Olympia Time

History, politics, people of Oly WA

Category: Thurston County (Page 7 of 16)

Immunization exemption rates in Thurston County and the Olympia School District (or 41 percent of kindergartners in Ferry County don’t have shots)

June 2, 2011 / / 0 Comments

This foul-mouthed post on Washington leading the nation in people who don’t get their children immunized made me wonder about the more local data. How many people send their kids to school without the right shots, thereby making it more likely that not only will their kids get sick, but the entire school will be less healthy.

Turns out, Thurston County has one of the highest rates of immunization exemptions in the state. Or, the highest number of parents and guardians consciously sending their kids to school without shots.

Here is a map by county, and by school district and a spreadsheet with all the data. Not only is Thurston County a leader, but Olympia School District is in the worst category as well, rating over 10 percent exemptions of the kids entering kindergarden.

By no means is Thurston County on the fringe here, there are some much worse offenders. Like Ferry County, where 41 percent of kids entering kindergarden have signed exemptions in the 09-10 school year. And, that was after the rate increased from 8.9 percent in 2004 to over 50 percent in 2008.

Also, Klickitat County’s rate went from 5.5 percent in 2008 to 21.6 percent in 2009. As the post at the start points out “(t)he national target is 95 percent” immunized.

Here’s a run down on the current situation of how a parent can enroll and child in public school without a full set of immunizations from a legislative staff report:

…a parent or guardian may exempt a child for one of several reasons including if a physician advises against a specific vaccine for a child, parents certify that the vaccine conflicts with their religious beliefs, or parents certify that they have philosophical or personal objections to the child’s immunization.

The staff report is on ESB 5005, which made the following changes to the requirment to be excempt from immunization:

…a parent or guardian must present, to exempt a child from school immunization requirements. The form used to certify the exemption for either medical, religious, or personal objections must include a statement, signed by a health care practitioner, that the parent or guardian has been informed of the benefits and risks of the immunization to the child. Health care practitioners may sign forms at any time before the enrollment of the child in a school or licensed day care.

Letting people know about whats going on with construction (City of Olympia vs. Thurston County)

December 9, 2010 / / 0 Comments

It isn’t that the construction on Henderson Boulevard is taking too long, which it is. I understand that big public works projects hit humps and need delays.

Its how I learned about it that bothers me. I learned about it from the daily newspaper. I live right in the middle road construction hell right now. Between the Yelm Highway project (county), the Henderson sanitary sewer (city) and an apartment project, I’m surrounded.

But, I’m not in mystery with what’s going on with the Yelm Highway project, because between an active twitter account and blog, they’ve been doing a great job keeping folks up to date on developments: when its a good idea to brave the road, progress, and cool videos.

The City of Olympia, not so much. Southbound traffic is pretty much stopped during the day, and the work schedule is in constant flux (not always stopping at 4p as advertized on the web and reader boards). And, the worst part is, if you had been paying attention and checking their project webpage, you wouldn’t have learned any sooner that the project is going over the limit.

Its well passed time that local governments need to depend on the only paper in town to let people know about news. They have the ability now to create micro-channels on the neighborhood level to inform people about construction updates or crime in their neightborhood, or anything else really.

And, most importantly, it doesn’t need to be all that fancy. Free blogger.com blogs and twitter are about as easy as it gets.

Thurston County budgeting some Web 2.0

December 18, 2009 / / 0 Comments

They approved a budget today, which from what I can tell includes this:

• Redesign county website with a modern easy-to-use look and feel.
• Utilize Web 2.0 technology (example: Twitter) to disseminate information to
public in a timely useful manner.

But, there’s a nuance point to be made here, that in the budget document they still want to “disseminate” rather than “engage” or “exchange.” The real power of Web 2.0 isn’t to get information in front of passive eyes (although the web has great power to do that) its to have a dialogue.

I think it’ll take more than a new website and tools to create a culture of online exchange at the county.

The geography and politics of crime in Thurston County’s invisible city

December 18, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Zeroing in on where exactly someone was shot last night near here. First cut, NWCN email:

Not Lacey, but you can’t blame them for thinking that.

