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Tumwater introduces new assistant city administrator; outreach boosts utility-lifeline enrollments
Summary
City staff introduced Assistant City Administrator Kelly Adams and reported a surge of interest in the utility lifeline program after targeted outreach: 46 applications were received and 44 approved. Staff also noted the Energize Thurston program workshop March 20 and a contract with DHM Research for community surveying.
The Tumwater City Council meeting on March 4 included staff updates introducing Kelly Adams as the new assistant city administrator and reporting strong response to a targeted outreach for the city’s utility lifeline assistance program.
City Administrator Mary introduced Kelly Adams, saying Adams comes from the city of Lacey where she worked in the city manager’s office on special projects. Adams told the council she had worked on improving transparency and a 311-type system in Lacey and looked forward to working in Tumwater.
On utility assistance, Mary said the city had sent letters to potentially eligible households and, as a result, received 46 new applications in the two days after the mailing: “Yesterday and today, we have been inundated with 46 different applications and 44 of those have been approved already. The other 2 … didn't quite qualify for the income,” she said. Mary described the utility lifeline program as reducing utility rates by 50% for qualifying low-income seniors and people with disabilities and said staff will incorporate outreach lessons into future efforts.
Mary also noted that Energize Thurston, a regional program offering grants and workshops to help low-income residents access energy-efficiency measures (including heat-pump installations), launched and will hold a required information workshop on March 20 at Tumwater High School from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. She added that the city had contracted with Washington-based DHM Research to perform a statistically valid community survey and a broader public engagement survey to inform strategic planning.
Mary said staff will schedule annual department reports in upcoming work sessions and will present a strategic-planning schedule to the council in coming meetings. Kelly Adams and other staff did not request immediate council action during the report.
