 "I still believe in Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and true love. Don't even try to tell me different."
-- Dolly Parton --
 The Auburn City Council has elected Councilmember Cheryl Rakes as deputy mayor for the year 2025!
Cheryl was elected deputy mayor at Monday’s City Council meeting, where she won a majority of the vote. She began serving on the Auburn City Council in 2023, filling a vacancy left by former Councilmember Chris Stearns when he joined the state legislature. She was elected to the council later that year.
“For me, Auburn is my home; Auburn is my town," she said before the vote was cast. "Going on my second year as councilmember -- and with all of my leadership training -- I’ll bring patience, understanding, and knowledge to this role, where I can train, advise, and work with all of my fellow councilmembers.”
 Incoming Deputy Mayor Rakes has lived in Auburn since 1960, when her family moved from Bellingham because her father got a job at the Auburn Fire Department. He retired from there in 1980 as a captain. Rakes attended Auburn schools and graduated in 1973. She then enrolled in Mr. Lee’s Beauty School and Knapp College of Business and took a few classes at Green River College. Cheryl has been serving the Auburn community as Executive Director of the Downtown Auburn Cooperative since 2019, a position she loves as she works directly with small businesses.
Her roots stretch deep into Auburn's past, and I'm incredibly excited to begin working with her in her new role! She comes ready with a wealth of knowledge, ready to represent Auburn in every way she can.
I would be remiss if I didn’t add my appreciation to 2024’s deputy mayor Larry Brown. Larry began the year by bringing his extensive years of leadership in Labor to his role. For health reasons, Larry took a leave of absence in May to focus on his recovery. He was in attendance for our last city council meeting of the year, and it felt so good to have him back on the dais!
During Larry’s leave, Councilmember Yolanda Trout-Manuel stepped in as the acting Deputy Mayor. I want to thank her, as well. She took her role very seriously and wanted to serve our community the very best she could. Auburn is blessed to have seven councilmembers who were elected into their respective positions that truly care about Auburn.
A big thank you to Auburn Police for quickly finding Deputy Rakes' stolen car!
On Monday night, before the council meeting began, Incoming Deputy Mayor Rakes' 2016 Kia Soul was stolen outside of City Hall.
The vehicle was quickly recovered thanks to the Auburn Police Department's quick work utilizing the newly-installed Flock safety cameras. The cameras were able to track the car to Kent, and back to Auburn, where it was safely recovered. The ignition column was damaged, and some items inside stolen, but is now safely back in the Incoming Deputy Mayor's possession.
Incoming Deputy Mayor Rakes and I are incredibly grateful to the Auburn Police Department and our officers for their work in recovering the vehicle quickly and safely! The Flock Safety camera system, using a specialized license plate recognition system, helped a great deal in identifying and tracking the car.
 On Wednesday, our City of Auburn staff, colleagues, friends and residents celebrated the holiday season at Postmark Center for the Arts at our annual Holiday Open House! Sure, we had to pivot at the last minute because our original venue was without power, but true to the Auburn spirit, we made it work – and beautifully I might add! A huge thank you to all that were involved in making sure the event felt seamless and magical!
 In my family, we celebrate Christmas, though I know many of you celebrate a wide variety of different holidays this time of year. This year Hannukah is celebrated December 25 to January 2, and Kwanzaa is celebrated December 26 to January 1.
I want to wish everyone a happy holiday season and remind folks that City Hall will be closed on Dec. 25 in observance of Christmas.
 I also want to share my deepest appreciation for all of you -- to all of our residents across the city, and anyone who visited Auburn for a bite to eat, to catch a show, or just to take in the sights.
I'll have more to share and reflect on next week as we usher in a new year -- so for now, happy holidays, Auburn! And a Merry Christmas to all!
Congratulations to this year's community Gingerbread Contest winners!
In the Adult Category, the winner is Christmas Express by The Brunson's.
 The Youth Category winner is Sugar Overload, and was a group construction project by the Siegler Family Kids,
Congratulations to the Siegler and Brunson families! And a round of applause for all the entries this year. The competition was exciting, the smells amazing, and the creations phenomenal!
 Our Parks, Arts and Recreation Department officially held their final event of the year on Saturday, one I look forward to every holiday season -- Breakfast with Santa!
The pancakes, sausage and eggs were delicious and the music festive! The youngest attendees were dancing about and awaiting their turn with Santa. Thank you to all of our amazing volunteer staff who make this event a success each and every year, and I especially want to thank the big man in red! None of this would happen if not for you!
 And of course, thank you, Auburn for spending breakfast with us! You can bet we'll be back and ready with more goodies next holiday season!
 Thursday was bitter sweet as we honored and celebrated the retirement of Dana Hinman, a longtime director, communicator and all-around superhero at the City of Auburn.
I haven't known a City Hall without Dana. She began working at the City in 2006 as a Communications Assistant, about three years after I first joined City Council, and was quickly promoted to Communications Manager in 2008.
In 2010 the position was reclassed to Public Affairs Manager, and then to Public Affairs and Marketing Manager in 2013. In 2015, she was promoted to Director of Administration, a role she's excelled at ever since.
 I'm going to miss her infectious energy and enthusiasm, her loud, boisterous voice booming down the hallways (hullo!) and of course, her incredible work managing our admin team and being our go-to for government relations.
Dana, the hole you're going to leave at the City of Auburn can never truly be filled and we're going to miss you each and every day. We're also going to miss all of your expertise -- but that's for us to worry about!
Enjoy your retirement and please don't worry when I call you 17 times a day!
 The contractor for the Postmark Center for the Arts lower level found the ORIGINAL PLANS for the 1937 Post Office in the basement!
It was hidden behind a door jam of a door that was being replaced, where it must have sat for nearly a century!
You never know what you'll find...
They say good things come in pairs, but unfortunately, the opposite can also be true!
Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, our region was hit by another wind storm that led to power outages across the Puget Sound.
I want to thank Puget Sound Energy for their quick work in restoring power to about 60,000 customers in less than 24 hours!
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