Chalk Line Magazine May/June 2017

Chalk Line May/June 2017

MAGAZINE

Develop a Safety Culture!

PLUS: to Keep

ing ble. k r o W B OM ng Afforda Housi

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: REX AWARDS

AUCTION GOLF TOURNAMENT

TOUR OF HOMES

Hire the experts.

R.O.I.I. SELECT ®

R.O.I.I.® SELECT—BIAW’s retrospective rating program—employs a made-to-order personalized approach to workers’ comp solutions. All R.O.I.I.® SELECT member participants receive: Outcome-based Claims Assistance Return-To-Work Options Program Risk Management Services Safety Services

Retraining Assistance Program Kept On Salary Program L&I Audit Assistance Claim Investigations and Litigation

Compare R.O.I.I.® SELECT’s services with other programs and then decide who you should hire.

To find out how you can hire the experts at R.O.I.I.® SELECT, contact us (360) 352-7800 or enroll@biaw.com.

YOU CAN’T BE AN EXPERT AT EVERYTHING AND YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE TO.

Let the experts at R.O.I.I.® SELECT start working for you today.

Building Industry Association of Washington

111 21st Avenue SW | Olympia, WA 98501 | 360-352-7800 | BIAW.com

CONTENT FEATURES

Page 4

MESSAGE FROM THE 2017 OMB PRESIDENT Page 5

REX AWARDS/TOUR OF HOMES/ CHEFS ON TOUR PAGE 8-9

Is it time to review your company safety culture?

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) employers spend $170 billion on workplace accidents nationwide.

6

2017 Golf Classic!

Page 7

MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE OFFICER Page 10

GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS HIGHLIGHTS

11

The BIG Home & Garden Show

Page 12-13

MESSAGE FROM THE GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS DIRECTOR Page 14

NEW & RENEWING MEMBERS

Interested in sharing your expertise, opinions or comments with Chalk Line readers?

Please contact Angela White at angela@omb.org or (360) 754-0912 to discuss the opportunity to write content for Chalk Line.

Chalk Line May/June 2017

LOOKING AHEAD-MEETINGS AND EVENTS May 9 at 4:00 pm Executive Committee meeting Olympia Master Builders Office

May 24 at 8:00 am - Certified Erosion and Sediment Control Lead (CESCL) Olympia Master Builders Office

June 9 at 12:00 pm - Tour of Homes Committee meeting Olympia Master Builders Office

May 9 at 4:30 pm - Board of Directors meeting Olympia Master Builders Office

May 25 at 8:00 am - Day 2 - Certified Erosion and Sediment Control Lead (CESCL) Olympia Master Builders Office

June 13 at 4:00 pm - Executive Committee meeting Olympia Master Builders Office

May 10 at 9:00 am - Marketing Strategies for Today's Contractor Olympia Master Builders Office May 10 at 12:30 pm Membership Drive Olympia Master Builders Office May 10 at 6:00 pm Lewis County Chapter meeting Location TBA. Check omb.org May 16 at 4:00 pm Associates Council meeting Olympia Master Builders Office May 18 at 11:30 am - Membership Luncheon - REX Awards!

Ricardo's Kitchen and Bar Event Space May 19-21 - The Lewis County Home & Garden Show For more info: chamberway.com/2017home-garden-show/ NW Sports Hub, Centralia, WA May 23 at 4:00 pm - The Affordable Housing Council Olympia Master Builders

May 25 at 4:00 pm Government Affairs Committee meeting Olympia Master Builders Office May 26 at 8:00 am - Certified Erosion and Sediment Control Lead (CESCL) RECERTIFICATION Olympia Master Builders Office May 31 at 11:00 am - ROII: The ABCs of Claims Management Class Olympia Master Builders Office June 2 at 6:00 pm - OMB Auction Olympic Flight Museum June 7 at 6:00 pm - Grays Harbor Chapter meeting Geppetto's, Montesano, WA June 8 at 4:00 pm Beer With a Builder Location TBA. Check omb.org June 9 at 8:00 am - First Aid/CPR Class Olympia Master Builders Office

June 13 at 4:30 pm - Board of Directors meeting Olympia Master Builders Office June 15 at 11:30 am - Membership Luncheon Ricardo's Kitchen and Bar Event Space June 20 at 4:00 pm Associates Council meeting Olympia Master Builders Office June 20 at 5:30 pm Mason County Chapter meeting El Sarape-Downtown Shelton, WA June 22 at 4:00 pm Government Affairs Committee meeting Olympia Master Builders Office June 28-30 - BIAW Board Meetings The Davenport Hotel, Spokane, WA Meetings and Events are subject to change.

