Just after 7 p.m. on Monday night, Mar. 22, 2021, Kent Mayor Dana Ralph gave her 2021 “State of the City” address via video on multiple channels, including local cable TV and online.

The pre-recorded ~22-minute video showcased different Kent neighborhoods, businesses and more, as Ralph walked and talked while discussing the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on the city, how businesses innovated and coped, how grant money helped keep many businesses afloat, racial and social inequities, police reform, protests and much more.

“Listen folks, I won’t sugarcoat this,” Ralph said towards the end of her scripted speech. “This past year has been a challenge. Absolutely one of the hardest I know. Many of you were exhausted, overwhelmed, stressed, and bracing yourself for whatever comes next. I’m going to be honest with you – I don’t know what comes next, but what I do know is that the state of our city is strong. It is resilient, it is compassionate, it is thoughtful and caring, and it’s optimistic.”

Produced by the city’s KentTV21 production crew, the well-shot video had high production values, a wide array of great local locations and excellent drone footage of the city in action.

“Before I was elected, I thought government had all the answers, maybe not the ones I always agreed with, or the right ones, but they had the answers nonetheless,” Ralph said. “What I learned very quickly is that in local government we don’t always have the answers. There’s no playbook. There’s no cheat sheet when we have obstacles. When we stare crisis in the face, we have really hard decisions to make.”

Watch Ralph’s full video below:

Scott Schaefer

Founder/Publisher/Editor. Three-time National Emmy Award winning Writer (“Bill Nye the Science Guy”), Director, Producer, Journalist and more...