Madrone Announces Olympia City Council Race

Above: Dani Madrone, 35, of Olympia, announced her candidacy for Olympia City Council, Position 3 on Saturday. Little Hollywood interviewed Madrone on issues of homelessness, affordable housing, sea level rise, and neighborhoods.

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Dani Madrone, 35, of Olympia, announced her candidacy for Olympia City Council, Position 3 on Saturday.

The position is an open seat because Councilmember Nathaniel Jones, who currently occupies that position, is running for the seat currently held by Mayor Cheryl Selby. Selby is running for reelection.

Madrone, a resident of Olympia since 2004, studied science, sustainability, and public policy at The Evergreen State College. She received her master’s in public administration in 2016 and works for the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.

Madrone met with Little Hollywood in downtown Olympia Saturday to discuss her candidacy and the issues of homelessness, affordable housing, sea level rise, and neighborhoods.

She says Olympia faces big decisions on the environment, including climate change, and the health of Puget Sound. She wants to incorporate environmental priorities into all areas of city government with decisions based on science.

Above: The city-sanctioned homeless mitigation site located on the corner of Olympia Avenue and Franklin Street Saturday morning in downtown Olympia.

Beginning our walking interview at the city-sanctioned homeless mitigation site located on the corner of Olympia Avenue and Franklin Street, Madrone acknowledged that homelessness in Olympia is in crisis mode.

She says she recognizes that social service providers are overwhelmed, potential shoppers are afraid to go downtown, and local businesses are losing customers.

“I love downtown. I feel safe, but I don’t want to tell other people what feels safe for them. There’s a lot of tension downtown and at this point, it takes a lot of courage for businesses to step up and say, ‘This isn’t working for me.’ The conversations just aren’t very good right now.

“I’m hoping to be a bridge builder and to listen to people and say, ‘OK, what does it look like when we’re succeeding?’ and develop a crisis management plan around that. This is a big issue and it’s going to be tense for a while.

“We need a clear problem statement. We need to know if the mitigation site is working, for example. It’s a big community conversation that needs to happen between folks who are homeless, businesses in the area, service providers, and city staff to come up with a shared vision of success. Otherwise, we don’t know if we’re heading there.”

Asked about the mitigation site, Madrone said that it is a good first step but needs to lead to something more permanent. She says she thinks of it as Olympia setting the table, but wonders how the city is going to make sure all are fed and healthy in the long run.

“What comes after this? This is obviously not a sustainable solution. We don’t want people living outside on pallets in tents. It’s not the end-game. That’s the piece I’m not seeing yet and that’s the part I’d like to help bring around – a long term crisis management plan,” she said.

Asked about funding, Madrone said the Home Fund is an important piece of the funding puzzle.

“I’d say by the time the Home Fund was already approved by the voters, it was not enough. We have a growing problem, a problem that is becoming increasingly visible. The city does need more help from the county, state, and federal government.

“We have to ask ourselves, are we putting our resources where they need to go? Do we know at what point we can declare that something is not working so we can free up those resources and put them toward the things that we know are working?”

Housing Options

Madrone has lived in a variety of rental situations in Olympia and has had to leave housing because the rent was suddenly raised so high she couldn’t afford it. She’s also lived in places where the landlord really cared about her situation. 

Madrone says her rent was not raised for four years because her landlord knew she was struggling. She is now a homeowner in the northwest neighborhood where she lives with her young daughter.

Madrone was active in the recent “Missing Middle” housing conversation and sees a need for more diverse housing options throughout the city. She says she will explore renter protections and the barriers created by short-term vacation rentals and long term vacancies.

“The Missing Middle conversation is a big, complicated issue. Calculations from the city say that 1,000 more housing units across the city could be built over the next 20 years due to the recent passage of the ordinance.

“It’s a very small piece of what’s needed. In terms of what’s next, we really need a lot more multi-family housing in the density nodes: downtown, over by Capital Mall, the Eastside, and the high-density corridors. We have to figure out why those aren’t being built.”

