On December 7, 2020 the Thurston County Commissioners chose to violate the Open Public Meetings Act – Commissioner Gary Edwards left the meeting and refused to be part of an illegal meeting.
Thurston County, WA violates the Open Public Meetings Act
By Glen Morgan
This is a good example of several problems with this type of action in Thurston County as an example, but this type of behavior is likely happening throughout the state right now during the current lockdown era. Local government is moving forward making significant decisions and the transparency and communication to the public of what is happening is very limited. Most people will be surprised by the results when these decisions start to impact their lives (and their pocketbooks).
I’ve been critical of Thurston County’s assigned counsel – Elizabeth Petrich – for years now. Mainly, this is because her “legal advice” is suspect and problematic. You can read some of the articles linked below for more details. However, rarely do we get to see the low quality of this “legal advice” on video, which made this more worthwhile to share with the public. The staff in Thurston County are generally running the show – and the elected officials are expected to be their puppets, which is part of the problem in many local governments. The elected officials in theory pretend to represent the people who elect them, but in fact they simply do whatever staff tells them to do...
The point of this video, in addition to exposing this specific example of a problem in Thurston County, is to inspire others to start watching their local government officials. Pay attention to what they are doing. Follow the videos (when they don’t have convenient “technical glitches”) and perhaps others can provide their own commentary on what is happening in local government. The future does belong to those who show up.
OUR CONSTITUTION BEGINS WITH THE PHRASE “WE THE PEOPLE.” IT WAS THE FOUNDERS’ INTENT THAT GOVERNMENT BE CREATED BY THE PEOPLE, TO SERVE THE PEOPLE. IT WASN’T THEIR INTENTION FOR THE PEOPLE TO SERVE THE GOVERNMENT. IT WAS ALWAYS INTENDED THAT GOVERNMENT WHICH FAILED TO SERVE THE PEOPLE SHOULD BE “ALTERED OR ABOLISHED.” UNTIL WE RETURN TO THE FOUNDER’S INTENT, WE REMAIN WE THE GOVERNED…
Background articles and documents:
Former Olympia City Manager Steve Hall fined $10k for illegal mailer
Queen or King of the Ashes in Olympia?
The Cult, the Witch, and the Disbarred Attorney – Olympian chronicles and the Democrat Dream Team
Democrat Trans Radical Witch becomes Democratic Party’s great hope for Olympia City Council
of Olympian proudly showcases beautiful addict/homeless camps – now this is real progress!
Dumpster values in Olympia produce dumpster results
New, improved logo proposed for Evergreen State College
Let’s turn Evergreen College into a Homeless/Addict Camp – A real solution to homelessness
Silence of the Enviros – ignoring real pollution in Olympia’s greenspaces
Olympia City Council home page
The Olympian (video): Chair of Thurston County Democrats threatens to withdraw support
The Olympian – June 1 – Thurston County Democratic Chairwoman Resigns
Thurston County Democratic Party sued by AG for campaign finance violations
How Democrats ripped off “Ramtha” and wasted donor money
Thurston Democrats plateau at peak paranoia
Thurston County Commission Agenda – April 30, 2019 – see Item 6a for new tax proposal
SouthSoundBiz – “Thurston County to Place New Courthouse Request on April 2020 Ballot”
The Olympian – ” Vote to pay for Thurston County’s new courthouse not coming until April 2020″
The Olympian – “County commissioners vote 2-1 to move courthouse to downtown Olympia”
Thurston County demonstrates how NOT to build a jail
Thurston County spends $8 million and 18 years to make a $4 million empty building worth $2 million
Childish political leadership in Thurston County is costing taxpayers millions
Thurston County staff create fraudulent data to justify tax increase
Jon Pettit – Plan A – proposed in July 2019 as better, more cost effective option
Document detailing Life Cycle Engineering and Budgeting for Public Facilities (Hint: Thurston County building maintenance doesn’t even come close to this)
Published with Permission of wethegoverned.com