South Capitol Neighborhood Association Board Meeting Minutes
Weds, May 14, 2025 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Lincoln Elementary School library
Note: On May 15, 2025, Gerry Apple made a motion to approve the May 14, 2025 board minutes via email vote. Gordon White seconded. Nine board members voted in favor, and the motion passed.
Introductions and Call Meeting to Order
Members of the South Capitol Neighborhood Association (SCNA) Board in attendance:
John Saunders, President
Gerry Apple, Vice President
Sue Hedrick, Secretary
Morgan Montes, Treasurer
Gordon White, Kelley Dolan, Valerie Hammett, At Large members
John called the meeting to order.
Approval of Today’s Draft Agenda
Gordon made a motion to approve the agenda as presented, Kelley seconded and the motion was approved unanimously.
Treasurer’s Report – Morgan Montes
Morgan sent a written report to the board members, which is at the end of the minutes.
Gordon made a motion to approve the treasurer’s report as presented, Gerry seconded and the motion was approved unanimously.
Create New Board Guidelines – Peter Guttchen, Facilitator
While working on a board member handbook, John said the officers decided some guidelines/ground rules would help the board members do their meetings more efficiently and effectively.
Because Peter Guttchen came highly recommended due to his considerable experience in this area, John asked him to serve as facilitator at one of our meetings, sharing ideas and helping get us started. Peter is the vice president of the Northeast Neighborhood Association Board and was the first chair of the Coalition for Neighborhood Associations (now known as the Council of Neighborhood Associations).
Peter said that, as with most diverse groups, there are challenges with how folks communicate, make decisions, and interact in meetings, and ground rules help ensure that they are functioning effectively.
He referenced a one-page handout that John sent out beforehand and distributed at the meeting. It listed some common reasons groups establish ground rules (taken from the Facilitator School website: https://www.facilitator.school/blog/ground-rules), and included a sample of ground rules organized by three themes – Organized, Participatory and Focused, and Productive (from the Olympia CNA’s Feb 20009 bylaws).
Board members then began to draft their own ground rules, which Morgan captured real time on a large screen. The session was very collaborative and insightful. Board members felt comfortable pointing out items they personally felt could benefit them – with the goal of keeping meetings on track and ensuring that all members are heard.
Some of the items under the Participatory/Focused and Productive themes included:
- Letting others finish their thoughts and being mindful of tone and body language
- Where it feels appropriate, paraphrase what has been said by another, so understanding is gained
- Welcoming different opinions
- Focusing on interests, not position
- Acknowledging the contributions of others before contributing
- Establishing a safe space
- “Strong opinions, loosely held” – you can express passion about something, but also keep an open mind
- Acknowledging the different levels of contributions that board members are able to make, and not applying pressure to do more
Some items under the Organized theme included:
- Using a “Parking Lot” list, capturing items that could be brought up at a later date for possible discussion and action
- Calling for agenda items before the next meeting, and letting board members know if there will/will not be a meeting, showing respect that their time is valuable
- Sending agendas out ahead of time, adding start/end times to items on the agenda, adding a role of timekeeper
- Setting aside time on the agenda for New Business/New Ideas to be added
- Posting the ground rules on a wall during the meeting to ensure they are seen and being followed
John asked the group if, in his role as president and facilitator of the board meetings, there is something he should be doing differently to encourage participation by all members, so no one is left out? Peter offered a suggestion – perhaps asking quieter members at appropriate times, “Is there anything you would like to share before we move on?”
Kelley asked Peter if he had suggestions on managing conflict in meetings? He suggested that everyone be responsible for ensuring the ground rules are followed, and posting them in a prominent place and referring to them would be helpful.
He pointed out a rule called ELMO (Enough, Let’s Move On), saying that anyone in the meeting could say “ELMO” to indicate it is time to move on to the next topic. This could be used to keep discussions from getting bogged down.
Once ground rules have been established, Peter suggested that time could then be set aside at each board meeting to debrief on what went well/what could be improved.
The board members thanked Peter for his invaluable assistance in helping them become better organized and more productive and supportive of each other.
John asked Peter about next steps. He suggested organizing the ground rules by theme, sharing them with all board members and, ultimately, incorporating them in the bylaws.
Kelley made a motion to establish a subcommittee to refine the draft ground rules and get them ready for the board’s July meeting. Gordon seconded, and the motion was unanimously approved.
