Here is the tea in Renton this Tuesday, June 22 (last week’s tea):
- Renton to receive more than $18million from American Rescue Plan Act, one of President Biden’s and the Democratic Party’s first accomplishments in response to the pandemic after the 2020 elections. The aid is largely meant to address state and local revenue losses from the resulting economic downturn.
- At the City Council meeting on June 14, the council passed an emergency ordinance over the DESC facility at Red Lion. The ordinance is a result of HB 1220, which overrode the city’s attempt to use zoning laws to zone out emergency shelters. The shelter will not be removed until September 2022 when the county says it is ready to relocate the residents.
- The city celebrated Juneteenth with an event at the Renton Chamber of Commerce. Called “Rising Above the Ashes” the event featured vendors, artists, spoken word poetry, and speakers.
- The Committee of the Whole reviewed transit plans from WSDOT and Sound Transit which included updating highway corridors and potential public transit project delays due to COVID-19 revenue issues.
- The Public Safety Committee met this week and reviewed an analysis for implementing body cameras with the police department. The committee also discussed the potential doubling of bonuses for lateral-hires, which would increase them from $10k to $20k. The city two years ago even took special efforts to give new officers a car to take home which cost the city $2m. Even with these efforts, departments across the region are scrambling for new officers. At the committee it was noted that officers are still leaving in higher numbers than they are coming in.
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