Mindy Chambers

87 Posts
Port of Olympia District 3

Port of Olympia District 3

League of Women Voters candidate forum. Amy Evans Amy Evans Raised: $47,764 Spent: $23,604 Campaign information: Website, Facebook  Full list of contributions and expenditures. What does the Port of Olympia do that directly benefits Thurston County residents who pay more than $6 million annually for its operations? What should it be doing that it is not doing already, or not doing in order to save money? The Port’s mission is economic development. The Port’s marine terminal connects Thurston County via sea providing commerce opportunities and creates solid, family wage jobs for Longshoreman.  The Port brings tourism to the area with Swantown marina and fuel dock, supporting restaurants,…
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Olympia City Council Position 6

Olympia City Council Position 6

Position 6 WATCH: League of Women Voters candidate forum Corey Gauny Corey Gauny Raised: $36,216  Spent: $23,032 Full list of contributors. Campaign information: Website, Facebook The candidate did not provide an explanation about why he did not respond to The Tribune’s questionnaire. Dontae Payne Raised: $29,146 Spent: $19,475 Full list of contributors. Campaign information: Website, Facebook In your last conversation with a homeless person, what did you talk about? What did you learn? How will that influence your actions on issues that come before the City Council? During my last conversation with a homeless person, we discussed the need for affordable housing and their emphasis on…
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Olympia City Council Position 5

Olympia City Council Position 5

Position 5 WATCH: League of Women Voters candidate forum. Lisa Parshley Lisa Parshley Raised: $39,307 Spent: $28,864 Campaign information: Website, Facebook Full list of contributions and expenditures. In your last conversation with a homeless person, what did you talk about? What did you learn? How will that influence your actions on issues that come before the City Council? We discussed the care of his cat who had been hit by a car. He has been living in his car and couch surfing at his brother’s house when possible. His cat was severely injured and required a hind limb amputation and he had no…
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Olympia City Council Position 7

Olympia City Council Position 7

Position 7 WATCH: League of Women Voters candidate forum  Jim Cooper Jim Cooper Raised: $36,159.  Spent: $23,621 Full list of contributions and expenditures. Campaign information: Website, Facebook The candidate did not respond to our questionnaire and gave no explanation. Spence Weigand Spence Weigand Raised: $82,770  Full list of contributions and expenditures: Spent: $58,033 Full list of contributions and expenditures: Campaign information: Website, Facebook The candidate provided this explanation about why he did not respond to The Tribune’s questionnaire: "Given the hectic nature of my business, combined with the host of public forums, Zoom meetings, and organizational questionnaires that I have and have had on my plate, I am…
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Olympia City Council Position 2

Olympia City Council Position 2

Postion 2 WATCH: League of Women Voters candidate forum Yến Huỳnh Raised: $34,113 Spent: $17,215 Full list of contributions and expenditures. Campaign information: Website, Facebook In your last conversation with a homeless person, what did you talk about? What did you learn? How will that influence your actions on issues that come before the City Council? In my last conversation with a homeless person, they shared with me how frustrated they were that they had a successful career and wonderful life before unfortunate circumstances suddenly meant that they were unable to afford housing. Every experience I have heard is different and these collective…
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Olympia Shatters Campaign Cash Record; $370k and Counting

Olympia Shatters Campaign Cash Record; $370k and Counting

The 10 candidates vying for five Olympia City Council seats in this November’s general election have raised an eye-popping total of $329,670 they hope will carry them into office. Add in the bucks raised by the four who lost primary elections, and the grand total is just a bit more than $370,973 so far. The previous record was $176,659 in 2009 when four seats were up. The most expensive race to date and likely the most closely watched is between incumbent Jim Cooper and political newcomer Spence Weigand. Between the two of them, they’ve raised $117,819 and spent $81,652. Weigand…
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Snaza Seeks Re-Election Despite Troubles

Snaza Seeks Re-Election Despite Troubles

Sheriff John Snaza In the past year, he’s faced an unsuccessful recall effort for declining to make his employees wear masks and subsequently presided over four COVID-19 outbreaks at the Thurston County Jail (testing positive himself in January), and questioned law enforcement reforms enacted by the Legislature. He allows department patrol vehicles to sport thin blue line stickers in their rear windshields, a practice that has been banned by some law enforcement agencies. The office he leads is part of a law enforcement region that refused to respond to a state Attorney General’s request for information on how, in three…
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“It’s unbelievable”

“It’s unbelievable”

In late October seven years ago, a knot of very nervous people huddled in the basement of a downtown Olympia church, literally watching the paint dry on a new kind of overnight shelter for the community’s most vulnerable people.  Rooted in empowering the people it would support and committed to respecting their dignity and educating the community regarding its most vulnerable and marginalized folks, The People’s House, now with a new name – the Interfaith Works Downtown Emergency Shelter – was ready for its first guests after months of often contentious community discourse regarding not only the shelter, but the…
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Olympia Interim Police Chief Retires

Olympia Interim Police Chief Retires

Less than 24 hours after he updated the community on another open, armed conflict that raged through downtown Olympia and ended in a shooting before police took any action to de-escalate it, the city of Olympia announced interim Police Chief Aaron Jelcick is retiring effective September 30.  And apparently as reassurance to a community rattled by more than a year of sporadic, largely unchecked violence near the state Capitol Campus and downtown, Jelcick said police are engaged in planning for another possible confrontation on September 18, when members of a group involved in Saturday’s rampage – the Portland-based Proud Boys…
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2021 Olympia City Council Position 7 Candidates

2021 Olympia City Council Position 7 Candidates

Heard around Olympia: “I don’t know anything about these people.” What people? These people: The 14 who are running for five seats on the Olympia City Council. Of the five races, four have primary races involving three candidates. In each of the four, two will advance based on the August 3 primary election results. That’s a lot of candidates, and it is unusual for five seats to be up for grabs in a single year. The races are non-partisan and despite the fact that council candidates run for a position, all are elected “at-large,” meaning city residents may vote in…
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