Report of the 2024 Triad Meeting

By Gerald Apple and Treacy Duerfeldt

A little history about the Triad
The South Capitol Neighborhood, the State of Washington, and the City of Olympia established the Triad – a three-way, formal relationship – about 10 years ago.

Representatives from the city, the Legislature, the Washington State Department of Enterprise Services (DES) and State Patrol (WSP) and the South Capitol Neighborhood Association (SCNA) meet at least once a year to discuss issues of mutual concern. The goal is to reduce uncertainty about what each entity is doing to address issues related to the capitol campus and the neighborhood and to accelerate solutions. Topics often involve new construction projects on the campus, public safety issues, and visitor parking on and off the campus.

2024 Triad Meeting
This year’s Triad meeting was held on November 21, 2024 from 1:30 to 3:00 pm at the Jefferson Building and was hosted by DES. The purpose of the meeting was to address issues the South Capitol Neighborhood faces and to discuss how the South Capitol Neighborhood Association (SCNA) can work with the City of Olympia, Washington State Patrol and other agencies to make the neighborhood safer and more appealing for its residents.

SCNA representatives included President John Saunders, Vice President Gerald Apple and Treacy Duerfeldt, At Large Member and Chair of the Transportation Committee. Legislative attendees included State Representative Beth Doglio and her legislative assistant, Kevin Snow, and Kasey Schiewe, legislative assistant to State Representative Jessica Bateman.

Washington State Patrol (WSP) representatives included Captain John Matagi, Special Operations Division, and Lieutenant Mike Chapman, Special Operations Division. City of Olympia attendees included Councilmember Clark Gilman, City Manager Jay Burney, Tim Smith – Interim Community Planning & Development Director, Public Works Director Mark Russell, Transportation Director Sophie Stimson, Lieutenant Paul Frailey – Olympia Police Department, Public Works Project Engineer, Joey Jones, Chelsea Baker van Drood – Parking Services Field Representative, Code Enforcement Officer Dalton Maurer, and Project Engineer David Smith.

DES representatives included Chief External Affairs Officer Linda Kent, George Carter III – Assistant Director Buildings & Grounds, Jo Aiken – Assistant Director Capitol Security & Visitor Services, Jordan Corneliusen – Deputy Assistant Director Capitol Security & Visitor Services, Project Director Wesley Kirkman – Legislative Campus Modernization, Buildings & Grounds Parking Manager Bill Talley, and Legislative Affairs Analyst Jimmy Martin.

After introductions, Olympia Police Department (OPD) and WSP representatives spoke on the issue of security. One of the law enforcement agents asked how we could work together to make the neighborhood safer. Rebekah Zeismer, OPD public relations supervisor, has developed a set of recommendations for discouraging crime, including a list of items that should be removed from front yards when a disruptive protest is occurring on Capitol Way. Residents should remove rocks, signs, boards and other items that could be used by protestors to damage neighborhood homes. We do NOT need more broken windows such as what happened at the Helen Sommers Building in 2022.

Treacy and Gerry expressed concerns about vandalism that has occurred in our neighborhood in the past and loud noises created by protestors. Why are these protesters marching south from the state capitol instead of north towards downtown Olympia? Law enforcement representatives were also asked if marchers could be directed away from our neighborhood. They said this would create even more hostility and could create possible litigation involving protestors’ First Amendment rights. Gerry said OPD officers walked behind protestors going down Capitol Way and did not arrest those who were vandalizing the neighborhood. The answer again by OPD and WSP was that they did NOT want to escalate the problem. While empathizing somewhat with this line of thinking, Treacy said he clearly felt that our neighborhood’s right to safety superseded any fear of potential “constitutional” litigation.

The second item discussed at the meeting was improving the Capitol Way safety plan. Short-term solutions were discussed such as updating crosswalk and stopline markings, putting up temporary speed feedback signs, and modifying traffic signals to induce stops and slow down traffic. These have already been partially completed. Some hesitation was expressed regarding the new timings required of the traffic signals, and initially presented as a feasibility issue. In fact, there are concerns about delays in pedestrian crossing. City staff will make their detailed concerns available in December for our review and comment.

The long-term solution – resurfacing and reconfiguring Capitol Way – will be completed by 2030. It will include:

• One travel lane in each direction
• Five-foot wide bicycle lanes in each direction
• Left turn lanes/turn pockets in each direction
• Enhanced crosswalks

The 85th percentile for speed on Capitol Boulevard is 37.5 miles per hour – about 12.5 miles over the speed limit. (The city traffic engineer explained “85th percentile for speed” is the speed below which 85% of all vehicles travel.) We are seeing more law enforcement and electronic signage on Capitol Way, which helps reduce speeding and high-risk driving. Approximately 11,000 vehicles travel each day on Capitol Way.

The third item discussed was maintaining the South Capitol Neighborhood’s character. Completing construction of the Newhouse Building by the start of the 2024-2025 legislative session on January 13th and working on the renovation of the Pritchard Building will bring a lot more vehicle traffic into the South Capitol Neighborhood. Plus, Water Street will be closed during the latter renovation. The last phase of the construction of the Newhouse building – installing and inspecting the elevators – is being accomplished now.

Treacy Duerfeldt said that our neighborhood households are starting to look different. An increasing number of houses are being rented out by lobbyists during the six months they work with legislators and staff. The issue of vacant homes was presented and discussed, and how these homes may provide an attractive nuisance. This ongoing situation may require the SCNA to weigh in on the update of the City of Olympia’s Comprehensive Plan and the corresponding code changes that would be needed to discourage further vacancy issues.

The final topic of discussion was the availability of parking in the neighborhood. John Saunders said it is important that residents register for on-street parking permits by the end of December either at city hall or via the city’s online permit portal. By making the parking permit process somewhat difficult, it will make it harder for lobbyists to get a permit. They should instead be encouraged to park in the state underground east plaza parking garage. A visitor parking sign should be placed near the entrance to the parking garage to encourage lobbyists and visitors to park there.

Final comments were made by individuals during the last 15 minutes of the meeting. Gerald Apple thanked everyone for attending and for listening to our concerns and providing some good solutions.

Link to DES Triad Meeting Notes