Olympia City Council unanimously endorses Thurston County’s courthouse ballot issue

The Olympia City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to adopt a resolution supporting the Thurston County ballot proposal to increase property taxes to fund construction of a new county courthouse complex in downtown Olympia.

The Council requested the resolution be placed on its meeting agenda to give the public an opportunity to share their comments or concerns about the proposition, which will be on the April ballot.

No members of the council spoke prior to casting their votes in favor of the resolution, but many have spoken publicly about the issue in the past.

Residents who addressed the council prior to the vote voiced support for the resolution and, by extension, the estimated $250 million project that would consolidate many city and county legal and administrative services at a single location.

Larry Watkinson was the first to voice his support. Watkinson, who has a vision impairment, spoke to the need for improved accessibility to all areas of the courthouse. He noticed on a recent tour of the Lakeridge Drive county courthouse complex that many of the issues he saw were ones he first observed in 1983 and 1984.

“In a wheelchair, it is almost impossible to use the restrooms,” Watkinson said. “Imagine being landlocked at a courthouse for a jury trial, in a wheelchair, trying to use a restroom in a facility where navigating to the facility is a challenge.”

Larry Jefferson, a public defender in Thurston County, listed off a number of times he’s felt unsafe while working at the current courthouse complex. Jefferson was assaulted by his own client during jury selection for a trial in May 2006.

“It was not something I was expecting to happen at work,” Jefferson said. “This made me think about security at the courthouse.

“A year after this, I was present on the day a corrections officer was trapped in an elevator fighting for their life. I can remember the elevator doors being pulled open and looking down at the elevator below, as this corrections officer struggled for their life.”

Jefferson went on to tell the council about an incident last summer when a person tried to forcibly enter his workspace in one of the outbuildings. He recalled having to hold the sliding glass door shut to prevent the unwanted entry.

“As a public defender, there are many services we want to provide, but our building is too small to do it, to provide other services for individuals,” Jefferson said. “Building this courthouse would allow us to connect with the city of Olympia and other treatment courts.”

Local attorney Christina Meserve spoke to the challenges citizens face when they’re selected for jury service at the current courthouse. She told the council of her experience being called for jury duty a couple of years ago and the impression it left on her.

“I was appalled at how much time we spent standing in the hallway, because there was inadequate room to accommodate the jurors for jury selection,” Meserve said.

“We had some elderly individuals and persons with disabilities who could not stand in the hallway for the length of time we were required to do so. There are a few benches that line the hallways of the Thurston County Courthouse; people took turns moving from the benches and then returning to their place in line.”

For more information on the proposed construction of a new county courthouse and the ballot proposition, visit the Thurston County Board of County Commissioners website.

This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 5:45 AM.