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She will take the oath of office Tuesday to join the Olympia City Council, whose members picked her to fill a vacant position this week.
Hankins, 46, brings more than 20 years of experience as a volunteer and neighborhood leader – experience council members cited when they appointed her Wednesday.
“I’m just very excited to be working with the council members,” she said. “They really want to put the community needs first.”
Hankins has served as the president of the Indian Creek Neighborhood Association in southeast Olympia; she helped form and chaired, until recently, the Coalition of Neighborhood Associations. Since 1993, she has been a parent volunteer at various schools; until recently, she supervised students with power tools at a woodworking class at Olympia High School.
“I think I’m a builder at heart,” she said. “… I can build children’s self-confidence and community.”
Now education is her day job. Since August, she has served as the administrative assistant at NOVA Middle School.
Teaching is in her blood; the Renton native’s parents were elementary school teachers. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Seattle University in 1986.
She moved to Olympia 22 years ago so her husband, David, could take a job with the state. He is now an assistant attorney general. The couple have two sons, ages 21 and 19.
ISSUES
Hankins is joining the council at a historic and uncertain time. Nobody on the council has but a little more than two years of experience, and City Manager Steve Hall is warning of major budget cuts in 2013 if tax revenues don’t improve. The council has informally discussed asking voters to raise property or sales taxes, but they will have to decide this year whether to float a ballot measure.
Asked if she favored asking voters for a tax increase, Hankins demurred. She said the council needs to go to neighborhoods to show them the situation and get their input.
A linchpin of her platform is creating more public process. She proposes the council hold more neighborhood meetings to bring government to neighbors, rather than expect neighbors to come to the government.
“People are really busy …” she said. “They want to stay close to home.”
She also wants to sign up more people to neighborhood associations. Much of the city is either not represented by a neighborhood association or in an area with an inactive association.
She wants to institute “neighborhood planning,” in which each neighborhood has its own master plan that ties to the city’s comprehensive plan.
Planning is not foreign to Hankins, who helped form the Coalition of Neighborhoods in 2005 as a forum for neighborhood issues.
“I think my biggest accomplishment is probably getting the conversation, getting people to talk to one another and to build relationships,” she said.
Hankins favors taking an inventory of lots in each neighborhood, detailing what’s public and what’s private. That would help in neighborhood-improvement efforts.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Hankins didn’t tout her specific accomplishments, but other neighborhood leaders were more than happy to.
Bob Jones, new chairman of the Coalition of Neighborhoods, cites her work on tightening up land-use regulations on old lots.
Hankins became involved after a developer clear-cut trees on her street without warning and built four homes along 16th Avenue Southeast without the sidewalks, curbs or trees required in standard subdivisions.
It turned out the old platted lots were grandfathered under earlier zoning rules.
Her advocacy, along with the neighborhood coalition, led the council to put a moratorium on the developments old lots, then tighten restrictions on such lots.
Now developers must meet modern standards, such as sidewalks and curbs, city Planning Manager Todd Stamm said, adding that it stopped short of invalidating all the old plats.
The city hasn’t seen development on those old plats since, he said, though it’s hard to say whether that’s due to the new restrictions or the collapse of the housing market.
Hankins also helped in an effort to drop speed limits from 45 to 35 mph on Cooper Point Road, said Jones, who also is the president of the Goldcrest Neighborhood Association on the west side.
She also helped advocate for new restrictions on cellphone towers, he said.
“She basically has been a tireless worker in support of neighborhood issues,” Jones said.
Irene Lewis, the vice president of the Cain Road Area Neighborhood Association, said Hankins is very approachable.
“And I like her,” she said. “It’s always nice to have people go on the City Council that you know and you like.”
Joe Ford, the former longtime president of the Cain Road Area Neighborhood Association, added to the accolades.
“She’s been thoughtful,” he said. “She’s bright and she’s kind of go-get-em and remains pleasant at the same time.”
Matt Batcheldor: 360-704-6869
mbatcheldor@theolympian.com
