 “Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light.”
-- Norman B. Rice --
 Like all of Western Washington, Auburn was hit hard by a windstorm that tore through the region Tuesday night, toppling trees, wreaking havoc on our power infrastructure, and killing two people. By late Tuesday evening, over half a million of people were without power, and dozens of roads were closed. Tens of thousands of you in Auburn had no power Wednesday morning and heading into Thursday and Friday, and I suspect some of you are still waiting for the lights to come on.
 As soon as the wind hit, our City of Auburn Public Works department and Valley Regional Fire Authority were out clearing roadways of debris and fallen trees. The same can be said Puget Sound Energy, who mobilized quickly to begin restoring power to hundreds of thousands of customers.
By Wednesday morning, we had several road closures in Auburn including:
- Mountain View Dr between West Valley Hwy and 56th Ave S due to trees across the road.
- Oravetz between Kersey and Mill Pond Dr due to trees across the road.
- Auburn Way N around 32nd.
- F St SE between 23rd and 25th due to downed power lines.
- 112th Ave SE at SE 287th St due to downed power lines.
- 129th St SE off SE 304th St due to a tree across the road.
- D St SE off 37th St SE due to a tree partially blocking the road.
I want to thank the incredible City of Auburn, VRFA and PSE crews for ensuring our roads and power remain intact! And also to our mighty Parks, Arts and Recreation maintenance staff for getting to work to quickly clear our debris from city parks!
I know many of you are still without power -- Puget Sound Energy has been working day and night to get substations fixed, lines repaired, and power back to hundreds of thousands. They hope to have majority of customers with power by noon tomorrow.
Our City thanks you all, and we will get through this!
(Click photo to watch video)
After all the waiting, the anticipation, and nervous energy it comes down to one: One child to light it all!
It’s quite an honor, really, to flip the switch. In just a few weeks, we’ll all see the magical moment at the Lighted Santa Parade as the giant tree at City Hall is illuminated for the season.
Thank you to everyone who nominated a child. We received 43 nominations this year, more than ever before. I love reading about our littlest community members and the positive impact they have on Auburn!
Earlier this week, I randomly selected one name from a hat. And now, without further ado, it’s time to announce our official Tree Lighter of 2024.
Congratulations to Elijah Olvera!
Elijah is 7 years old and attends Lakeland Elementary School.
Elijah has made tremendous progress in becoming a true leader. Someone who will help other classmates with hard assignments; he goes out of his way to befriend kids on the playground; and his mom couldn't be prouder of the leadership and teamwork Elijah has shown this year.
Santa and I are looking forward to meeting you soon!
I hope to see everyone on Saturday, Dec. 7 for the parade at 4:30 p.m.. We start at Auburn High School and walk together towards City Hall.
Be sure to get there early for a great viewing spot. And then join us at City Hall for the tree lighting ceremony, live music, and a visit from Santa!
Happy Holidays everyone and I’ll see you soon at the Lighted Santa Parade December 7!
 Last Monday, I had the honor of welcoming the honorable Prime Minister of Samoa Fiame Naomi Mata’afa and the Western Samoa Delegation as she oversaw a lively four + hour ‘ava ceremony . I was fascinated by the passion and humor that were involved. The entire ceremony was in Samoan, so I do not know most of what was said, but the Honorable Prime Minister was kind enough to lean over and fill me in from time to time and tell me what was happening. When it was my turn to take a sip of the ‘ava, I was also expected to provide a few words of welcome. This is what I said:
 AFIA MAI (Welcome)
Honorable Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa’
Speaker of Parliament
Chair of the FAST Party & cabinet minister of agriculture
Ministers
Associate Ministers
FAST Party supporters
I am honored to welcome you to the City of Auburn! We are a city of 90,000 and a beautiful mosaic of many cultures.
 We are on the ancestral lands of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe -- decedents of the Duwamish and upper Puyallup tribes.
This has been delightful and educational!
I am proud to be here today.
If I may be so bold, Honorable Prime Minister, we have something in common - we are both the first female leaders for our respective lands. May we not be the last !
I am encouraged to know that we are much alike, and we care greatly for our people. While I may not know the language, your laughter and passion transcend spoken words. May your time here be blessed and may your beautiful Samoa be strong!
FA AFETAI (Thank you)
Members of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe performed to close out the ceremony. It was a beautiful way to spend the holiday!
