As Joe DePinto enters his final year in his first term as Yelm’s mayor, he’ll continue to prioritize transportation and public safety as his two major points of emphasis — with road projects slated and sustainable police growth expected.
DePinto told the Nisqually Valley News on Monday, Jan. 6, that his time as Yelm’s mayor has gone by “pretty quickly” since being elected in 2021.
“I think my term has been going pretty well. We took huge strides in recreational opportunities for youth and adults, but we’ve also done a lot with increasing public safety. We’re heading in the right direction right now. I support our police officers 100%, and I know our community does as well,” DePinto said. “All of these goals are going to be transportation related. We’ve done a lot in terms of public safety over the years, and you’re going to see that come up this year, too. We’ve obviously seen a lot of recreational opportunities for youth and adults. Line [Roy] has been doing a great job over these last couple of years with a little budget. We had two events the city was doing right when I took office, and last year, we had over 100. It’s nuts.
“The one thing I do want to make sure is completed is the transportation piece,” DePinto added. “You’re going to see a lot of projects come to fruition this year. I want to make sure they’re completed. That’s the biggest thing people want here in Yelm right now is transportation solutions.”
DePinto highlighted the start of the Yelm Loop project’s construction as one of his administration’s biggest successes since 2021. He said Yelm’s Public Works team and a local representative have been critical to ensuring this project occurs. He said ever since he was a kid growing up in Yelm, he’s been hearing politicians speak about how they’ll get the Yelm Loop completed but to no avail.
“Please believe me when I say there’s nobody who wants this Yelm Loop completed more than me. No one. When I took office, Gov. Inslee in his proposed budget moved the Yelm Loop back out to 2031. I met with him directly, and we had a good conversation about it. I told him the importance of the project to our community, regional mobility and national security with JBLM and all of our local heroes in this community,” DePinto said. “I’m not sure it did much, but with Rep. Barkis’s role as a ranking member for the House of Transportation committee, I think he was really able to help us out and keep that funding in the timetable of 2025 final phase construction. Starting construction for the final phase of the Yelm Loop is my biggest priority. Rep. Andrew Barkis has been a tremendous advocate for our community and has been fighting hard to ensure those funds don’t get redirected and moved to other projects.”
Over the last several weeks, DePinto said construction on the Yelm Loop project has begun near Walmart.
“We’re building it. This is the best indicator that the loop is being built and will be finished,” DePinto said. “They wouldn’t be moving those utilities unless WSDOT was telling them to. It’s happening. We have a date for April for bids going out and construction will start later this summer.”
The completion of the Yelm Loop project is the “biggest task” DePinto and his administration have been focused on. He added that transportation improvements throughout Yelm will be seen in 2025 and throughout the next several years.
“It’s going to be a little bad for probably a few months, but it’s going to get a lot better,” DePinto said. “Transportation is going to look a lot different than we’ve ever seen it here in Yelm. That’s the biggest priority.”
DePinto highlighted the Rhoton Road project as another big transportation project to take place in Yelm. He said that specific road has been identified as an area that will experience a traffic volume increase with the completion of the Yelm Loop and that city officials are seeking to improve that street prior to the Yelm Loop’s completion.
The mayor also reiterated his commitment to public safety by stating more funding for Yelm Police Department is on the way in 2025 and 2026 with different vehicle upgrades and additional staffing.
“Getting us two officers on duty at all times was my biggest goal as council member and as mayor. With this budget, we will do that. When I took office, we had 16 officers at that time. With this recently passed budget, we’ll have 22 commissioned officers,” DePinto said. “That’s a huge increase for a city of our size, and the biggest increase we’ve ever seen in the city. I’m really proud of that.”
