The Olympia Standard

Dirk Marler is a longtime advocate for unifying Washington's fragmented court system. As a Yakima County District Court judge from 1988 to 2003, Marler experienced firsthand the confusion caused by the state’s patchwork of local courts. Later, as head of the court services division at the Washington State Administrative Office of the Courts, he participated in a major early-2000s initiative called "Justice in Jeopardy", which aimed to modernize and regionalize the courts. Today, he help us parse the large issues in play as the City of Olympia and Thurston County negotiate how to combine our court systems. InvestigateWest: ‘It’s an uphill battle’: Decades-long effort to unify Washington’s court system again falls short Washington Courts: Justice in Jeopardy

On this episode, I read my blog post "Don't think of an Olympia" from Olympia Time, revisiting one of my longest-running gripes: the use of “Olympia” as a lazy shorthand for state government. I explore why this rhetorical habit is more than just annoying, it shapes how people think about power, accountability, and democracy. Drawing on philosophy, civics, and the evolving nature of legislative work, I argue that language matters and urges journalists and political commentators to be more precise. Plus, there are some practical tips for anyone covering state government to avoid flattening complex realities, or alienating a whole town. Want to change how people think about democracy? Start with how we talk about it.

In this episode of The Olympia Standard, we reflect on the life and impact of Gil Carbone. He was a key but often overlooked figure in Olympia’s history. Gil helped lead the transformation from a commission-style government to the council-manager system Olympia has today and served on the city council from 1982 to 1991, including two years as Mayor Pro Tem. We share a classic Gil story about his fiery stand against state interference in local parking enforcement, and we’re joined by his daughter, Carol Carbone, who paints a vivid picture of Gil as a driven, charismatic, and deeply engaged parent and community leader. For more about Gil’s pivotal role in city government reform, check out Episode #41: City Government Structure

In this episode of The Olympia Standard, we dive into the city’s now-dormant effort to revise its Memorandum of Understanding with neighborhood associations and explore how representative those groups really are. We bring academic and personal insights into why public participation in local government remains so limited, from structural complexity and lack of access to the outsized influence of well-resourced voices. We also consider what it takes to make local democracy more inclusive, transparent, and effective.

I take a look back at a couple of blog posts I've written in the last couple of years about corporate home ownership in Thurston County and include some updates for this year. This is a pretty short episode where I read you back some prewritten material. If you're really into this topic, I appeared on the Nerd Farmer podcast just less than a year ago talking about the same topic: https://nerdfarmpod.com/2024/05/26/how-corporate-landlords-are-driving-up-rents-emmett-oconnell-olympia-time-219/ Here are the old posts where I've covered this issue in the past. 2021: https://olympiatime.com/2021/07/08/the-scale-of-out-of-town-real-estate-investment-in-thurston-county-is-small/ 2024: https://olympiatime.com/2024/05/10/re-examining-the-out-of-town-or-just-corporate-real-estate-investment-in-thurston-county/

Hey! If you're reading these show notes, I want to thank you a ton! We both got through 2024! And you in particular didn't cull this podcast from your feed. This is a restart episode, so I take some time to explain what happened over the last year and what the plan is going forward. I also read an interesting recent blog post I wrote at Olympia Time about our particular brand of racism in the Pacific Northwest and why it matters. Olympia Time: What I’m doing here and how you can help Olympia Time: The Ku Klux Klan in Olympia and what we should remember

We are joined by Senator Sam Hunt to review the legislative session just past and talk about what Olympia got from Olympia. We also delve into his political history and the history of our community as we look back on his year's of service.

We have been slow rolling through a very large discussion on school closures since last summer. We sit down with three different community members on how we got here, where we've been before and what we need to do now. Guests: Maria Flores, Olympia School Board Kelcy Schaffer, OSD4ALL Russ Lehman, former Olympia School Board OSD School Efficiency Review page OSD4All Closure Forum

Robert Vanderpool just started his job on the Olympia City Council. So, to get to know Olympia's new policy-maker, we asked him some questions about himself, about where he's coming from and what he's been up to since joining the council. And about Baltimore and about why you shouldn't like the Orioles. The really cool Olympia City Council meeting where Robert was elected to council using Ranked Choice Voting

