The King County Council this week put the spotlight on the stage, with statements that honored two pop stars in town this week, one of whom who even lives here.
With backing from Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer, the council honored recent American Idol winner Iam Tongi, a Hawaiian-born 18-year-old who graduated from Decatur High School in Federal Way, where he has lived since 2019.
Tongi is the first Hawaiian and the first Washington state resident to win the contest, a win that also coinicided with Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
He credited his mother, who has been a stalwart backer of his musical efforts, and his late father, who gave him a guitar when Tongi was 13, for helping him realize his dream.
And Councilmember Claudia Balducci brought a proclamation naming July 18-25 as Taylor Swift Week in King County ahead of the pop star’s two sold-out shows at Lumen Field this weekend.
Balducci was joined by seven young Swifties at the podium, who took turns reading the album title pun-filled proclamation.