Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sequim council proclaims Jan. 19 Martin Luther King Jr. Day and recognizes January as Human Trafficking Prevention Month
Summary
The council adopted two proclamations: Jan. 19, 2026 as Martin Luther King Jr. Day and January 2026 as National Human Trafficking Prevention Month; a local service-provider statement describing regional vulnerabilities was read into the record.
At the meeting, Mayor Rachel Anderson read and signed a proclamation designating Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, as Martin Luther King Jr. Day, recounting Dr. King’s life and the 1963 March on Washington.
Council also proclaimed January 2026 as National Human Trafficking Prevention Month. The proclamation included references to federal and state resources and a hotline. The written statement from Dee Rhodes Kester (identified in the accompanying packet) was read into the record; Kester described local geographic vulnerabilities and offered a local contact number for victims and service referrals.
Note on transcript wording: the packet text read in the meeting referenced the "Trafficking Victims Protection Act" and gave a year; the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act was enacted in 2000. The article corrects that enactment year while reporting the council’s proclamation and the statement submitted by local service providers.
Kester’s attached remarks emphasized local risk factors and urged residents to use available resources. The council thanked presenters and moved on to the public comment period.
Next steps: proclamations are ceremonial; the mayor and city clerk will retain signed copies for the city record.