Gordon, Gerry and Sue volunteered to serve on the subcommittee with Kelley.
June 11th Annual Meeting Preparation – John Saunders
John said the South Capitol Neighborhood Association’s annual meeting will be held on Weds, June 11th from 7-8 pm at the Lincoln School cafeteria.
Our bylaws require us to hold an annual meeting each year sometime in the month of June, and 25 members of the neighborhood association must be present to constitute a quorum.
The bylaws also specify what must take place during the annual meeting. These include: electing new board members (or re-electing current ones), reading the minutes of the previous board meeting, giving reports (President and Treasurer), and transacting any other business mentioned in the notice, then adjournment.
Morgan said there will again be a drawing for a $100 gift certificate to Vic’s Pizzeria as a way to encourage members of the neighborhood association to attend. Gordon and Kelley volunteered to staff the signup tables (one to register new members and one to check off current members). Gerry volunteered to greet attendees at the door. Light refreshments will be provided.
The cafeteria will be available at 6 pm, an hour before the event, for set up.
Gordon reported that the members of the nominating committee have been reaching out to neighborhood residents who might be interested in becoming board members. So far, two have indicated a willingness to join.
Of our current 16 board members, seven have terms up this year, and three of the seven will be leaving the board. Our bylaws require us to have no fewer than 10 and no more than 20 members on the board. Terms are staggered and each term is for two years.
May 21st Housing Affordability Forum – John Saunders
John mentioned that the City of Olympia and the Council of Neighborhood Associations are hosting a Housing Affordability Forum on Weds, May 21st from 5:30 – 8 pm in the Olympia City Hall Council Chambers. All community members are encouraged to attend.
John will attend the forum on the board’s behalf and report on it at our July board meeting.
Committee Reports
Fall Barbeque/Social
The date for the Fall Barbeque/Social has not yet been set, but it will be held in early September. Last year’s event was held on Sunday, Sept 8th – the first weekend after Labor Day. Gerry said he will make an announcement at our June 11th annual meeting and ask for volunteers to help plan and put on the event.
Conversion of Residences to Businesses
John said the SCNA Board sent a letter to Dani Madrone, Jim Cooper, and Robert Vanderpool, members of the City of Olympia’s Land Use & Environment Committee, expressing concerns with a proposal to allow small scale neighborhood business and eliminating residential zoning in neighborhoods.
This proposal was discussed at the committee’s April 24, 2025 meeting: https://olympia.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=2860
Sue suggested the letter be shared with our neighborhood residents to help keep them in the loop. Gordon said he will draft an article with a link to the letter for John to post on our website. A link to the post will also be sent to our neighborhood distribution list.
Traffic
Gerry said that he would love to see the city’s speed advisory signs kept up longer in our neighborhood. Gordon reminded everyone that this came up in March when Sophie Stimson, transportation director, and Dave Smith, transportation engineer, with the City of Olympia attended our board meeting to give us an update on traffic solutions for Capitol Way/Boulevard.
Sophie told the board members then that the city only has a few of these signs and there is a huge demand for them from other neighborhoods. She said that moving them occasionally helps keep drivers from getting too used to them there and then not seeing them. And she noted that speeding is a problem throughout the city, not just in our neighborhood.
Gerry said he will follow-up with Sophie on this and also get an update on recent improvements that have occurred. He will report back to the board in July.
Parking
John, Valerie, Gerry and Collum Liska attended a Triad meeting with representatives from the City of Olympia and the state on April 28, 2025 about parking issues. A summary of the meeting is at the end of the minutes, below the Treasurer’s Report.
Motion to adjourn
Gordon moved to adjourn the meeting, Morgan seconded, and the motion was approved. The meeting ended at 8:28 pm.
SCNA Annual Meeting – Weds, June 11, 2025 7 – 8 pm, Lincoln Elementary School cafeteria
Next SCNA board meeting – Weds, July 9, 2025 6:30 pm, Lincoln Elementary School library
Written Reports
May 2025 Treasurer Report
Period: 04/01/2025 – 4/30/2025
Business Prime Savings $25.00
Innovator Checking Ending Balance $1684.19
Innovator Checking Beginning Balance $2,063.31
Difference $379.12
Recent Income: $68.79
Recent Expenses:
Google Suite $7.91
Insurance $440.00
Total $447.91
This month, we renewed our annual liability insurance policy. Our new documents were mailed to us on May 1st, and once received, will be scanned and put into our Google Drive. There was no premium change from last year.
