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Big Tent Committee finalizes year plan, highlights three priority projects for the commission
Summary
The Big Tent Committee reviewed a color-coded work plan and identified three 'green' projects — a decision‑making project, a budget and legislative preview, and partnership discussions — for committee focus this year; staff will provide materials to the full commission for confirmation.
Chair John Lemekul opened the Feb. 12 meeting of the Big Tent Committee at the Natural Resource Building in Olympia and tasked the group with finalizing a year-long work plan for presentation to the full commission.
Staff member Morgan Carlson walked members through a color-coded table that sorts committee ideas into three buckets: green items that are endorsed and underway, yellow items that are more developed but not yet committed, and orange items that are early-stage brainstorms. Carlson said the green projects the committee intends to pursue this year are the decision‑making project, the budget and legislative preview, and partnership discussions. "These are the ones that are endorsed by the commission," she said.
Several commissioners requested paper copies of the spreadsheet; Carlson agreed to provide hard copies and to adjust the display during the meeting so members could see the top columns. Commissioner Steve Parker sought clarity on whether listing an advisory committee implied a formal commitment; Carlson and Lemekul clarified that only green items are scheduled commitments and that yellow and orange items are retained for potential future development.
Lemekul told the group he had asked staff to compile the commission's voting record for the past four years to help calibrate where the committee should focus. "There was about 150 decisions votes made during the last 4 years," he said, and "75% of those votes were unanimous," a figure he used to note that while most items move easily, a smaller subset require more structured deliberation.
The committee agreed that Carlson and Chair Lemekul should take the committee's current work-plan record to staff and to the full commission to confirm priorities and scheduling. Staff will provide the year-at-a-glance materials to members and to the commission at the next meeting. The committee adjourned early after completing its business.
What happens next: Carlson and Lemekul will iterate the work-plan material with agency staff and present it to the full commission for confirmation.
