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Category: lacey (Page 2 of 2)

Why don’t we worry about the South Sound Mall as much as we do downtown (and I want a soccer stadium!)

July 3, 2012 / / 0 Comments




This is a post born out of this question at Mark’s Notes on the State of Olympia blog on what places in Olympia (and I assume broader urban North Thurston) are too empty for my tastes.

The almost empty parking lot in the north west corner of the mall is a forgotten little pocket of Lacey. It used be to where the Woolworth’s backed up into that side of the mall. I also remember Olympic Comics starting on that side.

Anyway, its empty now, except for maybe people learning to ride motorcycles on Sunday, the parking lot is a waste of impervious surface, reflecting the dead commercial nature of that part of Lacey.

It is also now left without its only lasting civic contribution, as the host of Lacey’s July 3rd Fireworks.

The owners of the mall seems to realize the lost potential back there. Coincidentally, they also own a few properties in the residential neighborhood right next door in Olympia. And, in 2008 CDC proposed to the city to redevelop that neighborhood into a south Tumwater-like collection of state office buildings.

The proposal didn’t get picked up by the city, but I’m sure the need is still there. It wasn’t that solid of a proposal, not even a project. Just a request for a designation that could mean state office buildings would be built there at some point.

But, for me, obviously, the best and highest use of the space would be a soccer stadium. Nothing fancy, 2,000 seats would make me more than happy.

But, what gets me about the empty back corner of west Lacey, is that while it remains very paved and very empty, no one seems to care. We wring our hands over anything relating to downtown, but this part of Lacey is all but ignored.

Planning commissioner blogging from Olympia and Lacey

January 12, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Both Olympia and Lacey have at least one planning commissioner blogging about public issues. That’s where similarities diverge. For example, take the posts from each on December 5, 2011.

Lacey’s Raymond Payne: Politicians Should Be Honest About New Norm:

Our politicians continue to sock it to us with higher taxes and fees, then still expect us to go out and spend. Spend what? We saw that during the LFD 3 levy lid lift request. Supporters said, “you can give up that latte to pay for this added tax.” Maybe they drinking a Latte a day, but most people don’t.

Olympia’s Mark Derricott: OPC: December 5, 2011 Regular Meeting Agenda:

The major item is the Shoreline Master Program with the setbacks and potentially heights along the shoreline as presribed in the draft chapters of 5 and 6 of the SMP. Most of the deliberation will be comprise a vote on setback limits that did not result in consensus in the previous SMP Subcommittee meetings.<

Whereas both cover public issues, Derricott’s posts almost rabidly focus solely on his role as a planning commissioner (sometimes in very deep detail). Payne has almost never talked about the planning commission, and as of tonight, never actually talked about the business of the Lacey planning commission.

Just on the face, Derricott is the planning commissioner who blogs while Payne is the local political blogger who is also a planning commissioner.

Lacey election results: I don’t care who started it, you’re both in trouble!

November 4, 2009 / / 0 Comments

My coworker recently on Facebook:

My new thing is I will not pick “winners…” in “She hit me – he threw something at me” fights. “Everybody loses!” No T.V. (which they already have two days of that a week) Tuesday EITHER!!

The city of Lacey and the Lacey Fire District got into a very public fight and both got sent to their room.

All three challenged incumbents for city council positions in Lacey were shown the door last night. As Ken Balsley probably correctly asserts, the results had a lot do with the engagement of fire department union. I’d also point out that this was the first time in a lot of years that three good candidates squared off against three incumbents in Lacey.

What should also be noted is that the one fire commissioner in the Lacey 3 was also booted out in favor of a guy that said he would cooperate with the city. While as far as I can tell Gene Dobry is short on specific remedies for the stalemate between the city and the district, he sure doesn’t like fighting:

The past two levy failures for the fire district show a lack of confidence by the citizens, as well as an economic situation where taxpayers can’t afford to pay more, Dobry noted. He believes the fire district needs to work harder to live within its means while providing the best service to the people.

“Although litigation was prevented, the contract with the City of Lacey will end a year earlier than planned,” Dobry said. “Then what? Does the district rely on county tax revenues entirely? Does the city start its own fire district? These are likely to be lose-lose solutions and not worthwhile endeavors for Lacey-area citizens who need consistent protection.”

Dobry is speaking out for the people on uncontrolled spending and ineffective leadership. He is seeking the office to ensure the best interests of the people will be served. He lives in Lacey with his wife Rachel.

And…

Current leaders must accept responsibility for failed policies, overspending and the disharmony created with its city partner. I offer fresh leadership with a plan to restore confidence in the district. Introducing my “R” plan: revive the volunteer force, renegotiate with the city, and refuse to overspend. If you agree, I ask for your support and your vote.

So, while I’d say the fight between the district and the city had a lot to do with the elections results, there were no winners. Both the city and the district were punished for not being able to come to agreement.

