By Jack Mayne

In a short Kent City Council session Tuesday (May 1), Tammy White – who worked her way up from intern to the second ranking job in the city attorney’s office – was presented with her third “employee of the month” award by Mayor Dana Ralph.

The Council also made four months of May proclamation, from affordable housing to the Kent Rotary Club.

Intern to chief deputy
Tammy White, who this year was promoted to deputy Kent city attorney, started as a legal assistant and worked her way up to the second highest job in the Kent city attorney’s office. City Attorney Arthur Fitzpatrick said he thought White may have received the most employee of the month awards than anyone because this was her third, and was the obvious choice when the deputy job opened.

“She’s Tammy on the spot,” said Fitzpatrick. “When you need something from her, she gets it done, she provides very good assistance, she is accurate and quick. She is here early, she stays late, she puts in too much time. She provides excellent customer service … she always follows through.”

As a lawyer, Fitzpatrick said “you don’t want be on the other side of Tammy, because I can guarantee you that she will be more prepared than you are.” He added that the citizens “get your money’s worth from this woman.”

She introduced her husband Ron and five-year old daughter Eliana, adding she worked full-time while attending law school.

City proclamations
The Kent City Council approved four proclamations and Mayor Dana Ralph noted that these and many other organizations “that there as so many good things happening in this community, all wonderful examples of how we take care of each other, to all of you, I just want to say thank you very much.”

One was for Affordable Housing Week which proclaims that “all people should have access to safe, healthy, and affordable homes within communities of opportunity; and Kent’s median rent prices have increased 5.8 percent in the past year, and increases in rent have a strong connection to increasing homelessness in communities.” The Kent proclamation added, “the combined cost burden of housing plus transportation can be substantially reduced by locating housing in proximity to transit; and the All Home community aims to make homelessness rare, brief, and one-time.”

The second proclamation was for Hillside Paradise Parking Plots Community Garden Day, noting that “Kent is the 10th most diverse city in the United States and many refugee and immigrant community members struggle with access to healthy and affordable food. Hillside Church on James Street is conveniently located and has partnered with World Relief Seattle to generously donate an acre of parking lot to be transformed as a community garden; and … the purpose of the Hillside Paradise Parking Plots Community Garden is to grow culturally appropriate foods that promote a healthier lifestyle, improve food access, foster economic independence and build community and … large scale de-pave, giant cisterns for water catchment and five rain gardens on site will be used to educate students and the community about conservation and sustainability issues.”

The third city proclamation was for Kent Healthy Eating Month, which declared that since “Kent is recognized as the 10th most diverse city in the Nation” and that “Living Well Kent and the Food Policy Council are focused on creating a food system that is ecologically sustainable, economically viable and socially just,” and the groups, “in partnership with the city of Kent” and others, and other partners, work to ensure a community in which all residents thrive, with access to healthy, affordable, culturally appropriate food.”

Finally, a proclamation noting “significant projects for the club over the years have included Scenic Hill Park, vehicle safety checks and seat belt installations, restoration of PJ’s Pond which was renamed the Olé’ Fishing Hole, the Rotary basketball court along the Interurban trail between James and Smith Streets, the Service Club Ball Fields on Kent’s East Hill.”