Olympia council working so far

Our views

The Olympian • Published May 08, 2008

It’s a new era for the Olympia City Council.

In preparation for last fall’s election, voters and The Olympian’s editorial board were eager for change. The old council was at the point of dysfunction, enmeshed in national and international issues instead of providing leadership on local matters. In those endorsements, the editorial board set out community expectations.

We said the city needs: “a City Council that can be a cohesive team that sets priorities and gets them accomplished. It needs a council that can balance the demands of growth against protection of the environment. It needs a council that understands the need to streamline the city’s permitting process and lower or eliminate impact fees to spur market-rate housing downtown. It needs a council that focuses on local issues, that doesn’t get tied in knots over divisive and unnecessary national or international issues like the war in Iraq or passage of a meaningless nuclear free zone ordinance. It needs a balanced council focused on professionalism, where council members treat one another and the public with respect and dignity. It needs council members who understand that to increase city revenue they must increase economic development. It needs a city council that can get things done!”

Four months into their new term, we believe the Olympia City Council gets high marks for an amazing list of accomplishments in short order. That’s not to say there is no room for improvement. But in four months the council has:

• Selected a site for a new City Hall and narrowed the list of design-build teams to three.

• Entered into an agreement to purchase port property to build a new Hand On Children’s Museum.

• Purchased the Department of Transportation property on State Avenue for mixed use development — perhaps a parking garage.

• Agreed to ask voters for taxing authority to build a fourth fire station.

• Created a partnership with key players to begin the cleanup of Budd Inlet.