Olympia to expand ranks of downtown ambassadors
Downtown Olympia residents may soon notice more red-coated people roving around.
The ranks of the uniformed guides known as “downtown ambassadors” are set to double, as Olympia City Council on Tuesday approved a request to hire two more ambassadors as well as expand the city’s “clean team.”
The former program began in 2012 with two downtown ambassadors who roam the streets during business hours from Tuesday-Saturday, connecting people to city services and mediating conflicts between businesses and people experiencing homelessness.
The temporary one-year expansion, which council members want to make permanent, will grow their ranks to four and extend hours through sunset and on Sundays.
Mike Reid, the city’s Economic Development Director who oversees both programs, framed the expansion as a response to a recent survey in which 41 percent of respondents said they did not feel safe downtown during the day, and 76 percent did not feel safe downtown at night.
“I think that the [survey results] are pretty strong that we have to make an immediate action right now,” Reid said. “We’re trying to invite community members that have been at home, and they’ve stayed home to stay safe, and we’re trying to convince them to come back downtown.”
It was also framed as part of the city’s re-imagining public safety initiative. Council member Dani Madrone noted that ambassadors’ identifiable presence sometimes serves as an alternative to calling the police for people who “don’t feel comfortable approaching law enforcement to get help around public safety needs.”
The clean team, which removes graffiti from businesses, sweeps sidewalks, and handles trash pickup, will hire two more “seasonal” employees for a six-month timeframe.
The expansions will cost the city a total of $300,000, which will be paid for with a combination of city funds and federal Community Development Block Grant dollars, according to a presentation shared by Reid.
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