For more details on these upcoming OMB events, go to www.omb.org.

Chalk Line • 3

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

A Year in Motion!

T

his year is flying by quickly but we still have so much to look forward to.

Thanks to the solid leadership from 2017 Chair John Erwin of John Erwin Remodeling, the sponsors and vendors, and the staff at OMB, we had another successful BIG Home & Garden Show in April despite the less than sunny weather.

Booth sales were the best they’ve been in years, and we had a solid attendance number. I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.

“COM

And, talking about flying, you'll see below that our 2017 Auction, “Come Fly With Me,” is right around the corner on

This is the reason I will be attending the OMB Auction. I am looking forward to bidding on some great items, and I hope you will join me.

Besides the fun we have, the Auction serves a great purpose for OMB. The funds raised support the Government Affairs Program. OMB employs a full-time staff person that monitors, participates with, testifies in front of, and

For those of you who don’t know, the Auction also raises money so that OMB can provide scholarships to students planning to study in construction-related fields. In 2016, we established the OMB Education Foundation, a 501(c)3. The formation of the Education Foundation means your contributions during the Auction Fund-A-Need are now tax deductible.

“ This means OMB is watching

out for our businesses so we can continue to do business.

”

provides feedback to ALL the county and municipal governments in our fivecounty service area. This means OMB is watching out for our businesses so we can continue to do business. If you want to learn more about what is happening, read OMB Government Affairs Director Joel Baxter’s column on page 12.

LY WITH ME” EF

2017 AUCTION BOARDING PASS FLIGHT

OMB Auction

DATE

Friday, June 2

DESTINATION

h Me” Come Fly Wit

“

This flight brought to you by:

TIME

6:00 pm

Olympic Flight Museum

CHECK IN brianna@omb.org, (360) 754-0912, or www.omb.org

PRE-BOARDING TICKET

FINAL BOARDING TICKET

$75 for a single passenger $520 for eight passengers

$100 for a single passenger $800 for eight passengers

Olympic Regional Airport 7637 Old Hwy 99 SE Tumwater, WA 98501

(by May 12)

4 • Chalk Line

Following the Auction, we have a Golf Tournament, several great luncheons and Beer With a Builder nights, Member Appreciation Night at the Tacoma Rainiers, a Tour of Homes/Chefs on Tour and much more. I am looking forward to the rest of 2017. I hope to see you all at an upcoming OMB event!

(May 13th and later)

2017 OMB AUCTION

Ron Deering PRESIDENT

June 2 at the Olympic Flight Museum.

2017 Chair Debbi Boyd of Naberly Solutions, Inc. is making sure this will be a fun filled event.

Chalk Line

Official Publication of the Olympia Master Builders 1211 State Avenue NE, Olympia WA 98506 Phone: (360) 754-0912 www.omb.org The Olympia Master Builders is a professional trade association representing 450 member companies located in Thurston, Lewis, Grays Harbor, Mason and Pacific Counties. Our members come from all sectors of the building trades and are committed to “building strong communities, one home at a time.”

Executive Committee

President Ron Deering, Northwest Family Homes First Vice President Karen McClennen Treasurer Erik Jensen Associate Vice President Debbi Boyd, Naberly, Inc. Second Assoc. Vice President Becky Rieger, Environmental Design, LLC Secretary Jon Jones, Washington Business Bank Immediate Past President Mike Auderer, Olympia Construction, Inc. Builder at Large John McKinlay, Olympia Overhead Doors

Builder Directors

Scott Bergford, Scott Homes, Inc., John Erwin, John Erwin Remodeling, Inc., Janine Ezzell, Chicago Title Insurance Co., Andy Gruhn, Gruhn Homes, Inc., John Johnson, Johnson Custom Homes, LLC, Jennifer McDonald, Lifespan Construction

Associate Directors

Holly Constantine, Puget Sound Window & Door, Becky Rieger, Environmental Design, LLC, Rusty Ruiz, Hung Right Doors

Legal Counsel

Jay Goldstein, Goldstein Law Offices, PLLC

National Directors

Ron Deering, Northwest Family Homes, Inc., Karen McClennen, Bob Kagy, Print NW

OMB At a Glance!

