OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Olympia City Council Meeting - November 19, 2025

City Council & Commissions — Wednesday, November 19, 2025
BodyOlympia, Washington
SessionCity Council & Commissions
DateWednesday, November 19, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 4:10:03

Transcript — Verbatim
0:11

Good evening and welcome to the Tuesday, November 18th, 2025 regular business meeting of the Olympia City Council.

0:17

For the record, we have a quorum with all council members present tonight.

0:22

So before we adopt our agenda, I just want to take a moment to mention that this past weekend is a very tragic moment for the City of Olympia with the passing of Dr.

0:33

Stacey Hicks, who served as the vice chair of our heritage commission and who also uh served three terms on the city's arts commission.

0:43

Uh this is a very untimely, unfortunate passing.

0:46

And of course, uh the City of Olympia uh expresses its condolences to her loved ones at this very difficult time.

0:56

Uh I also uh just want to mention that she was a notable community member outside of her service to the city uh with a number of volunteer opportunities uh that she was afforded and she certainly stepped up and rose to the occasion uh with all sorts of different organizations throughout our community, and so she will be deeply missed, and her presence is certainly uh one that will be missed by a lot of people personally here at the city, uh particularly on the council as well.

1:30

So I also just want to mention uh that next week's meeting uh will be meeting on Zoom.

1:38

Uh so it will not be an in-person meeting, and the city council has one agenda item uh that evening on the budget.

1:47

So uh with that, I need a motion to approve tonight's agenda.

1:52

So moved.

1:55

Second.

1:56

All those in favor of the agenda signify by saying aye.

2:01

We have an agenda.

2:02

We have no special recognition tonight, so we're gonna go ahead and move right into public comment, and I'm gonna turn it over to the mayor pro tem.

2:11

Thank you, Mayor.

2:12

Uh this is a full room tonight.

2:14

I see we have a lot of folks that assigned up for public comment in person, and then I think we have quite a few that signed up virtually as well.

2:22

We'll go ahead and honor that folks took the time to come in person to City Hall tonight.

2:26

And so I'll call up uh the we'll do in person first, and I'll call up a few names so that you uh can get ready and sort of get in cue.

2:37

Uh for those of you that are new to public comment, uh you'd public comment uh right here at the stand.

2:42

Um, and just the mic's already on, so just speak into the mic.

2:45

You get two minutes to uh provide your public comment and uh a timer is located to your left to my right, just right over there, and it'll begin once you uh begin speaking.

2:58

And uh there should be a little uh a little uh sound off, or it goes yellow, uh yellow light when uh you have 30 seconds left, I believe.

3:08

And so then that'll tell you to wrap up your comments.

3:12

So with that, we have uh Chris Lewis, followed by Leslie Cushman, followed by Desiree Tolliver.

3:20

And if I do mispronounce your name, I do apologize in advance and please do state your name for the record.

3:28

Good evening.

3:29

My name is Chris Lewis.

3:30

I've been an Olympia resident for the past 10 years, and I'm a public servant, a member of Whipsey 443 local.

3:36

I'm here today to express my concerns over the city's contract with flock safety and to request that the council move to order the deactivation of all 15 city-owned ALPR cameras, as well as to not renew the contract by the Olympia Police Department.

3:50

A contract entered into without consent from the council.

3:53

These count cameras report to a privately owned non-transparent central national database and track the movements of every single vehicle that passes them.

4:02

Recently, the UW Center for Human Rights has shown in their report leaving the door wide open that federal agencies have accessed cameras in Washington state without permission to do so.

4:12

Federal searches of flock data from our state have occurred thousands of times with eight Washington police or sheriff's departments along full one-to-one sharing and ten additional agencies having had unauthorized backdoor access.

4:24

OPD shares its data with 88 other agencies in Washington, including every single one of the agencies that share one-to-one with ICE, all of whom have been shown to have had data accessed by ICE.

4:36

OPD maintains that a setting viewable on their flock transparency portal precludes federal access to the data.

4:42

This setting states immigration enforcement is uh prohibited use of the data.

4:46

However, this use is also listed as prohibited on both Yakma and Lakewood's pages.

