The town of Bucoda, or “Boo-coda” depending on the time of year, has a new mayor at its helm, city councilor and Thurston County Fire District 16 volunteer firefighter Rob Gordon.
As designated mayor pro-tem on the council, he was next-in-line to become the mayor in Bucoda, following former Mayor Steven Purcell’s resignation in a November 2022 city council meeting.
“That put me as temporary mayor for a month and then I was appointed to the position in December,” Gordon said.
Purcell cited health concerns as the reason behind his resignation. He had served as town mayor since May 2021 when he himself, as mayor pro-tem, took over following former Mayor Alan Carr’s retirement after a nearly 20-year long term.
Deeply rooted in the Bucoda community, Gordon’s family homesteaded there in the 1870s and built the farmhouse his brother still lives in. In fact, Gordon is not the first person in his family to be Bucoda’s mayor.
“My grandma was the mayor for the town from 1980 to 1988 I think, and she actually resigned from office because nobody would run against her and that was the only way she could quit — resign and let the mayor pro-tem take over,” Gordon said.
In the around 600-person town of Bucoda, service by city councilors and the mayor is all volunteer. With no compensation and the most responsibility, Gordon said, the mayor is the least sought-after position.
“(Purcell) stepped up to the mayor’s job but somebody else had to take that title. It’s kind of one of those things where you nominate somebody and everybody is just like, ‘one, two, three, not it,’ nobody wants to have to step into that position,” said Gordon.
As for Gordon’s career beyond his newly assigned duties as mayor, he also drives a log truck and dump truck and runs Gordon’s Skookumchuck Ranch in Bucoda. On top of all that, he still serves as a volunteer firefighter, too.
Gordon said he ended up in his role because other council members had more pressing obligations, such as teaching or working for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“It’s not that people don’t want to spend their time being mayor, it just becomes a challenge so it's like, ‘Who’s best suited for it?’ And I guess that became me, which I’m OK with,” Gordon said.
Being Bucoda’s mayor means attending many meetings with county and state officials for various projects and to seek grant funding. If the mayor can’t make it to those meetings, he said, Bucoda can’t see those benefits.
The city recently saw the departure of its public works director and water distribution manager, whose duties Gordon has also assumed searching for a new public works director with help from a neighboring city.
“Tenino’s also helping us right now with our water system management since our public works guy, he found a job doing something else he really wanted to get into,” Gordon said. “I don’t blame a guy for wanting to better his life.”
Many of Bucoda’s residents have also stepped up alongside Tenino officials, he said.
Aside from the big job and all its responsibilities combined with public works, Gordon said he feels his biggest challenge will be keeping Bucoda’s ordinances in line with frequent changes in state law.
“A lot of these changes at the state level happen without any notification to the smaller communities. Next thing you know, there’s case law or legislative changes and suddenly our ordinances are now in violation and need to be changed,” Gordon said.
Busy as he is, Gordon plans to finish out the three years remaining in Purcell’s term. Whether or not he runs again is another story, but this year he’ll run for Purcell’s remaining two-year term.
Like his grandmother, Gordon said he may have to step down when the time comes, but hopes there will be others interested in the job. Hopefully, he said, someone who’s retired.
“That was one thing that made Alan Carr a really good mayor, he was a retired guy, I think he took it on as a hobby,” Gordon said. “It got him out of the house, we got a bunch of things done here in town, he put together the ‘Boo-coda Spook-tacular’ stuff for the month of October and got in with the haunted house which we’ve now taken over.”
