I am proud of our community and our city council for having the courage to stand up and demand that its values be recognized, successfully thwarting a significant attack on our police department.
As a member of the Tenino City Council since 2017, I have helped navigate through various challenges, including fraud, the pandemic, budget difficulties and personnel issues. Tenino remains the last city in Southwest Thurston County to maintain its own police department, and I believe that is the key reason we enjoy a quiet, clean and, above all, safe community.
Our parks are among the best in the region, and our schools work hand-in-hand with our police to ensure our children’s safety. Criminal activity is addressed at the lowest possible levels, preventing the rise in crime we see in surrounding areas.
Public safety should never be the starting point for budget cuts. Long before Tenino Mayor Dave Watterson’s election, I suspected he had targeted our police department to be defunded, and this past week confirmed my fears. His claim that he was “just exploring options” rings hollow. Listening to our police chief made it clear that there was little coordination from city hall in supporting efforts to fund the department. The chief provided numerous examples of fiscal responsibility, while the mayor himself admitted that he had not proactively pursued viable revenue sources, such as grants, to sustain the police department’s operations.
Tenino is not a wealthy city, but we’ve managed to thrive by fighting for revenue and making meaningful improvements to our infrastructure and operations over the past decade. Like every other jurisdiction, we face budget challenges due to inflation, rising service costs, declining sales tax revenue and missed forecasts. While these factors are beyond our control, it is the mayor’s responsibility to monitor them and provide timely information to the council so that we can adjust accordingly.
I extend some grace to the mayor for being new and inexperienced, but he must be willing to collaborate with his staff and the council to fully understand these issues. Instead, we have been kept in the dark while he seeks counsel from those who merely reinforce his biases, rather than challenging his assumptions.
In reviewing Mayor Watterson’s responses in The Chronicle’s Thursday article, it’s clear that the budget problems are not solely due to external factors. The mayor cited “revenues planned didn’t come in,” which may partly be due to the economy, but also reflects administrative failures. The city court has not pursued revenue it is owed, planned revenue-generating programs have not been launched, and the mayor has allowed the city to drift without a clear direction as this crisis unfolded. His reference to 2021 as the beginning of our budget woes appears to coincide with his resignation from the city council in 2020, conveniently deflecting responsibility.
Stepping into the role of mayor does not provide a blank slate. It requires executing the council’s plan, and while Mayor Watterson has been present for ribbon cuttings to take credit for past successes he didn’t administer, he must also take responsibility for the challenges we now face.
He needs to align with the city council and staff to find real solutions, rather than deflecting blame.
Jason Lawton
Tenino City Council
