Gary Edwards knew in the spring of 2024 that he would retire from serving Thurston County as one of its five commissioners at the end of the year. He concluded his second term at 9 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, just as he planned.
Edwards, a longtime Yelm resident who also served five four-year terms as county sheriff, was dedicated to giving “more than 110%” effort in any public service role. In each of his roles, he vowed to always do the right thing and be a steward for the county’s residents, both in the big municipalities and the rural communities.
As Edwards, 78, adjusts to retirement following a monthslong retirement tour of sorts, he looks back fondly at what he was able to accomplish in his nearly 40-year career. His Dec. 17, 2024, retirement ceremony was an opportunity for him to appreciate all of the years of service and the connections he built along the way, many of whom were in attendance at his ceremony at The Atrium.
“I tried to let those folks know, whether they were business acquaintances, people I’d worked with or people that worked with me over the years that any accomplishments that I might have had were certainly not done on my own,” Edwards said. “It isn’t a one-man show. I believe if you realize that when you go into public service, you will do a much better job.”
Edwards’ journey as an elected official, preceded by serving in the U.S. Army and as a deputy in Thurston County, began on an ill-advised whim. At least that’s how his wife of 55 years, Debbie, describes it.
Edwards first ran for Thurston County sheriff in 1986 as a Republican against his boss, Dan Montgomery, the incumbent Republican sheriff. Edwards had plenty of doubters coming from a small town like Yelm and running against his boss, who had already held the office for eight years before seeking another term.
Edwards surprised many by winning the primary election and then easily securing the office in the general election. He went on to become the second-longest serving sheriff in Thurston County’s history, being elected to five terms before retiring in 2007. He was known during his 20-year tenure as the “working sheriff” because he was much more involved in catching criminals than previous sheriffs.
“I was pretty proficient at my job, and they were trying to tell me to go write a traffic ticket or whatever it was,” Edwards said.
Edwards’ proudest accomplishment while working as the county sheriff was the sex offender registration program that was developed under his leadership and is now used nationwide. He believed that the public had the right to be notified when sex offenders moved near their neighborhood, and he instructed his staff to find a way to legally create a registration program.
He came up with the idea after attending a monthly meeting with parole, probation and city officers with exposure to the criminal justice system. He was told that a Pierce County sex offender would be released from the prison system after serving his time and living in Spanaway and that the county and city had no control over him.
“They had all these drawings and writings from prison, and he ended up kidnapping and mutilating [someone]. It could have been prevented,” Edwards said. “There was no mechanism in place to report to the community what the problem was. About six months later, the same thing happened all over again. I got with my attorneys and said, ‘How can we do something to notify the community that this person is going to be there and there’s a threat to the community?’ ”
After he retired from his work in law enforcement, Edwards told the Nisqually Valley News in 2016 that he had no intention of running for a government position and that he was content to be retired. But he was bothered by misuse of public funds in Thurston County, which he said cost the county millions of dollars, and he sought to take action. He ran for county commissioner representing District 2 and knocked out Democratic candidate Kelsey Hulse by nearly 9,000 votes in the general election.
Edwards ran for reelection in 2020 but endured a much tougher road against Democratic candidate Michael Steadman, who led by 5,560 votes on election night. A week later, Edwards pulled ahead by less than 2,000 votes and defeated Steadman by 2,600 votes in the general election, according to final results.
After an eight-year tenure as county commissioner, Edwards said he will most miss fixing problems that exist within the government to the residents’ benefit and doing so “with common sense and without hurting the environment.”
“If we can make that happen and if we can figure out a way to say yes to address somebody’s desires to do something, as long as it’s not going to hurt your neighbor and doesn’t hurt your environment, why not?” Edwards said. “Why not figure out a way to help you live your dream? To me, that’s what the government ought to be about.”
One of the most important projects that he worked on in his eight years was the Habitat Conservation Plan that contributed to the conservation of listed and rare species, most notably the Mazama pocket gophers. Another key project was the salmon enhancement program that replaced culverts and made it easier for salmon to access spawning areas. Edwards also strived for economic development in the county, as well as public safety measures.
While he said he didn’t accomplish everything he set out to do when he first ran in 2016, Edwards is proud of his work as a commissioner.
“You get done what you can get done, and you have to accept that. If I got done everything I wanted to get done, I’d be the king, and I’m not the king,” he said. “You have to work within the system that’s in place. Oftentimes, I’d be in the minority on a particular issue and how it proceeded. You’re just not going to get it all done, and I knew that when I came in.”
Edwards knew that 2025 would be the best time to move on from public service as he hopes to spend time with his wife, three children, nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild. He doesn’t have any major retirement plans in mind yet, but he hopes to get started on Debbie’s “honey-do list” now that he isn’t caught up with meetings and county duties.
“I think 78 in my case was old enough. If you think about all the years of service, I’ve got obligations to the family and to do things around the house,” he said. “I just think the time was right for me to call it quits before I really started making too many mistakes. I believe the good Lord was good to me and kept me pretty sharp for a long time. I didn’t think it would be fair to the voters that put me in office to ask them to vote for me if I couldn’t give them 110% for the full term, and I believe I’ve tried to do more than 110% my whole career.”