Above: Dani Madrone walks along Percival Landing near the children’s playground where soft-armoring of the shoreline with native plants help control flooding.

Sea Level Rise

Another issue facing Olympia is the threat of sea level rise. Discussing the city’s draft sea level rise plans, Madrone says that floodable landscapes are mentioned but not incorporated into the plan.

“I really think the city should be looking at places downtown that will allow flood water to come in and become the receptacle for flood water until everything subsides.

“There are opportunities to take underutilized parking lots and turn them into a park-like area so when it floods, you can direct the water into those areas to contain it. 

There’s a lot of planning to protect downtown from flooding but not enough planning for where that water is going to go if we can’t handle it.

“I would like to see us have a range of flood barrier options to choose from for downtown….We don’t have any options that suggest that we only protect part of downtown. What would it look like if we were to retreat from downtown? Let’s put it out there on the table.”

Little Hollywood asked Madrone if she was suggesting that retreat still be considered as an option and if she was in agreement with the city’s sea level rise plans. 

The city is committed to saving downtown and all its assets, such as the regional LOTT water/wastewater facility.

“Not 100 percent,” responded Madrone. “I think their direction is fine if we only get two to three feet of sea level rise, but if we end up on the higher end of the projections, I think we’re underestimating the issue….

“I don’t think a complete retreat from downtown at this point is realistic, but we might start talking about what it looks like to put new housing over in that direction (Madrone points southwest across Capitol Lake).

“The less we have to protect in the areas most likely to flood the better. What does the community conversation look like in terms of what parts of our downtown is most important to protect? What is the phased approach?”

Finally, Little Hollywood asked Madrone if there were any issues she needed to learn more about.

“I could stand to learn more about almost every issue. I would hope everyone would say that. I would love to hear more from businesses throughout Olympia about their experiences and what their needs are,” she said. 

Madrone said she would also like to hear from neighborhoods and their issues. 

“Neighborhood associations are run by dedicated volunteers with limited time and energy. Their issues need to be kept on the city’s radar,” she said.

“I’m going to learn a lot in the next year. One of the biggest challenges I see is how much people talk past each other. I want to be someone who can help with seeing our shared interests and help bring people together a bit more. It’s part of the national politics right now for everything to be so divided and I just feel like we can do better locally,” said Madrone.

Madrone has already received endorsements from some elected officials and community members.

The filing deadline for council races is in May. 

Funding the Cost of Olympia Homelessness

Above: Time is running out as the City of Olympia works to address homelessness crisis options before the cold weather season approaches. The clock, along with other debris, was recently collected and placed in trash bags at the Nickerson homeless encampment off Eastside Street in Olympia.

Total 2017 amount spent for encampment cleanup expenses is nearly $103,000

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

“We may all need to compromise,” said Olympia city councilmember Jim Cooper, who serves as chair of the council's finance committee.

Cooper was speaking of funding options for homeless response efforts and two proposed city sanctioned encampments at a four-hour city finance committee meeting held July 31.

The committee is comprised of councilmembers Cooper, Lisa Parshley and Jessica Bateman.

As Cooper has said in the past, city funding to address the homeless crisis is a new line of business for the council, and all options need to be considered.

The city estimates that $1.4 million will be needed annually to operate two city sanctioned homeless encampments. The two locations, one on Union Avenue near Plum Street and the other on Martin Way, will assist 80 people total. 

An estimated $1.1 million total is needed for site improvements to both locations.

City staff has also proposed to direct $500,000 annually to other homeless response efforts. This amount could support other agencies that host campsites under the city’s proposed emergency housing ordinance for services such as garbage service and porta-potties. 

The need for safe storage has also been identified as a critical service so people experiencing homelessness have a place to store their belongings.

At the meeting, Cooper suggested using Home Fund money, a business and operations tax that has not been adjusted since the 1950s, dipping into parks funds, and using $500,000 to $1,000,000 per year of general fund emergency reserves for no more than five years.

