YPD officer and local business owner Dustin Stephan seeks mayoral office

When Dustin Stephan announced on Monday, April 7, that he’d be seeking to become the elected mayor of Yelm in late 2025, he said that Yelm is at a crossroads and that the city has incredible potential but also some real challenges to face.

The Yelm police officer said through his campaign and potential election he would ensure the city grows the right way, that local small businesses feel supported, and that kids and families have a safe, welcoming place to thrive.

“Everyone loves Yelm as a community,” Stephan said. “It’s a fantastic, local, compassionate community. It’s really pretty special. I just want to thank the citizens for the early support that I’ve gotten to this point, and I look forward to the next couple of months.”

He joined a race that features current Mayor Joe DePinto and former Mayor JW Foster. The three will be featured in the Aug. 5 Thurston County primary election. The top two candidates will move on to the Nov. 4 Thurston County general election.

Since announcing his campaign in April, Stephan has stayed busy by frequently hosting community-based events at different businesses in the city in order to hear comments and concerns from Yelm residents. He’s heard a number of different topics brought up, but the most common have been small business, traffic, infrastructure and growth.

“One of my big pillars is small business. I own two small businesses in town — YARD Security Services and YARD Campus. We need more partnership from the city level. I think some of our code might be outdated. Things like our signage requirement for our small businesses, and things that would help drive business revenue and let people know our small businesses are here. I want the city to be a partner in that, and not an obstacle,” Stephan said. “There’s a few main focuses. Everyone talks about traffic and infrastructure and growth. Those three are probably the biggest things. I hear those and I acknowledge them. I truly believe that as a city, if you’re not growing, you’re going to die. The growth of Yelm is going to happen, and I believe we need a better plan. We need to grow smarter and get ahead of the curve, instead of always trying to catch up.”

Throughout the last year, Stephan said he’s heard from a number of local Yelm residents asking him if he’d consider running for the position of mayor. Though his initial answer of “no” remained until just two months ago, the longtime law enforcement officer believes he’s at a good stage in his life to dedicate his time to the local government.

“I’ve got almost 20 years in the public service sector as a law enforcement officer. I’m on my third surgery now, and the law enforcement climate is tough,” Stephan said. “Ultimately, I just believe in my experience in that profession, combined with my small business experience and my drive to make the community better, the environment was right for me to look at serving in a different way.”

Due to a career in law enforcement, Stephan said the topic of public safety is near and dear to his heart. According to the current police officer, it’s concerning to him that the City of Yelm isn’t forecasting department growth in a timely manner.

“Frankly, we’re behind the curb as a police department. I say that from a perspective of the perception that we’ve hired all these cops and our department is full. The reality is that we have one more commissioned officer now than we did in 2017. With this growth comes call volume and a need for more trained officers,” Stephan said. “We need to forecast ahead. Being a law enforcement officer isn’t “hey I’m going to hire you today, and you’ll start tomorrow.” It’s a 12-month minimum process from the day you’re hired to the day you’re contributing to the department.”

If elected as mayor, Stephan said he’d frontload all YPD officers’ contracts into the biennium budget so the police department can be “as full as the budget allows it to be” in order to support current staff.

Stephan’s 2025 mayoral campaign is his first attempt at running for an elected political position. He noted he’s held leadership positions in local nonprofits previously and added during his time with Washington State Patrol he lobbied for the State Patrol Association.

“As far as an elected campaign and being an elected official, this is my first attempt,” Stephan said. “It’s definitely a new world. I don’t have any big financial backers, so this is a legit grassroots campaign. There’s a lot of reading and studying, a lot of steps where I’m learning as I go. Another challenging piece, because I work for the city and Yelm Police Department, I’m very cognizant and aware that during my duty hours I don’t do any campaign stuff. Sometimes scheduling those events outside of work can be a challenge, but it takes some organizational skills to make sure I’m doing these things outside of my patrol time.”

Stephan added it’s important to him that the position of mayor in Yelm is collaborative. If elected, the local business owner said he’d work to maintain good working relationships with city councilors.

“We need transparency. We need to be able to have open conversations with the council and not work around them to satisfy individual needs and wants and desires,” Stephan said. “I think I’ve built a good relationship with the council, and I’d expect to continue that relationship with the councilors who are staying.”