Contributors

The next Olympia Police Chief will earn nearly $183,000 a year to be “community-focused, compassionate, accountable, and inspiring,” says a recruiting announcement for the position posted on the city’s website. The announcement contains only a vague reference to the challenges the new chief will face. Regarding the past year’s protests, counter-protests, shootings of at least two people by people participating in pro-Trump rallies and widespread criticism of police actions/inactions, including the use of flash-bangs and tear gas, it says only this: “Like most cities, Olympia experienced the passions and turbulence rising from the racial justice demonstrations that swept the nation…

Although the Aug. 3 primary election is nearly six months away, the race is on for endorsements and cash by Olympia City Council candidates seeking to move on to the November general election. Five seats are open this year, rather than the usual four because recently-appointed Councilmember Yen Huynh will have to run for election if she wishes to retain the seat. She has filed paperwork with the state Public Disclosure Commission indicating her plans to run. Incumbents Lisa Parshley and Jim Cooper also have filed, and Clark Gilman is expected to do so as well. One-term council member Renata…

With a social media post that began a bit cryptically and continued in a way that nearly obscured its intent, Port of Olympia Commissioner E.J. Zita announced she’s not running for re-election. It said: “1. Presidential coup and 2. silencing of public voices “An incumbent president executed a coup and secured a second term, abetted by a loyal second.  “Joe Downing nominated himself for an unprecedented second term as president of the Port of Olympia Commission, despite the longstanding practice of annual officer rotations. (Port Commissioner Bill) McGregor voted with Downing to pass the motion. Vice President Zita was scheduled…

The City of Olympia and Thurston County have put the brakes on a plan to create a single safe-parking site for people who live in their vehicles. Directed at finding a place to move people whose households are vehicles along Ensign Road, the plan was set in motion when the city held off on forcing them to move after the State Attorney General’s Office raised concerns about the sweep’s potential non-compliance with the state’s eviction moratorium and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Keith Stahley, an Assistant City Manager, said today, “we realized that the site (the city’s firing range at…