It was taxes, new taxes, new local taxes, that occupied the time of the Lacey City Council Thursday during its first work session under the new rules.

Councilmembers heard from Thera Black, head planner for Thurston Regional Planning Council on the creation of a Public Transportation Benefit District  (TBD) and from their Intercity Transit representative Mary Dean on a sales tax increase for the local transit agency.

Black told the council, absent Jason Hearn who was mourning the death of his mother-in-law, that Thurston County is looking at creating a TBD and wants to have the local jurisdictions as part of the new taxing agency.

Under the terms of a TBD, a fee of $20 can be added to all new car tab renewal fees without a vote of the people and can be used for transportation projects.  

The council decided to explore the issue further and determine if it is in the city’s best interests to do a regional body with the county or to go it alone and use the $20 fee for city transportation needs.

From the tone of the discussion, it seemed as if the council would approve a $20 car tab fee without a vote of the people, but not whether it would be a go it a lone effort or as part of a regional approach.

But the issue of a sales tax increase to fund Intercity Transit was more diffused.  Dean wanted to know if the council wanted a .2 or a .3 percent increase in the sales tax to fund the transit system.   The issue would go to the voters this year.   But two members of the council , Mayor Tom Nelson and Councilmember Ron Lawson, didn’t want any tax increase.

“Right now, with the economic conditions, I can’t support any tax increase,” Nelson told Dean.   “I feel the same way,” said Lawson.

Deputy Mayor Virgil Clarkson gave an impassioned and long defense of transit while Councilmember Cynthia Pratt said she was also a firm supporter of transit. 

Councilmember Andy Ryder was reluctant to make a decision and said it should be left up to the public to make that determination.

Dean was left with no firm decision.

But it was obvious that Intercity Transit will have a difficult time passing any tax increase this year.

I received a mailing the other day, one that I wished I hadn’t received.  It was from the Lacey Police Department informing me that a sex offender had moved into our neighborhood.  Actually, he moved onto my block.

What am I to do with the information?

I guess I’d always been aware that sex offenders lived among us, but until I received the police notice, I was blissful in my ignorance.

Lacey police said they were sending the notice  pursuant to a state supreme court decision which authorized  law enforcement agencies to inform the public of the release of a sex offender.

What am I going to do with the information?

Particularly after the notice informed me that the offender was not wanted by the police and that the notification was intended to inform and not increase fear.

And, the notice went on to inform me that citizen abuse of this information to threaten, intimidate or harass registered sex offenders will not be tolerated.

Why did the notification contain the sex offenders picture, address and a description of his offenses if I wasn’t suppose to do anything?

I’m not really happy about this notification.  I know it was to inform and educate so I could be better prepared, but still, I was happy in my ignorance.  Now, I’m not so happy.

The Lacey City Council holds its regular meetings the Second and Fourth Thursdays of each month except in November and December when the meetings are on the First and Third Thursdays.  

These meeting dates are set in the Lacey Municipal Code.   That means that the State Open Meetings Act applies.   Residents can come and address the council on any matter and all activities at the meetings are open for public review.

But, the council also schedules “work sessions” on the alternate Thursdays.   At these work sessions the council can only take action on items on the schedule and cannot take action on anything outside of the agreed upon agenda.

Thursday evening, the Lacey City Council approved placing “work sessions” in the city’s municipal code.   That means that the council can take action on any item and not just those on the agenda.   It also means that residents can come and have their input into city business.

Lacey City Attorney Ken Ahlf said that the work sessions would still be work sessions but will be considered regular meetings for the purpose of the Open Public Meetings Act.

“You’ve always been able to take action at the work session on any item on the agenda,” Ahlf told the council.  He went on to say that he didn’t feel the council would abuse the new action and that critical items would not be addressed at work sessions.

The City of Lacey and Fire District 3 have begun the educational campaign they hope will give voters enough information to vote for annexation on April 27.

According to chair of  Lacey District 3 Fire Commission Skip Houser, both the city’s website and the district’s website have information regarding the annexation.  

 In addition, Lacey Mayor Tom Nelson and Houser will be meeting with the editorial board of The Olympian on March 31.

Houser also said that a bill to exclude city residents from double taxation is making its way through the legislature.  It has passed the Senate and was sent to the House where is passed out of committee.

A citizens group in support of annexation has created a website - - yesbettertogether.org  where those still on the fence can get more information.

I had a traumatic experience today.  I closed out my account at Venture Bank.   OK - First Citizens Bank.