 Last week, Councilmembers Trout-Manuel, Baldwin, Rakes, Taylor, Taylor, Amer and I attended the National League of Cities 100th Anniversary conference in Tampa, FL. It was a busy week filled with meetings and sessions to hear from other elected leaders and companies from throughout the country. Acting Deputy Mayor Trout-Manuel is on the HELO (Hispanic Elected Local Leaders) Board as their chair and so had some of her own separate meetings to attend. The seven of us split up to divide and conquer all of the sessions that we wanted to attend. The sessions included: How to Build a Social Equity Roadmap with a Data Approach; Western Municipal Association; Supporting Afterschool Programs in Your Community; Honest Conversations: Public Safety & Community Perception; Volunteerism as a Force Multiplier; Empowering Cities: How Technology Drives Safety and Equity on our Roads, GoFundMe For You & Your Community; Building Bridges to Trust & Civility; Meeting the Moment on Immigration: Community Impact; The New Downtown: Dynamic, Inclusive & Creative; and so many more! Your Councilmembers came home with many great ideas to share and to see how we can use them in Auburn!
I hope you are proud of your Councilmembers for the dedication and willingness to network and learn from throughout our country for the best ideas to be worked here at home!
 It's been so fun to see Junior Achievement of Washington's BizTown continue its growth and evolution as it welcomes in new tenants and offers new and exciting experiences for our region’s students.
I’m delighted to welcome Comcast, a company with a rich history in Auburn, to BizTown as the newest tenant. I just want you to know that you’re in good company!
 Comcast has a proven track record providing cable, internet and phone services to our city residents, and they’ve had a heavy hand in advancing digital equity via Internet Essentials, a broadband adoption program.
- The program launched 13 years ago to ensure all members of the community have access to internet, equipment to use it, and at an affordable rate.
- They partnered with the Auburn School district during the pandemic to support students so they could continue their education online.
- And recently, Comcast introduced free gigabit WiFi at community spaces, including the Auburn Resource Center, as part of their Lift Zone initiative.
 And of course, they’ve supported our community through volunteerism over the years, at places like the Auburn Valley YMCA and Nexus Youth and Families – now known as the Y Impact Center.
Given JA’s mission for preparing youth for the future by understanding good fiscal management, Comcast’s inclusion in this facility is as essential as the services they provide and support.
I was proud to attend and to celebrate our newest neighbor – Comcast! Welcome to the neighborhood!
 Congratulations Civics Academy graduating class of 2024! For over 10 weeks, you attended multiple Thursday and Saturday sessions, learning and experiencing first-hand what the multitude of departments across the City of Auburn accomplish each and every day.
I don't want to say it's more valuable than any civics class you might learn in high school or college, but from what I heard Thursday night at the graduation, I'm starting to believe it!
Keisha Taylor
Thank you Keisha Taylor, Equity, Engagement and Outreach Coordinator for the City of Auburn, for successfully ushering in your first class of Civics Academy graduates! You did a wonderful job shepherding them across the finish line and ensuring they learned as much as possible!
 In alphabetical order by first name, congratulations: Alex Saldana, Amber Lott, Ann Church, Dakota Tuma, Dan Timm, Don Hornsby, Greg Ramig, Heather Wise, Jo Hornsby, Katie Storm, Max Parsons, Mike Mason, Oscar Gonzalez, Sam Merry, Steven Eneix, Tom Church, and Wilson Defiesta!
Keep your eyes peeled to our socials, Auburn Magazine and email notifications for 2025 Civics Academy registration in the summer!
 I'll let Keisha have the last word. Here's what she said to graduates last night:
"I thought my late night Thursdays were over when I graduated college, but we met again when civics academy began. This is the part when I reminisce on the good times we had and I remember them all being good. The only bad time I can think of is when I stood here, in front of all of you and announced that I worked for another city. I'm typically not easily embarrassed, but that night I was. I can genuinely say this is the best Civics Academy class I've ever facilitated (because it's the first). Anyways, I just wanted to say on behalf of myself, the presenters and the City, thank you. Thank you for sacrificing your Thursday nights and Saturday mornings. It has honestly been a pleasure to meet each one of you and let's keep in touch!"
 City of Auburn offices will be closed next Thursday and Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday -- if you have a need to visit us at City Hall or the City Hall Annex, please do so Monday through Wednesday!
I'll also be sending out next week's update early on Wednesday to accommodate the closure!
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