Hello, everyone, 

Welcome to Fall. I can hardly believe that September is here, and I hope for a bit of cool and rain for the City, for our community, our area wetlands, prairies, fields, and forests. 

This month, I am very excited about our Employee Recognition event on September 17 from 3-5 p.m. at the Capitol Event Center, a venue that you will find located on the “back road” between Costco and Home Depot (6005 Tyee Dr. SW). 

We would love it if as many City employees as possible could be there.  We are closing City Hall early to help make that happen.   

There will be games. There will be prizes. There will be an employee slide show and great food. 

I also want to take a moment to thank our hard-working Human Resources team for all they do to keep our City working well, but especially at this point, for the huge commitment of time and resources to help make occasions like our Employee Recognition event happen. 

Looking forward to seeing you there, 

Lisa     

Aerification with Parks & Recreation

September is all about aerification for parks and the golf course. This consistent biannual process has numerous benefits and results in healthier turf, disease suppression, and conservation of water from less irrigation.

Facilities has completed their remodeling of the Police Department's new detective space at City Hall.

Summer activities are wrapping up for recreation. Learn about this and more in the Parks & Recreation Monthly Newsletter. 

Tumwater Police solve case of two years of credit card fraud

Tumwater Police took a call from a woman distressed about unknown charges on her credit card. She found that multiple additional charges had been made over two years. The officer discovered multiple additional victims and $40,000 in fraudulent charges.

A beloved school resource officer will retire.

TPD has two major technology projects in progress: implementing body cameras and new in-car cameras and standing up a new Records Management System (RMS). Read about it in the TPD Monthly Newsletter.

WRS and the Bad Elf 

The WRS stormwater team is working with the GIS team to collect water quality data using a new tool called the Bad Elf GPS receiver. Water quality was good for the 19 stormwater outfalls that have been screened so far. Water quality was also good in recently completed lead and copper sampling.

Participate in the Week Without Driving event. All this and more in the WRS Monthly newsletter.

Pavement maintenance with TED

The 2025 Pavement Maintenance Project continues. View updates and an interactive map. Check out the TED Monthly Newsletter for more information. 

Fire provides tips on household PPE use

Tumwater Fire responded to 545 calls in the month of July. Of those, 155 were advanced life support and 7 were cardiac arrests. One of those was for a three-vehicle crash that was involved in a suspect fleeing from law enforcement.

Do you use personal protection equipment at your home? It's often a good idea. Find out more in the Fire Monthly Newsletter. 

Check out our new development map

In another great example of Tumwater teamwork, our CDD, GIS, and TED teams worked together to produce a new Tumwater Development Projects interactive map and it is now live. Check it out!  

Employee Recognition Event

Our Employee Recognition Event is coming up from 3–5 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Capitol Event Center. Remember we’re switching things up this year with an afternoon celebration, so City Hall will close early so staff can attend.

Expect great food (hello, Bite Me Catering’s Taco Bar 🌮), games, prizes, and a special employee slideshow. It’s a chance to connect, celebrate our colleagues, and have some fun together.

If you haven’t yet, please upload a photo or two of “life around the City” for the slideshow. Team moments, fieldwork, community events, or the everyday scenes that make Tumwater special. There is a photo folder in the shared drive, under ASD/Mallory.

We can’t wait to celebrate with you on the 17th!

Employee wellness

In order to maintain our WellCity Award, we must demonstrate employee engagement in wellness activities by having at least 50% of eligible employees redeem points for the wellness reward this year. As of August 26, 2025 only 25% of eligible employees have redeemed their wellness reward this year. Many employees have registered but have not redeemed an award. Redeeming is the key factor!

While participating in other events can count towards our WellCity Award, redeeming your wellness award via Castlight is the easiest way to get up to the minimum of 50%. You might ask why is this important? When we achieve the WellCity Award we get a 2% premium discount on our health insurance. 

A super easy way to earn the minimum amount of points to redeem your wellness award is to do the Health Assessment.

Get started today with these three easy steps:

1. Access Health Central through the Castlight app on your Apple or Android device. Don’t have a smartphone? Access Castlight on your computer at awctrust.org.
2. Register by entering the necessary information to verify your eligibility.
3. Follow the prompts to personalize your experience.

Your covered spouse or domestic partner can join and earn rewards, too! They can register directly at awctrust.org or on the Castlight mobile app.

Questions? Reach out to Castlight Support at support@castlighthealth.com or call 855-716-2888 for immediate assistance.

New hires

• John Williams, Maintenance Tech I
• Tod Mower, Fire Prevention Officer (internal promotion)
• Kevia Ruiz Rodriguez, Accounts Payable 
• Ashleigh Clark, Records Supervisor (internal promotion)
• Gene Angel, Economic Development Coordinator

August Development Review Committee actions

• Feasibility Review for utility availability, 2905 Black Lake Blvd. SW
• Preapplication Review to subdivide 14.53 acres into 84 single-family residential lots, 2719 - 70th Ave. SW (Anderson Place)
• Feasibility Review for design and construction of stormwater treatment facilities in the right of way, Joppa St. SW & Lambskin St. SW (Beehive Stormwater Retrofit)