The Kent City Council held its regular meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, addressing a variety of important city matters.
From recognizing outstanding employees to implementing public safety initiatives and approving significant infrastructure projects, the council made strides in advancing the city’s goals.
Employee Of The Month
Jeremy Perkins was chosen by his peers as December Employee of the Month. Perkins was hired in 2018 as a Building Inspector. He performs building site inspections to be sure clients are in compliance with building codes and regulations. He was described as respectful and courteous to both fellow employees and clients. Perkins also shows compassion when customers fail an inspection. He is a great leader and teacher, selflessly sharing knowledge and patiently explaining the code.
New Officer Sworn In
Chief Rafael Padilla had one new recruit to swear in, a brand new police officer and father of one-year-old twins. After moving to eight new cities in the last eight years, Officer Dominique Jandusay said he is ready to settle in to Kent for a long time.
Night Of 1,000 Stars
Kent Police are teaming up with several other agencies to seriously ramp up traffic enforcement starting this Friday, in an annual event called Night of 1,000 Stars. The united goal is to eliminate preventable auto accidents completely by the year 2030. Officers will be closely monitoring for speeding or anyone driving under the influence. Chief Padilla explained that this is following back to back record setting years for fatal collisions.
Year-End Safety Report
Chief Padilla gave a tentative year-end safety report, recognizing that the year is not yet over and these numbers could change. He said there has been an overall decrease in crime over the last few years, thanks to stabilized police staffing, along with proactive patrols and faster response times. In addition, police were given some of their authority back when the state allowed police pursuits again, leading to more arrests and a heightened crime deterrent. Also, the use of technology, including FLOCK cameras, have helped to track wanted vehicles.
Vehicle theft and residential burglaries in 2024 have been consistently lower than the last few years. Robberies and commercial burglaries dropped off in the second half of 2024. Finally, shootings have come way down from 2021-2023, when they had been at record highs. Padilla said there are universal crime hotspots, meaning many of these crimes are occurring in areas around drug activity, as well as at major intersections.
City Council Newsletter
City Council President Satwinder Kaur shared that people can now sign up to receive the City Council Newsletter to their email inbox. The newsletter will be going out to subscribers twice a month.
Two Bids Approved
Public Works Director Chad Bieren presented two bids. The first is to replace a 70-year-old pump station at Linda Heights Park. The project involves relocating the pump station closer to the road to make it more accessible by trucks. Some remodeling of the park will also be performed. The bid came in at $5.9 million, under the engineer’s estimate of $6.2 million.
The second bid is for $720,000 to install power and fiber cables to the Kent East Hill Operations Center (KEHOC). This also came in below the engineer’s $975,000 estimate. Both bids got unanimous approval from Council.
Other Business
Council voted unanimously to approve the “status quo” 2025-2026 biennial budget. They also unanimously approved the city’s 2025 legislative priorities. Legislative requests will include $9 million to make the city’s new Administration Services building energy efficient. This includes installing solar panels, new insulated windows, LED lighting, and other energy saving measures. It was explained that while this is a bold request, it is likely to receive consideration. The Climate Commitment Act, which provides funding for energy efficiency projects, was retained by voters on the November ballot.