Ken Balsley says firemen, cops abandoned posts during an earthquake, firemen shoot back

October 3, 2009 / / 0 Comments

In this post outlining what he calls a new aristocracy (apparently making sure front line government workers don’t get sick during a pandemic is not a good thing) Ken makes this seemingly off-hand reference:

Government was unable to function because its employees had gone home – – fire fighters, police, emergency services, many had left their jobs to check on their families.

Wow, them’s fighting words. Took them awhile, but the Lacey fire fighters are fighting back:

Recently, a local publication reported that fire fighters abandoned their posts on that crisp February morning and so did many police officers. I am here to say having worked that day as a fire fighter and remembering it vividly, that none of that crap happened and I am left wondering if the intent was really to discredit us as cops, fire fighters, or emergency workers, or just to add interesting material to the publication. Who cares, bottom line: It never happened.

So, what is the point of discrediting government workers in general, but also firemen in particular? The union that represents Lacey firemen has been particularly engaged this election cycle, but I’m more willing to think that its just Ken being Ken and that he’s knocking any sort of government worker, not just firemen. In his world, its just believable that firemen would go home after an earthquake.

But, I’d also let the firemen speak for themselves:

When the Nisqually earthquake hit, our first order after we took cover and waited for the shaking to stop was to roll the apparatus out of our then aging masonry structures in case the aftershocks caused them to fail. As some areas had lost power, it took a few moments to get this done by manually opening doors at some stations. By the time the apparatus had been rolled out, the first off duty responders started coming in. Unlike many areas, many Lacey Fire District #3 employees live in their city of employment. Within 45 minutes, every single apparatus the department owned was staffed or being moved into position to offset response in areas of heavy call volume. This all went down as the City of Olympia had significant areas of road failures, elevator collapse downtown, and people stuck in elevators throughout the Capitol Campus. Lacey also had multiple gas leaks, a trailer fire in the Nisqually Valley and well over 100 calls by 3pm that day including treating sick and injured children from the local schools.

Off duty Lacey Fire District fire fighters, both volunteer and paid, came in as far away as Lewis and Pierce County to respond to calls. NO ONE abandoned their posts that day and to do so would have meant immediate termination with the union demanding it and definitely not defending it.

Lacey is chickensh*t if it doesn’t annex

May 8, 2009 / / 0 Comments

The looming invisible city, which Ken addresses well here.

Here’s the money graph:

Lacey City Manager Greg Cuoio told the group that the City of Lacey comprises 38,000 people in 16 square miles. The urban areas around Lacey hold 30,000 people in their 16 square miles. Cuoio said the general fund budget for Lacey is $38 million. If it were to annex the urban areas surrounding the city, it would receive only $10 million in tax revenue.

“That’s a deficit of about $28 million dollars a year,” Cuoio said. In addition he added, “it would take between a half billion and a billion dollars, to bring those areas up to city standards.”

Makes you wonder why Thurston County is having such money problems and Lacey isn’t, huh? Well, it likely isn’t better management, but just better annexing. Lacey has tons of shopping and very few actual residents. If it were to bring in the residential areas to the southeast, it would bankrupt the city.

But, as Ken points out, Lacey is already using the non-city residential areas to place city owned parks, senior centers and community spaces. Maybe they should just suck it up and start annexing their shadow city.

Yeah! Ken Balsley’s on the internet!

May 13, 2008 / / 0 Comments

Sweet.

Ken is awesome, and not because I agree with him. Actually, he’s about as opposite as I get. But, in addition to his KGY commentaries (which I never hear anymore because I’m never in the car when they’re on), he’s doing a blog.

Great stuff like this:

To really understand the answer to that question we have to go back to World War II and the Olympia Airport. During WW2 army military pilots used to train at the Olympia Airport and flew scouting missions out over the Pacific looking for Japanese sumarines and planes.

Across the street from the Olympia Airport sat the Airport Inn, a typical Northwest tavern. It was here that pilots, when off duty, would hang out and it was at the Airport Inn where local boys also found time to lift a beer or two.

One evening the two groups met, exchanged words (no one is certain over what but is was suggested a girl was involved) and a fight broke out. Nearly two dozen people were involved.

After investigating the incident, the military commander at Ft. Lewis put Thurston County off-limits. And it remained off limits for decades.

Soliders arriving at Ft. Lewis were told to look in Pierce County for housing and to stay away from Thurston County. And they did. For all of the 1950’s and most of the 1960’s it was rare, extremely rare, to see military uniforms anywhere in Thurston County.

And stupid stuff like this:

Why do we need to allow “Tent Cities” in Lacey anyway? There seem to be plenty of churches and organizations in Tumwater and Olympia which want to provide this service. I don’t think it’s necessary that Lacey join the fray. It also seems to me that the recent Lacey City Council’s 4-3 vote on requiring churches to keep homeless populations inside was just an excuse for banning homeless encampments. A good one, if you ask me.

(Answer: because freedom of religion is for everyone, everywhere).

But, he’s blogging, so: Freakin’ Yeah!

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