Thurston commissioners agree to delay April courthouse vote due to COVID-19

The future of a much-anticipated local vote on a new Thurston County courthouse is uncertain after commissioners met Tuesday.

Commissioners agreed to remove from the April 28 ballot the proposal to raise property taxes to pay for a new county courthouse and office complex.

The board plans to vote on formally rescinding the proposition at a work session Wednesday morning. Timing is key, as ballots would need to be printed by Friday for military voters, Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall told The Olympian.

Hall said she requested the commissioners rescind the proposition. Most of the people who staff the Ballot Processing Center during an election are retired seniors, she said. Public health officials believe older adults are at higher risk of getting very sick from COVID-19, the illness caused by a novel coronavirus.

“They’re tremendous assets, and I’m not willing to put them at risk,” Hall said of the people who work and volunteer.

The county’s in-person voting center also has to be open for people to vote and register on the day of the election, County Manager Ramiro Chavez said at the meeting.

All three commissioners agreed taking the proposition off ballots, for now, was the right decision. But the trio took different tones.

Commissioner Gary Edwards, who recently filed to run for re-election in November, has been steadfastly opposed to the courthouse ballot measure altogether. He was the lone “no” in two 2-1 commission votes to put it on the ballot in the first place.

“Well, I can only say I’ve been against it from the original vote a year ago,” Edwards said. “And, if we were going to have it, I would always prefer that it be on an election day that was the biggest turnout, which would be November or August. So, I’m all in favor of removing it.”

John Hutchings, who’s chair of the board and also running for re-election in November, suggested the delay may be indefinite because of potential economic impacts of the pandemic.

“As we’re sitting here today, on March 17, hopefully in the bottom of the curve of this issue, which I doubt we are — things are going to get worse before it gets better — people losing their jobs, people concerned with the economy, whether it’s in recession or heading into a depression, and the federal government trying to respond and react to those needs, financially, I think it’s absolutely ridiculous to continue on with the ballot measure at this point,” Hutchings said. “And, from my perspective, for the foreseeable future.”

Commissioner Tye Menser predicted ongoing debate around the ballot proposition, which is a frequent point of contention among the commissioners, will continue in the future.

“I think my point of view differs, in some respects, from my colleagues,” Menser said. “But, on the court issue, I think there are safety concerns that are serious. I’ve just spoken with the auditor as well. This is a non-essential election, and I’m not going to put people’s safety at risk over the advice of our auditor, so I’m fully supportive of removing it from the April election. What we do from there, I think, is going to be a healthy debate.”

Menser also made clear this action was unrelated to a recently filed petition to appeal the proposition’s ballot title. Jon Pettit, a vocal opponent of the measure, filed that appeal in Thurston County Superior Court March 12.

County Manager Chavez said he would plan to bring the matter back to the board when concerns have subsided.

Centralia School District’s Board of Directors earlier approved a resolution to put a second levy attempt on the April 28 ballots as well. However, there are so few voters in that district who live in Thurston County that Auditor Hall said her office could conduct the election with social distancing intact.

Plus, Hall said Secretary of State Kim Wyman plans to send a letter to Gov. Jay Inslee signed by each auditor across the state, requesting he cancel the April election statewide.

“There’s been a lot of discussion amongst the auditors across the state, because the only thing you can’t do remotely in elections is conduct an election,” Hall said. “Social distancing is nearly impossible.”

The Board of County Commissioners canceled its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday and will discuss future meetings this week, according to a county press release. It’s also suspending advisory boards, commissions, committees, and councils overseen by the board for at least four weeks, and asking elected officials and department directors to submit plans for how they’d continue essential work if there’s a partial government shutdown.

The board’s work sessions will now be streamed live online, in addition to the agenda-setting and afternoon board meetings, which are always live-streamed.

This story was originally published March 17, 2020 at 1:44 PM.