Thurston County adds new public comment period when people can vent freely
Thurston County will add a new public comment period near the end of its regular Board of County Commissioner meetings starting June 17.
County Manager Leonard Hernandez announced the new structure during the June 3 Board meeting.
“This allows more time for folks to speak before the Board and creates a more respectful, transparent and productive process,” Hernandez said. “We’re also aligning the best practices to help our meetings run more efficiently.”
Recently, the Board has allowed individuals to provide up to four minutes of public comment near the start of their meetings. The new structure keeps the first public comment period but cuts down speaking time to three minutes and limits comments to topics on the agenda.
Hernandez said this change is intended to allow the Board to “receive timely input focused on potential action items” before considering them at the meeting.
During the second public comment period, individuals will be allowed to speak more freely about other concerns for three minutes.
“The second public comment period will be for general matters, broader concerns or feedback unrelated to business items on the agenda,” Hernandez said.
Though limits are being placed on the first public comment period, the new structure will increase the total speaking time to six minutes.
As before, the county says all comments must be directed to the full Board, which will still not provide real-time responses. Instead, comments are taken under advisement and may be referred to staff for follow-up.
The Chair of the Board, currently Commissioner Tye Menser, may still choose to adjust the amount of time people may speak during meetings with high turnout.
The Board decided to pilot this new structure in a 4-1 decision on May 28. Commissioner Emily Clouse voted against this effort, saying she wanted to hear public comment before deciding to support this change.
Commissioner Wayne Fournier proposed the new structure and explained his thought process behind it.
Fournier said he used a similar structure in his time as Tenino mayor and he believed it was more efficient.
“The meeting that we’re having at that point is not a meeting between the county and the public,” Fournier said about the business meeting. “That’s not what’s happening. We’re not holding open court for people to come in.”
He said the purpose of the business meeting is for the county commissioners to meet and deliberate about the items on the agenda that they may make a final decision on.
“By us not making that clear, I feel like we do a disservice,” Fournier said.
Under the current structure, people comment about topics unrelated to the agenda and the Board cannot respond.
“We just sit there and we listen to them,” Fournier said of the Board. “We shake our head and then we say thank you. And then maybe, or maybe not, they get guidance and that sucks.”
Often times, the county manager or an assistant county manager tries to call up or chase down the commenter in an effort to get their contact information or direct them to an appropriate office or department.
This typically happens as the Board moves on with the business meeting.
Fournier said adding the second public comment period allows people to still vent. By putting it at the end of the meeting, he said county officials can more easily meet with commenters.
The Board’s regular business meetings are scheduled for 2 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of each month as well as the fifth Tuesday when applicable. The meetings are held in The Atrium building at 3000 Pacific Ave. SE in Olympia.
The public can review Board meeting agendas and see options for virtual attendance on the Thurston County website.
