Olympia city council reviews 2022 accomplishments, looks ahead to 2023
Mayor Cheryl Selby said the city council and staff are tired.
But it’s the good kind of tiredness that comes after a long day of meaningful work. Selby made the joke during the council’s last meeting of the year on Dec. 13, just before the council watched a video highlighting city accomplishments in 2022.
Council members celebrated the city’s communications staff for their work on the video and telling the story of Olympia. Special thanks was given to Stephanie Malham, the city’s newly-hired senior designer and brand manager.
Council member Clark Gilman said a lot of initiatives were spawned during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests, and now the city is finally able to begin implementing some of them. He said he’s hopeful 2023 will be a year of focus on those initiatives, rather than be driven by crisis.
Some city staff joked there was “nothing new in ‘22,” since much of the work revolved around getting those past initiatives off the ground. Council member Yến Huỳnh said that despite the fun rhyme, the council accomplished a ton of new things that were just brought to them this year.
“I’m always just so in awe that I have an opportunity to work with you all, not only my council colleagues, but also city staff,” she said. “I learn from you all constantly.”
January through June
The Public Works department was celebrated for its emergency response to flooding in January. Rivers in the region swelled above their flood levels, and so did Capitol Lake. Sandbags were quickly placed around the area to prevent any major flooding into downtown.
Jump ahead to April when the city council approved the renaming of Priest Point Park to Squaxin Park. A public hearing was held and the decision gained heavy support from the public and the Squaxin Island Tribe. There was an Indigenous Peoples Day celebration at the park in October.
In May, the public voted in favor of the Inspire Olympia cultural access program. It’s a 0.1% increase in the city’s sales tax over the next seven years. It increases the total sales tax in Olympia from 9.4% to 9.5%. Revenue collected from the tax, which is projected to be $2.3 million, will go toward community enrichment projects and cultural access, including arts, culture and heritage programming.
In June, the Olympia Fire Department made a return to the Hands On Children’s Museum for the Fire Rescue Spectacular event. It gives kids the chance to meet local firefighters and first responders, and see what it’s like to work in those positions.
Also in June, the city’s Downtown Alliance celebrated the end of renovation work on Franklin Street from Legion Way to State Avenue. The $3.4 million project slowed down traffic to businesses in the area, so a block party was held to uplift the businesses and bring visitors to the updated area.
The video also highlighted the Juneteenth celebration from this year, which was at Rebecca Howard Park. The park was named last year for a prominent pioneering Black female business owner in Olympia. The event was hosted by the Women of Color in Leadership Movement and Media Island International.
August through December
In August, the city council adopted some rental code amendments in hopes of taking the load off renters. They included rent increase notifications, pet deposit limits, and limits to move-in fees such as barring landlords from charging administrative fees. The decision garnered mixed feedback from the public but mostly support from renters.
In October, Ensign Road was fully cleared of lived-in vehicles and RVs. The city had been working for a couple of months to slowly move the nearly 70 people who were living on the road to other locations, such as Quince Street Village. Large vehicles parked for extended periods of time was making it difficult for emergency vehicles to get to Providence St. Peter Hospital.
Not long after, the State Department of Enterprise Services finished up its Environmental Impact Statement on the future of Capitol Lake, with an estuary being the preferred outcome. Stakeholders including the city and state departments have met to discuss what it will look like, how long it will take to make happen and who’s paying for it all.
Around the same time, the city council was presented with draft plans for a creative campus at the Olympia Armory. Following the purchase of the armory from the state, arts program specialist Angel Nava led tours of the space and collected feedback from the public on what they’d like to see the space become. Reimagining work is still being done, but things are moving relatively quickly.
The city approved the creation of a Social Justice and Equity Commission late last year, and it was formed this year. At the end of October the city council approved the commission’s work plan for next year. It includes conducting a community discrimination assessment, developing a recommendation for civilian police oversight models, as well as creating educational materials.
In November, city housing and homeless response staff joined nonprofit leaders at Quixote Village to celebrate the installment of 31 solar panel systems on 30 tiny homes and a community building. It was a project two years in the making, and there are 206 panels in total.
Also in November, officers with the Olympia Police Department were outfitted with body cameras. The department got another upgrade this year, a community engagement dog named Bently.
On Dec. 6 the city council approved the work plan and recommendations made by the Reimagining Public Safety work group. Some of the recommendations included building more trust and legitimacy in the city’s public safety system, reducing crime by addressing root causes, ensuring the system is accessible and responsive and more.
Lastly, both Olympia and Tumwater city councils voted on Dec. 6 to approve the funding and governance plans to create a Regional Fire Authority and send the proposition to voters in April. There’s more work to come, including a public hearing on the Fire Benefit Charge planned for sometime before the election.
The council’s next meeting will be held remotely Jan. 3.
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