4:51

Those are agencies that have had data shared with ICE.

4:54

Uh logically, it follows that this setting is not indicative of any real assurance of data safety.

5:00

ICE could be given access to our data directly or through a side door as a favor by an agency above.

5:06

As I and many others see it, this is in direct directly opposed to our status as a sanctuary city.

5:12

I call upon the members of this council to immediately deactivate these cameras.

5:16

Thank you.

5:20

Thank you.

5:21

Please hold your applause.

5:24

Please hold your applause.

5:26

Do not do not applaud after comments, please.

5:29

Thank you.

5:32

For the record, my name is Leslie Cushman.

5:35

I'm speaking about the use of the flock surveillance system by the city.

5:38

I'm requesting that you discontinue the use of the system, including all the hardware and software associated with the system, and erase and destroy all of the data in your possession.

5:49

Given what we know today about the flock system nationally, what we know about the risk to people's freedom, what we know is coming.

5:56

This isn't a tool we want in Olympia in the county or anywhere in the state.

6:01

In May of 2024, I brought this issue to the city council, mayor, police chief, and city manager.

6:07

At the time, I testified in person at meetings.

6:09

I sent emails and met with Chief Allen in person asking that the city not store this data.

6:15

My point is this issue is not new to you.

6:17

You don't need a long process to address this.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Legislative Advocacy███████████████15%
Procedural█████████9%
Technology and Innovation█████████9%
Budget Equity Analysis████████8%
Land Use Planning████████8%
Public Safety███████7%
Community Engagement██████6%
Surveillance Technology██████6%
Middle Housing████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Olympia City Council Meeting - November 19, 2025

Note: The meeting transcript and minutes list the date as November 18, 2025, but the official meeting date provided for this summary is November 19, 2025.

The Olympia City Council held a regular business meeting on November 19, 2025, addressing a wide range of topics including public comment on automated license plate readers (ALPRs), continuation of a public health emergency for houselessness, the 2026 preliminary budget, legislative priorities, and adoption of several comprehensive plan chapters and housing code amendments. The meeting lasted from 6:00 PM to 10:09 PM.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved the minutes of the November 10, 2025 City Council meeting.
  • Approved a resolution authorizing an agreement between Thurston County, Lacey, Olympia, and Tumwater to support regionally coordinated implementation of the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan.
  • Approved the 2024 Community Development Block Grant Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report.
  • Approved a resolution authorizing an amendment to the Interagency Agreement with the Department of Enterprise Services and funding for the Armory Phase 1 Renovations.
  • Approved a resolution adopting the 2025 Thurston County Hazardous Waste Management Plan.
  • Approved an ordinance imposing a councilmanic public safety sales and use tax of 0.1% (second reading).
  • Approved an ordinance amending the B&O Tax Program (second reading).
  • Approved an ordinance amending B&O tax definitions (first reading, moved to second reading November 25).
  • Approved an ordinance setting 2026 Regular Ad Valorem Tax (first and final reading).
  • Approved an ordinance setting 2026 Excess Ad Valorem Tax (first and final reading).
  • Motion carried 7-0.

Public Comments & Testimony

Public Comment (3:00 PM - 7:40 PM approximately): Over 30 individuals spoke, with the vast majority opposing the city's use of Flock Safety automated license plate readers (ALPRs). Key themes included:

  • Privacy and civil liberties: Speakers argued that ALPRs track all vehicles, creating a surveillance database that can be misused by stalkers, abusers, and federal agencies. Multiple speakers cited cases in other jurisdictions where Flock data was accessed by ICE or used for unauthorized tracking.
  • Sanctuary city contradiction: Many speakers stated that operating Flock cameras contradicts Olympia's sanctuary city status, as data can be accessed by federal immigration enforcement through backdoors or partner agencies.
  • Security vulnerabilities: Commenters noted that Flock cameras run on outdated software with known vulnerabilities and are easily hacked.
  • Public records concerns: A speaker noted that a recent court ruling classified Flock data as public records, leading to massive liability for the city in responding to records requests.
  • Middle housing support: Several speakers, including Lou MacMillan (representing St. John Juan Episcopal Church) and Janae Huber, supported the missing middle housing code amendments, emphasizing the need for affordable housing and compact growth.
  • Budget: Justin Stang spoke during the budget public hearing, urging the council to avoid regressive taxes and to consider long-term sustainability.
  • Other: One speaker (Jerry Inman) raised concerns about standing water on 28th Avenue, and another (David Webb) expressed support for the houselessness emergency declaration.