I’d been with the bank from the very beginning.  I was an original stockholder.  I was excited when the bank opened, a local bank, with local people in charge. I stayed with the bank through its many name changes - - Lacey Bank, First Community Bank, Venture Bank.

Because of personal reasons, I had to sell my stock, but I kept my relationship with Venture Bank.   Whenever I went into the bank, it felt like home.  People knew me and addressed me by name.   And, the bank provided good service.

Venture Bank employees were active and involved in community affairs and the bank contributed large sums of money to local charities, some years as much as $250,000.   I liked the local bank.

I was as disappointed as anyone when the bank went under.    But, I stayed with the new owners, out of a sense of loyalty to the bank employees.

But my relationship began to sour.  I was notified that new fees would be assessed to my account.  Then I was notified that my account number would be changed and I would have to get new checks.

The final straw came last week, when I had difficulty cashing a check at the bank.

I decided it was time to leave.   There are 26 financial institutions in Lacey and I had my choice of any one of those.  I picked a local bank, with local owners and one that was active and involved in the community.

But like any divorce there’s a sense of sadness.  When I drive by my old bank, I ask the question - - why?

I don’t know Joe Hyer.  I’ve seen pictures of him in our local newspaper, but if he walked in the door, I probably wouldn’t know who he was.

I know that he’s a downtown Olympia business owner.  I know that he’s a member of the Olympia City Council and I know that he’s been selected to serve as county treasurer when Robin Hunt steps down on March 1.

I also know that he’s been charged with selling marijuana.  I know that because I read it in The Olympian.  That’s all I know about Joe Hyer.

But I think there’s something fishy going on with the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office and the Thurston County Drug Task Force.

From what I’ve read in the paper, Hyer was picked up for selling marijuana to an under cover informant - - more than once.  That’s all I know.

The use of marijuana is in limbo in this state right now.  Some members of the state legislature introduced a bill making the use of marijuana by adults legal.   An initiative petition is expected to be filed soon to make the use and cultivation of marijuana legal for adults.

We’ve had in this state for a number of years now, Medical Marijuana.  A member of the Lacey City Council currently uses marijuana for medical relief of pain.

So, with all this ambiguity around marijuana, I have to ask myself, why the Thurston County Drug Task Force and the Thurston County Sheriff felt it important enough to go after Joe Hyer for marijuana sales. 

They obviously know something that I don’t know. They have a report that provides more information on this case.

But they haven’t released any of the details that I want to know like - -How many times did Hyer sell marijuana?  Did he sell it to a friend or a former friend?  Did he sell large batches of it or was it just a few grams?

And, more importantly, why did the drug task force spend time, money and effort going after a marijuana bust?  Was it because the person was an elected official and would make big headlines in The Olympian?

Marijuana possession and even the sale are misdemeanors which carry very little punishment.   So, to bulk up the bust and make it seem more important, they got him for selling marijuana within 1000 feet of a school, day care center or school bus stop.

That’s a made up charge.  Every place in the urban area of Thurston County is within 1000 feet of a school, day care center or more particularly, a school bus stop.

As Ricky Ricardo would say, I think the sheriff and his task force have a lot of “splaning” to do.

If they have anything more damaging than what we know, release it or leave Joe Hyer alone.

When Weyerhaeuser announced it would build a logging storage facility at the Port of Olympia, it was estimated that 200 logging trucks a day would use city streets.

That seems like a fair estimate.  About every five minutes a logging truck makes its way down Plum street across Fourth, across State and makes a left turn into port property.

As someone who uses that route on a regular basis to get to the KGY studios at the north end of the port, I can attest that for the most part, the logging truck drivers are professional and courteous.

The trouble comes in when you also put the many trucks hauling gravel and dirt to the Port of Olympia construction site and the LOTT facility, together with the logging trucks.

One truck isn’t a problem.   Add another logging truck and two more trucks hauling gravel and dirt and you have a traffic problem.  There’s barely room for two trucks to sit between Fourth and State on Plum.  When another truck tries to make the light and gets caught on the red light you have back ups on all three streets.

I would suggest that the City of Olympia station an officer at those intersections to write tickets for any vehicle blocking an intersection.  That should help the situation.

Once the construction is over, the 200 logging trucks using the streets should not be a problem.

Our own state representative Sam Hunt was one of 14 legislators who introduced a bill to raise the state sales tax by one percent with the expectation of bringing in a billion dollars in new revenue.

