Candidates for Kent City Council and King County Council traded views on public safety, small business growth and county oversight during a lively Kent Chamber of Commerce debate on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025.
The forum was hosted at the Green River College’s Kent campus by Kent Chamber CEO Zenovia Harris, and moderated by Carmen Goers.
The debate featured Kent City Council Position 2 candidates Satwinder Kaur and Neet Grewal, Position 6 candidate Sharn Shoker, and King County Council District 5 candidates Steffanie Fain and Peter Kwon.
Incumbent Kaur, the current Kent City Council president, emphasized a record she said includes adding police positions and expanding community programs.
“Public safety is important for our community,” Kaur said, adding that she is “endorsed by our Kent Police Officers Union” and that staffing has grown since 2017. She also cited race and equity work as a key difference with her opponent.
Challenger Grewal said her top priority is crime reduction.
“I will be the public safety candidate. I will back the blue 100 percent,” she said, arguing that acknowledging crime problems is necessary to address them. Grewal also called for tax incentives for small businesses and said expanded jail capacity should be part of public safety efforts.
At one point during the debate, Grewal called Kaur “an out of touch incumbent that … just sits on her high horse and she doesn’t actually know what the people of Kent are experiencing or going through,” to which Kaur responded that she is a PTA mom active in local schools, Rotary Club, chamber events and city meetings, adding that she is working to build a city where her four children can grow up and want to stay.
Position 6 candidate Shoker, appearing without her opponent, centered her platform on small business support, workforce pipelines and root cause responses to homelessness and addiction. She backed faster permitting and a clear status dashboard for applicants.
“My priorities include supporting local businesses, improving public safety, as well as dealing with homelessness and addiction with root cause solutions,” Shoker said. She pitched temporary pop up retail in vacant spaces and said she wants Kent to be a destination for visitors. “I want Kent to show up in that search,” she said of online recommendations tied to regional tourism.
In the King County Council segment, Kwon pointed to his decade on the SeaTac City Council and said he would press for tighter accountability in county grantmaking and stronger attention to South King County needs. He said he favors expanding services without raising taxes.
“I would not scale back. I would not increase taxes. I would increase services,” Kwon said.
Fain, an attorney and longtime Harborview Medical Center board member, said the council’s role is to set policy and ensure high level oversight while maintaining access for smaller groups seeking grants.
“Our job is to set policies,” she said, adding that technical assistance and auditing systems must support compliance. On budget priorities, Fain said keeping the community affordable and improving east west transit service are key, and she urged a proactive regional coalition so South King County receives a fair share of county investments.
During audience questions, candidates returned to small business growth, training partnerships with schools and colleges, and approaches that pair enforcement with services.
Harris closed by thanking candidates and attendees and said the Chamber will share a professional recording of the forum to reach the wider business community.
Video
Below is video of the debate, as filmed/edited by Scott Schaefer:
