Over the last five months several changes have been made in the structure of the city government to increase transparency and encourage public involvement.

Changes include Facebook pages being set up for both the Yelm Police Department and the government as a whole.

Both Yelm Mayor JW Foster and Yelm Police Chief Todd Stancil will hold informal community meetings once a month where they will talk with citizens about various issues.

“The idea is to give citizens a place to come and interact with their government without going to the intimidating city council meetings,” Foster said at his first “Monday with the Mayor” talk on Monday.

The meeting was quickly set up earlier in the day, so not many people knew about it. Held at Tahoma Valley Bar and Grill, only one member of the public attended the meeting; however, Foster spoke briefly to the Southeast Thurston Relay for Life team that was holding its meeting at the restaurant.

Stancil held his first “Chat with the Chief” on Wednesday at Mr. Dougs. He discussed police staffing, procedure and practices. It was attended by five members of the public. Next month’s meetings will be advertised beforehand; the location will be rotated at different restaurants in town.

The city held a town hall meeting in November to hear the community’s thoughts on food truck and marijuana retailers. Another one has been scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 27 in the community center focusing on public safety.

When Foster was appointed mayor in August he said he wanted to increase public involvement in the city and increase transparency.

During former Mayor Ron Harding’s tenure the majority of communications about city issues went directly through his office. The council had little involvement in the budgeting process and staff had fewer resources, which led to the state auditor finding inaccuracies and lack of a formal process.

During the budget process for the 2017 budget, Foster created the finance subcommittee on the city council allowing them a more active role in the process. A total of four public hearings were held on the budget to allow the community to comment on it. Comments were also accepted online.

No one testified about the budget in person and the city received less than five comments online.    

Since Harding’s departure, Foster gave Stancil permission to set up social media accounts to help increase communication. City Administrator Michael Grayum created one for city government as well.

The city government page has information about city events, policy information and meeting times, Grayum said. The police page is focused on public safety.

“We want people who are tracking public safety to get (information) from the source,” Grayum said.

The Facebook post about the robbery at America Credit Union on Monday had more than 96,000 views by Wednesday, Stancil said.

The city council looked at possible social media policies at a study session on Tuesday. These were not put in place before the policies because of the community outcry for more transparency, Grayum said.

“It was apparent from the community there was a gap,” he said. “It was kind of putting the cart before the horse. … We are basically flying the plane and building it at the same time.”

The policies discussed outline what should and should not be posted on city accounts including language supporting a political candidate. The other aspect of the guidelines define which posts are considered a public record and which ones are not.

The council will review the proposed policies and adopt them at a city council meeting.

Grayum is also working to map out the priorities and goals of the city on a spreadsheet, which also lays out when the issue will be addressed. The list is in the draft stages but will be made open to the public once it is finalized. Issues on the list range from reviewing the 2017 budget at the end of each quarter to looking to update the water treatment plant.

Councilor Joe DePinto has been a strong voice for more transparency in government and set up one of the first councilmember Facebook pages when he was elected during Harding’s term. So far he is happy with the changes he has seen and would like to see more documents available online.

Former Ramtha School of Enlightenment spokesman, community activist and editor of Yelm Community Blog Steve Klein was a critical voice of Harding and of Foster, at first calling for more public involvement and transparency. He is pleased with the shift.

“I am very pleased at how interim Mayor Foster, the new city administrator and the council are being, open and involving the public,” Klein said. “But more than anything (they are) listening and getting back to people. … The thing I’ve always advocated for is a community conversation.”