Karen Brigatto, seeking reappointment to the Federal Way Arts Commission, told the City Council on Dec. 2 that she has served on the commission since 2018 and has worked to expand arts programs and partnerships in the city.

Brigatto described her background and local service, including PTA, Kiwanis and mentoring work, and named several commission programs she helped advance. She said one early priority was addressing a retroactive admissions tax that had been applied to performing‑arts groups. “It was retroactively applied to all of the arts groups… That’s 5% of all tickets to events,” Brigatto said, and credited staff and the council for changing the ordinance to exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts groups.

She also described the Arts Explosion event, which Brigatto said was seeded with $15,000 in ARPA funds and grew through partnerships with the Arts Foundation and Kiwanis before the city took on operational responsibilities in its third year. Brigatto said the commission now maintains programs such as the Arts Live contest and gallery programming at the Performing Arts Center and works on public‑art placements around town.

Council members repeatedly praised Brigatto’s commitment and heavy volunteer workload. Several members also raised concerns about past conflicts between Brigatto and city staff. Brigatto declined to air personnel disputes in open session, saying she preferred to discuss specifics privately with council members to avoid “he said, she said.”

After discussion, several council members said they would support reappointing Brigatto but recommended a shorter, one‑year term (through Dec. 31, 2026) so the council can revisit the matter if concerns persist. Council president reminded the chamber that the special meeting could not transact formal appointments; the council directed staff to place the reappointment on the following regular meeting agenda for a formal vote.

What’s next: Council members agreed to discuss and make formal appointments at the regular council meeting following the special session; no appointment was finalized during the Dec. 2 special meeting.