Getting closer, at at least technically true by mailing address, is KIRO:


And, hitting the nail on the head is the Olympian:

The murder happened just on the edge of urban northern Thurston County, unincorporated, but as KIRO put it, a “crowded neighborhood” with obviously urban issues.


View Larger Map

This area (Thurston County’s Invisible City) is the third largest city behind Olympia and Lacey is is policed by a county sherrif’s department that had admitted it is grossly understaffed.

You could point to the recent flare up between the county sheriff and the county commissioners on staffing and say that the commissioners should have given him more funds, but you’d wrong to look there. I think that battle was more of a symptom that the actual disease.

The real problem is that a county sheriff department is left holding the bag with the job of policing a city that does not exist. This is why we have city governments, because people living in high enough densities need a more intense level of government service, like police.

Why doesn’t Thurston County post food inspection reports online?

December 15, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Another line of thought for this longer line of thought. I had the curiosity this morning to look at the county’s website and poke around for food inspection reports. Seems like a pretty basic thing to post online, right? Nope.

Well, that’s not all that surprising, I guess, not everything that is interesting gets posted (see city council packets in Lacey). Kitsap and Pierce counties do.

But, what is really interesting, is this note:

The Health Dept conducts periodic inspections of food establishments to help prevent the spread and reduce the risk of food borne illnesses. Violations are corrected through a combination of education and technical assistance.

Our food service inspection reports are available through The Olympian newspaper or you may request copies of inspections from our office by completing a Request for Public Information Form…

So, I can fill out a form or read it in the Olympian. I’m assuming they email the information to the Olympian and I’m assuming I could email the request form to the county. So why can’t the county post the actual reports online?

This seems like one of the duties that a daily newspaper used to have to serve in a local community, gathering and disseminating essential data collected by the government. Births, deaths, marriages, food safety inspections are all important, but there’s no reason now why they can’t just immediately be posted.

If there is no surge in shipping in Puget Sound, then what “overflow” would Olympia catch?

October 20, 2009 / / 0 Comments

One of the reason’s the Olympian supports Jeff Davis is his understanding that Olympia would catch some extra work from other ports:

Where Davis tops Peeler, in our estimation, is his optimistic vision for the Port of Olympia – from the shipping operation to the marina, and from the airport and to industrial property.

As a longshoreman, Davis understands the importance of port operations and how ports must have a tax subsidy to survive. There are a limited number of ports in this state and nation and the likelihood of creating a new port is very remote.

Davis understands that Washington is the most trade-dependent state in the nation and that one in every three jobs is tied to trade. The wheat farmer in the Palouse, the apple orchardist in Wenatchee and the Boeing engineer in Seattle all rely on port commerce for their livelihoods.

As Davis said, “Everyone benefits from an active marine terminal.”

With more and more of the products consumed in the United States being manufactured overseas, Davis understands that eventually the ports of Seattle and Tacoma and other West Coast locations will be overcrowded and marine shippers will be looking for alternative ports. With aggressive marketing, Davis thinks the marine terminal at the Port of Olympia can fill the void and be a thriving community asset that creates more jobs and commerce for the capital city and surrounding communities. He thinks there’s a real future in the shipment of windmill blades, pulp, paper and wood products.

His understanding of port growth is not so much (via Puget Sound Maritime):

The surge in import cargo to Puget Sound ports during much of the past decade was an anomaly that is unlikely to be repeated, a consultant told a joint meeting of the Seattle and Tacoma port commissioners this week.

The surge was a side effect of a port lockout and traffic congestion in California in 2002. Now that the effect is fading, rising competition from growing ports around the country — and from increasing use of “all-water” routes such as the newly enlarged Panama Canal —is likely to curtail cargo flows through Puget Sound in coming years.

The analysis, by port expert John Martin, surprised Tacoma and Seattle commissioners at a joint meeting Oct. 13. The analysis comes as the share of cargo handled by West Coast ports slipped below 50 percent for the first time in decades, according to data just released by Piers, a unit of the online Journal of Commerce.

The Thurston County political campaign kiss of death

October 12, 2009 / / 0 Comments

What’s the best way to lose an election in Thurston County, even if you have more resources than your opponent?

