Olympia City Council votes to end 3 advisory bodies, plans new approaches to community engagement 

A trio of advisory bodies are going to sunset, while another one is going be restructured, after a year-long evaluation of the groups in Olympia.

The Olympia City Council approved a resolution that sunsets the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC), Design Review Board, and Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee (PRAC). 

The resolution also calls for the Social Justice and Equity Commission (SJEC) to be restructured into a more focused, project-based role. The city council made the decision at a meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 20.

Community Engagement Program Specialist Margo Morales said the evaluation began in 2025 to assess the effectiveness of council-appointed advisory bodies, identify barriers to participation and improve alignment with priorities.  

Through research, stakeholder feedback, and discussions with the Community Livability and Public Safety Committee (CLPS), Morales said the city identified a nubmer of challenges.

Those challenges included difficulty maintaining meeting quorums, unclear expectations about purpose and impact, and work that did not always align with council priorities.  

CLPS unanimously recommended discontinuing the three advisory bodies and restructuring the SJEC at a meeting on Sept. 23.  

Under the approved plan, the BPAC will wrap up its current work plan in March 2027, with the Olympia Planning Commission taking on future bicycle and pedestrian issues.  

The Design Review Board will also conclude its current work plan in March 2027, with design review shifting to an administrative process within community development.  

Morales said streamlining the process would help the city meet land-use timelines.  

PRAC will end its work following the Parks Master Plan update, expected in early 2028. Future parks projects could use targeted engagement methods, such as steering committees or community collaborators.  

The SJEC would shift to a focused work plan of one or two projects annually, with meeting schedules determined by project needs rather than a fixed monthly schedule.  

Community engagement concerns 

The city has 14 council-appointed advisory bodies. Morales said their primary purpose is to provide “judicious advice from a community member perspective to the city council.” 

Council member Robert Vanderpool questioned how the changes would ensure community input reaches the council.  

He expressed concern that BPAC recommendations had sometimes stalled at the staff level and questioned whether transferring its work to the planning commission would resolve the issue.  

Vanderpool briefly chaired BPAC before joining the city council in January 2024.  

Morales said the evaluation found some advisory body projects did not align with council priorities, raising questions about whether advisory bodies were always the most appropriate way to gather public input.

“Maybe actually the advisory body was not the appropriate tool because … advice went to staff that did not ultimately come to decisions that you were being asked to weigh in on.” 

Morales outlined a proposed community engagement tool kit designed to help staff select methods suited to each project.  

The options range from sharing information and gathering feedback through Engage Olympia to working with community ambassadors, community collaborators, community academics and advisory bodies.  

According to Morales, the approaches offer different levels of public involvement, from informing residents to collaborating with them, and require varying amounts of staff time and resources.  

She added the tool kit would help the city balance those demands and choose appropriate engagement methods for each project.  

Morales used the anticipated 2028 Transportation Master Plan update as an example. She said staff would present a community engagement proposal to the council, which could provide guidance on how residents should be involved. Staff would then use the selected methods to inform the plan.  

The next steps include bringing forward municipal code amendments related to the advisory bodies and implementing improvements to recruitment, onboarding and work planning.