And while he said he doesn’t want to raise taxes, he is open to using some of the non-voted utility tax, if that tax is extended an additional three years.

“The cost to parks and other agencies from this crisis is much higher (than past years). In fact, the cost to every department to deal with this crisis is at some level part of (staff’s) job…I believe a short extension on (parks) acquisition won’t hurt our city long term but it will help us relieve pressure on our park system,” he said.

One example of these higher costs is for homeless encampment clean-ups.

According to the city community planning and development figures, the cumulative expenditures incurred by city park rangers for homeless encampment clean-up at 24 citywide locations in 2017 totaled $13,820.46.

Other clean-up efforts were contracted out for cleaning up under bridges, drop box hauling, advanced environmental hauling, resulting in a total 2017 amount spent for encampment cleanup expenses of $102,991.04.

Councilmember Bateman expressed interest in using capital funds as long as there is a clear plan that includes transitioning a temporary shelter to long-term supportive housing.

She stated that she doesn’t want to touch general fund reserves because those are for emergencies, however, the homelessness crisis is an emergency, so use of those funds in that capacity seemed appropriate.

Councilmember Parshley wants to see a defined repayment plan if reserves are used.

Parshley also sought clarification on whether she needed to recuse herself because she has a veterinary business near the proposed homeless encampment on Union Avenue. She was told by city legal counsel that she can participate in the discussion but can recuse herself when it comes time to a final vote on the issue.

In his support for using funds from the new Home Fund sales tax for permanent supportive housing, Cooper said, “I really, truly believe that conditions on the ground have changed since we asked the voters to approve the Home Fund. They were changing in that time and we couldn’t articulate it as clearly as we can today.”

“Where we’re going to get the money from is premature if we don’t know how much it’s going to cost…. What we don’t want to do is provide for a plan for homeless encampments and not achieve the objectives we set out to achieve. We want to make sure…we’re on the right track,” said Bateman.

Bateman and Parshley questioned the site review, design and engineering costs for the two sites.

Cooper suggested putting two social service providers and a one or two people who are homeless on the city’s formal design team for operations and maintenance.

Staff appeared to agree, with city manager Steve Hall saying, “Nothing has been figured out.” 

That includes how it is determined who gets to stay in the encampments, which the city is calling “The Villages.” 

Bateman urged that the standard vulnerability index be used, as it is required for federal funding and considered a “best practice.”

Cooper said he understood that, but also believes in “best or better practices,” and wants to also look at other criteria for admission.

The full council will hold another study session on funding options to address the homelessness crisis on Tuesday, August 21, 5:30 p.m., Olympia City Hall.

Emergency Reserves

Debbie Sullivan, city administrative services director, told Little Hollywood this week that the city must keep a minimum of 10 percent of its general operating revenue in reserves.

The city currently has $7.8 million in its reserves, she said.

Reserves are important to financial advisers and determine the city’s credit rating, which affects its ability and cost to borrow money. If emergency reserves are used, they must be paid back with 2.3 percent interest.

“We are very, very, cautious about using our emergency reserves. If an emergency is declared, such as in the event of an earthquake, we have to access those reserves,” Sullivan said.

Little Hollywood often writes about homelessness issues, and unsheltered, street dependent individuals. For more information about these issues, the Home Fund, and the city’s recent purchase of property for housing the homeless, go to Little Hollywood  at www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com and use the search button to type in keywords.

Olympia Declares Homelessness a Public Health Emergency

Above: Found cup and hat at The Jungle, Olympia’s largest homeless encampment. Photo taken December, 2017 during a community clean-up effort.

July 24 Council Study Session on Homeless Encampments

July 24 Council Public Hearing for Proposed Ordinance Regarding Emergency Housing Facilities for Faith Based, Non-Profit and Government Organizations

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

There are several efforts underway in Olympia to address the homelessness crisis.

At its Tuesday council meeting, the Olympia city council passed an ordinance declaring homelessness to be a public health emergency. Doing so allows the city to move forward on its efforts to tackle the issue in multiple ways.

