The South Thurston Economic Development Initiative (STEDI) held its monthly meeting on Aug. 19 at the Rainier Senior Center.
Commissioners from Thurston County, along with representatives from city governments and tribes in the area, gathered to share updates on programs they are working on and to discuss issues facing residents.
The biggest topic up for discussion was the upcoming November ballot initiative that will allow voters in Thurston County to weigh in on increasing the number of county commissioners from three to five.
District three commissioner Tye Menser said he supports the initiative. With the growth Thurston County has seen, Menser feels the commissioners have too much to deal with and cannot provide every program the attention it needs.
“We got 42 interjurisdictional boards and commissions, divided between three commissioners and I have like 16,” Menser said. “My first two years on the board, I was on the board of the wastewater treatment system, the public transit system, the behavioral health system, the animal services system, (and) the ORCA (Olympic Region Clean Air) system. Each one of those I just named has a multi-million dollar budget and executive director and I’m supposed to provide oversight to all that. I don’t feel like any commissioner can do the job the public demands and expects when I’ve got 16 of those in addition to all my county business.”
Menser believes adding two commissioners to the board will allow them to create stronger relationships with the people who run the programs they are responsible for providing oversight to.
“We’re all just operating at such a high level without the depth that we need,” Menser said. “It makes it very difficult.”
He added that state law allows counties to add two commissioners when its population surpasses 300,000 people, which recently happened in Thurston County. District two commissioner Gary Edwards said the state will mandate the addition of two commissioners in the future.
“If we hit 400,000 a few years down the road, it becomes mandatory,” Edwards said. “The state has mandated that we get there (to five total commissioners). This way the citizenry has a voice in how we proceed in this a little better than once the state steps in.”
A redistricting initiative will also be on the ballot for Thurston County voters in November. More information about the initiative can be found online at www.thurstoncountywa.gov/auditor/Pages/elections-redistricting.aspx.
Members of the Thurston County broadband action team are also continuing its work to conduct surveys on the speed of broadband internet services currently offered to residents. The team is now looking to test internet speeds at local businesses, schools and libraries.
The goal of the tests is to demonstrate which communities in Thurston County lack adequate broadband internet service as defined by the Federal Communications Commission. Once the deficiencies have been demonstrated, access to federal funding to expand fiber infrastructure will be made available to the county.
The broadband action team is composed of representatives from the Port of Olympia, Thurston County, the Nisqually Indian Tribe and the Thurston Economic Development Council.
The next STEDI meeting will be held at the Rainier Senior Center at 8 a.m. on Sept. 16.
