Inside the City of Tumwater

Date: May 15, 2023

To: Mayor Debbie Sullivan

City Councilmembers

City Employees

From: John Doan, City Administrator

People

Welcome to the New City Administrator

Lisa Parks has been selected by Mayor Sullivan and confirmed by the City Council as the next City Administrator. She will be starting Friday, June 16, and getting to know the City and the great people who make things happen here. She brings more than three decades of working with various local governments on cooperative regional initiatives and executive management of government operations. Lisa is currently the Executive Services Director at the Port of Olympia and has held several leadership positions, including Executive Director of the Port of Douglas County. Welcome, Lisa!

Patrick Soderberg Joining Water Resources

Patrick will be in a new position intended to focus on the implementation of Water Resources’ water development, storage, and quality projects for the City. Patrick has been with Thurston County for 23 years, most recently supervising the Business Pollution Prevention and Solid Waste Programs Great to have you here Patrick.

Deputy City Clerk Starting

Brandy Legomina is the inaugural Deputy City Clerk. She will be working with public records and will be instrumental in supporting the conversion to digital minutes. She has considerable experience with public records and public meetings. She comes to us from the City of Highland, California. Welcome, Brandy.

Police Officer of the Year: Chase Grimmett

This year’s selection as Tumwater Police Officer of the Year is Chase Grimmett. He has been with the Police Department for just over four years and in that short time has demonstrated himself as a selfless and dedicated officer. He is always willing to help in the department. He was recently named as the new K9 Officer after his short time with the City. Chase is a Thurston County native and has a degree in Marine Biology from Western Washington University. He will be recognized at the May 16 City Council meeting. Congrats, Chase!

Austin Ramirez Headed to LTC

Economic Development Program Manager Austin Ramirez will be the City’s participant in the Thurston Chamber’s Leadership Thurston County (LTC). Austin started with the City last year in a new role coordinating economic development work and implementing the Habitat Conservation Plan. The City has a number of graduates of the LTC Program, which teaches different leadership issues in the context of learning about the Thurston County community. If you are interested in participating in the future, let your supervisor know.

Ahead for the Committee are the following:

• Formal Review for the New Market Apartments

– 410 apartments on New Market Street behind City Hall.

• Feasibility Review for the Littlerock Self Storage at 6115 Littlerock Road.

• Formal Review of the Craft District Food Truck Park adjacent to the Market Building.

New EV Chargers at City Hall

Mark Up Your Calendar for Summer Fun

Saturday, June 10, will introduce a new event, Dog Days at Pioneer Parks. Join your neighbors for this celebration of our canine companions.

It is less than 2 months until the Independence Day Parade, Artesian Family Festival, and Thunder Valley Fireworks. This year’s parade theme is, “Christmas in July.”

Saturday, August 19, will be the Tumwater Artesian Brewfest. We expect it to be bigger and better than ever!

Lastly, Screen on the Green returns on July 21, July 28, August 4, and August 11.

Events Places

DRC Looks at Projects

The Development Review Committee has looked at these proposed projects:

• Preliminary Review of the Tyee Landing Apartments: 144 units, 244 parking stalls, and open space on Tyee Drive.

• Feasibility Review of 96 multi-family units at 7501 Henderson Blvd. SE.

The new Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations at City Hall are ready for use! These stations are intended to be shared by community members and City employees charging personal vehicles used to commute. There will be no fee to use the chargers until 2027 as part of a pilot while we collect data to assess usage and cost to the City. City fleet vehicles will continue to use the dedicated Fleet chargers available in the Public Works yard.

Charging Electric and Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles

If you drive an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle, please park your vehicle in these parking spaces only while it is actively charging. When your vehicle is done charging, please vacate the parking stall so it’s available for use. Vehicles parking in these spaces while not charging, employee or not, will be issued a warning on the first occurrence and then ticketed for subsequent infractions per state law.

Did you know?

• There were only 4 public charging stations available within the City now there are 7!

• Approximately 20% of current EV drivers depend on public charging stations and do not have reliable access to charging at home.

As the state of Washington charges forward with its goal to register only electric light-duty personal vehicles by 2035, providing free and public charging is a key strategy in ensuring that transportation electrification is equitable.

Contact Sustainability Coordinator Alyssa Jones Wood if you have any questions.

Illustrating our Mission, Vision, or Beliefs in Action.

Public Service Recognition Week reminds us to stop and recognize all of us who pursued public service.

A city like Tumwater is incredibly diverse and we do so many things that impact people’s lives. Just pause to think about how important these things are from clean and safe water to emergency response and public safety, to safe travel on roads and sidewalks, to safe buildings and bridges, to ensuring our finances and procedures, creation of jobs and housing, make a great place for people to live and visit, and providing for a justice system.

All of us have committed to work when others don’t, to respond when others don’t and do work others won’t. What brings us together is a common commitment to not just have a job or make a living, but to serve the public and the public good – to help people and to make our community a better place.

While we may have different jobs and different backgrounds, it is the commitment to the public and the Tumwater community that we have in common.

Thank you and hats off to all of us as we recognize public service!