A congresswoman, county commissioner, county manager, sheriff, tribal chair, three mayors and other community leaders walked into a bar in Tenino on Friday.
While the desire to make a punchline is inevitable, the subject matter of conversations around the table at the Sandstone Distillery were no laughing matter. Staffing issues at the Thurston County Sheriff’s office, concerns over security for the county’s election workers, growing fentanyl overdose numbers, lack of valuable city infrastructure in rural towns such as Rainier and Bucoda — all these concerns were listed to U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Washougal, in her first visit to South Thurston county since her appointment in Congress.
The congresswoman listened as the local leaders went through a rap sheet of local problems. She listed her legislative priorities, noting her appointments to the House Small Business Committee and the Committee on Agriculture, where she joins a timber-focused subcommittee.
Noting he’d had the conversation with other federal representatives recently, Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders said while the USDA incentivizes programs for rural communities, county sheriffs who mostly cover rural, unincorporated areas, are often left out of federal grant opportunities.
“We are falling behind desperately with the cities. Last year, we lost, I think, 17 deputies roughly, and ten of them went to cities,” Sanders said. “They pay better.”
When those cities and other law enforcement programs offer signing bonuses in the tens of thousands, Sanders said, his office simply can’t hold on to the people they’re often spending $200,000 to train.
Alongside competing with other offices, Sanders said his biggest challenge in Thurston County after his recent election was combatting low morale. He’s looking for creative ways to boost it, such as allowing deputies to wear cowboy hats.
“At some point, I don’t know where the end is. I don’t know how much worse it will get. We’re at 35 out of 59 deputies currently, for an unincorporated population of 150,000,” Sanders told the representative.
“Wow,” Gluesenkamp Perez responded. “Thank you for taking on this challenge.”
Following this, Commissioner Gary Edwards cut in to say Thurston County had 150 overdose deaths in 2022, comparing that number to being around 10 just five or six years ago. Sanders noted his agency was one of the few in the area with a task force focused on narcotics in Thurston.
“One of the problems, specifically on the safety side of it, is that so often, federal dollars are all pointed at capital. They're pointed at stuff. They will never fund operations. And that's the problem,” Gluesenkamp Perez said. “We're not losing police because they don't have night vision goggles. We're losing them because they're not paid enough. You know? And that is a … problem with the way that federal dollars are getting spent.”
Next, the director of the Tenino Chamber of Commerce voiced concerns on community safety and small business issues, and the congresswoman heard from a Port of Olympia commissioner and representative from the Nisqually Indian Tribe. Officials at the table laughed when noting there were far more issues than Gluesenkamp Perez would find the time to address.
“I am excited to be in a room with so many smart, passionate people who are working so hard for their community. Thank you,” Gluesenkamp Perez said. “I know there are a lot of things you could be doing with your lives in your time, and it's really an honor to get to sit at the table with you all.”
Check out more coverage to come on Gluesenkamp Perez’s tour of Tenino and conversations with Chehalis Tribal leaders at chronline.com.
