KING5: Meet the Mayor of Kent

KING5: Meet the Mayor of Kent: Part mama bear, part metal-head, and all moxie

Mayor Dana Ralph didn't let a busy schedule as a mom, business owner, and council member get in the way of getting her bachelors degree. Sponsored by WGU Washington.

KENT, Wash. — Disclaimer: This episode is an Encore Presentation KING 5's Evening. 

If you walk into Mayor Dana Ralph's office, you'll see a blue tumbler emblazoned with the words, "DON'T MESS WITH KENT."

"A friend of mine, a local artist, five or six years ago showed me a sticker that he had made," Mayor Ralph says, "and I was like, 'that is exactly how I feel about my city.' I'm very protective. I'm kind of that mama bear."

Mayor Ralph isn't just a mama bear. She's also a metalhead - yes, that's right, the Mayor of Kent jams out to AC/DC, Guns N' Roses, and Metallica.

"I grew up in the '80s. I was probably that rocker chick from Kent that everybody has that vision of," Mayor Ralph says.

She doesn't look like a rocker chick anymore, but Mayor Ralph is still a very proud resident of Kent and a 4th generation resident. Her great-grandparents moved to Kent back in the 1930s.

"We joke that I literally made it ten blocks up the hill," Mayor Ralph says.

Mayor Dana Ralph is a proud multi-generation Kent resident.

The journey to the Mayor's office was a long one. Years ago, Mayor Ralph wanted to run for council, but something was missing.

"The first time I ran for council, there's a form you have to fill out for a voters guide," Mayor Ralph says. "And one of the questions is education. And I didn't have anything to put in that box."

She won the race, but she still wanted the degree. Mayor Ralph chose WGU Washington to complete her bachelor's degree. This allowed her to take her classes online, on her own time. It didn't hurt that the non-profit, online university is headquartered in Kent.

"Being a mom of two teenagers at the time, running my own business and being on city council means my schedule was really crazy," Mayor Ralph says, "But I also wanted to go back to school, and get a degree. And WGU fits that. And so the next time that I ran for council, I was able to fill in that blank."

And Mayor Ralph is still rockin' out to this very day.

"My Spotify lists are always going," she says.