Submitted by City of Tenino
The City of Tenino hosted a Small City Connector meeting on Wednesday, April 19, 2017, and it was the largest such meeting conducted to date.
Sponsored by the Association of Washington Cities (AWC), the purpose of the meeting was to create a venue where community leaders could “connect” with one another, share experiences, and learn about existing programs available to small cities.
“It was a huge success,” says Mayor Wayne Fournier, one of 35 people in attendance. “I am very proud that Tenino was chosen as a host city and am grateful for the opportunity that an event like this presents.”
Tenino City Councilmembers Linda Gotovac, Dave Watterson, and Susan Copeland also attended, as did Thurston County Commission John Hutchings. According to Andy Meyer, the AWC Special Projects Coordinator for the event, other attendees included representatives from the Cowlitz/Wahkiakum Council of Governments, the Thurston Economic Development Council, AWC Associate Members (corporate sponsors), and elected and appointed officials from Bucoda, Rainier, Roy, Yelm, and other cities within a 50-mile radius of Tenino.
Some of the topics of discussion were: wastewater treatment and septic systems, railroad rights-of-way, upcoming changes to the Washington Public Records Act, the state of the Washington State Legislature, and the introduction of Steven Dunk, the Community Outreach Program Director from the Washington State Department of Commerce, who explained some of the various programs available to the cities of Washington State and how to access those programs.
The AWC will host five such meetings across the state this year. AWC is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan corporation that represents Washington’s cities and towns before the state legislature, the state executive branch, and with regulatory agencies.
