by Pat Tassoni

I have presented my evidence as detailed in last month's WIP to the city council during Public Communications. My claim is that the ODA excludes a class of residential citizens from full participation in their organization, which is inconsistent with requirements of the city's Neighborhood Association program. The only reason that this matters, since the ODA is a business association, is that the city has recognized them as a Neighborhood Association and has funded them from that program for years. At my public testimony, Mayor Foutch lectured me about how the city doesn't give . . .

Pat Tassoni testifies to the City Council about Olympia recognized neighborhood associations and asked the Council to investigate the Olympia Downtown Association (ODA) for non-compliance of City neighborhood association regulations. (Photo by Drew Hendricks)

by Pat Tassoni

Follow-up Inquiry into the ODA

Acting on the information that Beth Ward presented with her article, "An Inquiry into the ODA", which originally appeared in last month's issue of The Voice of Olympia, I reviewed the city files on neighborhood associations, specifically the Olympia Downtown Association. It is clear that the ODA does not meet the city's eligibility standard for classification as a neighborhood association because they have repeatedly violated the annual reporting requirements through the entirety of the city file, which dates back to 2002 (the 2004 report was absent . . .

Like the dysfunctional love affair between the City of Olympia and the ODA; sometimes it's just a little hard to look at.