Interestingly enough, they are getting support from some business lobbyists who favor a general sales tax increase as opposed to removing some of the tax breaks from the business interests they represent.

A general sales tax increase can be passed along to the consumer, but tax breaks often have an impact on the businesses bottom line.

If the 60 percent threshold had been in effect for the recent school levy, only one of six local school districts would have passed its levy.

Tumwater voters gave just a 60 percent Yes.  In North Thurston only 59 percent of the voters gave approval for the levy.  In Griffin, Rochester, Rainier and Tenino, the approval vote was even lower.

This is the second school election since the legislature lowered the threshold from 60 percent to 50 percent.  It certainly looks as if school district will have an easier time getting money from the taxpayers.

Sunday is Valentine’s Day - the most hated holiday on the calendar.  Some 49 percent of all Americans hate Valentine’s Day.  That’s all of the males in the country.

Valentine’s Day is the day when all men are expected to be attentive, tender loving lovers.  It’s the day when we are required by common law to be extra romantic and expressive.

It’s the day when women expect gifts.  It’s the day when men are required to give gifts such as candy, jewelry, flowers, even lingerie; gifts that express our love and faithfulness.

It’s the day every man hates.

You can forget her birthday, you can fail to buy her a gift on your anniversary, but woe be unto the man who forgets his sweetheart on Valentine’s Day.

Because, come Monday, all around the office, women will begin comparing their Valentine’s Day with the Valentine’s Day of other women.  Each will tout the gifts, the gestures, the love expressed by their man and any woman who doesn’t measure up with her man will be the wallflower of the office.

Valentine’s Day is the most hated holiday by men.

How did this little innocuous holiday come to be so important in the lives of women?  How did this day set aside for lovers become a national embarasment for those women without thoughtful men?

It’s the media by god.  Let’s blame the media.  Without their constant harping about this day, without the commercialism of Valentine’s Day, without the red hearts hanging in every store, men wouldn’t have the pressure to perform.

Every man hates this day.

There are more flowers sent on Valentine’s Day than any other day except Mother’s Day; and 85 percent of all flowers delivered on Sunday will be roses.

Men will spend more than a billion dollars this week on candy, most of it in heart shaped boxes.  And Valentine’s Day cards are flying off the shelf.

What do men get?

Some women do send their men Valentine’s Day cards.  Some women do buy their men gifts on Valentine’s Day.  About 25 percent of all flowers purchased this week will be by women, who send them to their sweethearts.

But women aren’t required to do it.

No man really expects to get a gift from his woman.  Oh, they’ll appreciate it but women aren’t required to do it.  Men won’t be standing around the water cooler next Monday talking about the gift or card they got on Valentine’s Day.

But, every man is expected to buy a gift for his woman.  The pressure to do so is just overwhelming.  The expectation that they will express their love through a gift is a symbol to a woman that her man loves her.

So, woe be unto any man who forgets to express his love for woman this Sunday.  You many find solace from other men on Monday, but you won’t find any forgiveness on Sunday from your woman.

God, I hate this day.

(A similar commentary has run on Valentine’s Day for the past 11 years on KGY Radio)

In his annual state of the city address to the Lacey Chamber of Commerce, Lacey City Manager Greg Cuoio told some 175 members and guests that the city was committed to annexing to Lacey Fire District 3.

Cuoio said  the city has had a 62 year relationship with the fire district, long before there was a city and that annexation will be a good thing for city residents.

Cuoio said that once the annexation is completed, city residents will have a say on who represents them on the fire commission.  He also explained that the fire district is committed to putting a measure before the people, once the annexation is complete, to increase the number of fire commissioners to five.

The city manager also told the business group, that the city will reduce its collection of property tax to make up for the increase in property taxes residents will pay when they annex to the fire district.  City residents will pay $9.4 million to the city this year.   Next year that will drop to $4.7 million when the annexation is approved.

He estimates city residents will pay about $30 a year more once they annex to the fire district.  That election will be held in April.

Cuoio also said the city was on a continual search for water to serve its 65,000 customers.  The city currently pumps about 2.6 million gallons of water every year, from 18 wells,  enough to give 40,000 gallons to every man, woman and child in the area it serves.

The population served by Lacey water is expected to increase to 120,000 by 2030 and that means almost a doubling in the needed water.   Cuoio said the city is working to reduce its water consumption and has done so every month but one last year.  (June which was extra hot in 2009.)

