Mayor Dana Raup previews new businesses, city programs and Jan. 23 family night out

Mayor Dana Raup, Mayor of the City of Kent, gave a weekly video update highlighting recent business openings, city programs and an upcoming family event.

In the update, Raup welcomed the recent grand opening of Dogspot, a dog daycare, kennel and grooming facility on Washington Avenue, and the arrival of an El Pollo Loco restaurant adjacent to Camp Meridian High School. “A lot of excitement early on, things will settle out, and traffic patterns will return to normal,” Raup said, addressing community concerns about congestion after El Pollo Loco’s opening. She also noted the Dogspot opening as a positive for residents with pets.

Raup said she joined the city’s Kent Now podcast to discuss the legislative session and the city’s priorities and challenges. She also announced the release of the city’s 2025 progress report, calling it “a recap of some of the major initiatives and projects that we completed in 2025” and said the video is available across the city’s social channels.

Registration is open for the spring session of Kent 101, which Raup described as a roughly 10-week civic class held at City Hall that includes presentations and Q&A from administration, parks, public works, finance, IT and court staff. Raup said the class is intended to help residents “gain insight into the city that you live in and for us to sort of hear what’s on your mind.” The mayor provided the city’s online resources for more information.

Raup pointed viewers to the city’s online construction portal (buildkentwa.com) as the place to scan QR codes on project signs and learn about upcoming or in-progress public works. She also promoted the first annual Kent Parks Family Night Out: a free community event Friday, Jan. 23 at Kent Commons community center from 5 to 8 p.m., and encouraged families to attend.

On arts and culture, Raup previewed a Spotlight Series concert featuring a band that blends Irish traditional music and Celtic bluegrass with folk and Appalachian influences; tickets are available at the city’s Spotlight Series page. She closed the video with a personal note cheering the Seahawks before the big game and said the next update will recap how the team did. “I had the tortilla soup and it was fantastic,” Raup added when recommending the new restaurant.

The update was primarily informational: no council actions, votes or formal directives were announced; the mayor focused on community events, civic education opportunities and city communications.