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Cities press for clearer reporting and propose third-party review of Regional Housing Council processes
Summary
Tumwater and other jurisdictions asked the Thurston County Regional Housing Council on June 22 for standardized budget displays, clearer performance metrics and an external review to improve transparency and trust; county staff agreed to meet with Tumwater and return with recommendations.
Representatives from Tumwater and several RHC member jurisdictions urged the Thurston County Regional Housing Council on June 22 to improve how it shares budget and performance information and to consider external expertise to standardize reporting and evaluation.
Council Member Megan Sullivan (speaking on behalf of Tumwater) said a compiled list of questions from Tumwater and others showed "significant opportunities for us to do better with communication and transparency," and recommended outside support to standardize how budget information, scoring and outcomes are presented to elected officials and the public. Mayor Lena Dalhoff of Tumwater acknowledged the harm caused by the timing of raising those questions and said she would work to rebuild trust while stressing she did not intend to hold up service funding.
Some council members, including Nick Dunning of Lacey, described long-standing concerns about accountability and called for an independent review or audit. Other members and advisory-board representatives warned that pausing or delaying contract renewals would harm people who rely on the services. Dana Evans, a non-voting RHC member and chair of the Homeless Services Advisory Board, said many monitoring and reporting requirements already exist and cautioned against overstating gaps in oversight.
County staff and Thurston County Manager Leonard Hernandez proposed that county staff meet with Tumwater representatives to frame options and return to the RHC with joint recommendations; several jurisdictions said they were willing to participate. Members also discussed whether the follow-up should be a cost-bearing consultant, a business/operational audit, or staff-led process improvements and proposed a subcommittee or an agenda item at a future meeting to define scope and funding sources.
The council did not take binding action to hire a consultant at the June 22 session but directed staff to consolidate the answers to Tumwater's questions into a single spreadsheet and to bring recommendations back to the RHC for deliberation.