The city will get 770 acre foot of water when it starts to receive the water from the Olympia Brewery.   That will take construction of new facilities and will take some time, Cuoio said.   The city has also gone after water right permits for additional drilling and hopes to have some of them approved this year by the Department of Ecology.

The Lacey city manager pointed to a number of accomplishments last year including the opening of the Regional Athletic Complex.  He also acknowledged that Cabellas has been in the top five stores, for sales, of the 30 stores chain, every since it opened.

If everything goes as planned, by May 1, KGY radio will go all High Definition (HD) with expanded power and a new FM format.

Under  the HD concept, each frequency, in this case 96.9 FM. can carry two additional channels called HD 2 and HD 3. 

The HD 1 or 96.9 FM will change from a real country format to a new format called The Sound, a mix of cool classics and hot hits.   According to Kevin Huffer, the station’s program director, the new format is just making its way to America’s shore from Europe and is currently only in two stations in the United States - - New York and Chicago.

The format will combine the best hits of the 80’s and 90’s with today’s contemporary stars such as Taylor Swift, Snow Patrol and Christina Aguilera.

Helping the new format is a new boost in power with a clear, strong signal reaching into the Seattle market.   A member of the Kerry family, Mike Kerry, which owns the station, said that  ”local to us is now an expanded area.”

The station will be programed locally and use local DJ’s, many of whom are familiar names in the community.

In addition, because the HD allows the use of two additional channels, the AM 1240 will also be broadcast on 96.9 HD2.   1240 AM will also be continued to be broadcast on its current dial station, but those with HD radios will be able to pick up the broadcast throughout the entire FM HD area.

Mike Kerry said that the AM will be helped when the new AM antenna comes on line, something he expects to happen shortly.

The final new element is on 96.9HD3 which will broadcast a real country format with more music and less talk.  It can only be picked up by those who have a HD radio.

Station manager Dick Pust admits that HD radio is not yet standard around the country but sees it as a wave of the future.  “More and more people are buying HD radios,” he said.  “Next year it will be a standard fixture on many makes of cars including those made by Ford.”

“This is going to be a brand new radio station for us,” Pust said. “96.9 The Sound.”

It’s election time in Thurston County.  As a full “Vote By Mail” county you should have already received your ballot.

You will find just one issue on the ballot, a request from your local school district for money.  In Lacey, Tumwater, Griffin and Rainer it’s a two-year maintenance and operation levy.  In Olympia it’s a levy to upgrade school buildings and improve the technology in the classrooms.

Every year it seems, we have school levies on the ballot.  It has become a rite of Spring - - voting on school levies and school issues.

Friends of mine who live in Canada and visit here often can’t believe that we have as many elections as we do. They say that no matter what time of year they come down we have an election of some sort.

I reply, “that’s what you do in a democracy.  You vote on isses and candidates.”  Apparently in Canada they let the elected officials make the decisions in regards to spending money.

But here in Thurston County we the taxpayers, are charged with making the spending decisions, particularly when it comes to our educational system.   While courts have ruled that it is the paramount duty of the state to fund basic education, the burden always falls on us - - the taxpayers.

What makes the burden even more difficult is that local school districts can always ask us, the taxpayers and voters, for more money than the state gives them.

There is currently a lawsuit pending that will determine, again, what constitutes basic education and require the state to fully fund that decision.

But, we’ve had such lawsuits in the past and each time the legislature, under great pressure from special interest groups (teacher’s unions) has always buckled under and allowed school districts to collect more.

Over the years basic education as defined by local school districts has always included local levy money.

In the North Thurston district local levy funds about 19 percent of the basic education budget.  In Tumwater it funds about 18 percent and I suspect its similar in all local school districts.

It’s unfortunate that local taxpayers have to make the decision every two or three years as to whether or not they’re going to tax their property more, in order to fund basic education.

But, as my friends from Canada also noted “It’s great that you have the opportunity to say how your money is spent.”

That’s the way I look at it.  And that’s the way you should look at it.

We’re lucky to live in America where we have a say in how our money is spent.

If you’ve ever cut down a tree in your back yard, you know what’s going to happen.  Come Spring, you’ll have dozens - maybe hundreds of new shoots popping up all over the yard.

That’s similar to what’s happened with the demise of our daily newspaper.

As the paper fell,  its place was taken by dozens of blogs, all hoping to fill the void left by the daily newspaper.

Some of them are written by former politicians or want-to-be politicians.   Others are written by individuals with a chip on their shoulder, while still others are written by people with a particular political agenda.

