HomeMy WebLinkAboutReg 2014-05-19 Item 8C - Report - City Administratormon
City of Tukwila
CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT
The City of opportunity, the community of choice
TO: Mayor Haggerton
Councilmembers
FROM: David Cline, City Administrator
DATE: May 14, 2014
SUBJECT: Report for May 19, 2014 Regular Council Meeting
Jim Haggerton, Mayor
The City Administrator Report is meant to provide the Council, staff and community an update
on the activities of the City and on issues that concern Tukwila. Please let me know if you have
any questions or need additional information about any of the following items.
Intergovernmental Update
• Kin County City Managers and Administrators Meeting: City Administrator David
Cline attended the monthly City Managers and Administrators meeting where they
discussed the following items:
• Association of Washington Cities — received a debrief from Dave Williams, the
Legislative Director, who outlined steps to engage the legislature in preparation for
next session. Also, we received a briefing on the current concerns surrounding the
Department Of Ecology Fish Consumption Rules and its possible significant impacts
on all cities, especially in surface water rates and clean water regulations.
• King County Master Builders Association — received an update from Alex Wilford,
South King County Manager. Their organization is the largest and oldest of its kind
in the country and is interested in improving relationships and partnerships with
cities.
• King County Climate Goals - The County and their partners (which includes
Tukwila) provided an overview of their activities to date including their actionable
items. They are planning another meeting of elected officials in early June.
• Animal Services Presentation — King County is evaluating ways to increase
funding for animal services to make this a more self - supporting function.
• SCA Update — Governor Inslee will be the Keynote speaker at the next networking
dinner on May 28.
• Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA) Meeting: Mayor Haggerton met with Craig
Kenworthy, Executive Director for the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency to discuss current
activities of their agency and their proposed increase in fees.
• Museum of Flight Airpark: Mayor Haggerton and City staff met with the President and
CEO of the Museum of Flight to discuss current Museum of Flight activities and review
their upcoming Covered Airpark Project
• Forterra 2511 Anniversary Breakfast: Mayor Haggerton, Council President Quinn,
Councilmembers Seal and Kruller, as well as several City staff attended Forterra's 25th
Anniversary Breakfast on May 14 at the Washington Convention Center. Tukwila's
"Community Connectors" were highlighted at this event as a model for community
engagement.
• Cascade Water Alliance 151 Anniversary: Mayor Haggerton, City Administrator David
Cline and several City staff members attended Cascade Water Alliance's 15th
Anniversary Celebration at Meydenbauer Center.
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• Soundside Alliance: Councilmember Hougardy and Economic Development staff
attended the Soundside Alliance's bi- monthly executive committee meeting. The Port of
Seattle has offered to fund a study to identify and map the economic and workforce
development assets within Soundside that help to grow middle -class jobs and facilitate
career advancement. The Alliance agreed to lead the study with Port assistance. The
first step is to agree on a specific scope of work which is estimated to be decided in
September 2014.
• TIBAC: Staff from Economic Development and the Police Department attended the
monthly TIBAC meeting. The main topic was how to encourage people to call Tukwila
International Boulevard by its name or "the Boulevard" instead of "the Highway ".
II. Community Events
• Backyard Wildlife Festival: Parks and Recreation Department Staff hosted the 14
annual Backyard Wildlife Festival on Saturday, May 10. The event went well; speakers
Jessi Bloom, Marianne Binetti, and Ciscoe Morris were each highlights. Craft vendors,
plant sales, and educational booths had a nice flow of attendees throughout the day.
Project Feast provided a delicious lunch with food represented from Thailand, India, and
Israel. The 18th Annual Tukwila Arts Show reception was held on Friday, May 9 and the
show itself was held on May 10 in conjunction festival. The reception and show were
well attended, about 15% more artwork was received from artists this past year.
III. Staff Updates
Public Safety
• DARE Graduation: On April 28, the Tukwila Police Department DARE instructors held a
DARE graduation for the fifth graders from Thorndyke, Tukwila and Cascade View
Elementary schools. The graduation took place at Foster High School's Performing Arts
Center. This year's event marked another year of "Keepin' it....Real" as part of the
curriculum for the fifth graders. The celebration was filled with great speakers and a
great time for everyone! Awards were given to winners of the poster contest and written
essays.
