Lacey City Council holding monthly dinner meetings

The City of Lacey has started hosting monthly “dinner meetings” to discuss local issues without action being taken on any agenda items.

On Tuesday, May 6, the Lacey City Council held its second dinner meeting. The meetings are open to the public, though they are not recorded or broadcast. 

 At the May 6 meeting, council members discussed their upcoming joint school board meeting with North Thurston Public Schools which will be held on May 13.

The meeting will be “fishbowl” style, where attendees and hosts split into groups to discuss topics, and then come together to share what they talked about.

The theme of the meeting will be community safety, including things like substance abuse and vaping in schools, as well as homelessness. 

 Lacey City Council members also talked about some frustrations with the Visitor and Convention Bureau (VCB) involving transparency of funds, getting meetings on Zoom, and how members of the executive board are chosen.

Members mentioned how taxpayer funds are used for the VCB, but the budget is not easily available to find just how the funds are being used. Concern was also expressed about $140,000 being spent on a website for the organization. 

 The council also talked about the FBI taking over the investigation of the arson of Tesla charging stations near Target, future use of the old buildings, as well as the upcoming Purple Heart Month in August.