Tumwater’s Pete Kmet says this is his last year as mayor
Pete Kmet, who has held elected office in Tumwater for 30 years, has announced that he won’t seek re-election and will retire when his term ends in December.
Kmet spent 18 years on the City Council — 14 of them as mayor pro tem — and another 12 leading the city as mayor.
He said Saturday that it has been a “labor of love,” but with great leaders coming up through the council and solid leadership on the city staff, it just felt like the right time.
“It seemed like a natural break point,” said Kmet, 67, who retired from the state Department of Ecology four years ago.
Kmet joined the council in 1992, saying he got into politics because of concerns about growth and development. He said the city has done a lot in those areas, including in land use and planning, but also by making investments in infrastructure, whether it was water, sewer, stormwater or the roads that help support a city.
In the last 30 years, Tumwater has grown from a population of 8,500 to 25,000.
He also said he was grateful for the volunteers who have stepped up to help the city, as well as Tumwater University, a program that connects residents to its city government, and another program called Tumwater Fresh, which helps youth gain high school credits, job skills, and people skills while working on a small farm off Linwood Avenue.
“I’m proud to have had a role in making those things happen,” he said.
Another accomplishment, he said, was the city gaining control of the former brick brewhouse below Tumwater Falls for redevelopment.
But he also cited the more modern brewery on Custer Way as his biggest disappointment, acknowledging there has been no significant development on that site in the 18 years that the brewery has been closed, despite city investments to make that happen.
Over the years, the community has called on the city to buy the property, but Kmet said Saturday the city does not have the resources to take that step.
“We’re a mid-size city,” he said. “We need a willing partner.”
The current owner, Tumwater Development LLC, was recently billed $11.37 million by Ecology for the cleanup of an oil spill that originated on the brewery property.
Kmet’s work as mayor isn’t done just yet. He wants the city to continue to work on the brewhouse tower, complete the Deschutes River Valley trail, build a new operations and maintenance facility and address climate change.
And on Tuesday, the council will gather to discuss the process of replacing Councilman Tom Oliva, who resigned from the council last week. Oliva had served on the council since 2010.
“I’d like to thank Tom for his 11 years of elected service to our community, especially his work on promoting diversity, environmental sustainability, and brewhouse tower preservation actions,” Kmet said.
What’s next for Kmet? There’s a long list of things to do around the house, he said, plus there will be some traveling and an ongoing commitment to the city.
“I look forward to volunteering in anyway I can to help the community move forward,” he said.