Run over a dog during a parade? No.
Yell at someone when you’re out doorbelling? I’ve actually heard about this happening, and that person didn’t win, but still no.
Have an outside group spend tons of money on your campaign in what we call “independent spending.” The candidate in this case isn’t seeking this spending, but rather, a totally independent group, with no organization with the actual campaign, puts money into the game.
And, in the past few cycles, every candidate that has had money spent in their name without their control has lost.
Independent spending in county commissioner races first started in earnest in 2006 when about 58,000 was spent for Kevin O’Sullivan and $7,000 against him. In contrast, just about $3,000 was spent in favor of his successful opponent Bob Macleod. So, despite outspending Macleod $99,000 to $63,000 in campaign money overall, the extra independent money hung around his neck like a chain and brought him down.
We see the same thing happen in 2009 when just about $20,000 was spent in the name of Democrat Jon Halvorson, $7,000 for Republican Judy Wilson and $1,403 for Robin Edmondson. Each lost, with Halvorson with the most spent, when down first in the primary.
Also, in 2008, Cathy Wolfe (Wilson’s opponent) had $6,500 spent against her in independent spending. That money ended up kicking back at Wilson.
So, with a special sort of election between Pat Beehler and Karen Valenzuela for another county commission seat this year, how will independent spending impact his race?
Well, first, it might not. The amounts of independent spending have dropped through the floor. Typically, the more conservative candidate gets more independent money spent in their name, but Beehler has only seen $1,300 go out for him.
The other part is about $260 that has been spent for Valenzuela and against Beehler and Dan Venable (who lost in the primary). I’m assuming this is the same expenditure split between its targets.
If you go by total numbers, Beehler will go down. Or, the spending will have no impact and we’ll just see who wins on their own merits.
All that said, there probably isn’t a direct connection between independent spending and victory, but rather a convenient coexistence. In short, its much more likely that independent spending will go to a candidate that some people (like builders) really want to win, but who doesn’t really have what it takes. Or, is seen as needing to be propped up.

Thurston County chamber off track (more copied forum thoughts)

October 10, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Ahem. AHHH Hem!!!

Why are candidates for the Olympia City Council, appearing at a forum in sprawling Lacey at the Worthington Center sponsored by the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce? Do they really expect Olympia residents to attend?

The Thurston County Chamber still doesn’t understand that we have three separate cities in this county – – not just one.
Those wanting to hear the Olympia City Council candidates could have attend the recent meeting of the League of Women Voters which featured all of the candidates for the Olympia City Council. It was at the Olympia Center, which happens to be in Olympia.
Additional, non-copied snark: Actually, we have five cities and two towns in Thurston County. Do we expect the residents of Yelm, Bucoda, Rainier and Tenino to drive all the way up to Lacey or Olympia in the middle of the day? Or, at night?
Seriously, I think its ok for folks from Lacey to drive a few minutes into Olympia and vice versa, but we have to stop pretending this is a Lacey/Oly fight here.

The big reason why Thurston County doesn’t have the website it needs

October 1, 2009 / / 0 Comments

This could have been one long post, but I think three posts (here and here as well) is better.

So, the big reason for the lack of a decent (but lets not confuse that with uninformative) website is governance.

Like most Washington state counties that have not gone through the home rule process, Thurston County is a collection of independent elected officials from three county commissioners to a sheriff and an auditor and more. In the current way things work, each independent office has the job of maintaining their own website. So, what you get is a mishmash.

My understanding of how things are run right now is that a department under the commissioners, central services, provides general web support to most of the county. The independent offices, auditor, sheriff, and the rest, get some technical support, but tend to maintain their sites on their own. Most of the folks that develop and maintain the websites for the independent offices do so on a part time and ad hoc basis. And, when a person who then leaves the county who was maintaining of the sites, but didn’t have that job officially part of their job title, they take that experience away with them.

So, instead of a fully funded web administrator at the middle of all the offices, you have part time web managers throughout the county, each with their own ideas and levels of experience. That they the sites look different doesn’t matter to me, but the redundancy in duties and differing ways the sites are put together matters a lot.

I think the county would actually save money and be able to develop a better overall web presence if they rolled all the web functions into central services. Not saying that the folks in the independent offices who maintain the websites don’t work hard, just saying they work a bit too hard.

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