Commission Vice Chair, District Three
Vice Chair, Board of Health
Thurston County Washington
2000 Lakeridge Drive, SW
Building 1, Room 269
Olympia, WA 98502-6045
(360) 786-5440
Send an e-mail to Karen
Commissioner Staff: Danielle
Westbrook
(360) 786-5414
Term of Office
On November 3, 2009, Karen was elected to fill the unexpired term in the 3rd district, vacated by former County Commissioner Bob Macleod. On November 2, 2010, Karen was re-elected to office and is now serving her first full term.
Political Affiliation
Democrat
History
Karen served nine years on the Tumwater City Council, and three years on the Tumwater Planning Commission prior to that.
Along with Commissioner Wolfe, Commissioner Valenzuela was a co-founder of the Interjurisdictional Forum on Homelessness in 2003, and now represents Thurston County on its successor organization, the Thurston County HOME Consortium. She helped establish Tumwater's 3-year-old farmers market, is lead on Tumwater's newly established sister city relationship with Mubende, Uganda, and was a leader in the recent adoption of an ordinance to designate a new manufactured home park zone in Tumwater.
Commissioner Valenzuela has been a public health worker for 20 years, and hopes to concentrate her Commission work on preservation of agricultural lands and critical areas in the county, climate change, and sustainability issues.
Represents the Board of Commissioners on
Canvassing Board
Chehalis Basin Partnership
Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority
Chehalis Watershed Cooperative
EMS Council (Medic One)
HOME Consortium
Law and Justice Council (Chair)
Law Library Board
Lucky Eagle 2% Committee
Mayor's Forum
ORCAA
Pacific Mountain Workforce Development Council
TCCOM Administrative Board
Thurston Regional Planning Council
Washington State Association of Counties, Coastal Caucus Committee
Washington State Association of Counties, Legislative
Steering Committee
