Last weekend at an end-of-summer barbecue, I was asked an interesting question: “How do you revitalize a city like Centralia?”
It made me think about the work we’ve done so far, and how we’re building toward the future. My response, to borrow a phrase from Hemingway, was that we revitalize our city gradually, then suddenly.
Centralia is solving issues we know are top priorities for our residents. While specific progress may be easy to overlook at times, many gradual solutions have started to bear fruit.
On public safety, we’ve invested in new resources, including the Flock camera system and the mobile camera unit for parks and business centers. We proudly partner with the Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team to target drug suppliers and address the opioid and fentanyl crisis. The overall crime rate is trending down in Centralia, and we’ve made our community a safer place. The United Learning Center is under construction, which will provide early education for our youngest residents. Our Scholar’s Haven partnership brought an immediate outpouring of support to house high school seniors without a home. The City, with the Centralia Downtown Association, invests resources to make our downtown vibrant and welcoming for families and small businesses. Our Port is an economic driver. Winco is building at Centralia Station, and we’ll see several more businesses there soon.
When it comes to housing, city council works extremely hard to create an environment that enables new construction. We have nearly 900 units of new housing in the pipeline to address all levels of need — from transitional housing to single family residences. Thanks to a strong partnership with the county, we’re building a new shelter on Kresky Avenue with access to transportation and services. We continue to develop infrastructure, too. We’re improving Alder Street in preparation for Centralia Station, Scheuber Road is getting a beautiful wide, multi-modal sidewalk, and we continue our work with the Washington State Department of Transportation to address congestion on Harrison Avenue. Our streets department filled over 1,500 potholes this year and repairs as many surface streets as possible each summer.
We’re taking control of our destiny and shaping our future. As the tide shifts, gradual solutions are suddenly coming together for significant change.
Businesses, developers and new residents are all interested in locating here. We must enable smart growth and continue responsible fiscal management. We must protect our quality of life — the rural lifestyle, small town connectedness, support for our local businesses and natural beauty. We must harness economic drivers for our future — making Centralia a place where our kids and grandkids can get a strong start in life.
Over the last year, we’ve heard broad community support for the Hub City Greenways vision. It includes a trail system that winds throughout the city and connects people to key destinations while also using our waterways for recreation and flood mitigation. We’re creating neighborhood hubs centered on our schools to preserve a small town feel as we grow. This year, Centralia won a federal Thriving Communities grant — one of only 52 communities nationwide. This will provide Centralia with the technical expertise to move our vision forward. These are exciting times for Centralia.
This fall, the Centralia City Council will develop our budget for the next two years. The city’s finance committee will soon present a set of budget recommendations for the council to consider. These will likely be challenging conversations. Like your household, our costs are rising — from unfunded state-level mandates to labor costs and insurance rates. After years of bare-bones budgeting and city departments doing more with less, we’re faced with a choice: cut needed services or find ways to grow into our future.
As we consider the choices presented by the finance committee, my priorities are clear: supporting and strengthening our community today by continuing our investments in public safety and protecting our quality of life. This means a fully staffed police force, maintaining and enhancing our parks and streets, fostering small town connectedness while supporting our local businesses and natural beauty. I will also have an eye on the future — we must ensure a vital Centralia in five, 10 and 20 years. This includes funding the vision that so many of you have helped to develop and support. My north star through all of this is a thriving Centralia, today and into tomorrow.
I am a steward of your tax dollars, and that responsibility does not sit lightly on my shoulders. In the coming weeks, I want to hear from you. I welcome your input and guidance as we make decisions that will shape our community. The only way Centralia thrives is together. We will build a stronger Centralia because we choose to. And we’re doing it right now. Suddenly.
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Kelly Smith Johnston is the mayor of Centralia. She can be reached by email at kjohnston@cityofcentralia.com.
