Thurston County Board of County Commissioners

 

Board of County Commissioners
Board of Health

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Location: Thurston County Courthouse, Building One, Room 269

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Mailing Address: 2000 Lakeridge Drive SW, Olympia, WA 98502-1045

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Phone Numbers: (360) 786-5440 - TDD line: (360) 754-2933

Send an e-mail message to all of the Commissioners at the same time

Board of County Commissioners
Cathy Wolfe
District 1
Chair

Send an E-mail to Cathy
Sandra Romero
District 2
Vice-Chair
Send an E-mail to Sandra
Karen Valenzuela
District 3
Commissioner
Send an E-mail to Karen
 

County Administrator's Office

Donald D. Krupp

County Manager

(360) 786-5440

Send an E-mail to Don

 

Robin Courts, Public Records Coordinator (360) 786-5440

Responsibilities

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The Board of County Commissioners is the County's legislative authority and is made up of three commissioners elected to four-year terms. The county is divided into three districts based on population and at the time of election each Commissioner must live in and represent his/her district. The Commissioners are partisan and are nominated in a primary election embracing only their particular district. All voters in the county are given an opportunity in the general election to select the commissioner who will ultimately serve.

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Under the rules devised by each board, the commissioners meet at such frequency and at such locations as deemed necessary, and a chair is elected to preside over these meetings. Thurston County Commissioners meet every Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. in Room 280 of the County Courthouse. If Tuesday is a holiday, the meetings are cancelled for the week.

Budget

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One of the County Commissioners' primary duties is to levy the taxes to operate the county and to adopt a balanced budget for each calendar year. The Commissioners fix the budget amount for each department of the county, but variances and increases can be permitted during the year if a need can be shown. Other elected officials in the county are responsible for their own adopted budget and the County Commissioners are responsible for the operation of budgets under the control of appointed department heads.

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Also within their legislative capacity, the Commissioners are responsible for adopting, amending and repealing all county ordinances (which are essentially laws of the county). These include traffic, zoning, planning and public safety ordinances, and any other ordinance concerning the general welfare of the county.

Administrators

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As administrators, Thurston County Commissioners have appointed a Chief Administrative Officer who is responsible for following through with Board direction for:
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Public roads and public works programs

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Public health services

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Planning and zoning of unincorporated areas

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Emergency services or civil defense programs

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County park and recreation systems

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Other services and programs which are not clearly the responsibility of another elected county official

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The Commissioners have a key role in a wide variety of community boards and commissions that affect citizens within and even beyond their jurisdictions. Commissioners often serve on a variety of multi-county boards (such as library and health), with other public officials, to direct public policy. Within the county structure, they are also responsible for adopting members of county boards and commissions (such as parks and planning).

Judicial

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In their judicial capacity, the Commissioners are often called upon as the first level of appeal to sit in judgment of decisions made by other county officials.  Rezoning recommendations from the planning commission, for instance, are appealed to the Commissioners for review.

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