2017 REMODELING EXCELLENCE AWARDS The REX Awards will be showcased at the May General Membership Luncheon! Be there to celebrate alongside the winners on Thursday, May 18 at 11:30 am at Ricardo's Kitchen & Bar Events Center.

RSVP to Brianna Bedell at brianna @omb.org or (360) 754-0912.

TOUR OF HOMES/CHEFS ON TOUR HAS MOVED TO SEPTEMBER! The Tour of Homes has been scheduled for Saturday, September 16 and Sunday, September 17. The Chefs on Tour event is scheduled for Friday, September 15th and could potentially become a two night event by adding Thursday, September 14th to the mix depending on interest.

If you are interested in participating as a builder, remodeler or chef, contact Brianna Bedell at brianna@omb.org or (360) 754-0912.

State Directors

Tina Allen, Great Floors, Kim Asay, Umpqua Bank, Debbi Boyd, Naberly, Inc., Ron Deering, Northwest Family Homes, Inc., Stuart Drebick, Adroit Contractors, Inc., Janine Ezzell, Chicago Title Insurance Co., Karen McClennen, John McKinlay, Olympia Overhead Doors, Inc., Bob Kagy, Print NW, Becky Rieger, Environmental Design, LLC

Grays Harbor Chapter

President Harv Lillegard, Lillegard Construction Associate Vice President Bob Smith, Chimney Techniques, Inc. Secretary Rusty Ruiz, Hung Right Doors

Lewis County Chapter

President John Johnson, Johnson Custom Homes Vice President Becky Rieger, Environmental Design Associate Vice President Rick Borovec, TwinStar Credit Union Secretary Patrick Toby, Toby’s Electric Builder Director Toby Krause, Double Duty Land Management

Mason County Chapter

RELAX AND LEAVE THE ADVERTISING TO OMB! lved in g invo ponsor in t t e G ent s s an ev o promote a B M O yt host eat wa is a gr mpany! We ands o s c r o u yo e th u at hav ndance, h t s t n e att eve ple in ee and of peo more that s ing en and ev the advertis . s hear ign campa

OMB als members o offers se of advertis veral ways in website a g such as enhanced dvertising, list website, B ings on the Chalk Line uyer’s Guide, M our electr agazine, and onic newsl Chalk Talk etter .

President Andrew Spear, Andrew Spear Construction, LLC Associate Vice President Julie Nichols, Whitehouse & Nichols Attorneys at Law Treasurer Patty Tupper, Tupper’s Floor Covering & Interiors, Inc.

South Pacific County Chapter

President Steve Waltemate, SAW Construction Co., Inc.

Association Staff

Executive Officer Troy Nichols Communications DIrector Angela White Membership Marketing Coordinator Amanda Cassman Events Director Brianna Bedell Government Affairs Director Joel Baxter

Using OMB to promote your business is a great way to reach out to other OMB members, as well as the local community!

Contact Amanda at amanda@omb.org or (360) 754-0912 today to find your perfect advertising solution!

Chalk Line • 5

2017

OMB GOLF CLASSIC Friday, July 28, 2017

2017 Theme

Holes With Personality Go new, or recycle the great!

9:00 am tee off Riverside Golf Club 1451 NW Airport Road Chehalis, WA sponsored by: Earlybird $90 per player Ends Friday, July 7

6 • Chalk Line

After July 7 $125 per player

For more information call (360) 754-0912 or email brianna@omb.org

EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S MESSAGE

Workplace Safety Impacts Your Bottom Line!

T

Troy Nichols EXECUTIVE OFFICER

his edition of Chalk Line magazine is focused on workplace safety, and for good reason. You can make a strong argument that a safe workplace environment, particularly in the building industry, can have one of the most positive impacts on your business’ bottom line.

