Controversy erupts over seat on Thurston County housing council. What happened?
A routine local government matter erupted into controversy this month after Lacey city council member Carolyn Cox and area residents said they were opposed to council member Nic Dunning’s appointment to the Regional Housing Council.
The council on Tuesday ultimately voted 5-1 on those appointments. Cox cast the “no” vote.
The council last week began the discussion of deciding who would represent the council on the various boards and committees throughout the county, including the Regional Housing Council (RHC). The council addresses homelessness and affordable housing. It meets monthly.
Cox was previously the city’s primary representative to the group, while Dunning was the alternate. This year Dunning was nominated to be the primary contact.
Cox said last week she could not accept that.
“This (the RHC) is an organization built on fragile relationships,” she said. “It’s dealing with homelessness, and the challenges of affordable housing is hard work with no easy answers. You know, I really hate to say this, but I object to your appointment because I think you don’t have the temperament for it. I apologized to the county housing staff for your behavior at a council meeting a couple of months ago. It’s fine to ask questions, and you should ask questions, but the aggressive and insulting manner in which they were asked was not cool.”
The meeting that Cox was referring to took place in October. At it, Dunning expressed his displeasure with the housing-first approach to homelessness.
“I apologize, but some of these are going to be difficult questions, so I’m just going to warn you now,” said Dunning in October.
The housing-first approach seeks to first establish permanent housing for the person experiencing homelessness, so that they have a base from which to work to get back on their feet.
Dunning said in October he would rather see a “shelter and rehabilitation” model for homelessness, arguing that those suffering from drug addiction or mental health problems are left to fend for themselves in the housing-first approach.
“It is a much more sustainable and effective model, because under (housing) first and low barrier, we’re not providing mental health or drug addiction services,” he said in October. “We’re just putting people into homes or housing that they continue to use drugs and have mental health issues, and we’re not treating the root causes of these issues in the first place.”
Before Dunning could defend himself at last week’s meeting, council member Lenny Greenstein spoke up for him.
“First of all, anyone on this council is fit and eligible to serve on any of these committees period,” he said. “I mean, secondly, I think it’s healthy and wise to have someone with a little bit of a different voice, maybe a different thought, and maybe someone that brings some challenges to that organization. I sat on there as the alternate for a couple of years as well, and frankly, there’s a lot of agreement amongst the room, and I don’t think it’s a bad thing to have a voice that has asked some questions. So I think Nic is a really good person for that committee.”
Dunning then shared his view.
“One of my biggest issues right now that we have, especially when it comes to homelessness and the Regional Housing Council, is differences of opinion aren’t and haven’t been allowed,” he said. “It’s an area where the moment you say anything that differs from the leadership, you get put in a box. And I think that is wholly inappropriate. And I think having differences of opinions on all of our committees is the most healthy thing that we do.”
That conversation then carried over to this week and another work session after Tuesday’s regular council meeting.
During public comment, resident Stephanie Scott was among three people who also spoke out against Dunning’s appointment.
“The conclusion you’ve drawn that housing first doesn’t work is incorrect,” she said. “The truth is, this region has never fully implemented housing first, so we can’t say it doesn’t work. Housing first doesn’t mean housing only. It means housing is the baseline, the foundation that makes everything else possible.”
Scott stayed through the council meeting, but she walked out in frustration during the work session discussion.
Lacey Mayor Andy Ryder, who could not make last week’s meeting due to an illness, reminded the council that they represent the city at the inter-governmental meetings.
“It’s the role and responsibility of our representative to be supporting the majority view of the city council, not your personal view,” he said.
Dunning defended himself again at Tuesday’s meeting.
“People can go and see for themselves the questions that I ask,” he said. “The professionalism, although serious, has always been there. I ask thoughtful questions, I try to engage. So it is really difficult to hear some of these things and to think that we ... can’t be on a committee unless you agree with the committee on everything. That’s a really dangerous road for us to walk down.”
Council member Maren Turner was named the alternate to Dunning on the RHC, but she declined because of conflict of interest concerns between her employer and the RHC. Council member Ryan Siu was named the alternate instead.
Before the vote, council member Cox stuck to her position.
“I still stand by my comments from last week, and I’m just going to say ahead of time, I will be voting no as a protest vote on this, and that’s no reflection on anybody else’s assignments or my own assignments, but I just feel like I have to take that stand,” she said.
This story was originally published January 22, 2026 at 12:26 PM.