Council response: Councilmembers Gilman, Madrone, Vanderpool, and Mayor Payne acknowledged the concerns about Flock cameras, noting that a study session on the topic is scheduled for December 2, 2025. Several councilmembers indicated their views are evolving and that they will thoroughly review the information.

Discussion Items

5A. Public Health Emergency for Houselessness (First and Final Reading): Community Planning Director Susan McLaughlin presented an ordinance extending the declaration of a public health emergency related to houselessness, originally passed in 2018. The ordinance enables city departments to work more nimbly and urgently. No public testimony was offered. The council voted 7-0 to approve.

5B. 2026 Preliminary Operating Budget, Utility Rates, Fees: Finance Director Mike Githens presented the budget, noting no changes since the first public hearing. The budget includes a 0.1% public safety sales tax, B&O tax increase, and $1.28 million in reductions to balance the budget. The public hearing was held; one speaker (Justin Stang) commented on tax regressivity. The hearing was closed. Councilmembers discussed the regressive nature of taxes and noted ongoing efforts for state tax reform. The budget will be considered for final adoption in December.

6A. 2026 Draft Legislative Agenda: Legislative Liaison Susan Grisham introduced the new state lobbying team from Capitol Path Consulting. The team presented a draft agenda covering priorities: Deschutes Estuary project, revenue options (including progressive revenue and levy lid lift), housing and homelessness funding, infrastructure protection, and climate funding. Councilmembers discussed the need to narrow the agenda to a top three priorities for the short 60-day session, with emphasis on protecting existing funding (do no harm), advancing revenue reform, and supporting the Deschutes Estuary project. The team will refine the agenda based on feedback and meet with the 22nd Legislative District delegation.

6B. Accept Updated Housing Chapter of Olympia 2045 Comprehensive Plan: Associate Planner Casey Schaufler presented the updated Housing Chapter, which includes a revised displacement map and new policies on reparative justice and Black homeownership, as requested by council. The council voted 7-0 to accept the chapter.

6C. Missing Middle Housing Code Amendments (First Reading): Planning Manager Joyce Phillips presented the amendments to implement state requirements for middle housing (duplexes, triplexes, etc.), ADUs, co-living, and unit lot subdivisions. Key policy decisions include meeting tier one city requirements (allowing up to 4 units per lot, 6 near frequent transit or with affordable housing), using frequent transit routes rather than major transit stops, and increasing building height in low-density zones from 35 to 40 feet. The planning commission and land use committee recommended approval. The council voted 7-0 to approve on first reading and forward to second reading on November 25.

6D. Accept Climate Action and Resilience Chapter: Climate Program Director Dr. Pamela Braff and Climate Resilience Coordinator Natalie Weiss presented the first-ever climate element of the comprehensive plan, covering emissions reduction, adaptation, and environmental justice. The chapter integrates climate policies across all other chapters. Council voted 7-0 to accept.

8A. Referral for Thurston County Food Bank Funding: Assistant City Manager Stacey Ray presented a request for $30,000 in support of the Thurston County Food Bank, which has faced $1.4 million in cuts. Councilmember Cooper proposed $30,000 from council goal funds and the city manager's contingency fund. Councilmember Madrone suggested $15,000 from council goal funds only. After discussion, the council voted 7-0 to approve $30,000.