The guest column on page 8 from Al Audette, Codes and Regulations Manager with our state association, the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW), does an excellent job of outlining the positive benefits of a safe workplace, and contains valuable information on how you can cultivate a culture of safety at your place of business.

Not only are there rules that mandate employers to have a safety plan in place, promoting a safe workplace also makes good business sense. Think of all the negative and costly consequences of having an employee get injured on the job: loss of production from the injured employee and his or her coworkers, all the subsequent bureaucratic distractions that take away your attention from your customers and your business, higher workers compensation premiums, potential litigation and fines, etc.

Fortunately, BIAW administers a program that helps you promote a safer workplace, while providing you with personal claims management assistance in the unfortunate event of a worker injury. BIAW’s Return on Industrial Insurance (R.O.I.I.®) Select program does these things, while also providing you the opportunity to receive a rebate on your workers’ compensation premiums!

and kept on salary. But the long-term benefits of participating in R.O.I.I.® Select are tremendous.

Not only will you enjoy a safer and happier workplace, by preventing injuries and managing those accidents that do occur in a proper manner, the premiums you pay to L&I will go down. In addition, as soon as the second year your business is enrolled, Annual rebates you will start to see those to R.O.I.I.® Select important rebate checks I participants have mentioned earlier, again, averaged nearly 40 IF you follow the program percent over the rules and can avoid or last three years. properly manage costly accidents.

If you run a construction or construction-related business and you have employees, participation in R.O.I.I.® Select is a no-brainer. As you know, Washington state’s Department of Labor & Industries administers the state-run workers’ compensation program (it’s illegal to buy workers’ compensation insurance on the private market in Washington). State law allows employers to participate in industry-specific “Retro” programs, where you can receive a rebate on your premiums if you are able to prevent or minimize workplace injuries.

From the beginning, when you enroll in R.O.I.I.® Select, you are the beneficiary of a host of services you can’t get anywhere else, from classes that instruct you on the best hiring practices, full-service claims management assistance and L&I audit assistance, to on-site assistance during L&I compliance inspections, BIAW will help you with all of it!

Now, keep in mind that participation in this program isn’t free (the enrollment fee is 1.5 percent of your annual workers’ comp premium you pay to L&I), and you will be contractually obligated to offer specific programs and services to injured workers such as return-to-work options

“

”

Annual rebates to R.O.I.I.® Select participants have averaged nearly 40 percent over the last three years. If you’re a good businessperson, I’m sure you have some idea of how much you pay every year to L&I for workers’ compensation premiums. So you have to ask yourself – wouldn’t I like to get 40 percent of that money back every year? I would think the answer is obvious.

Not only is workplace safety key to a successful business and happy and productive employees, but BIAW offers a program that can actually PAY you for your efforts to keep your employees healthy!

For more information on BIAW’s R.O.I.I.® Select, visit https://biaw.com/ROII_Overview.aspx today!

Chalk Line • 7

Is it Time to Review Your Company's

Safety Culture?

A

“

The most senior executive and the newest member of your team need to feel a part of the plan and have accountability in its execution.

”

GUEST COLUMNIST

Al Audette Codes and Regulations Manager, BIAW (360) 352-7800

8 • Chalk Line

ccording to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) employers spend $170 billion on workplace accidents nationwide. These costs include direct and indirect costs. Direct costs include an increase in workers’ compensation rates, insurance premiums and medical expenses.

Don’t forget about the fines the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) will hand out in an accident as well. These fines can be several thousand dollars and tie up several months of your time going through the claim process. Legal expenses could pile up defending yourself at L&I and in civil court. Negligent or willful injury and wrongful death suits can be brought where contractors or worksite visitors may be involved, as well as under certain state laws which permit employees or their survivors to sue employers in tort where egregious or intentional behavior or ultra-hazardous activities are involved. Chapter 4.20 RCW explains the criteria for suit in detail.

Typically, when an employee gets hurt, other employees stop what they are doing to render help. Once help arrives, do the employees get right back to work or stick around and watch? This leads to

loss of production by the entire crew and could lead to delays in the completion of the project. The median amount of time loss for an employee after an accident is 10 days. If the employee is going to be out much longer than that, your business will incur the cost of training a temporary employee. Factor in the time it takes for an investigation, filing of the required paperwork and implementation of corrective measures and these indirect costs add up quickly.

