It is so exciting to see all the excitement and energy around town. I just wanted to brag about our great city.

I recently attended the ribbon cutting for our new police substation near the Sound Transit garage. What a great asset this space is going to be for our community. This new tool that the police has at their disposal will increase the safety not only in the immediate area, but across the city. Our officers will be able to use this space instead of traveling back to the main station, thus increasing response times. The visibility that this location offers is incredible. Kudos to Mayor Jim Ferrell and police Chief Andy Hwang on a job well done in getting this up and running.

I would also like to thank Ferrell and the City Council for approving the bid for our new Town Square Park. Town Square Park will be located on the former AMC Theater site. This park is going to be a jewel in the center of our town. It will become a hub of activity. This area will become the core of our downtown redevelopment.

The park is going to have many features and also will become a future home to our Farmers Market. I spoke at a recent City Council meeting about how we are always paving paradise and putting in parking lots, a line from a song. It is so great to see our mayor’s vision and unanimous support from our Council to move forward on unpaving a parking lot and creating a little paradise in our city.

As our city core grows, we may not have this opportunity come before us again. Thank you, Mayor Ferrell and Council for your 100 percent support on delivering us our first true downtown park.

Many other exciting activities are happening in our city and it is good to see that we are seeing our economy and property values on the rise.

Again, thank you to the mayor, deputy mayor, Council and city staff for all the hard work that has been put into the many projects that are occurring throughout our city.

John Fairbanks, Federal Way