Tacoma City Council Special Meeting - June 21, 2024: Charter Amendments Discussion
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Tacoma City Council Special Meeting - June 21, 2024: Charter Amendments Discussion
The Tacoma City Council held a special meeting on June 21, 2024, to finalize recommendations on proposed charter amendments. Key topics included the initiative process (item #4), full-time council and staffing (#7), policing accountability (#8), and a strong mayor form of government (#24B). The council discussed each item, heard updates from members, and set a timeline for public hearings and final votes.
Discussion Items
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Initiative #4 (Initiative Process): Councilmember Scott withdrew a proposed amendment to the CRC recommendation, citing that the legal issues were too complex to resolve at this time. He stated, "the best path forward is kind of letting this rest for now and then redoubling our efforts on making sure that we're being communicative and engaging with the community." The original CRC recommendation will move forward to the next step.
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Full-Time Council and Staffing (#7): The council reviewed staffing models and discussed the proposed amendment giving the council hiring authority for staff. Councilmember Bushnell appreciated the permissive language, saying it gives flexibility. Councilmember Walker asked for clarification; the city manager confirmed that additional support staff could be added via the budget without a charter change, but would report through the city manager. The council agreed to proceed with the permissive language and defer detailed staffing model discussions until after the potential charter change passes in November.
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Policing Accountability (#8): Councilmembers Scott, Daniels, and Mayor Woodards announced they had worked with CPAC and community members and decided not to bring an amendment forward. They expressed that working through existing processes with CPAC would be more efficient than putting it on the ballot due to legal issues. Councilmember Bushnell thanked them for their work, noting this commitment predated the charter review.
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Form of Government – Strong Mayor Proposal (#24B): Councilmember Diaz presented a detailed proposal to transition Tacoma to a strong mayor form of government, with a separately elected mayor and a nine-member council. Councilmembers shared initial thoughts. Councilmember Rumbaugh raised concerns about costs, unknowns, and transition. Councilmember Walker noted that good government depends on people, not just form. Councilmember Diaz argued that a well-crafted proposal is needed to forestall community-initiated measures. Mayor Woodards expressed skepticism about whether a change of government would solve trust issues. Councilmember Scott highlighted that community members want change and a perceived lack of trust. Councilmember Bushnell agreed that lack of trust is a problem but questioned whether changing the form of government would increase transparency and accountability. Deputy Mayor Hines noted that every form of government has trade-offs. The council decided to have sponsors (Councilmember Diaz and Deputy Mayor Hines) review a reconciliation table and propose which amendments to incorporate into 24B, with further discussion on June 25.
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Crosswalk Reconciliation: City Manager Elizabeth presented a reconciliation table comparing 24B with 15 other proposed charter amendments. She explained that if both 24B and standalone amendments are on the ballot, contingent language or a contingent ballot would be needed. The council agreed to let the sponsors of 24B decide which amendments to reconcile, and then the full council would decide whether to include contingent language for any standalone amendments that remain important even if 24B fails.
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Charter Review Timeline: The council confirmed the schedule: June 25 study session to discuss amendments; July 2 public hearing; July 9 final discussion; July 16 vote and transmission to the auditor. The package for July 9 will be sent on Friday, July 5 (due to July 4 holiday).
Key Outcomes
- Initiative #4 and Policing Accountability amendments withdrawn; original CRC recommendations will proceed without ballot measures.
- Full-time council and staffing amendments to move forward with permissive language; staffing model discussions deferred until after potential charter change.
- Strong mayor proposal (24B) to be refined by sponsors for further council discussion; no decision on ballot placement today.
- Crosswalk reconciliation decisions deferred to June 25 study session; sponsors to propose which amendments to incorporate into 24B.
- Public hearing set for July 2, 2024; final votes on all charter amendments scheduled for July 9 and July 16, 2024.
Meeting Transcript
I'd like to call to order the city council special meeting of June 21st, 2024. Clerk, please call the roll. Councilmember Bushness. Present. Councilmember Daniels. Councilmember Diaz. Deputy Mayor Hines. Councilmember Rumba. Here. Council Member Scott. Here. Councilmember Walker. Here. Mayor Worders. Here. All right. We have four briefing items today. And these are to finish up the resolutions. To finish up the recommendations, the the amendments that have been made and to make sure that we're all okay to move these four forward. So let me start with the initiative number four. So behind tab four. Give me just a second. Yes, please, Elizabeth. So Mayor, this is on the agenda today because when the council previously discussed item number four, the amendment to the initiative language in the in the charter, there was some discussion about an amendment to the amendment coming forward. So it's on today to close that loop. Yeah. Yeah. So council member um Scott, um, this was an amendment that you are going to bring forward. I know that you have had some conversations with legal. Do you want to share that? Um the um I think yeah, we were mostly just concerned for um, you know, the legalities of it and and um, you know, my what I was able to kind of pull from this um recommendation by talking with folks, and um, you know, there's a lot of there's a lot of outreach that we do as the city, and um what I'm hearing from this though is that um now that more folks are paying attention, um it just feels we're the messaging I'm getting is that um they still want more of that engagement and uh this was kind of one of those um a little reactionary in some ways to what happened with uh the Tacoma for All initiative, um, but also there was just a sentiment of you know not feeling heard, which is kind of a theme that goes throughout a lot of the recommendations and so um with just the the conflicts and and how much it would take to kind of work all of this out, um, the best path forward is kind of letting this rest for now and then um going ahead and just kind of redoubling our efforts on making sure that we're being communicative and um engaging with the community as they bring forward various initiatives. Right. Thank you very much, Councilmember Scott. Um are there do we need to have any more discussion? Are there any questions before this gets? Yeah, go ahead, council member Bushnell. Thank you, thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to clarify. Did we did we do during your process? Did we find out whether this was actually legal or not? It it sounded like to me initially it was not a legal council member. You have a legal memorandum behind um tab four, and that that memor memorandum has not been updated. It's so this same it's the same legal advice. What the council member was exploring was would there be some alternate language that could um satisfy the limitations of the law? Great, thank you so much. I I see it now. Appreciate it, City Manager. Thank you, City Manager. All right. Um are there any other any other questions?
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