What all of them have in common is a lack of journalism experience and any desire to be unbiased.

That’s not so with Ken’s Corner & The Real News.   Ken’s Corner been around since 1971 and has appeared in four separate local newspapers.   Ken’s Corner & The Real News as a newsletter is now in its 23rd year of monthly publication.  The radio show Ken’s Corner has been on KGY Radio 1240 AM for 11 years.

While each publication often borrows from each other, there are some differences.

The newsletter tends to run towards opinion pieces and satire.  The radio show is more broad based and encompasses a variety of soft news stories.  This web page is more news oriented with less editorializing and more hard news.

As our society finally accepts the demise of the daily newspaper and orients its readership towards the internet, be aware of blogs which editorialize but don’t educate.

If you want to get local news and views, then you need to access this web page on a weekly basis, subscribe to the monthly newsletter and pay attention to what radio station you listen to.

As for those other shoots, cut them off.

At a work session Thursday night, members of the Lacey City Council wrestled with appointments to boards and commissions. 

A minor revolt errupted through the newbies - Ron Lawson, Cynthia Pratt and Andy Ryder - over land use issues and what the role of the city council should be in developing land use policies.

For three years, the city has had a Finance, Economic Development and Land Use Committee.  Issues from those areas come to that committee to be worked out or refered to the full council.

At its retreat two weeks ago and at the meeting Thursday evening, Pratt insisted that Land Use be separated from Finance and Economic Development and be made a separate council committee.

When she ran for office, Pratt made land use and development one of her priorities.  In running for the city council, Pratt said, “I’m, running for a number of reasons, but primarily because I have seen Lacey develop without keeping up with services and starting to sprawl without utilizing existing areas.”

Her push to get more control over land use decisions was supported by both Lawson and Ryder.  They said that a large number of land use plans were coming due this year and had to be revamped.  They wanted to create a separate land use committee to deal with these land use plans.

City staff pointed out that the Planning Commission dealt with land use issues and the planning commission members were appointed by the council to do that work.

“Planning commission members are not elected officials,” Pratt said.  “Now the planning commission does everything and the result don’t get the full scrutiny of us, the elected officials.”

In the end, the council agreed to create a separate Land Use Committee on a trial basis.  They will revisit the decision in one year.   Appointed to the Land Use Committee were Mayor Tom Nelson, Deputy Mayor Virgil Clarkson and Pratt.

While council committee appointments took up the bulk of the time, apointments to 18 regional boards and commissions were also made.

Jason Hearn will be Lacey’s representative on the EMS Board, Mary Dean will represent Lacey on Intercity Transit and Pratt will represent the city on the LOTT.   (Those are the big three of regional bodies since they all have taxing authority of some kind.)

The only conflict arose when business owners Ryder and Hearn both wanted to be appointed as the city’s representative to the Economic Development Council.   Ryder had the appointment by the mayor and Hearn wanted it, pointing out that he has served as alternate for two years.  When the dust settled, Ryder still had the appointment and Hearn was still the alternate.

If you think you had a tough year, try being in the media business.

According to Vocus Media Group, which keeps track of such things, 293 newspapers folded in 2009.   In addition eight magazines with circulation of more than one million also ceased publication during the year.   Additionally 1,126 magazines of all types, folded.

It wasn’t much better in the broadcast industry.  Across the country last year radio stations laid off more than 10,000 employees.  As many as 100 television stations were impacted when their parent companies declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

If you want a full account of the catastrophe that befell media in 2009  go to Vocus Media Group’s web page.

And, don’t forget, you can always get local news and opinion right here or you can subscribe to Ken’s Corner & The Real News, now in its 23rd year of publication.   You can also hear Ken’s Corner on KGY radio AM 1240.

The election of Republican Scott Brown to the Massachusetts senate seat previously held by Democrat Ted Kennedy, should send shivers up and down the spine of all incumbents up for election this year.

In 2008,  after the excesses of the Republican administration, voters voted for change by electing  Barrack Obama to the presidency and giving the Democrats a super majority in congress.

But the change they asked for wasn’t to turn the country into European socialism but to work on issues in a bi-partisan way.   Obama promised that it wouldn’t be “business as usual” and that a new element of bi-partisanship would prevail.

But that promise wasn’t kept.  It was business as usual.  Only this time it was the Democrats running things instead of the Republicans.