• East African Area Studies Group (EAASG): The Tukwila Police Department was the
host agency for the international 2014 EAASG conference, which was held at the Double
Tree Suites in Tukwila, May 5 -7. Officer Kraig Boyd from Tukwila was fundamental in
the organization of and facilitation of the daily operations of the conference. The mission
of the East African Area Studies Group is to support law enforcement in understanding
the East African community, share information regarding crime trends and gangs, and
enhance collaboration between government entities regarding Horn of Africa issues.
The conference covered a variety of topics, which included sessions on:
1) Understanding Somalia: Society, Culture, and the State; 2) Community Policing in the
Somali Community; 3)Creating community Engagement Teams. There were
approximately 130 attendees at the conference. In addition to being the Department
liaison for the conference, Officer Boyd arranged tours of the City for conference
attendees. Conference attendees were excited about the location and asked to have the
conference return here in the future.
Parks and Recreation
• FootGolf at Foster Golf Links: A new program will be starting at Foster Golf Links
within the next few weeks, FootGolf. Played just like regular golf, FootGolf players kick a
soccer ball into cups that are 21 inches wide. A FootGolf course integrates into a
regular golf course - you can get 18 holes of FootGolf into 9 holes on a regular
course. We'II be using the front 9 at Foster to avoid playing over the river. The course
has been laid out to ensure that FootGolf avoids the regular golf greens as well as ease
of maintenance. Initially, we intend to have separate time blocks during the week for
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FootGolf, however, we anticipate a co- mingling of tee times during the shoulder and off-
season. FootGolf is endorsed by the PGA and was featured on Evening Magazine on
May 12. Staff is excited to bring FootGolf to Foster as it will increase access to the
course for a broader range of the community, and anticipate play beginning in early
June.
Project Updates
• Succession Plan Training: About 32 City staff participated in Succession Plan Training
at WCIA on May 6 which focused on creating training and leadership opportunities for all
staff to develop in their careers.
• Cultural Awareness Training: On May 7, the City's 3rd Cultural Awareness workshop
was held at the Community Center. About 20 employees' participated in the workshop.
• Lean Training: Almost 40 employees participated in an "Introduction to Lean" workshop
held at the Community Center on May 8. This training is provided by the State Auditor's
office and provides information and an overview of tools and processes that can be used
to increase efficiency through process improvement.
• High Performing Organization — City Administrator Cline and Project Analyst Joyce
Trantina met with the cities of Renton, SeaTac, Issaquah, Bellevue and Lakewood as
well as a U.W. Professor to discuss implementation ideas to create a high performing
city organization. This group may work with MRSC, UW and others to formalize the
lessons learned across cities. In addition, starting May 19, another 36 employees will
be attending the 3 -days of training provided by Professor Tony Gardner focused on this
theme of high performance.
Community Services
• Meeting with Providence Health: Staff from Human Services, Planning, and Economic
Development met with a representative from Providence Health & Services on their
interest and ability to develop affordable housing in Tukwila.
• BNSF Allentown: On May 5 Mayor Haggerton, Councilmember Ekberg, Councilmember
Hougardy, and Council President Quinn, City Administrator Cline, and city staff met with
three citizens from Allentown on next steps related to impacts of the BNSF intermodal
yard operations in Allentown.
• Tukwila Village: On May 14 the Tukwila Village developer's team selected an artist for
the clock tower public art to be created for the Tukwila Village plaza. A member of the
Tukwila Arts Commission participated in the selection process.
• Meeting with Buildinq Changes: Human Services Staff met with representatives from
Building Changes on May 12, to discuss opportunities to look at grants for serving
homeless families
IV. Responses to Council /Citizen Inquiries
• Traffic Complaint on S. 1401 St. The Police Department Traffic Unit is aware of the
traffic concerns at this intersection and are taking steps to address these concerns. So
far this year, 32 tickets have been written on S. 140th Street. The Traffic Unit and Patrol
Officers will continue to watch for violations in this area.
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