With the Tenino Police Department officially dissolved as of May 12, Mayor Dave Watterson made a proclamation honoring and thanking the many officers who served with the department throughout its history since it was first established in 1906.
The proclamation was made during the Tenino City Council meeting on Tuesday, June 9.
“Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the City of Tenino, Washington, that the mayor, city council and all the people of this city do hereby honor and celebrate the 120 years of service rendered by the Tenino Police Department, recognizing it as a pillar of this community whose contributions have shaped the character and safety of our city,” Watterson said.
He added that he, residents and the city council “extend the deepest and most heartfelt gratitude to every officer, dispatcher and staff member who dedicated a portion of their life to this department. Your service was not given in vain, and it will not be forgotten.”
Watterson then asked for a moment of silence for an officer who died in the line of service in the Tenino Police Department. According to the Officer Down Memorial Page website — a nonprofit dedicated to honoring fallen police officers — two have died in the line of duty while serving for the department.
They are Tenino Police Officer Patrolman John H. Dowies, who was shot and killed with his own weapon on Jan. 18, 1978, after locating a suspect wanted for a disturbance, and Patrolman John C. Johnsen, who suffered a fatal heart attack while assisting with a fire in Tenino on June 12, 1948.
Following the proclamation, former Tenino Police Officer Alec McClelland, one of the last to serve in the department, also spoke.
“First and foremost I came here from a bigger agency, from a bigger city, and this town helped me figure out how I want to go forward serving in other capacities,” McClelland said. “I will say that Tenino will be the best place that I ever worked, I think, with the opportunities of training and all that stuff coming through. With whatever came over from Centralia or whatever came down from Tumwater, into our little area, and of course assisting Thurston County, our brothers and sisters with the stars on their chest, we appreciate them and all the help that they’ve given us.”
He also thanked his former fellow officers in the department, Aaron Lee and Yvonne Sneed.
“(Lee) was the one that started the official school resource officer program and built incredible bridges in this community,” McClelland added.
Sneed, a new hire who was still in her first year in the department, was also lauded for sticking around during the department’s end.
“Kudos to her for making that decision to come out and serve in the City of Tenino. She’s done phenomenal work,” McClelland said.
He ended his comments by thanking the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office (TSCO) once more, and stated he believed the city was in safe hands with TSCO deputies. Finally, he thanked Tenino Police Chief Robert Auderer for hiring him and being the department’s final leader.
Lee also shared a few words, thanking Sneed for remaining with them throughout the entire dissolution process and his fellow officers for serving alongside him, and Sneed spoke briefly, thanking the city, mayor and council.
TCSO deputies have been patrolling Tenino’s streets since April, with a temporary police services contract having been finalized on May 19 providing patrol service through Sept. 30 while a long-term contract is drafted, as previously reported by The Chronicle.
The Tenino Police Department was initially put on the chopping block earlier this year after Watterson announced the city was facing bankruptcy if it kept funding the department amid mandatory city interfund loan repayments it now has to make.
City interfund loans had to be retroactively created after it was discovered that budget misreporting issues between 2021 and 2023 resulted in an estimated $1.8 million from the city’s restricted sewer and water funds being spent on non-sewer and -water items — a violation of state law.
The city must now pay back the $1.8 million at a 4% interest rate to its own restricted funds. For more information on this story, read The Chronicle’s previous coverage of town halls on both the police department dissolution earlier this year at https://tinyurl.com/wxspz66f, and budget issues in 2024 at https://tinyurl.com/3bf8b34p.
Council meeting roundup
During public comment, former Tenino City Councilor John O’Callahan announced the construction of the Tenino Veterans Honor Roll Memorial Wall at Tenino City Park is finally nearing completion, and a tentative dedication date has been set for July 18.
“I’ll come back with even further information on it, like the times, and what’s expected and what’s going to happen,” O’Callahan said.
Efforts to build the Tenino Veterans Honor Roll Memorial Wall — honoring local high school graduates who served in the armed forces — have been ongoing for over a decade, led by Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 5878 Surgeon Frank Hicks, who heads the Tenino Honor Roll Committee.
Since stepping down from the council last year, O’Callahan, a U.S. Navy veteran and member of the local VFW Post 5878, stated he now has more time to help finish the project.
For the dedication, he added they are expecting “a lot of dignitaries down here for it as well.”
“If you know Frank, and you see him around, pat him on the back and say thank you. He’s a good old Navy boy,” O’Callahan said.
After years fundraising to handle design costs and other hurdles along the way, construction of the wall began last year with a groundbreaking ceremony on March 8, 2025, as previously reported by The Chronicle.
Measuring 13 feet long and nearly seven feet tall, the Tenino Veterans Honor Roll Memorial Wall was to be composed of local Tenino sandstone, along with Wilkeson sandstone, Pennsylvania bluestone, polished granite, concrete building blocks and plaster, according to design blueprints displayed at the groundbreaking.
The wall is meant to be a permanent replacement to the original veterans memorial set up to honor Tenino High School graduates who served in various wars.
“Over the years, it was made out of plywood, so you can imagine what happened to it,” O’Callahan said. “... But we have a list of all the names. That’s why we’re doing it now in sandstone, so if time should start erasing those names, we can always re-carve them in.”
As for official council business, councilors approved a pair of ordinances, numbers 941 and 942, amending city codes pertaining to both times for setting off fireworks and the sale and purchase of fireworks to align with Thurston County codes.
However, these changes won’t affect those planning on discharging fireworks to celebrate Independence Day next month, or New Years Eve celebrations in December.
“We have to wait a year after we pass it, as I understand, we can’t just immediately enact it,” Watterson said.
Currently, fireworks can be set off in Tenino city limits on July 3 from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., July 4 from 9 a.m. to midnight, July 5 from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., and from 6 p.m. on Dec. 31 to 1 a.m. on Jan. 1.
Thurston County code restricts fireworks launching from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on July 3 and 4, but extends the dates they can be set off during the New Years holiday, starting on Dec. 27 “through 1 a.m. on Jan. 1.”
Councilors also voted to send a draft of the city’s updated Flood Hazard Regulations ordinance to the Washington state Department of Commerce (DOC) for approval.
Changes to the ordinance are required to align with new state and federal regulations. City staff explained state Department of Ecology officials have already approved the draft.
With the city’s current regulations being out of compliance with both the National Flood Insurance Program and Federal Emergency Management Association rules, Watterson added the issue impacts the city’s ability to obtain flood insurance.
Once the changes have been approved by the DOC, the draft will be brought back to the council for final approval.