Compromise and bi-partisanship has always been the hallmark of American democracy.  It’s been the only way major changes have occurred.   It was cooperation and bi-partisanship which approved the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act.   Going back even further it was compromise and bi-partisanship which created Social Security and Medicare.

If  incumbents in congress can’t find a way to work cooperatively to assure that all sides of an issue are represented, then the people will send them packing and find candidates that can.

Voters are surly and angry and they’ll take it out on the incumbents this year just like they did in 2009.

The City of Lacey has been planning improvements and changes to College Street, to carry the increased traffic.

Plans call for widening College Street to five lanes to encompass a center turn lane, and the construction of two additional roundabouts.  All left turns on College Street will be eliminated except at designated locations.

The city has already started the project by creating a concrete barrier to stop people from turning onto or off of 14th Avenue.   This action has caused several residents living on 14th to complain.

Newly elected councilmember Ron Lawson has taken the issue before the city.   Although the city held several public meetings about College Street before embarking on the plan, it has agreed to hold another hearing to address the concerns of 14th Avenue residents.

That meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 20 beginning at 6 p.m. at the Lacey City Hall Council Chambers.

As a revolt it wasn’t much, but the new members of the Lacey City Council put the council on notice that they weren’t going to go along with the status quo.

The first order of business at the Lacey City Council meeting on Thursday was the selection of a new mayor.  Newcomers Cynthia Pratt, Andy Ryder and Ron Lawson joined with old-timers Virgil Clarkson, Mary Dean and Jason Hearn in selecting Tom Nelson to represent the council as mayor.

The  mini-revolt started in the selection for deputy mayor, when Dean nominated Clarkson for deputy mayor and Pratt nominated Ryder for the same position.

Mayor Nelson called for a vote on Clarkson and all the old-timers cast their vote for Clarkson giving him four votes and the deputy mayor’s job.   In his exuberance at Clarkson’s four votes, Nelson never called for a vote on Ryder’s nomination and the newbies didn’t get a chance to cast their votes for anyone.

It was obvious that serving on the Lacey City Council was going to be a long learning curve for the newbies, who peppered staff with questions on two planning issues, both of which has already had a public hearing and been approved by the planning commisson.

And, the task of integrating the newbies doesn’t get any easier.  Next week the council will have a work session on appointments to the city committees as well as to the various  regional boards and commissions.

From Republican House Minority Leader Richard DeBolt, when he found out that we lost 170,000 private sector jobs since February 08 but gained 8,200 government jobs.  “The state can’t tax its way out of this nor can it recover by creating government jobs.  Otherwise we’ll be like France.”

We are run by interlocal governmental boards and commissions.  We, the residents of Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater and Thurston County, and occasionally Yelm, are indebted to some two dozen regional bodies, that provide us with services.

Regional bodies like Intercity Transit, LOTT, Olympic Region Clean Air Agency, Solid Waste Advisory Commission, Thurston County Law & Justice Council, Water Resource Inventory Area, Emergency Medical Services, Joint Animal Services Commission, and several others.

In most cases, oversight of these agencies rests in the hands of an appointed committee of elected officials, who hire an administrator, approve the operating budgets, and provide guidance and feed back from their respective cities.

Over the years, over the decades, these regional bodies and the administration of these bodies, has worked.   I’ve often been critical of some decisions, I’ve often complained about the lack of accountability to the voters, I’ve often railed against some action or another.

But, for the most part, these interlocal agreements have worked; primarily because the elected officials from the different cities, have taken an interest in their assignment and developed expertise in the field.

But, now we have a problem.

This last election turned out several incumbent elected officials.  We now have in place three new councilmembers in Lacey, three new councilmembers in Olympia, three new councilmembers in Tumwater and one new county commissioner.

Together, that’s ten elected officials who will soon be taking their seats, representing their constituents on these regional boards.  

Many of  them have never held elective office before and they will have a quick learning curve.   If we expect them to provide oversight to the various agency heads, we are probably in for disappointment.

It takes a great deal of work and often a great deal of time, before a board or commission member can understand and appreciate the agency over which they supervise.

In the meantime, those few elected officials with any time in office, will have to provide the leadership.  

It is incumbent upon the three cities and the county to work together to make certain the best and most experienced council member or county commissioner is appointed to the most important of these regional bodies.

To me, that is those agencies which have taxing authority such as Intercity Transit and Medic One.

The ten newly elected officials can serve on the those interlocal agencies with lesser authority.

Thurston County taxpayers will be ill served if novice board members try to supervise taxing agencies.