Reviewing the company safety culture is an effective way to convey the importance of safety in your organization. It is not enough to simply have a policy with procedures in place. The entire organization needs to buy into the benefits of safety in the workplace. The most senior executive and the newest member of your team need to feel a part of the plan and have accountability in its execution.

Start by checking attitudes and beliefs in the current policies. Can your employees tell you what they are supposed to do in an emergency?

Do they take safety meetings seriously? Are safety officers seen as vital in the production aspect of your company? Production and safety responsibilities often conflict

in the workplace. The need to finish projects on time can cause poor safety decisions out in the field. Your employees need to know that an extra minute to recognize a hazard is valuable in the whole scope of operations.

Unannounced spot checks are a great way to evaluate the safety culture in your enterprise. A senior manager must see what safety looks like on their jobsites. Go out and talk to the folks in the field. Ask them what hazards they’ve identified, what they’ve done to mitigate the hazards and what the plan is if someone gets hurt. These are things your field team should know, if they do, you’re on the right track, if they don’t, you could have a problem.

An excellent safety leader gives workers a fair appraisal of effort and results of safety policies, encourages input, clearly defines roles in safety and fosters the sense that every employee is responsible for the overall level of safety.

An article on OSHA’s website titled, “Safety Pays” claims a good safety and health program can save $4 to $6 for every $1 invested. The article states, “That’s because injuries and illnesses decline. Workers’ compensation costs go down. Medical costs decrease.”

Other benefits to a good health and safety policy are higher productivity, lower turnover and increased morale.

A good safety and health policy should have at least three parts.

The first part is a statement section. This section would outline the overall goals of the policy and demonstrate the organizations commitment to safety and what the organization wants to achieve.

An organizational or responsibility section would be the second part. This section details who will be responsible for each part of the policy and how each employee fits into the overall plan.

The third part is the arrangement section. This section contains the detail of what you are going to do in practice to achieve the aims set out in the statement of health and safety policy. Include in this section, how you are going to eliminate or reduce the risks of hazards in your workplace. They could include staff trainings, using signs to highlight the risks and safety equipment use.

Focus your attention on the activities that could present a risk to people or cause serious harm on your jobsites.

In general, health and safety laws apply to all businesses, no matter how small. As an employer, or a self-employed person, you are responsible for health and safety in your business. You need to take the right precautions to reduce the risks of workplace dangers and provide a safe working environment, not only for your business bottom line, but the health of your employees.

Chalk Line • 9

Government Affairs

HIGHLIGHTS

Olympia Master Builders (OMB) is currently working on and/or monitoring many issues related to the building industry.

To get more involved in the OMB Government Affairs Program, contact Joel Baxter at joel@omb.org or (360) 754-0912.

City of Olympia CAO for the Great Blue Heron On April 3, the Olympia Planning Commission voted not to recommend amending the city's Critical Areas Ordinance to include protections for Great Blue Heron Rookeries.

This is a great victory for OMB. If approved, the CAO would have established a 200 foot year round buffer around established heron rookeries and an additional 300 foot buffer during the nesting season (February 1 – August 31). Development within the year-round buffer would have required mitigation and restricted noise levels.

Thurston County Septic Fees On April 11th, The Board of Thurston County Commissioners voted unanimously to repeal the $10 annual fee for owners of septic systems.

OMB joined the overwhelming public opposition to this fee when meeting with the county commissioners in January.

This victory is an important one for OMB because, although the fee was small, fees like this often start small in order to pass, and then can increase dramatically over time.

OMB will continue to monitor this issue becuause there is a potential that it could come up again next year.

Mason County Mason PUD 3 System Capacity Fee On April 25th, The Commissioners of Mason PUD 3 voted to create a new System Capacity Fee to pay for new substations, of which three to five are projected to be needed in the next 10 years.

On March 28th, OMB temporarily stopped this fee from moving forward after testifying to the Commissioners that PUD staff had not reached out to stakeholders, and had denied requests to review the proposal before the public hearing and vote were held.

OMB partnered with the Shelton-Mason County Chamber of Commerce to notify stakeholders of this fee and forced PUD 3 to open up review of the proposal to the public.