After significant discussion which began with Councilmember Jim Cooper asking about ongoing camp sweeps, the council decided to hold a study session on the city’s current practices for dealing with unmanaged homeless encampments.

The study session will be held July 24, 5:30 p.m., at Olympia City Hall, 601 4th Avenue.

City manager Steve Hall said that the city is under certain regulatory requirements to clear camps as they impact public health and safety. The council will discuss the sweeps and options for future management of homeless camps.

Above: The Jungle, before a December 2017 community clean up effort. In 2018, there have been 27 active code enforcement cases related to homeless encampments in the City of Olympia, some of which may be occupied by 100 or more persons.

What prompted the discussion was the city’s plan to evict residents of a homeless encampment on Nickerson and Wheeler Street, set to occur July 19. Several community members, including residents of the camp, spoke at public comment about the pending eviction.

Councilmember Jessica Bateman said the ordinance declaring homelessness a public health emergency is a huge step forward and openly facilitates discussion of the “elephant in the room.” Passing the ordinance and allowing the eviction of campers at the Nickerson site were contradictory actions.

As a result of council discussion, there will be no eviction action at the Nickerson encampment until further discussion.

July 24 Public Hearing Regarding Emergency Housing Facilities

In May, the city council passed a resolution that directed city staff to pursue legal encampment options.

The city hired a homeless response coordinator, Colin DeForrest, who is actively developing a homeless strategic plan which will include short, mid and long term actions.

Toward that commitment, the Olympia City Council will hold a public hearing at its meeting on July 24 for an ordinance that would allow faith based, non-profit and government organizations to site emergency housing facilities on their property. 

The hearing will be held at Olympia City Hall. The council meeting starts at 7:00 p.m.

There are numerous stipulations in the proposed ordinance for applicants including the need to obtain permits and provide notice to neighbors, the requirement of an on-duty manager, an operation and security plan, and a code of conduct for living at the facility. A full list of requirements is listed on the city’s website.

The recently passed Home Fund sales tax levy will help provide permanent supportive housing for the most vulnerable, however, it will take years before those funds will result in a completed project.

Olympia Union Gospel Mission Update

In an article posted on Monday, Little Hollywood reported that there is a recent loss of at least 90 beds between the combined temporary closures of the Salvation Army and the sleeping arrangements at the Olympia Union Gospel Mission.

Mayor Cheryl Selby reported that the Olympia Union Gospel Mission told her that they now hope to finish repairs on their facility in two weeks, instead of the expected four to six weeks.

In the meantime, they are allowing the most vulnerable to stay on the property at night under supervision. Hot meals will continue to be served daily.

For more information about city homeless services, contact Colin DeForrest, City of Olympia Homeless Response Coordinator, (360) 709-2688, cdeforre@ci.olympia.wa.us or go to olympiawa.gov/homelessness

Little Hollywood often writes about homelessness issues, and unsheltered, street dependent, houseless individuals. For more information, go to Little Hollywood and use the search button to type in key words.

New Olympia Councilmember: Veterinarian Lisa Parshley

Above: Dr. Lisa Parshley, at her veterinarian clinic in Olympia, won election to the Olympia city council last November. Parshley says the environment, homelessness, and living wage issues are all tied together. “The major message I heard while campaigning was to think outside the box….”

With hometown roots, her clinic is in Kurt Cobain's Lucky 7 House 

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Both the massive Women’s March and the March for Science last year mobilized and energized individuals and entire communities to take action on a whole host of issues. 

Highlighting the need for more critical thinking skills and science in policy making, many scientists were inspired to run for public office. Last November, Olympia city voters elected both a scientist and a woman in one person: Dr. Lisa Parshley. 

Parshley handily won her election for Position 5 against candidate Allen Miller with 62.28 percent of the vote.

A veterinarian specializing in oncology, the field of medicine that is devoted to cancer, Parshley, 55, says her training will help her as a city councilmember to look long range while paying attention to today’s risks and threats. 

