The Olympia Standard

The Olympia Standard #27: Election Recap

The Olympia Standard #26: Ballot Review

On this episode of The Olympia Standard, we interviewed Thurston County Commissioner candidates Bud Blake and Tye Menser. Other than three-letter folksy nicknames... what do these candidates have in common? Where do they diverge in their approaches to the budget, the environment, homelessness, and the structure of county government?

On this episode of The Olympia Standard, we sat down with the candidates for Thurston County prosecutor, Jon Tunheim and Victor Minjares. We asked about caseflow management, diversion programs, and other aspects of how they would serve as prosecutor.

On this episode of The Olympia Standard, we interview the candidates for Thurston County Auditor, Mary Hall and Stuart Holmes. Learn more about the role of this office, what each candidate has to offer, and what type of food they would choose to eat for any meal of the day.

On this episode of The Olympia Standard, Olympia voters will see one local tax proposal on their ballot for the general election, a sales tax for public transit. We interviewed Clark Gilman, a City Council member and advocate for the initiative, and Eric Phillips of Intercity Transit.

On this episode of The Olympia Standard, we recorded an analysis of this year's primary, what that means going into the general election, and what we will be doing to offer election season coverage for the next couple months. Also, The Olympia Standard started around this time last year with an episode on the primary election! Happy anniversary to us and all our listeners! 

On this episode of The Olympia Standard, we talk to Malika Lamont about the opioid crisis. Why are people becoming addicted and what impact does it have on their lives? What barriers exist for recovery? What is harm reduction? And how are local governments and service providers responding to the crisis?

On this episode of The Olympia Standard, we talk about the rise of independent candidates in local elections. Our guests are Olympia City Councilmember Renata Rollins and Thurston County Commissioner John Hutchings, who approach independence from the major political parties in different ways. The big question: what do we ask independent candidates (and really, all candidates) to get a better sense of their politics? 

On this episode of The Olympia Standard, we interviewed Congressman Denny Heck. We talked about the nature of the 10th district, what people in Olympia can do when we see distressing policies from the federal government, and national issues that are of significance to our local community, including homelessness and housing.

On this episode of The Olympia Standard, we talk about sea level rise in downtown Olympia with Andy Haub, Water Resources Director for the city. What's up with the current planning process for sea level rise? What is the tipping point where we ditch downtown and move uphill? And why are new buildings going up before the plan is in place?

We interview Dr. Karen Johnson about her work with the Black Alliance of Thurston County, how policing in Olympia has changed (and still needs to change), the De-escalate Washington initiative, and how the race for county prosecutor will impact these issues.

The Olympia Standard interviewed Patrick Murphy, the new superintendent of the Olympia School District, and school board member Joellen Wilhelm. We discussed how McCleary has changed the way schools are funded across the state, and how that has put Olympia schools into a pinch. We also talked about population growth, social and emotional support for students, and how to teach children to engage in respectful discourse. Don't have kids in the school system? We also talked about why you should still care! 

The Olympia Standard interviews Meg Martin and Selena Kilmoyer-- Joyful Crone, about the state of homelessness in Olympia. We discussed how homelessness has evolved over the years, including the population, perceptions, and services.

We recorded our next episode with Kathy McCormick, retired planner turned housing activist. We talked about the history of growth management in our area, where we are lacking in achieving the goals of our comprehensive plan, and how the Missing Middle is an important piece of the housing puzzle.