Government Affairs Meeting 4.26.24

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Special Guest: City of Olympia Mayor, Dontae Payne

Mayor Dontae Payne was elected mayor in November 2023 and was elected to the Olympia City Council in November 2021. Professionally, he’s served as Regional Representative in the Washington State Office of the Governor, as Deputy District Director in the U.S. House of Representatives, and currently serves as Senior Policy Advisor for Civil Rights & Racial Justice in the Washington State Office of the Governor. He’s also served on the Olympia Hands On Children's Museum's Board of Directors.  Payne is the first Black American and openly gay person elected or appointed to the office of mayor in Olympia’s 164-year history.

Payne was born and raised in Philadelphia, and his family later relocated to Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he attended high school and joined the U.S. Army. He moved to Olympia in 2014 after being stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. He and his husband Jason are raising their 8-year-old daughter, Priscilla, along with their cat “Minnie” in Olympia’s westside.

Payne is focused on improving Olympia by working towards a more housed, safer, cleaner, and greener city. He and the City Council continue to adopt solutions on the following policy areas:

• Housing affordability and expanding access and development through public/private partnerships, and advocacy for regional approaches to the homelessness crisis to provide safe and attainable shelter for the unhoused.
• Public Safety improvements, supporting efforts to re-imagine public safety in our community.
• Supporting small businesses, arts, culture, heritage, and the sciences to strengthen and grow our city’s economy and build community pride.
• Ensuring Olympia’s economy continues to be resilient and able to withstand major disruptions.
• Enacting equitable policies to address systemic discrimination and barriers to access in all the work of the City, particularly with the assistance of the Social Justice and Equity Commission.
• Diversifying our city’s boards and commissions.
• Supporting efforts to meet the goals in the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan to reduce emissions in our region and more.

Payne earned a Master of Public Administration degree and a Bachelor of Arts degree from The Evergreen State College in Olympia following his service in the U.S. Army.  He served on active duty in the United States Army for six years, with two tours to Logar Province, Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. He re-enlisted to serve for two additional years in the U.S. Army following his initial enlistment and separated from the Army in 2016.