The Mason Chamber made a public records request and worked with OMB bringing numerous concerns to the Commission about the reasoning for the fee as well as its viability.

The Mason 3 PUD Commissioners failed to adequately address a majority of the concerns, including failure to budget funds for these projects over the last 10 years.

Unfortunately the Commission voted unanimously to approve the fee. OMB and the Mason County Chamber of Commerce will continue to monitor this fee’s implementation and any future increases or fees developed by Mason PUD 3.

10 • Chalk Line

Washington State Hirst - Exempt Wells No bill creating a fix to the Hirst Supreme Court decision on exempt wells was passed by the end of the regular 2017 Legislative Session. However, the Legislature has entered its first Special Session of the year, and it is possible for an agreement to be reached.

HB 1885 or SB 5239 are the most likely vehicles for a Hirst Fix, and while there is support for a fix to Hirst, the looming unresolved issue of education funding and concern over the possibility of the Governor vetoing a possible fix prevented this bill from passing before the close of regular session. Passing a fix for Hirst is likely to be one of the major bargaining chips in education funding and budget battles which could continue through June or beyond.

2017

Thank you main event sponsors:

Thank you to all the committee members, vendors and sponsors for making 2017 a great BIG Home & Garden Show!

SEE YOU ALL NEXT YEAR!

Chalk Line • 11

OMB Ta So, why do so many elected officials stop only at words and then actively work to increase the cost of housing? I don’t think the answer is that they like taxes more than most people. But, if you were to say they like taxes more than getting serious about affordable housing, I’d say you’re on to something.

Joel Baxter GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS DIRECTOR

A

few weeks ago, I was at a city council meeting in the city of Rainier, arguing against a 36 cent per sq/ft impact fee on all new development to pay for capital improvements for the SE Thurston Fire Authority. In the months leading up to this meeting, I had spoken to the council time and again, about the woes of impact fees and their effect on affordable housing. At the final meeting a month before this vote, my closing argument had been that it starts out with one impact fee and then it’s another – and next thing you know, you’ve added 30% or more to the cost of building a home and priced thousands of local families out of the housing market. The Council voted unanimously to adopt the impact fee. That isn’t EVEN the worst part. Immediately after the vote, a council member said now that they had adopted an impact fee for the SE Thurston Fire Authority, they should look into what other impact fees they could place on their citizens.

Have you ever met a candidate running for office who said they were opposed to creating affordable housing? I haven’t either. And that’s why I get tired of walking into city council meetings and hearing our elected officials speak about the affordable housing crisis, and the next item on the agenda is a unanimous vote for a new fee increase.

12 • Chalk Line

With years of anti-builder, extreme environmental “solutions” which have either failed or made the affordable housing crisis even worse, we are seeing the stakeholder groups and the public at large looking for a new way of doing things differently, dare we even hope… try it our way.

When politicians choose to increase building fees, they try to claim that they are passing the cost onto the developer in return for the right to build and the developer absorbs those increased costs. We all know that a simple lesson in economics would prove that to be false – but we also aren’t politicians.

Builders have retirement goals and kids to put through school just like everyone else. So every time a new fee is adopted, that increase is paid for by the consumer and housing becomes less affordable.

TIMES ARE CHANGING

Living and working in the shadow of a blue state’s capitol dome will also create its own set of challenges, but these are unusual times, and we are starting to see indications that city councils and the general public are beginning to see the logic in what we’ve been saying for years.

In a way, the Mazama Pocket Gopher proved to the public that excessive environmental regulation can have a serious impact on the economy and The other issue I see is far simpler. people’s daily lives. The issue has placed When we try to explain the negative OMB on the public’s side at one of the impacts increasing most critical times for building fees and growth in this regions regulation have on history. Just weeks affordable housing, our the Olympia If the election of Bud Blake ago, pleas too often fall on metropolitan area was in 2014 wasn’t enough of named the 23rd fastest deaf ears. an indicator, it’s impossible growing community Particularly here to ignore the significance in the country by a US in Olympia, there is report. In 30 of voters doubling down in Census a common way of years, Thurston County 2016, electing two more is projected to be thinking, and when times get tough and completely built out.