We conducted a couple of interviews about how the Multifamily Tax Exemption (MFTE) impacts the city in terms of growth, housing affordability and finances. We sat down with Darian Lightfoot from the city in the first segment to go over recent changes in Olympia's MFTE. In our second segment, with talked to Robert Pantley and Angela Rozmyn from Natural and Built Environments to talk about their experiences statewide with the MFTE. Natural and Built Environment: https://www.naturalandbuilt.com/ We discussed a specific kind of city landscape analysis that looks at city infrastructure costs and tax productivity. A good example in the Pacific Northwest is one conducted in Eugene, OR: https://www.urbanthree.com/case-study/eugene-or/ As a good, all-around, backgrounder on the MFTE, the state Department of Commerce is hard to beat: https://www.commerce.wa.gov/serving-communities/growth-management/growth-management-topics/planning-for-housing/multi-family-housing-property-tax-exemption-program/

Today we hear from Jess Tourtellotte-Palumbo, a candidate for Olympia School board. Interviewing Jess is Howard Rosenfeld, an old friend of the podcast who is stepping in this season to do at least one candidate interview. Jess and Howard talk about her background, the recent history of the school board and how we can find a path forward.

We brought back host emeritus (and newly crowned friend of the podcast and I suppose city council member) Dani Madrone! We were also joined by Olympia city council member Dontae Payne! Jemmy was there and he got on mic! It was wild! And guess who else was there? So many of you! Thanks so much for everyone who came out! And thank you, listener, for enjoying our show in a new segmented format, now with Trivia and a Tip of the Hat!

In the primary part of this episode, we visit with Darian Lightfoot, who is leading the City of Olympia's response to the homelessness crisis. She talks about the One Olympia plan, the city's 2020 blueprint to respond to homelessness. We also get into housing preservation, renter protections and what we can do to open up housing capacity in every Olympia neighborhood. Before we get to Darian, though, I talk about Mayor Dick Abram and how we've been here before. Actually, Olympia: What is the city even doing about homelessness?

In the first half of this episode, we sit down with Yvonne Knutson (Office of Financial Management) and Maurice Perigo (Department of Enterprise Services) to talk about how state offices are contracting all around Olympia and our region. Second, we visit with official Friend of the Podcast Mike Reid to go over how these office contractions will impact Olympia going into the future.Here is some additional reading:The Washington Standard (hey nice name, where'd you find it?): State looks to dump leased real estate as remote work leaves offices empty The Olympia Subreddit discussion on the above article Senate State Government & Elections work session on post COVID-19 office space needs (March 2023)

Today we're doing our traditional Sine Die (end of the legislative sesssion) episode, but with a Housing Twist. The Olympia Standard sits down with Representative Jessica Bateman (D-Olympia) to talk about what Olympia got from the state legislature. But we specifically detour into the long-ish history of where the housing legislation that marked this year's session came from. Hint: it came from Olympia.

The state legislature is about to act on statewide zoning reform that would adopt much the same policy that we've been passing in Olympia for years now. To take a look at our own history, and to talk about how it impacts the debate in the legislature, we sat down with Janae Huber with Olympians for People Orientated Places. I also read a version of two essays that I've written on Olympia housing history, and how it relates to zoning reform and racial justice.

This is a non-numbered, out of the ordinary episode of the Olympia Standard. Ken Balsley passed away last week, and I thought it would be okay to share a conversation I had with him on his podcast a few years back. Maybe a little dated, but I thought you might get a kick out of it. I often got a kick of of Ken, even though I often disagreed with him. You can download the episode here. Speaking of which, here are two posts I wrote last year where Ken and I severely disagreed, which I referenced in the episode. We should be able to rename Priest Point Park if we feel like it. And Squaxin Park makes perfect sense. In response to "In Defense of Priest Point Park"

The Olympia School Board filled a vacancy in November by choosing Talauna Reed, a vocal activist and candidate for mayor last year city council last year. In this episode, we chat with just recently former school board President Maria Flores and recently appointed Reed. We talk about the school district's response coming out of the COVID pandemic, the pivot towards equity and the appointment process. We last spoke with Maria in 2019 in Episode #49. You can download the episode here.

As a community, we have been through a lot in the last three years economically. What path the city's economic future will take will depend a lot on a new plan being developed by the city, Olympia Strong. We're welcoming back Mike Reid and Amy Buckler, two verified friends of the podcast, to discuss the start up of Olympia Strong. You can refer back to two past episodes on the city's economy with Mike (58 and 82). Amy previously appeared on an episode about Downtown. You can lend your voice to Olympia Strong now by filling out the city's survey here. Download the episode here.

Between 1960 and 1980, Olympia and Thurston County went through a massive change. From a sleepy timber town with a state capitol building, Olympia grew (and continues) to grow by leaps and bounds. Compared to neighboring counties, Olympia has evolved into something new. And, the elements of what that newness came from is discussed by Don Martin and Anna Schlecht. They talk about OlyWA days of Change, an online community and book project about the history of Olympia between 1960 and 1980. Download the episode here.