Thurston County's former Racial Equity Program manager alleges the county manager unfairly terminated her earlier this year.
Nicole Miller served as the program manager from August 2021 to January 2023. County Manager Ramiro Chavez previously said she left the role, but he declined to explain why. Miller recently spoke with The Olympian to share her account.
"I wasn't going to say anything for a long time about this because I thought I could just go quietly," Miller said. "I just think it's important that my experience as the racial equity program manager was also out there."
When asked about Miller's allegations, Chavez said he would not discuss administrative decisions with members of the media.
Without a program manager, the county has paused its overdue racial equity efforts. On March 9, 2021, the Board of County Commissioners approved a resolution that declared racism a crisis and mandated the creation of racial equity action plan by June 2021.
The resolution also called for the county to establish a policy advisory committee and audit its hiring practices with the intent of recruiting and retaining Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC).
Over two years later, the action plan has not yet been approved. And the advisory committee, now called the Thurston County Council on Racial Equity and Inclusion, cannot meet until a new program manager is selected, Chavez said.
"If all the racial equity work stops because you fire the one person that's doing the work, how dedicated are you to the work?" Miller said.
On April 26, Chavez said he offered the Racial Equity Program Manager position to a new applicant, and he expects that person to join the county in a couple of weeks. The job listing indicates it pays between $6,968 and $9,291 a month.
Chavez shared his update on the position during a diversity, equity and inclusion forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Thurston County. The event also included officials from Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater and the Washington State Office of Public Defense.
In his opening remarks, Chavez acknowledged that the county missed its initial deadline for creating the action plan. He hopes to finalize the plan by the summer, he said.
"We are not going to treat this plan as a project," Chavez said. "This is not a project that will end in December 2023 or perhaps end in December 2024. ... This is a journey, and the journey requires commitment. The journey requires resources."
Miller expected to review a draft of the action plan with Chavez on Jan. 26. She said the council reviewed a draft of the plan that month and she hoped to present it to the Board of County Commissioners soon after.
She said Chavez asked for her resignation instead. When she refused to resign, Chavez gave her a termination letter.
"It was an absolute, devastating shock to come in and find out that I was losing my job," Miller said. "I chose to not resign because I didn't do anything that warranted my resignation, and I'm not going to be bullied."
Miller shared a copy of the letter, which was signed by Chavez, with The Olympian. The letter alleges Miller failed to deliver a substantial and detailed action plan by a Dec. 31, 2022, deadline, and that this expectation was communicated to her when she was hired.
The letter also alleges Miller missed deadlines she set herself, failed to provide any tangible deliverables and put the action plan, a "mission critical project," in "jeopardy." Miller contested all these reasons and said they were inaccurate.
The action plan had been drafted over the past year, she said, but she wanted to finalize it only after the council had approved it. The seven-member council only started meeting in August 2022 and had spent most of its early meetings determining logistics, she said.
"I was not going to be producing a racial equity action plan until the community advisory council that we stood up had been able to weigh in on the plan," Miller said. "Otherwise, it's completely performative and disrespectful to that group of people."
Miller alleges Chavez only met with her once a month and offered insufficient guidance. She said she did not previously know he had serious concerns about her performance.
Miller said she wanted to work for the county because she wanted to advance racial equity in the community that she and her family call home. Yet, her experience made her question the county's commitment to that work.
"I'm not a vengeful person," Miller said. "This isn't about that, but I really think that it's important that people ask really informed and intelligent questions about the county's dedication to people of color."
Juliet Lawson-Hall, chair of the Thurston County Council on Racial Equity and Inclusion, said Chavez informed her of Miller's departure in early February. She said the news surprised her because it seemed like the council was making progress on the action plan.
"On a personal and professional level, Nicole (Miller) was very pleasant, accommodating, authentic, passionate and everything," Lawson-Hall said.
Lawson-Hall, who also serves as the Timberland Regional Library District Manager of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, said Chavez did not explain to her why Miller left.
Instead, she said Chavez reiterated the county's commitment to resuming work on the action plan. Despite the pause, Lawson-Hall said she intends to continue serving on the council.
"I hope it reconvenes," Lawson-Hall said. "I live in Thurston County, and I would like to see it be a place where everyone can succeed and flourish."
When asked about the draft plan, Lawson-Hall said it reflected the thoughts and discussions of the council thus far.
Council-members Evelyn Clark and Jason Clark, who are not related, both said that Chavez informed them of Miller's exit during a March 1 meeting that they requested.
Evelyn Clark said Chavez did not elaborate on Miller's departure, but she understood she was fired. She said she felt her concerns were dismissed during the meeting.
"When we start to actually get progress, we have somebody who was doing such a great job with us and then they get fired, that to me is honestly a way of showing the county is not ready for this work," Evelyn Clark said.
Jason Clark called the news of Miller's departure "alarming." He described Miller as an engaging, community-oriented professional who worked with few resources.
"My thought was, if Nicole is gone, maybe it was because this is an incredibly large amount of work that was left to one person for an entire county," he said.
The all-volunteer council met monthly and did not have a budget to work with. Chavez said the county intends to finalize the action plan before deciding whether to dedicate resources to the council or any related efforts.