Independent Thurston difficult decisions have public is counting County Commissioners in The to be made, more often on OMB to work with John Hutchings and Gary elected officials to find than not, we see elected Edwards. officials bow to the a sustainable solution power of public opinion. to a problem created More specifically, they by an anti-affordable bow to the assumption housing mindset that of what public opinion has reigned supreme is based on a vocal handful of elderly in Thurston County for decades. environmentalists who attend council meetings around Thurston so often they If the election of Bud Blake in 2014 should be receiving frequent flyer miles. wasn’t enough of an indicator, it’s And while this has worked against the impossible to ignore the significance of development community in the South voters doubling down in 2016, electing Sound for years, times are changing, two more Independent Thurston County and for once we are starting to see the Commissioners in John Hutchings and power of public opinion lean in our Gary Edwards. Voters in this county had favor. lived under one party rule in the county

“

”

akes Affordable Housing Seriously since 1998. The decision by Thurston County to go from three far-left commissioners to three Independents in just two years speaks to the desire of voters to take a new approach on issues like the gopher and affordable housing.

New data has also become available recently which speaks to the enormity of the affordable housing crisis and the need to involve the building community. The Housing Action Team (HAT) is a Thurston Thrives stakeholder group chaired by Commissioner Bud Blake.

The HAT has been tasked with identifying approaches and specific projects to alleviate Thurston Counties Affordable Housing Crisis. Through this effort we have identified that there are 9,500 households making less the 50% of the average median family income (MFI) in Thurston County, living in houses and apartments they can’t afford. An additional 3500 households earning 50-80% MFI are spending over 30% of their income on housing.

HAT has focused mostly on developing large publicly funded projects. The collaborative approach has nearly doubled the amount of affordable housing built in recent years.

Unfortunately, it still only amounts to less than five percent of houses being built affordably in Thurston County. To house these cost burdened households at a rate they can afford by 2040, affordable housing needs to comprise well over 20% of units built every year. This stunning realization has led to many of these non-profits asking for a way to empower the for-profit building industry to help close this ever increasing affordability gap.

“toolbox” for private development. The toolbox will include a variety of incentives to private developers for building affordable units. Unlike many incentives on the books today, the idea is to find ways to lower project costs to a level that will allow building affordable units to be cost effective, and do so without triggering prevailing wage. It is still early, but getting this process moving forward with enthusiastic non-profits and elected officials is a dramatic transformation in itself.

With the credibility we have built up in recent years on issues like affordable housing and the Mazama Pocket Gopher, it is getting easier to find decision makers willing to listen to and consider our point of view. We need to continue to increase our impact on local elections and increase member interaction with our elected officials. As much as I try, your government affairs director spewing talking points will never compare to engaged, hard-working members of the community explaining to council members and commissioners, the reallife impacts their decisions have on affordable housing and our industry. If we can continue to gain support from the public, and increase the size of our membership, we can get more of our elected officials to take us seriously when we speak on these issues.

Helping You to Protect What’s Important Since 1945 COMMERCIAL INSURANCE - PERSONAL LINES

OMB EFFORTS

The Olympia Master Builder’s continued engagement in the community has shown council members, commissioners and members of the public alike that we are serious about creating affordable housing. Our message is simple. As King and Pierce Counties run out of land, Thurston County is booming and we need to find a solution to this problem before it is too late.

There is no way to build affordably at the scale required unless private development is provided a path to do so. More fees and regulation that add costs to building directly increase the number of cost burdened households in our community.

OMB’s increased involvement in the Thurston Thrives Housing Action Team has increased our understanding of this problem as well as how we can help to solve it. It has also allowed us to build relationships with stakeholders in the nonprofit industry who are now supporting us in the endeavor to effect change in a meaningful way.

Aside from the hard work OMB did to help get the new Thurston County Commissioners elected, we have partnered with the Commission to assemble a task force with other stakeholders from the HAT to develop an affordable housing

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Chalk Line • 13

Welcome to Our New Members!