During the April 29th City Council Meeting, the Olympia City Council approved more than $33,000 in neighborhood matching grant allocations for 2025 to support 10 community-driven projects across the city. The South Capitol Neighborhood Association was awarded $5,000 for our annual membership meeting and BBQ Social. This grant is a reimbursement grant and requires a 50% match from our association.
We have costs in May of $652.51 for the flyer for our annual meeting in June. We will need to record our meeting planning time on the volunteer matching grant attachment 4B (Volunteer Timesheet) during the 5/14/25 meeting. Our annual budget is updated with actuals through April and we are hitting our assumptions.
You can read more about the City’s grant here: https://www.thejoltnews.com/stories/olympia-approves-33000-grant-allocation-to-support-neighborhood-projects,19792
Here is a link to our annual budget.
Triad Parking Meeting
April 28, 2025
Attendees: South Capitol Neighborhood Association (SCNA) – John Saunders, Valerie Hammett, Collum Liska, Gerald Apple. City of Olympia – Thanh Jeffers, Garth Edwards, Brooke Ison, Chelsea Baker van Drood. Washington State Department of Enterprise Services (DES) – Bill Talley
Overall, SCNA representatives said that parking during the legislative session was much better this year than last year.
- Near 17th and Sylvester, there were fewer issues, and Collum noted that there weren’t as many vehicles receiving multiple tickets on their windshield.
- Maple Park was better than the last few years, although Valerie says she forgot to renew the residential permits for her two vehicles until about two weeks ago and, despite parking on the street regularly, she did not receive any tickets.
- 18th and Franklin usually has no issues, and John says he saw enforcement go by a few times. He does have an issue with a truck that appears to be abandoned but has not received any tickets.
- 18th and Capitol was fine this year. No issues with vehicles overstaying their welcome.
- The information booths on campus seemed to have more accurate information this year and/or were better at disseminating it. Bill verified that staff was likely better prepared to handle parking questions this year.
There are issues with vehicles on 18th Ave parking in driveways in such a way that they block the sidewalk and make it difficult to get around. Parking Services said that this should be addressed and staff will be reminded to be vigilant.
Lately, there have been many big rallies at the Capitol. Gerald said he is happy to see this, but wonders if the East Plaza Garage can be available for the public to use on these days. Bill said that all visitor lots are free on evenings and weekends and he will look into posting this so that the public is aware. This does not apply to the employee lots that are for employees only, 24/7.
During the 73 business days of the legislative session this year in zones 1, 2, and 3, Parking Services staff:
- Spent 324.5 hours enforcing (an average of 4.4 hours per day)
- Issued 797 citations
- Found that approximately 2% of license plates were flagged by license plate reading cameras for ticketing (Update: this statistic was prepared for our initial Feb. 21st meeting. After looking at the numbers for the entire session, the number is now 6.6%.)
SCNA reps expressed that they foresee issues with the Middle Housing changes in the City’s upcoming Comprehensive Plan. These changes would allow businesses to be established in any residential neighborhood. They fear this will make parking far worse. They currently have around 15-17 houses within a two-block area that belong to various businesses for the exclusive purpose of providing office space to their lobbyists during the session. These houses sit vacant throughout the non-legislative session months. Creating policies that ensure these homes are filled with families year-round would help strengthen the community.
Paid parking on 16th Ave is simply awaiting the arrival of the PayByPhone signs. The signs have already been ordered, but it is taking longer than expected.
There have been frequent issues with vehicles (mostly residents’) parking too close to stop signs and crosswalks on 18th and 19th Avenues where they intersect Capitol Way. Parking Services will ensure that staff are addressing this.
Parking Services recently updated the price of citations.
- Overtime tickets are now $25 (formerly $20)
- Chain tickets are now $50 (formerly $40)
Bill said that they recently created a new website for visitors to the Capitol. He will send out a link.
Some folks in the SCNA have suggested designating a portion of Maple Park as parking for residents only.
SCNA members noted that communication with the City has greatly improved recently and has resulted in much better outcomes for the residents of South Capitol.
South Capitol Neighborhood Association 