Good morning, Kent! This week, I had the privilege to represent our City at the grand opening of the Panther Lake library, the 47^th District Town Hall and to welcome the Consul General of India Sanjay Panda to Kent. I also attended the Communities in Schools breakfast and 22^nd annual Cherry Blossom Festival at KM, and met with representatives of Blue Origin about their new project on 76^th. I love attending these types of events because it helps me connect with people from all different backgrounds. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve our City. I love my job!

~ Dana

Thank you to our legislators

On Monday, Councilmember Toni Troutner and I went to Olympia to meet with our legislators to thank them for their support of House Bill 1948 which was included in the House’s proposed operating budget. In this proposal, streamlined sales tax mitigation would be fully funded through 2023. We are waiting for the Senate’s proposed operating budget which will be released soon. I testified before the House Appropriations Committee, along with Tukwila Mayor Allan Ekberg, to thank them for their support of this critical revenue source. On Wednesday, Councilmember Troutner testified before the Senate Transportation Committee to thank them for authorizing a pilot program to allow Kent to test automated noise technology developed by Cithaeron to deter street racing. Illegal street racing is a public safety issue, impacting our residents’ quality of life.

Share online comments with Sound Transit by April 1

Sound Transit is accepting online comments until Monday, April 1 about potential sites for an operations and maintenance facility that could be built in Kent. Among the site options are the Midway landfill on Pac Highway which is ripe for redevelopment, and the site of Dick’s Drive-In and Lowe’s, just down the street from the landfill. The landfill is our preferred choice. We’d like Sound Transit to remove the Dick’s/Lowe’s site from consideration. Choosing the latter site would displace existing businesses, and it would make our Midway subarea plan for transit-oriented commercial and residential development impossible. You can submit your comments online at OMFSouth.Participate.Online until April 1.

Seattle TBirds tied 2-2 in playoff series. Cheer them on this Saturday!

I am so proud that our hometown hockey team - the Seattle Thunderbirds - calls Kent home. The team is having another exciting season. As I mentioned last week, they are in the playoffs, facing off with the Vancouver, B.C. Giants. The series is tied 2-2. The next game is in Vancouver on Friday, and then the TBirds return to Kent for Game 6 on Saturday, March 30. The puck drops at 6:05 p.m. Tickets are on sale now, so come out to accesso ShoWare to cheer on the TBirds for another win! Go Birds!