From our sister site The Tukwila Blog:

On Monday, Mar. 9, 2020, the City of Tukwila issued a formal declaration of emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak.

“The health, safety and welfare of Tukwila residents, businesses, visitors and staff is of utmost importance to the City and additional future measures may be needed to protect the community,” the proclamation states.

The City says it issued this proclamation because it “may require additional assistance in the future, and a formal declaration of emergency allows additional resources to flow to the City in a timely fashion.”

Tukwila joins Des Moines, Kent and Federal Way as the only cities in the region to declare an emergency so far.

Here’s text of the full proclamation:

Office of the Mayor City of Tukwila, Washington
PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) Chapter 38.52 authorizes the Mayor to exercise emergency powers; and

WHEREAS, Tukwila Municipal Code (TMC) Section 2.57.030 (1) empowers the Mayor to proclaim a state of emergency when an incident, whether natural or man-made, requires immediate responsive action to protect life and property; and

WHEREAS, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is a respiratory disease that may result in serious illness or death and is easily transmissible from person to person; and

WHEREAS, on January 31, 2020, the United States Department of Public Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar declared a public emergency for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) beginning on January 27, 2020; and

WHEREAS, on February 29, 2020, Governor Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency exists in all counties in the State of Washington due to the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the State; and

WHEREAS, on March 1, 2020, King County Executive Dow Constantine signed a proclamation of emergency due to the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the County, thus enabling King County government to take extraordinary measures; and

WHEREAS, the health, safety and welfare of Tukwila residents, businesses, visitors and staff is of utmost importance to the City and additional future measures may be needed to protect the community; and

WHEREAS, the City may require additional assistance in the future, and a formal declaration of emergency allows additional resources to flow to the City in a timely fashion; and

WHEREAS, existing conditions related to the COVID-19 warrant the proclamation of emergency, as defined by TMC Section 2.57.020 and Revised Code of Washington (RCW) Section 38.52.010; and

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Allan Ekberg, Mayor of the City of Tukwila, do hereby proclaim a declaration of emergency within the City of Tukwila; and that during the existence of said emergency, the powers, functions, and duties of the Director of Emergency Management and the emergency organization of this city shall be those prescribed by state law, by ordinances, and resolutions of this city and approved by the Mayor on March 9, 2020. Said local emergency shall be deemed to continue to exist until its termination is proclaimed by the Mayor of the City of Tukwila, State of Washington.

Executed this 9th day of March, 2020.

Allan Ekberg
Mayor