Joined in February and March 2017 Adams Insurance Agency Kai Adams 312 112th St. S Suite B Tacoma, WA 98444 (253) 459-9339 kadams3@farmersagent.com Sponsor: Debbi Boyd ASAP Business Solutions Diana Murphy PO BOX 8478 Lacey, WA 98509 (360) 491-4405 diana.murphy@asapbiz.com Sponsor: Debbi Boyd Aerp Construction and Consulting LLC Rex Ames 14850 91st ave se Yelm, WA 98597 (360) 960-1759 erpconstruction@gmail.com Sponsor: John Johnson Controlled Rain, LLC Libbie McClaflin PO BOX 15149 Tumwater, WA 98511 (360) 456-7578 libbiem@controlledrain.com Sponsor: Karen McClennen C.P.C Landscaping LLC Cliff Cote 1800 B Sapp Rd SW Tumwater, WA 98512 (360) 402-5521 cpclandscape@yahoo.com Sponsor: Kellen Magnan Kitchens Complete Inc. James Jones 2557 Jackson Hwy Chehalis, WA 98532 360-740-9144 kitchenscomplete@msn.com Sponsor: John Johnson Northwest Electric & Solar Derek White 4044 23rd Ave W Seattle, WA 98199 206-356-0601 jeramy@nwsolar.com Sponsor: Mike Auderer

Republic Services Steve Gilmore 4160 6th Ave SE #204 Lacey, WA 98503 (206) 332-7723 SGilmore@republicservices. com Sponsor: Bob Kagy Thurston County Title Co. Sean McDonald 105 8th Ave. SE Olympia, WA 98501 (360) 943-7300 sean@tctitle.net Sponsor: Debbi Boyd Title Guaranty of Lewis Co. Gerald Lord PO BOX 1304 Chehalis, WA 98532 (360) 748-0001 glord@titlegco.com Sponsor: John Johnson Tumya Plumbing Contractor, LLC Bryan Gould PO Box 12896 Olympia, WA 98508 (360) 878-0601 tumya@comcast.net Sponsor Michael Geisen Views on 5TH LLC Ken Brogan 5020 Joppa Street SW Tumwater, WA 98512 360-915-6056 kbrogan@brogan companies.com Sponsor: Heather Burgess Washington State Sustainable Forestry Initiative Implementation David Brummer 7600 Mineral Ave, Suite 400 Coeur d’ Alene, ID 83815 (360) 596-9438 dbrummer@stimson lumber.com Sponsor: Mike Auderer

Thank You Renewing Members!

Renewed in February and March 2017 25+ Years: Nicholson & Associates Insurance, LLC Hoel Construction Auseth Construction, Inc. ProBuild at Shelton 20- 25 Years: SAW Construction Co., Inc. Kamco Construction Moerke & Sons Pump & Drill, Inc. The Roof Doctor, Inc. Robbins’ Air, Inc. Timberland Bank 15-19 Years: Miller and Sons, Inc. Steve Crass Construction Retail Services of America, LLC Nor-Cat, Inc. 10-14 Years: Local Mfg., Inc. 5-9 Years: Advanced Heating & Air, Inc. KPFF Consulting Engineers Active Enterprise, Inc. Genuine Auto Glass Kuster Homes and Remodeling, LLC Garcia Construction, LLC

C & H Construction Miles Sand and Gravel Company Mullinax Ford BC Gas Repair Keystone Masonry, Inc. Shea Homes, Inc. Habitat for Humanity of Mason County 2-4 Years: Whitehouse & Nichols Attorneys at Law K.T. Charboneau Trucking Inc. Mill Pond, LP MJD Electric Smart Energy Today Western Steel & Supply, Inc. Precisionary, Inc. Winston Quarry, Inc. One Year: South Sound Framing, LLC Gritton Building Company GHB Insurance

DO BUSINESS WITH A MEMBER TODAY! Are you an Olympia Master Builders member who doesn’t qualify for the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) Health Insurance Program? so, If B ce i OM Cho th eet ! l a He can m eeds rn you

For a free quote or plan comparison contact: Olympia Master Builders 360.754.0912

OMB is not a licensed insurance agency and cannot provide benefit details or advice on which health plan will meet our members needs the best. All insurance plans offered through the OMB Health Choice program are provided through a licensed agent.

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1211 STATE AVE. NE OLYMPIA, WA 98506 $1.25 per copy 360-754-0912 800-456-6473 www.omb.org