CONTACT: Susan Melnyk, Chief Communications Manager, (360) 867-2097 or susan.melnyk@co.thurston.wa.us 

Regional Housing Partnership Passes Real-World Stress Test to Approve $15 Million in Funding After Open Debate
Thurston County Commissioners cite the value of collaboration and transparency after 6-day pause to satisfy a partner request.

OLYMPIA – Following a week of intense public debate and rapid administrative coordination, the Thurston County Board of County Commissioners today officially approved a $15.3 million Regional Housing Council (RHC) funding package for 49 housing and other community services.

A short-lived delay began last Wednesday, June 17 when Tumwater Mayor Leatta Dahlhoff asked the Thurston County Board to pause the vote until clarifying questions about local funding benefits were addressed. While the RHC operates as an independent multi-jurisdictional partnership rather than a department within Thurston County government, the County’s Board is legally tasked with granting final contract approvals. 

The RHC mobilized quickly, convening a special in-person session on Monday, June 22. In that meeting, administrative teams and leaders from Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater, Yelm, and Thurston County mapped out detailed summaries which satisfied Tumwater’s request for information and cleared the path for today’s unanimous vote of funding approval from Thurston’s Board.

The timing from the initial procedural pause to final vote approval took less than seven days. “People aren’t used to seeing their government representatives speak openly, disagree publicly, and come right back to the table to keep pushing for solutions,” said Chair of Thurston County’s Board of Commissioners Tye Menser. “It’s far too common these days for a policy disagreement to hold up vital funding decisions and community solutions. We didn’t do that here. This is democracy in action – it’s vocal, it’s transparent, and it works.”

The Thurston Regional Housing Council is a five-jurisdiction alliance between the cities of Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater, Yelm and Thurston County governments. Formalized by interlocal agreement in January of 2021, the council was established to pool regional funding and coordinate on solutions to housing insecurity and homelessness – challenges that inherently cross municipal boundaries and respond poorly to siloed responses. 

Rather than sweeping the request to pause for clarity under the rug, partners are using the stress-test opportunity to build a more resilient system. Moving forward, the group plans to continue to review its internal processes and identify areas for improvement. The RHC will now mandate detailed contract portfolios, fiscal allocation breakdowns and explicit performance metrics for each jurisdiction well ahead of any vote requests so that partner councils have ample time to review the details and ask for additional information if needed ahead of any scheduled vote. 

With the final vote secured, the funding will be distributed as planned on July 1 to July 17. This swift resolution minimized disruption to local non-profits providing critical frontline services including basic needs, food programs, rental assistance, hazardous weather shelter operations across Thurston County.

To learn more about the Regional Housing Council partnership, please visit https://www.thurstoncountywa.gov/departments/public-health-and-social-services/social-services/office-housing-and-homeless/regional-housing-council 

To watch the RCH special in-person session from Monday, June 22, visit https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaJjwEHKVN-TneJeEp8Uf9qePH67WKmiU