Hey There, Olympia! | Sumner Mayor Update

Next week, the state legislature opens the 2015 session, and they say it's going to be a tough one. I'm not sure I would want to be in a state legislator's shoes right about now as there's a lot to do and not a whole lot of money to do it. There's also a lot of things they're doing, or could do, that affect Sumner, and just because we recognize the difficulty doesn't mean we're letting Olympia off the hook. It's our job to let them know - and politely suggest -what would work best for Sumner.

The following is written by Sumner Mayor Dave Enslow:

Next week, the state legislature opens the 2015 session, and they say it’s going to be a tough one. I’m not sure I would want to be in a state legislator’s shoes right about now as there’s a lot to do and not a whole lot of money to do it. There’s also a lot of things they’re doing, or could do, that affect Sumner, and just because we recognize the difficulty doesn’t mean we’re letting Olympia off the hook. It’s our job to let them know – and politely suggest -what would work best for Sumner.

There are many issues from the State and even Federal level that affect the City of Sumner and individual residents and businesses, but our Council narrowed our asks to four main areas:

– We’re all for finishing Highway 167, but that discussion needs to include extending the third lane, even if it’s a HOT lane, on Highway 167 through Sumner.

– Fund a replacement of the outdated SR 410/Traffic Avenue interchange with safe pedestrian/bicycle access. The other two 410 interchanges need help too, but let’s start with one!

– Please don’t take away streamlined sales tax mitigation, raid the Public Works Trust Fund or continue to keep the liquor revenue that was promised to cities…no matter how tempting!

– Fund Sumner Flood Protection, at least enough to signal the importance of Sumner and encourage other entities to fund this critical flood protection as well.

You can look at the full 2015 Legislative Agenda here. We’ve sent it to our legislators, our County representatives, neighboring mayors and legislators across the State since so much of what happens in Sumner affects the region and state. For example, if we had to shut down the 142nd for flooding, no one in Washington could get McDonald’s hamburger buns because they’re all baked and shipped out of Sumner. I was also thankful that Senator Pam Roach took three hours of her time last week to let me tour her around Sumner and talk about our issues over breakfast at the Berryland.

There’s no question that tough choices have to be made at the State level. We just need to work to make sure that those choices aren’t made on the backs of cities and individuals like you and me.