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The city of Olympia’s “preferred candidate” to be its next police chief dropped out of the running Thursday, dealing another blow to its two-plus year search for a permanent chief. The move came the day before Kenton Buckner resigned as chief of the Syracuse, N.Y., Police Department, where he had served for just over three years. Buckner's resignation was not mentioned in a late-morning news release from the city on Friday announcing it was again pausing its police chief search.  The release contained this statement from Buckner: "Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the search for a Chief of Police…

More than four months after it took effect, the Olympia City Council will officially approve an  $8,050 yearly salary increase for City Manager Jay Burney. The council had failed to vote to approve the raise after discussing his performance evaluation on January 11. State law requires that approval of such increases take place in an open public meeting, which in this case will be Tuesday night’s council meeting. Burney’s salary is now $205,000. The amendment to his employment contract for approval makes the pay raise retroactive to January 1, 2022, when he began receiving it. Until the council agenda was published…

Eight months after he got a pay increase, City Manager Jay Burney got another one. The Olympia City Council gave Burney an $8,050 yearly salary increase starting January 1, bringing his annual salary to $205,000. His last pay increase, of $1,950 per year, was in mid-May of 2021, which brought his salary to $196,950. The council appointed him as city manager in May 2020 at a salary of $195,000. He’d spent the previous ten years as assistant city manager. Information on Burney’s salary history was available only through a public record request from The Olympia Tribune the city required before…

The city of Olympia’s Salary Commission quietly voted last year to increase the pay of the city’s mayor, mayor, mayor pro-tem, and councilmembers by more than 3 percent and to hike their benefits package. The new salaries are: Mayor: $27,114.92, with $5,546,78 in benefits. Previous pay was $26,301.78 and $3,807.84 in benefits.Mayor pro-tem (performs the duties as needed): $24,855.17, with $5,546,78 in benefits. Previous pay was $24,109.81 and $3,807.84 in benefits.Councilmembers: $22,595.42, with $5,546,78 in benefits. Previous pay was $21,918.17 and $3,807.84 in benefits. The benefits portion includes increasing the city-paid amount of medical insurance premiums and 100 percent for…

Two of the city of Olympia’s three finalists for chief of its Police Department have been named in legal actions referencing hostile workplace issues, and one has been sued over allegations of racism and discrimination.  Kenton Buckner Finalist Kenton Buckner, police chief in Syracuse New York, has been named in several legal actions in his 28 years in law enforcement. He had previously had worked in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Louisville. He was sued last year by a Syracuse police officer for racism and discrimination. Buckner has denied the claims. When he was in Little Rock, he was among those…

It started Wednesday, and when all is said and done, more than 100 people will be living in new places by the end of the day, December 16. Where those places might be is both a short-term and a long-term question. Before daylight on Wednesday morning, the first of over 30 dumpsters began to arrive. They would be filled with thousands of pounds of tents, tarps, and other belongings during the city's sweep. The camp had been nestled along a half-mile-long strip of Deschutes Parkway, along Capitol Lake, for over two years. As the sun rose over the capital dome…