This November, southwest Thurston County voters will choose a candidate to serve as their representative in a new seat on the Thurston County Board of Commissioners.
The seat was one of two added after voters approved a new redistricting map in November that split the county into five districts instead of three.
One of the two candidates vying for the new District 4 county commission seat is Rochester resident Vivian Eason, 63, who had a 35-year career in Thurston County government before she retired last year.
“I know how the county works and I’ve watched the county change over the years,” Eason said.
Because elections are staggered by district, the seatholder will only serve one year. At the end of that year, there will be another election to elect a representative for the full four-year term. While the race is also on the Aug. 1 primary ballot, that’s only to determine who will be listed first on the ballot in the general election, according to the Thurston County Auditor’s Office.
Eason is running as an Independent, and said, “You’ve got to be engaged with the public and show them that you’re there to support them. They’re the ones who elect you. It shouldn’t be a partisan position.”
Her opponent is Tenino Mayor Wayne Fournier, who has filed as a Democrat. (An article focused on Fournier’s candidacy can be found online at https://tinyurl.com/4dhnxtv8.)
Eason most recently lost a bid for the District 3 county commission seat against incumbent Tye Menser in 2022, before the District 4 seat existed.
“I ran against an incumbent so it was harder, but I learned so much. … I figured it was my practice for this new position,” Eason said, calling that 2022 election “an eye opener.”
“It’s not for the faint of heart. It takes your whole life,” she said, “It’s a huge commitment and people realize that. People thank you for running, and it means a lot.”
Her goals for the county haven’t changed between the two elections: Eason still aims to improve customer service within the Thurston County Commissioners’ Office, improve the overall sense of community for both workers and citizens, engage more in animal services, improve outreach to the county’s senior citizens, and speed up and improve the building permit process in an effort to support affordable housing.
“I see it as helping a lot of unincorporated areas that tend to … get less voice in the county, so it’s a great opportunity for us to be heard more, and that’s why I feel it’s really important to elect somebody that is familiar with unincorporated Thurston County,” Eason said of the new District 4 position.
Eason went to high school in Shelton and moved to Olympia in 1987, when she was hired to work as a legal secretary in the Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office. She has since moved to the Rochester area, where she owns a small farm and rides horses.
She earned a degree in social science from The Evergreen State College and moved from the prosecutor’s office to juvenile court, then to Thurston County Corrections, where she worked for 15 years before shifting over to Thurston County Emergency Management, where she worked another 15 years before retiring.
“My number one priority has always been public safety, and when you say public safety, it encompasses not just law enforcement — it’s the court system, probation, all of that,” Eason said, emphasizing the importance of funding the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office and helping the office improve its recruitment and retention rates.
“We’ve got to be able to pay a wage that will attract people,” she said, adding that that sentiment applies to all county departments.
“In the last few years, especially since COVID, we’ve lost a lot of really good employees and Thurston County is not the ideal place to work and live. I want it to be different, and I want people to be happy and excited to work there,” she said.
An advocate for maintaining a balance between nature conservation and private landowner rights, it was during her time in Thurston County Emergency Management that Eason first became involved in local politics through the Habitat Conservation Plan, which was developed after Mazama pocket gophers were found in Thurston County about 11 years ago.
“I saw things in the county that I wanted to make better,” she said of her decision to run for an elected position after her retirement.
Her time in Emergency Management familiarized her with the county’s internal processes, she said.
“I feel that I know a lot about the county budget, how the county operates, the planning, all the committees. … I know those committees and councils that the commissioners work on,” she said.
Eason currently volunteers with the Thurston County Council on Aging, which is another group the county commissioners are involved with, she said.
In addition to her 35-year career in Thurston County, Eason spent 31 years in the Army Reserves as a civil affairs specialist, retiring as a master sergeant in 2019.
“You learn to engage and … especially as a woman, you learn to be a little tougher,” she said. “There’s a soft side of me but there’s also a part of me that I’m going to, if I believe in something, I’m going to fight for it.”
More information on Eason can be found on her website at https://votevivianeason.com/, but anyone is welcome to reach out to her directly at 360-791-5557 or VoteVivianEason@gmail.com.
“I want to serve with compassion … Everyone will get a phone call back. We’re not going to ignore people,” she said.
If elected, Eason will join commissioners Tye Menser, Carolina Mejia and Gary Edwards, along with whoever steps up for the other new district, which encompasses the Olympia area.
Thurston County commissioners make around $11,000 per month.
