The Olympian’s endorsements for Thurston County Commissioner

We have two races for County Commissioner this year, and in a three-member commission, that’s a majority. In the primary, John Hutchings, a current commissioner, was outvoted and did not advance to the general election.

There are three county commission districts, and only voters in a specific district vote for candidates in that district in the primary election. In the general election, however, all votes are county-wide.

District 1

Carolina Mejia and C Davis are running to replace Hutchings in District 1.

C Davis’s candidacy has been fraught. It was revealed that he’d been asked to leave two church congregations after showering unwanted attention on young women. He was found to be registered to vote at an address where he did not live. The Republican party has withdrawn its endorsement of him.

His positions on issues also will give many voters pause. He believes the greatest environmental threat the county faces is not climate change or suburban sprawl, but tent camps of people who are homeless. He believes homelessness is caused by addiction, and that people should be locked up in treatment programs, then in labor camps “to teach them structure through work.”

His Facebook page indicates that he opposes wearing face masks, and in an online candidate interview he said he sees no evidence of racial injustice in Thurston County. He declined an invitation for a candidate interview with The Olympian.

Fortunately, Carolina Mejia offers a much better option. She is young, a relative newcomer who has lived here for about five years. She has not held any elective office, but what she lacks in experience she makes up for in dedication to learning and bridge-building.

She wants to bring greater transparency and accountability to commission decision-making, especially regarding the budget. She believes county commission meetings should be in the evening so that more people can attend and make public comments.

In her work as a judicial assistant to two Superior Court judges, she has become knowledgeable about the criminal justice system. She advocates expansion of alternatives to incarceration, which she believes were given short shrift in the current budget, and child care for parents who must appear in court or face penalties.

She wants to build bridges to police reform, and coordinate services across jurisdictions and nonprofits to address homelessness. During the course of her campaign, she has spent time with local farmers and heard their concerns about saving farmland and creating local capacity for food processing.

Most of all, she wants to create an inclusive civic culture that gets more people involved in local government.

We endorse Carolina Mejia.

District 2

Incumbent and former 20-year county sheriff Gary Edwards faces Lacey City Council member Michael Steadman.

Edwards says that, following his retirement as sheriff, he ran for the Commission because he was frustrated that a newly built jail sat empty. That situation has been remedied, but now he wants to stay on. He intends to promote “lightening up” regulations to encourage more home construction and create more jobs. He adamantly opposes building a new courthouse near downtown Olympia; he favors a remodel of the current courthouse plus new construction on adjacent land.

During the pandemic, he supported hazard pay for sheriff’s deputies and corrections staff but not for any other county staff. He also voted to exempt the sheriff’s and corrections departments from 2 percent budget reductions that all other county departments took.

Steadman is the owner of a property management company, a former Lacey Planning Commission member, and is currently in his second term on the city council. He says “We get things done in Lacey,” and offers as evidence the city’s fast action in getting grants out to local small business owners and residents when the pandemic first hit.

He also points to Lacey’s focus on taking care of city infrastructure, and its first-in-the-county action to make it easier for homeowners to build accessory dwelling units on their property. He is proud of Lacey’s Veterans Services Hub, which brings together scores of services for veterans – both homeless and housed – under one roof.

He supports putting a new courthouse proposal on the ballot to complete the process the county started. Although a location is not specified in the proposed ballot measure, he supports the Plum Street location, which he thinks makes sense because it’s closest to transportation infrastructure, including both transit and freeway exits.

We endorse Steadman, whose resume is broader, and who is a more flexible thinker. Edwards’ loyalty to the law enforcement profession was appropriate for a sheriff, but much less so as a County Commissioner. We also appreciate Steadman’s pragmatism, his pledge to get things done, and his openness to the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Olympian’s editorial board of two — editor Dusti Demarest and editorial writer Jill Severn — expanded to include Lacey City Council member Malcolm Miller for the 2020 election endorsement process.

This story was originally published October 25, 2020 at 5:45 AM.