Mayor Dana Ralph said she traveled to Washington, D.C., for the U.S. Conference of Mayors and met with members of the federal delegation and their staff to highlight Kent and South King County priorities.

Ralph said she visited Sen. Patty Murray, Sen. Maria Cantwell, Rep. Adam Smith and Rep. Kim Schrier "along with mayor Armando Pavoni from the city of Renton" to meet with staff and press the city’s needs. She credited those meetings in the context of later announcements of federal transit funding and called the delegation’s office meetings productive.

Ralph also congratulated Des Moines Mayor Tracy Buxton on her recent election as board president of the Sound Cities Association (SCA), an organization that represents 38 King County cities (Seattle does not participate). Ralph said she is serving her second year on the SCA board.

No formal council action or policy change was announced in the update; the mayor framed these as intergovernmental engagements and regional coordination.