Emily Clouse has spent her first term on the Thurston County Board of Commissioners integrating herself into the work the county does in the community and gaining a deeper understanding of the county’s budget.
She is asking voters for another four years on the board to apply that knowledge to solving Thurston County’s current budget crisis.
“Every single line item in the budget is something that impacts a person. It's either someone's salary and benefits, or it's a program or service that goes to serve people in the community, whether we believe the same things as them or not,” Clouse said. “We need someone who has the analytical skills, the financial skills, and the compassion.”
Setting and managing Thurston County’s budget is the Thurston County Board of Commissioners’ primary job, Clouse said.
That said, she does not believe that a person whose only background is in finance could do the job well.
“We can’t make good decisions if we're running the county as just a business. It's not for just generating revenue. That revenue has to be spent on people and services and programs that actually help people,” Clouse said. “It's not a business model. It's a public service model.”
A graduate of North Thurston High School and University of Washington Tacoma, Clouse’s own public service experience began in the U.S. Army, where she served as a military intelligence analyst.
When she came home, she became the manager of her family’s two small businesses. She later went on to start her own nonprofit, Collaborative Association for Reintegration and Education (CARE), in 2021.
That nonprofit’s six-figure budget was the largest Clouse had managed before being elected commissioner in 2022.
Clouse’s collection of life experience has set her up “for a real openness to learning and engaging with the community, and hearing any information that anyone wants to share, whether I agree with it or not, and adding it as like a puzzle piece to this bigger picture of who we are as a society, what the challenges are that people face,” she said.
Overall, Clouse’s goal as a county commissioner is to help build a community that is safe for everyone and is sustainable for future generations.
“If we focus on that, on bringing our policies and our programs and our funding decisions down to a level of like, what are the community values? What is it that's going to make life better for everyone in Thurston County? That's when we can decide where to prioritize our focus,” she said.
Among Clouse’s priorities to focus on are catching Thurston County up on its Climate Mitigation Plan goals, continuing to work with the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office on community policing strategies, and improving access to safe and affordable housing.
All of those issues tie into affordability in different ways.
“Affordability is a huge pillar of what this campaign is about,” Clouse said, noting that her campaign is run by working class folks and most of her donors are contributing $5 to $20.
“That shows me the kind of people that are supporting this campaign are the exact people that I'm fighting for every day,” Clouse said.
For more information on Clouse’s campaign, visit https://www.clouseforcommissioner.com/.
To learn more about Clouse’s opponent, Nic Dunning, visit www.electnicdunning.com.
