Budget Crisis Forces Wash. City to Eliminate Police Department

The Tenino City Council has officially dissolved the Tenino Police Department.

The council convened at Tenino City Hall for the council's Tuesday, May 12, meeting, and, among other business, approved Ordinance 943.

Approval of the dissolution ordinance was paired with the approval of a temporary six-month contract with the Thurston County Sheriff's Office (TCSO) for policing services in the Stone City — both of which were approved unanimously.

The contract has the City of Tenino paying $112,365 for policing services up until Sept. 30, with an optional three-month extension costing $56,182.50.

With the TCSO having already been responding to calls in Tenino since April, as previously reported by The Chronicle, Sheriff Derek Sanders explained he along with city staff are planning to hold a second town hall event to gather more input from Tenino residents as to what they expect.

"More conversation needs to be had in the future about what that long-term contract is going to look like," Sanders said.

He hoped to have the long-term contract ready by Jan. 1, 2027.

Tenino Mayor Dave Watterson first announced the Tenino Police Department was on the chopping block back in March, and a town hall was held on March 28. During that town hall, Watterson explained the city faced bankruptcy if the police department remained amid the city having to make interfund budget loan payments.

The interfund budget loans were retractively created after budget misreporting issues between 2021 and 2023 resulted in an estimated $1.6 million from the city's restricted sewer and water funds being spent on non-sewer and non-water items, as previously reported by The Chronicle.

Retroactively creating the loans was required, as it is a violation of state law to spend restricted item budget funds on non-item related expenses.

The city must now pay back the $1.6 million, plus interest, to its own restricted funds. City staff initially hoped to pay off the loans in three years, the payment schedule was extended to 10 years last month by the city council.

While she initially opposed both the TCSO contract and dissolving the Tenino Police Department, as she pushed for other budget cuts and funding alternatives to keep the police department, Tenino Mayor Pro Tem Linda Gotovac stated on Tuesday she accepted the TCSO contract — but still opposed the police department's dissolution.

"I just don't think it's very good protection for our officers, the two that are left," Gotovac said.

Sanders explained the department needed to be dissolved in order to allow for the remaining officers to fast-track their applications.

According to Sanders, civil service rules outlined in state law allow officers to exercise their privilege as Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission certified peace officers to automatically apply for jobs at other policing agencies without interviewing.

However, they can't exercise this privilege until they get an official notice from their current employer that they are being laid off.

"It's a chicken and egg issue in terms of their transition over to the sheriff's office," Sanders said.

He added the TCSO currently has 10 total vacancies and he is always willing to accept lateral transfers from other agencies.

During the March 28 town hall, many Tenino residents expressed concerns about losing their local police department. On Tuesday, Sanders reiterated his deputies were providing the same level of service.

TCSO Lieutenant Malcolm McIver also spoke at Tuesday's meeting. McIver currently supervises the TCSO deputies responsible for patrolling Tenino's neighboring South Thurston County communities of Rainier and Bucoda.

He also frequents both Rainier and Bucoda city council meetings to deliver monthly TCSO call log reports and to hear from residents about concerns they have.

"I can just tell you from speaking with the two other communities that we provide services with — and from somebody outside of that, that has been a small town police officer, compared to someone that's worked in two larger agencies — I can tell you, and I promise you, that the service you folks insist your city get are probably going to surprise you," McIver said. "You won't see a reduction in services you have. I think you'll be surprised to see an increase in those services and the level of service you get from us."

Prior to approving Ordinance 943, Councilor Jeff Eisel thanked the members of the Tenino Police Department for their service.

"I'd like to recognize the service of police officers past and present over the last 120 years. It's been a good run and it's sad to see it go away," Eisel said. " Times change, and I guess it's time now for this, but let's all remember that we've been served well all this time."

Watterson added he hoped to see the last Tenino Police Department officers at a council meeting in the near future in order to honor them.

For more information on this issue, read The Chronicle's coverage of the March 28 town hall at https://tinyurl.com/wxspz66f.

Other council business

During Tuesday's meeting, councilors also approved a lease extension for the Thurston County Economic Development Council's Agricultural Business Innovation Park for a portion of land at the city's wastewater treatment facility on Old Highway 99.

Initially, the lease was for 15 years and had already been amended once to extend it to 17.5 years. Tuesday's amendment extends it another year to 18.5, with the lease having begun on Jan. 1, 2019 according to the council's agenda report.

Additionally, councilors approved surplusing a number of city-owned properties on Marion, Hudson and Green streets.

The Marion Street property, Thurston County parcel number 09490043000, was appraised at a fair market value of $50,000 by Allender Appraisals, LLC, while the Hudson Street property, parcel 74906000900, was appraised at $51,000. All the parcels on Green Street — 09280007000, 09280017000, 74903801301 and 74903800700 — were appraised at $39,000 each, though the last two parcels were appraised together.

Also announced was a ribbon-cutting event marking the opening of the Tenino Food Bank Plus on Friday, May 15, at 1 p.m., at the food bank's new location at 748 Sussex Ave. W.

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