Kent Mayor Ralph stands up to King County over coronavirus facility

Mayor Dana Ralph told a Kent Chamber of Commerce crowd she will keep fighting against King County about the impacts of a coronavirus quarantine facility in the city and the future use of the site.

“It’s my job to take care of Kent,” Ralph said Thursday during the Chamber luncheon at Green River College Kent Station. “We will continue to fight. I have lawyers and code people looking at how to figure this out. In the long term we are not OK with this being a permanent facility. I have more faith on that front than I do on the other side (for people with the coronavirus) but I’m not going to take it lying down.”

Ralph said her husband compared the fight to David taking on Goliath after she held a press conference March 4 at City Hall about the county’s plans to set up a facility.

King County is purchasing the 85-bed Econo Lodge, 1233 Central Ave. N., for $4 million. The facility will be used to house patients for recovery and isolation dealing with COVID-19. The motel, which includes assets such as hard surfaces, seamless floors, and independent heating and cooling and entrances for each room, will be used to isolate patients in recovery. Public Health – Seattle & King County personnel will monitor patients daily.

The patients could include homeless, people traveling and possibly college students from dorms, according to county and city officials. County staff said the facility could open as soon as the March 14 weekend.

Ralph said she has safety concerns, although the county agreed to fence the area. Unarmed security will be at the site.

“There is no law that requires people that are there to stay there,” she said. “They will be transported by Public Health by ambulance to that location and asked to stay in that room.”

The mayor said questions remain unanswered by the county.

“This is the guinea pig facility,” Ralph said.

A Chamber member asked Ralph what happens to people who stay there after their 14-day quarantine is up.

“It will be (mainly) for unsheltered people,” Ralph said. “My concern is that they are connected with services and put back in the community that is their home and not just the door be opened and say you are on your own in the city of Kent.”

Ralph also hopes the city can get mitigation funds from the county or federal government to pay for extra services when Kent Police or Kent-based Puget Sound Fire personnel respond to the facility. She also worries about officers and fire personnel being exposed to the virus and having to go into quarantine.

“If you take our already understaffed police department and pull officers out, it puts the rest of the community at risk,” she said.

Because King County Executive Dow Constantine declared an emergency due to the coronavirus, Ralph said the normal processes for opening a facility are put aside.

“This is not Kent saying not in my backyard,” Ralph said. “Had King County come to us (before announcing it had a site), I can think of several properties we could help them out with that would have less impact.”

Ralph said she will stand up for Kent.

“We are the third largest city (129,000) in the county and we deserve respect,” she said. “We deserve to be communicated with. I will continue to advocate for that.”

The Chamber crowd applauded Ralph for her stance.

“You guys are going to make me cry,” she said in response. “With every bit of sincerity I have, I love this place. I live and breathe Kent because it is my home. We are an amazing community that cares about each other. When I feel that is being threatened, I will stand up and defend every single one of us to the very end.”