E.J. Zita was elected as a Commissioner of the Port of Olympia in 2015 on a promise to work for greater accountability, transparency and environmental responsibility at the Port. She has chosen not to run again in 2021. Matt Crichton interviewed E.J. Zita for Works in Progress. The interview is edited and condensed here.
Posts published in “Issue: October 2021”
The idea that we reap what we sow was probably embedded in the collective consciousness long before it became a Bible verse, but whether it was meant as a warning or a promise is a little less clear. The articles in this issue suggest the verse is just another way…
...but not to us....Northwest Carpenters called a strike ...we are shocked, shocked ...we are surprised, surprised
People sleeping in tents and on park benches are only the most visible of those who suffer from being houseless in Thurston County. For Olympia alone, the 2021 “point in time” count of people experiencing homelessness—notoriously an undercount—found “1,145 people experiencing homelessness in 2021...
The “Appearance of Fairness Doctrine” is crucial to preserving trust in decisions made by judicial officers. Dan Leahy recently filed a complaint showing that Olympia’s Hearing Examiner had violated the fairness requirement by failing to disclose his relationship with businesses near a proposed development. The letter below addresses Council members considering whether to act on the complaint.
Dear WIP, On the eve of a planned extremist action to “demand justice” for right-wing thug Tusitala Toese, I am writing to provide a brief account of what happened the day he was shot. I heard the shooting, but did not witness it. What I did witness were numerous and…
WIP still has funds from our “Readers Review” grant. Each month we publish a list of books. If you’d like to be considered to review one of them, email us and put BOOK REVIEW in the subject line.
The Port of Olympia has a fairly small annual budget but capital assets in the tens of millions. The Port’s five most recent major capital investments totaled over $27 million—obtained largely using public funds. These investments are: the mobile harbor crane, new log loaders, the marine terminal stormwater system, the marina fuel dock, and the Commerce Business Center in Lacey. Every one of the recent commercial investments has failed to support itself.
People on Olympia’s Westside know Grocery Outlet and the Westside Lanes near the intersection of Harrison and Division. Residents know there’s a piece of vacant land next to Westside Lanes where a pedestrian path leads from Jackson Avenue NW to the shopping center. In December 2020, Kyle Schrader and Taylor Wood (dba Crosswater Construction) bought that two-plus acres for a mere $75,000....
Is there a need to designate more rural lands for warehouses? That’s what would happen if Thurston County were to approve the latest request to rezone rural residential land to rural industrial. According to the 2021 Buildable Lands Report, Thurston County already has plenty of industrially zoned land, more than…
What if we lived in a culture where all living beings, human and otherwise had a voice, and where our laws were based on our interdependence with nature? That is the premise of the ever-growing movement for the Rights of Nature which is gaining traction around the world and in Olympia.
The predominant conventional and chemical mode is steadily destroying and degrading soils all around the world. We need a revamped agronomic system that can restore biodiversity, halt soil carbon loss, sequester carbon and ban the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. But bold new approaches are almost never named, much less vigorously advocated.
The mural was an outgrowth of TCAT’s Chrysalis Project in which a series of online meetings held in 2020 engaged over 200 area participants who shared writing, painting and other creative responses to the climate crisis using the lifecycle of a butterfly as thematic inspiration.
Earlier tonight, I was driving home along Harrison Ave around 9pm when I passed a woman with her thumb out. She was very skinny, barefoot, wavering in her walk, and wearing too-large cargo pants tied up with a scarf....
Olympia Port Commissioners should have listened to the guy’s wife. The Port (and the Olympian) celebrated last year, when Bart Lematta bought the 67-year-old Evergreen ferry after it had been seized for nonpayment from the previous owner. At the time of the sale Lematta said, “My wife thinks I’m nuts…
One of the difficulties in discussing Critical Race Theory is that the term has become entwined with the ideas in Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility. Endless disclaimers that Critical Race Theory (CRT) is about systemic rather than individual racism seem specious to those who conflate the idea with the so-called “anti-racism training” ...
The League of Women Voters of Thurston County (LWVTC), in collaboration with Thurston Community Media (TCMedia), invites voters to view candidate forums featuring candidates for: Port of Olympia Commissioners, Districts 2 and 3 Olympia City Council, Positions 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7 Lacey City Council, Position 7 Tumwater City…
Santa Claus is gunning for Joe Biden. The stock market is falling today, in part a reaction to GOP threats to shut down the government: it’s all part of their plan....
Look at us We are of earth and water Look at them It is the same Look at us We are suffering all these years Look at them They are connected Look at us We are in pain Look at them Surprised at our anger Look at us We are…