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October 26, 2018
This week we hosted the Executive Director of the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC), Josh Brown, and his staff for a tour of the Auburn Municipal Airport. PSRC develops policies and coordinates decisions about regional growth, transportation and economic development planning within King, Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap counties. The Council is composed of over 80 entities, including all four counties, cities and towns, ports, state and local transportation agencies and tribal governments within the region.
Recently, PSRC received a $1.6 Million grant from the federal aviation administration to complete a Regional Aviation Baseline Study for the Puget Sound, adding aviation planning into what they already do for roads, transit, and non-motorized systems. This study will provide a clear picture of the aviation activities and needs in the central Puget Sound region and set the stage for future planning, building on the master planning that has been completed or that is in progress for the Region’s 24 public use and 2 military field airports.
This week's tour was part of that effort, giving PSRC leadership an opportunity to gain an understanding of airport, the constraints and growth opportunities it presents, and its long term sustainability needs.
Yesterday, I attended our first Cities & Schools meeting since our Mayors' Summit last month.
The summit was a gathering of leadership from Auburn, Pacific and Algona, as well as the Auburn School District and Green River College, to discuss how we can work together to support and build pathways to living wage careers for students in our communities.
At yesterday's meeting, we discussed the successes that have come out of that summit and what we can do to keep the momentum of that day going.
One way the City will be doing that is with our Career & Technical Education Forum on November 6 from 9-11 am at the Auburn Performing Arts Center.
The event will feature instructors from Auburn School District's CTE program who will talk about the skills students are gaining from the program and how it is preparing them for careers in everything from aerospace manufacturing to construction and engineering. Following that, the audience will have the opportunity to tour the training rooms and see for themselves the state-of-the-art facilities that students are learning in.
It's the perfect opportunity for any business that is looking for skilled workers to hire locally. If you are interested, you can find out more at auburnwa.gov/IPZ.
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“Dark cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
A full week of Halloween fun is kicking off tomorrow at Les Gove Park with the annual Trunk-or-Treat from 2-5 p.m. at the Community & Event Center (910 9th St SE). There will be games, crafts, a DJ'd Monster Mash, a photo booth and, my personal favorite, trunk-or-treating! I'll be there in costume, and I hope you will come out and join us in the fun!
The Auburn Downtown Association is also hosting a Main Street Trick-or-Treat event on Halloween. Participating downtown businesses will be handing out candy from 5 to 7 p.m., so be sure to stop by Main Street, fill those candy bags, and maybe enjoy dinner downtown with the family afterward.
Last week, I had the opportunity to serve on a panel for a Town Hall Seattle event focused on poverty and prosperity in King County. I was joined by Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci, as well as author Alan Mallach.
Alan opened the evening by sharing some insights from his book, The Divided City, which looks at the effects of revival on major metropolitan cities over the past 20 years. He argues that in order for there to be greater equality and opportunity in our growing cities, regions must develop local strategies that focus on the needs of the people—education, jobs, housing, and quality of life.
As a panel, we discussed the challenges King County and the Puget Sound Region are facing with the intense growth we are seeing and shared strategies that we are using in our cities, and together regionally, to overcome inequities that we are seeing as a result of this rapid change.
If you would like to hear the full town hall, audio of the event is available on the Town Hall Seattle website.
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