horizon? There’s a lot of activity to be excited about but one project in particular is the City of Olympia’s partnership with the Chamber of Commerce for the Olympia Career Hub. This project aims to build career skills and pathways for our residents so they have the skills required to access in demand industries. The first construction cohort begins January 23 and is a 7-week hands-on skills training. It’s open to all experience levels and is offered at no cost to Olympia residents and members of the Squaxin Island tribe. Through hands on training and classroom instruction, participants will earn industry recognized certifications in many construction areas and participate in a hiring event upon program completion.

On the micro-entrepreneur front, Olympia continues to be a leader in supporting small business, specifically in the area of the arts, culture and history sectors. With the passage of the “Inspire Olympia” ballot measure last spring, we’ll be creating a $2.5 million grant program to provide much needed business training, operational support and help with capital outlays for non-profits in Olympia that provide public programming. Awards will also go to organizations who provide free and reduced admission and discounted tuition to Olympia residents and students in the Olympia School District.

Olympia

We have an amazing community and an engaged group of community leaders in Tenino, what drives my optimism is the number of excited and talented people that want to make Tenino a better place, we have a lot of exciting public and private projects going on and there’s never a shortage of vision.

In the last few years, we have had the opportunity to take on several projects that preserve Tenino’s history and celebrate its unique assets. In 2022 we completed an extensive renovation of our City Hall; we have the oldest City Hall in Thurston County, and at over 100 years old it is now more useful than it’s ever been.

In 2022, we received a grant to build a new park playground and renovate our quarry pool. We feel these two projects will drive local day trips into our city and add new ways to enjoy Tenino for decades to come. In the last few years, we’ve seen robust development, this trend continues with a town home project, single family home infill across the city and new businesses opening regularly.

The SWWA Agricultural Business & Innovation Park Project received preliminary plat approval and site improvements are beginning this month. The first building proposed on the site is 13,628 sf and will host a variety of tenants that add value to Agricultural products produced here in the Thurston County region, we anticipate 1-2 additional buildings to follow shortly. With the opening of the T9O Ranch, Tenino is now home to the region’s largest professional sports facility, a nationwide destination for Equestrian Sports bringing in thousands of guests nearly every weekend of the year.

Tenino has been riding a wave of progress for the past few years, we have had a good run of stability that has led to local investors confidently putting their money into their community. In 2023, with the passing of Prop 1, we are optimistic of increasing influence and equity in the regional political landscape now that Southwest Thurston County will be gaining its own District with the BoCC and Port of Olympia.

Wayne Fournier

Debbie Sullivan

What drives your optimism for 2023?

Coming out of the pandemic, there are many reasons to look to 2023 with optimism and a belief in a better tomorrow.

While the past two years have been difficult, we persevered. We maintained all of our City services and continued to move forward. During the height of the pandemic, businesses and workers demonstrated grit and determination in providing essential services to the community. Residential and commercial construction never slowed, bringing new housing and businesses to Tumwater. Despite the challenges, we continued to move forward—together.

A continued focus on the City Council’s Strategic Priorities is key to our success in the coming year. In support of our goal to pursue targeted community development opportunities, the City has hired its first Economic Development Director. This realizes a long-term goal for a designated staff member to recruit and retain businesses in Tumwater and provide additional support to implementing our Economic Development Plan.

Like many businesses, the City has faced staffing challenges and difficulty filling jobs. Overall the number of applicants is down, but the quality of candidates is outstanding. Increasingly employees come seeking value and purpose at work. Our new staff members bring energy and enthusiasm to innovate and implement some of our most complex projects, including environmental, sustainability, and climate change initiatives. Most importantly, I see optimism in our community.

What exciting projects in your community are on the horizon? We want Tumwater to be a city for all people. This year we are working with a consultant to develop an equity toolkit to guide the development of strategies and resources to ensure equity in our actions and decision-making.

The City’s biggest road improvement project will start in early 2023. The I-5, Trosper Road, and Capitol Boulevard Project will replace the intersection and interchange with three roundabouts to move traffic more efficiently and reduce intersectional delays and safety issues. This project will have significant impacts to traffic along Capitol Boulevard for an extended period of time.

We continue to be a partner in the Regional Housing Council to meet the needs of those at risk of or experiencing homelessness, preventing homelessness, and expanding the availability of affordable housing in Tumwater.

Tumwater

Yelm

MAYOR

There are many reasons to be optimistic about 2023 for the City of Yelm but the biggest reason remains the people. We are fortunate to have recruited some amazing talent in key positions who will increase our overall customer experience and provide new services for our community. Besides those employed with the city, we have very special folks in our community including our 2022 3A State Champion Football team and impressive entrepreneurs, who brought new businesses and places of employment to our city. With our recently acquired water rights, we have seen an explosion of growth in our city. We are planning many projects to deal with the increased population.

Upcoming projects that I am very excited about include the completion of our first dog park, our $33 million renovation of our water treatment plant, and new infrastructure projects designed to move traffic. The dog park is in the 2nd phase of construction and should be completed by the end of the summer. The vast majority of it was paid for by a Community Development Block Grant. Our water treatment plant will start construction next year and will provide new water hookups that should last us the next few decades and will be easy to upgrade for new growth.

Lastly we will be creating more parking in downtown Yelm by paving a city owned lot along with new one-way streets that will enable a more walkable downtown that includes an activated alleyway.

It is an exciting time to be the Mayor of Yelm and I am looking forward to what’s next!

Joe DePinto

Thurston County

COUNTY COMMISSIONER CHAIR

2022 was a busy year for the county! The Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) laid the foundation for so many policies and projects that will come to fruition in the coming years. This year, the BoCC passed a HOME Fund (a sales tax increase of one-tenths of one percent) and consolidated with the City of Olympia’s HOME Fund. This revenue will support the Regional Housing Council’s efforts to regionally reduce the number of people struggling to access affordable or permanent housing. In 2023, the BoCC will review with our local partners a long list of projects to address this complex issue of affordable housing and homelessness.

The BoCC continues to work on improving the quality of governance of the board. With the voter-approved expansion of commissioner representation in the county to move from a three to five-member board, two new members and districts will be added. The BoCC recently approved the new district maps and will conduct elections of the two new commissioners during the general election in November 2023.

The BoCC and federal government approved the county’s Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) to offset development impacts to the habitat of species protected under the Endangered Species Act resulting from building permits issued by the county. The county will begin issuing permits in 2023.

General government moved to a new location on Pacific Avenue in Olympia. The current Courthouse Campus was built in 1978 and the buildings have surpassed their useful life. They are not meeting current needs for space, safety, and technology to address the growing demands for services to our citizens. To improve access to the criminal justice system, the county will begin remodeling the buildings on the courthouse campus beginning in mid-year.

Carolina Mejia

The county’s budget continues to be a challenge in balancing services to the citizens, funding constitutionally mandated programs, and ensuring fiscal responsibility through maintaining a sustainable and responsible general fund balance. We will continue to work with the state legislature to find options to aid counties with funding opportunities.

We are optimistic about 2023 and excited to continue our work with our community partners and stakeholders.