Receiving her Ph.D. in biochemistry, Parshley employs 40 fulltime and parttime employees on Olympia’s eastside. Her husband, Tim, is also a veterinarian.

The design of her clinic, a “fear free” veterinary practice, is a new concept in veterinary medicine. For Parshley, operating a “fear free” clinic means reducing fear during a consultation for both the animal and family members.  

Her examination rooms look and feel like mini living rooms. Each contains a brown colored, pleather chair and couch set, an end table with a lamp that casts a cozy glow and a box of tissues that undoubtedly comes in handy.

During an interview in one of these rooms with Little Hollywood, Parshley says her scientific training and style toward veterinary medicine will play a big role in how she approaches her council position, priorities, and the issues.

“In the last five to ten years we’ve been looking at ourselves as veterinarians very closely, saying there are some things we can do to reduce fear. The metal table and all the paraphernalia sets them on edge, inducing fear from the beginning. Our behavior changes also – similar to taking your child into a doctor’s office. These exam rooms are meant to try and take that fear away,” says Parshley.

She says this low key setting enables her to take her time through an examination, allowing her to get to know the animal and have a conversation with the family, who is often stressed and upset with their pet’s condition. 

“If I have a conversation with the family, I move slower through my exam with the animal and the family relaxes. When the family relaxes, the animal relaxes, and it tends to be a better relationship all the way through,” said Parshley.

She is working toward obtaining the first Washington State veterinary certification in 2018 for a fear free practice.

Providing Little Hollywood a tour of the facility, which is part old house and part new construction, the clinical area revealed all the equipment and supplies one usually sees in a veterinary office. Walking in, at least eight staff members were actively working on several animals needing care.

The basement of the house portion of the clinic was just as exciting.

According to local law enforcement, the house was part of the underground rock scene in its heyday. Kurt Cobain reportedly had his first concert in the basement of the Lucky 7 House, which is located behind the Lucky 7 convenience store on Fourth Street, kitty corner from the Olympia Fire Department station. 

Parshley is maintaining that portion of the basement as-is, however, much of the history was destroyed when Parshley discovered, to her horror, that carpenters had torn down all the old posters, thinking they were going to sheetrock the area. 

Above: The Lucky 7 “stage” where Kurt Cobain reportedly held his first concert in Olympia. The area is in the basement of the house portion of Councilmember Lisa Parshley’s veterinary clinic in Olympia.

Growing up in Portland where her mother was a school teacher, Parshley lived in Olympia during the summers in Boston Harbor.

Parshley earned her Ph.D. in biochemistry from Oregon Health & Science University, her veterinarian degree from Colorado State University and practiced in Michigan, Houston, Texas, and Los Angeles, California. 

She says she appreciated those stints because they gave her real life experiences in addition to her academic career, providing her the knack for balancing the financial needs of the human family and the needs of their family member who is facing a medical crisis.

After receiving her professional credentials, she returned to Olympia about eight years ago. Her hobbies include woodworking and restoring a 50 year old sailboat.

While she has been active in veterinary politics at the state and national level and has testified before the Washington State Legislature on veterinary issues, it was when Donald Trump won the presidential election that she knew she had to get more involved.

She had also learned a lot about the sometimes frustrating city permitting process and city ordinances in order to build her clinic. 

She was encouraged by Washington State Representative Kathy Haigh (D-35) of Shelton, also a veterinarian, to run for a position that she said would “put the fire in you” because there would be many challenging days.  

“You’ll make people happy and angry, and you have to know you’re in the right place to get you through those times,” Haigh advised her.

Parshley says she is very passionate about the environment and the climate and will work for better relations with the Port of Olympia. Speaking about the need to make plans for sea level rise, she also says she wants to reevaluate the recently completed Downtown Strategy.

The city of Olympia is coordinating sea level rise planning with the Port of Olympia and the LOTT Cleanwater Alliance.

