City Council to vote on the future of library advisory board and homelessness committee

The futures of the Yelm Library Advisory Board and the Homelessness Committee lie in the hands of Yelm city councilors, as they’re slated to vote on the possible elimination of the two groups in the coming weeks at a Yelm City Council meeting.

During the study session on June 4, Mayor Joe DePinto said that during the council retreat, Yelm city councilors discussed the possibility of eliminating the two boards.

Councilor Trevor Palmer stated that he supports the decision to shutter both groups, with Councilor Joshua Crossman adding that city councilors were “pretty unanimous” on closing the committees.

“If there’s ever a need for [Yelm’s Library Advisory Board], if the council decides they ever want to bring it back, they can absolutely do that. Same with the homelessness committee, as well,” DePinto said. “With that, there will be more conversation. We’ll keep both of those up because I believe we have to take a vote on those.”

The mayor added that a resolution will be brought to the council to remove the groups from the municipal code at an upcoming council meeting. DePinto also noted that this is the second meeting, accessible to the public, where the council has discussed removing the two groups.

He added the third discussion will take place prior to councilors voting on the matter.

“The public can absolutely come in and testify one way or another, if they support it or if they don’t support it,” DePinto said. “We’ll make sure the public has the option to do that, and has the ability to know when.”
Councilor Brian Hess asked if a discussion, available to the public, could be scheduled at a meeting prior to the council voting.

“This has been on the agenda now, the different committees, whether we’re going to keep them up or at least review them. I think we have discussed this a few times now,” DePinto said. “I think having it on the actual vote is appropriate, and we’ll give people time to testify. Of course, if they want to send an email to myself or council, we’ll be sure to listen to those as well.”

He added that the vote will not take place during the next Yelm City Council meeting, but residents can still comment at that meeting.