Key Outcomes

  • Public Health Emergency Extension: Approved unanimously (7-0).
  • Housing Chapter of Comp Plan: Accepted unanimously.
  • Missing Middle Housing Amendments: Approved on first reading (7-0), second reading scheduled for November 25.
  • Climate Action and Resilience Chapter: Accepted unanimously.
  • Thurston County Food Bank Funding: $30,000 approved (7-0).
  • Budget Hearing: Closed; final budget adoption scheduled for December.
  • Legislative Agenda: Draft discussed; final agenda to be refined and presented in January.
  • Closed Session: Postponed to November 25, 2025 meeting.
  • Next Steps: Study session on Flock cameras on December 2, 2025; budget ordinances on December 9; comprehensive plan full adoption in December.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening and welcome to the Tuesday, November 18th, 2025 regular business meeting of the Olympia City Council. For the record, we have a quorum with all council members present tonight. So before we adopt our agenda, I just want to take a moment to mention that this past weekend is a very tragic moment for the City of Olympia with the passing of Dr. Stacey Hicks, who served as the vice chair of our heritage commission and who also uh served three terms on the city's arts commission. Uh this is a very untimely, unfortunate passing. And of course, uh the City of Olympia uh expresses its condolences to her loved ones at this very difficult time. Uh I also uh just want to mention that she was a notable community member outside of her service to the city uh with a number of volunteer opportunities uh that she was afforded and she certainly stepped up and rose to the occasion uh with all sorts of different organizations throughout our community, and so she will be deeply missed, and her presence is certainly uh one that will be missed by a lot of people personally here at the city, uh particularly on the council as well. So I also just want to mention uh that next week's meeting uh will be meeting on Zoom. Uh so it will not be an in-person meeting, and the city council has one agenda item uh that evening on the budget. So uh with that, I need a motion to approve tonight's agenda. So moved. Second. All those in favor of the agenda signify by saying aye. We have an agenda. We have no special recognition tonight, so we're gonna go ahead and move right into public comment, and I'm gonna turn it over to the mayor pro tem. Thank you, Mayor. Uh this is a full room tonight. I see we have a lot of folks that assigned up for public comment in person, and then I think we have quite a few that signed up virtually as well. We'll go ahead and honor that folks took the time to come in person to City Hall tonight. And so I'll call up uh the we'll do in person first, and I'll call up a few names so that you uh can get ready and sort of get in cue. Uh for those of you that are new to public comment, uh you'd public comment uh right here at the stand. Um, and just the mic's already on, so just speak into the mic. You get two minutes to uh provide your public comment and uh a timer is located to your left to my right, just right over there, and it'll begin once you uh begin speaking. And uh there should be a little uh a little uh sound off, or it goes yellow, uh yellow light when uh you have 30 seconds left, I believe. And so then that'll tell you to wrap up your comments. So with that, we have uh Chris Lewis, followed by Leslie Cushman, followed by Desiree Tolliver. And if I do mispronounce your name, I do apologize in advance and please do state your name for the record. Good evening. My name is Chris Lewis. I've been an Olympia resident for the past 10 years, and I'm a public servant, a member of Whipsey 443 local. I'm here today to express my concerns over the city's contract with flock safety and to request that the council move to order the deactivation of all 15 city-owned ALPR cameras, as well as to not renew the contract by the Olympia Police Department. A contract entered into without consent from the council. These count cameras report to a privately owned non-transparent central national database and track the movements of every single vehicle that passes them. Recently, the UW Center for Human Rights has shown in their report leaving the door wide open that federal agencies have accessed cameras in Washington state without permission to do so. Federal searches of flock data from our state have occurred thousands of times with eight Washington police or sheriff's departments along full one-to-one sharing and ten additional agencies having had unauthorized backdoor access. OPD shares its data with 88 other agencies in Washington, including every single one of the agencies that share one-to-one with ICE, all of whom have been shown to have had data accessed by ICE. OPD maintains that a setting viewable on their flock transparency portal precludes federal access to the data. This setting states immigration enforcement is uh prohibited use of the data. However, this use is also listed as prohibited on both Yakma and Lakewood's pages. Those are agencies that have had data shared with ICE. Uh logically, it follows that this setting is not indicative of any real assurance of data safety. ICE could be given access to our data directly or through a side door as a favor by an agency above. As I and many others see it, this is in direct directly opposed to our status as a sanctuary city. I call upon the members of this council to immediately deactivate these cameras. Thank you. Thank you. Please hold your applause. Please hold your applause. Do not do not applaud after comments, please. Thank you.

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