“Rich Hoey, [City of Olympia public works director], needs support from the council – we can’t wait for some other council. I’d like to reevaluate the Downtown Strategy in terms of the current figures for sea level rise. Our climate action plan numbers used old numbers, but the seas are rising at a faster rate…we need to review it with current science. I’m not saying don’t build downtown, because we have a serious housing shortage, but I want to make sure it’s smart and based on science. I like building downtown, but on another level, some data is showing that we could have as many as one hundred king tides a year, as early as 2030.

“King tides don’t mean we’ll flood, but it means we’ll have 100 chances of flooding, so if that data is real, that’s scary to me if we’re not at least asking to put buildings up three or four feet or coming up with ways to deal with this. That means the city and the port - and the people - are going to pay for this. I just want to make sure it’s smart and we have taken into account all the new numbers. We can tap into the state climate action plan experts - we don’t have to do it all ourselves or hire expensive consultants.”

Parsley says she will also be asking questions and not just accepting staff reports at face value.

“I can’t stand it when someone tells me we can’t do something because ‘that’s not how we do it.’ That will lead me to ask, ‘Why are we doing it that way?’ That’s the scientist in me – I will question those things. Tell me why, and then I’ll ask, ‘How do we get around that?’ or, I’ll better understand why that’s how we do it.”

Parshley says she’ll also focus on homelessness issues. Meeting people where they are taught Parshley a lot about the community.

“What I learned in the journey of running for public office has taught me that these are people, first and foremost, that we have put stigmas on that aren’t fair. If you’ve ever had a point in your life that you couldn’t make the rent, much less pay for food, you know how close that is. A very serious illness in our family can put us close to that point…. All of us are vulnerable to this. I came out of this campaign feeling hopeful that the community knows this. 

“The major message I heard while campaigning was to think outside the box – we have to be compassionate. I think, in large part, the reason Renata [Rollins] and I were elected is because the city has to be the leader. We can’t put this off to another jurisdiction. We have to also find legal housing for the houseless, but it won’t be a one-size-fits-all solution. The cities that are successful in addressing homelessness are the ones that have a coalition of people sitting at a table that includes small businesses, different political spectrums, and those who are unhoused. Unless you have that whole group together, any solution is not going to be successful. We have to help stop people from getting on the streets.”

Above: Dr. Lisa Parshley, left, and Renata Rollins after they were sworn in as new Olympia city councilmembers on December 28, 2017. Parshley says she will look to Rollins for guidance on homelessness issues. Rollins is a social worker and community advocate with experience working on homelessness and downtown safety issues.

Speaking about planning for growth and a variety of living options, Parshley referred to the Home Fund, which will be on the ballot for a special election in February 2018. With a one-tenth of one percent sales tax increase, the Home Fund proposes to build and maintain at least 350 affordable homes over ten years.

“The Home Fund part of the puzzle - it’s a good start. I’m proud of the city for starting this,” she says.

She says she’ll also work for a minimum wage bill, ordinance or initiative which is going to provide adequate living wages with progressive and economic values.

“We have to redirect how we think about our town - it’s a living organism. The work of city staff is phenomenal but what I heard most at the door, repeatedly, was that people want us to look at how we do business as a government including examining voter oversight, how the council interacts with people, and how to better utilize our city advisory committees. I think we need an audit of that.

“I want to look at how we govern with the Port, the Tribes, and electronic advancements that support an open planning process for design review, budget and land use,” she said.

Parshley says likes the idea of Portland, Oregon’s model of holding quarterly town halls on Saturday afternoons around the city. She heard over and over again how people said they wanted to go to meetings but couldn’t because they were working or needing to be with their children.

“You may not get a large turnout but you hear from different people.”

The Olympia City Council’s first council meeting of the year is Tuesday, January 9, 7:00 p.m., at Olympia City Hall, 601 Fourth Avenue. Its council retreat will be January 12 – 13, where members will get to know each other, discuss priorities and divvy up committee assignments. That meeting will be held at the LOTT Cleanwater Alliance, 500 Adams Street, and is open to the public.

Above: Olympia city councilmember Dr. Lisa Parshley checks on her patients.