Since being sworn in as a Thurston County commissioner on Tuesday, Dec. 17, Rachel Grant has been busy learning the duties of her role and finding solutions for ongoing issues in Yelm and elsewhere in the county.
She highlighted her efforts during Yelm’s town hall event on Thursday, March 20.
Grant said if residents are interested in talking with her about land use, transportation, behavioral health and other matters, as those are the topics she’s working on, she looks forward to collaborating with members of the community.
She can be reached at Rachel.Grant@co.thurston.wa.us.
“A lot of people don’t even know what commissioners do, and I’m still learning myself,” Grant said. “I’m really excited to be able to come out and really start to get to know Yelm. I’ve been working really hard in these first three months to come out, to start touring. I’ve been out doing different kinds of tours, learning about the different services out here in Yelm. While I represent the whole county in some decisions, my job is around things like the courthouse, the sheriff’s office, health and local things happening. The things that affect us on a daily basis.”
Grant, who represents Yelm, unincorporated areas around Yelm and other areas in Thurston County, announced that in order to better learn about the people she represents, she’ll be moving directly into the community.
“I will announce here that my husband and I, we’re in a temporary living situation right now, but we’ve made a decision that the only way I can get to know the people I represent is by moving here. So we’ll be doing that in the next few months, and you’ll be seeing a lot more of me,” she said.
Early in her time as county commissioner, one of the projects that Grant has been excited about is transportation and learning all about the region’s roads, bridges and streets.
“I know this is one of the main things I heard about: What are we doing about the traffic in Yelm?” she questioned.
The reality of it, Grant said, is within the next several years there will be a total of seven new roundabouts in Yelm, including the county’s at state Route 507 and Vail Road, the City of Yelm’s at Bald Hill Road and state Route 507 and potentially Morris Road and Bald Hill Road, and Pierce County’s at state Route 507 and state Route 702 in front of McKenna Elementary.
The long awaited Yelm Loop project will also feature several roundabouts in attempts to alleviate traffic issues in the area.
“We’re working hard on that,” Grant said.
“The one thing I want to talk about, what I’m working on, the thing that’s most important to me and one of the reasons I ran: Many of you know that I’m a person of lived experience, meaning I’m a recovering addict and a person who needed mental health help at one point in time,” she added. “Twenty-one years ago, I was a drug court graduate. The thing I’ve been working on, along with our Legislature, we’re working on a couple bills. House Bill 1813, I’ve been testifying, on behalf of our county, that will allow our county to have more flexibility in the way we pay our bills so we can get more services right here in our own communities.”
She said services in the realm of mental health and behavioral health would increase countywide if House Bill 1813 passes.
Grant said one of the most fulfilling aspects of serving as a Thurston County commissioner is being appointed to different collaborative boards or commissions. She was appointed to the Pacific Mountain Workforce Development Council board.
“It’s a consortium of Thurston, Mason, Grays Harbor and Lewis, and we all get together and talk regularly about what we’re doing to encourage and support our workforce. I’m actually flying to D.C. next weekend to be a part of the National Workforce Board Conference so I can figure out what I can do to help with good paying jobs,” Grant said. “What are the things we can do right here in our rural communities to grow our own? How do we help the people who want to stay here and live here and still earn a livable wage? I’m working on that.
“What I’m doing and what we at Thurston County are doing, and what we plan to continue to do, is to bring resources together so that when someone needs help, my goal is when you knock on a door, whoever you are, you can get the help you need and you don’t need to go somewhere else to get it. Someone actually helps you,” she added.
