Downtown development in Puyallup is one of the new mayor’s priorities. Here are his plans
Standing in front of a microphone at a Puyallup City Council meeting with only three minutes to speak can be intimidating for some residents.
Mayor Jim Kastama thinks neighborhood meetings can be a solution to that. Concerns residents have about their quality of life might be easier for some residents to share at a small gathering than during the public comment section of a City Council meeting, he said.
“It’s a much more relaxed environment,” Kastama said.
Hosting neighborhood meetings is one of the things Kastama wants to do in the next year or so. He was sworn in as the city’s mayor in January. He will serve for two years alongside Deputy Mayor Dennis King.
The mayor is the council member who has served the longest, according to the City Council’s rules of procedure. Kastama was first elected to the City Council in 2017, and he was reelected in 2021.
Neighborhood meetings used to be a regular thing before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Kastama said via email. He will work with staff to decide on dates, times and locations to bring them back, and more details will be available “in the coming months ahead,” he said.
Kastama, 64, grew up in Puyallup. He attended Claremont McKenna College in California and got his bachelor’s degree in rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley. He served as a state representative from 1996 to 2000 and as a state senator from 2000 to 2012.
Downtown development and economic development are at the top Kastama’s list of priorities, he said. He said he’s looking forward to seeing the Meeker Festival Street project come to life. A festival street allows pedestrians to walk freely. It can be closed to vehicles.
The goal is to develop a festival street on East Meeker between South Meridian and Third Street East. This would provide a gateway to the Meeker Mansion and local businesses. Construction has not started. The project is still in its early stages.
Kastama said he also hopes the city will soon have more multi-family residences downtown. The News Tribune reported in January that the City Council unanimously voted to expand its Multifamily Tax Exemption (MFTE) program to stimulate more affordable housing.
Kastama wrote in an email that the city is also actively working to bring mixed-use developments to vacant and city-owned parcels behind the Puyallup Public Library and across from the Meeker Mansion.
New members of the Puyallup City Council
As the mayor, Kastama said his job is to guide newer members of the City Council. He has invested over 60 years of his life in Puyallup, he said, and when the time is right he wants to be able to leave the city in good hands.
“I believe that giving responsibility to others is the best way to prepare them for leadership roles,” Kastama wrote.
Council members Lauren Adler (District 1) and Renne Gilliam (at-large) are the newest members of the City Council. They were elected in November. Their term is 2024-27.
Gilliam is a fourth-generation Puyallup resident. She is a career and technical education teacher in the Puyallup School District. She wrote in an email that she prioritizes: “public safety, affordable living and sustainable growth.”
The proposed public safety building is one of Gilliam’s top priorities, she said, because the existing building at 311 W. Pioneer Ave. is old and cramped. Voters rejected proposals to build a new public safety building in November 2023, February 2022 and November 2021.
“We need to do some research on the potential possibilities if we’re not able to get a building,” Gilliam said.
Gilliam also said she is excited about the teen zone coming to the Puyallup Library. The News Tribune reported in March 2023 about a $100,000 donation from the Rotary Club of Puyallup to help build that space.
“I’m excited to empower youth,” she said.
Adler is a third-generation Puyallup resident. She has spent over 20 years working in local, state and federal government. In high school she was Kastama’s page when he was a state senator. She said that was her first time experiencing government work.
“That propelled me into this life of public service,” she said.
Adler said it is important for her to be present in her community. Kastama’s plan to host neighborhood meetings aligns with that, she said. She is thinking of doing one sometime between April and June, but details have yet to be determined.
She said she wants to expand housing options in the city. When asked what steps she would take to do so, she said she is still in a “discovery phase” and that she plans on using tools the city has in its toolbox.
Adler said she also wants to attract more businesses to the city. She said she is thinking of working with city staff to wade through permitting bottlenecks and she wants to establish relationships with business owners.
