Residents praise city engineering, raise trafficking and transparency concerns during public comment

Puyallup — During the public‑comment portion of the Dec. 2 council meeting, three residents raised separate community concerns and requests.

Caleb Lemoine of District 2 thanked the city’s traffic engineering staff for declining an alternative‑methods request for the Fruitwood Overlook development and said the department pushed the developer to design a safer access point near Fruitland Elementary. "I just wanted to say thank you to the city engineering department and everyone here," Lemoine said.

Angelina Schierdo, who identified herself as a human‑rights activist from Pierce County District 2, described encountering forms of labor trafficking and urged the council to increase availability of quality jobs, adopt a validated local reporting process (she contrasted it with the Better Business Bureau) and pursue audits of abusive workplaces. She described labor trafficking as "a form of modern day slavery" as defined by the national hotline and asked the council to act to prevent exploitation.

Chris Chisholm, treasurer and founder of Puyallup Voters for Integrity, asked for clearer public breakdowns of the costs associated with recent projects tied to police‑station planning and said the materials he provided to council and staff summarized those concerns. He argued the public deserves an accessible, total cost accounting on the city website.

Council members acknowledged the speakers. Mayor Kasimov and Councilmember Dean Johnson both thanked residents for engaging, and Johnson specifically said Lemoine’s experience mirrored his positive interactions with city staff.