Quickies

The recent rally this past weekend in downtown Olympia for and against Donald Trump is a perfect example of Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Assembly.  It just seems odd however, that you would go to a peaceful rally wearing a mask and carrying a baseball bat.

Downtown Olympia is in a growth spurt. In the last three years nearly 300 units of housing have been built in the downtown core and 400 are in varying stages of permitting or construction this year.  Many of those are market rate units.   About 2500 people will be living in downtown Olympia at the end of this year.  At the current rate that’s expected to double to 5000 by 2035.

Talk of constructing a new Thurston County Courthouse in the downtown area continues, although no plan has been advanced to make it so.   Estimated cost is $150 million.   Justification for a new county courthouse has been spotty at best.  The building was built on Mottman Hill in the 1980’s and has served the county well.  It was a catalyst for Westside growth.  Supporters of moving a new courthouse to downtown Olympia have the same hopes – – that it will continue the revitalization of downtown Olympia.   It’s going to take a lot of facts, figures and detailed information to get me to support that amount of taxpayer money, and I suspect the current county commissioners feel the same way.