Community Corner
Renton Mayor Publishes Weekly Newsletter
One of those events, the women's empowerment event, was held virtually in the Grand Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Lake Washington One.
January 8, 2021
My weekly newsletter covers all that is happening in Renton. If you have an idea, would like to share news, or want to comment, I’d like to hear from you.
Find out what's happening in Rentonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Vol. VI, Issue 1 / Friday, Jan. 8, 2021
Happy New Year, everyone!
Find out what's happening in Rentonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
I am
looking forward to this new year with a renewed purpose and vision for Renton and our residents. 2020 is now over but has certainly left its mark on all of us. It quickly became a year of innovation brought about by necessity. And we made it.
We learned that our city employees are ready to adapt and embrace new procedures and technology to ensure uninterrupted service to the community. These services were delivered at a high level of competency and professionalism throughout the pandemic and statewide closures. The city began doing business virtually and electronically with Renton residents and our local businesses to maintain communication and continuity of services. As we continue to work through the challenges of COVID-19 in 2021, we remain committed to timely and relevant assistance to help our community succeed.
We adopted a city budget that will ensure continued quality services to the community for the next two years. We have several projects—like the Williams/Wells conversion downtown, market-rate housing, and a new park in Sunset–that will further enhance our community’s ability to live, work, and improve our quality of life. We will continue to actively seek out assistance for businesses and residents as we face the recovery challenges of 2021.
We are at our strongest as a community when working together. While we have successfully confronted the challenges of 2020, there’s still much work to be done. With the lessons we’ve learned, 2021 will be a time of recovery, growth, and collaboration to find solutions that benefit us all.
On behalf of the City of Renton, I’d like to wish all of you a safe and happy new year!
Work to start on the extension of Park Avenue North
The city will now be moving forward on our plan to extend Park Avenue North.
At Monday's meeting, the city council approved an agreement with the Boeing Company to start the project. When complete, Park Avenue North will extend northward across Boeing and Burlington Northern Santa Fe property to connect to Southport.
This new route will give vehicles another way to directly access Southport. It will also improve the traffic flow into Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park.
Work on the project is scheduled to start this March, with the new street opening for use in November.
The city annually makes funds available via the Lodging Tax Fund to organizations who support our city’s tourism marketing and operations.
One of those events, the women’s empowerment event, was held virtually in the Grand Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Lake Washington at Southport last month. The international event crowned Miss India WA USA, Mrs. India WA USA, Ms. Nepal Asia Global, Ms. Vietnam Asia Global and Mr. Asia WA and Miss Asia WA. Participants were from Nepal, Canada, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Russia, Africa, Pakistan, Cambodia, Philippines, and India.
The event’s worldwide reach brought strong recognition to our city. It was also covered by international media outlets.
My congratulations to Menka Soni, who is a member of my Mayor’s Inclusion Task Force and President of AmPowering. She has been a tireless advocate of our city
Governor announces "Healthy Washington–Roadmap to Recovery"
Gov. Inslee announced a new phased recovery plan “Healthy Washington — Roadmap to Recovery” this week. The plan will start on Monday, Jan. 11.
Some of the plan’s key points:
- Rather than a county by county approach, the state will be divided into eight regions. King County is in the “Puget Sound” region along with Pierce and Snohomish counties.
- All regions will start in Phase 1. To move into Phase 2, the region must reach all four of the following metrics:
- Decreasing trend in two-week rate of COVID-19 cases per 100K population (decrease >10%)
- Decreasing trend in two-week rate new COVID-19 hospital admission rates per 100K population (decrease >10%)
- ICU occupancy (total — COVID-19 and non-COVID-19) of less than 90%
- COVID-19 test positivity rate of <10%
The metrics will be updated on Fridays.
This press release was produced by the City of Renton. The views expressed here are the author’s own.
