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Record of Proceedings

Tacoma City Council Meeting - July 9, 2024: Charter Amendments, District 4 Interviews, and Settlements

City Council — Tuesday, July 9, 2024
BodyTacoma, Washington
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, July 9, 2024
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 6:30:24

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it
0:00

I didn't put I'd like to call to order the city council meeting of July 9th, 2024.

0:08

Clerk, will you please call the roll?

0:10

Councilmember Bushnell.

0:11

Present.

0:11

Councilmember Daniels.

0:12

Here.

0:13

Councilmember Diaz.

0:14

Here.

0:14

Deputy Mayor Hines.

0:15

Here.

0:16

Councilmember Rumba.

0:17

Here.

0:17

Councilmember Scott.

0:20

Absent Councilmember Walker?

0:22

Here.

0:23

Mayor Woodards.

0:24

Here.

0:27

Please join me in listening to the land acknowledgement and flag salute led by Councilmember Daniels, followed by a moment of silence.

0:38

We gratefully honor and acknowledge that we rest on the traditional lands of the Piala people where they make their home and speak the Lashut seed language.

0:46

Please stand for the flag salute and remain standing for a moment of silence.

1:01

One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

1:44

All right, agenda modifications.

1:46

Are there any modifications to this evening's agenda?

1:49

Seeing none, consent agenda.

1:52

We now have the consent agenda before.

1:55

I'm sorry.

1:56

We now have the consent agenda before consideration.

1:59

I move to adopt the consent agenda, including resolutions numbers 41462 through 41467.

2:06

Second.

2:07

Are there any council questions, comments, or corrections to the agenda?

2:11

Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting the consent agenda, please signify by saying aye.

2:15

Aye.

2:16

All those opposed.

2:20

Moving on to proclamations, recognitions, presentations, and announcements.

2:24

We do not have any of those this evening on the printed agenda, but I would like to take a moment to recognize staff who contributed to the council chambers remodel project.

2:36

For those of you who are here tonight, you can see that there's been a little bit of a change in the council chambers.

2:42

And for those of you who are at home, you might notice that there's a big table in front of the dais this evening.

2:51

We um engaged in this remodel project because we wanted to um be make sure that we could televise all of our meetings, um, that even during our study sessions, we would have an informal place to meet and talk and still have it be televised.

3:06

Um we also wanted to make sure that we were continuing to make sure that we were open and transparent, and I am glad this evening and grateful for all of those who worked so hard to make this happen for the city.

3:17

And with that, um, I'd like to invite staff from public works, information technology technology, and media and communications office to stand.

3:26

And I'm gonna call you by name.

3:28

So maybe I'll ask you to sit until I call your name, um, and so that we can recognize you.

3:34

Um, not only did you do um an amazing job of blending in something new that looks like it's been here forever, um, but the time period in which you got it done um was amazing.

3:49

I will admit tonight um and confess that yes, I am an HGTV junkie, and I love to watch remodel shows.

4:00

And I know that on NHGTV, they can get something done in 48 hours, but I've also um had to remodel a house, and I know that nothing happens that fast.

4:11

And so the fact that we were only delayed one week um shows the amount of work and commitment that you all put into this and making sure that we could get people back in the chambers as soon as possible.

4:24

And so I just want to thank you all on behalf of this entire council and commend you for the quality of the work that you have um that you have completed.

4:33

So, with that from the facilities management division team, I'd like to recognize David Pagel, Steven Kruger, Hans Cavalli, Chris Conley, Jeff Adams, Jack, oh sorry, Jim Jacqueline, Aaron Squires, Glenn Corby, Jason Burnett, Will Will Coates, Angel Sanchez, Sean Burfoot, Kurt Mackey, and Sun May.

5:00

And how could how does this list not have Justin's name on it, the head of the department?

5:05

Justin, please stand.

5:08

And let's give a round of applause to the facilities management division team.

5:17

I don't know who left Justin's name off, but I hope that your next project isn't under Justin's um uh under Justin's hand.

5:26

Um I'd then like thank you all so much.

5:28

I did like to um recognize the information technology telecommon network team, and that is Mike Tomter, Dan Balazor, Bogdan Zuri, and Ken Weebe.

5:40

Would you all please stand or any of the is any of the IT staff here?

5:43

All right.

5:44

Well, they didn't.

5:45

Oh, they're behind the scenes somewhere.

5:47

Let's give them a round of applause for all of their support.

5:54

And then finally, I want to thank the media and communications office team, including Amy Clancy, Jeff Luters, um, Andrew Hiller, and Kenny Koble.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural████████████████████████24%
Government Structure Reform██████████████████18%
Public Safety█████████████13%
Charter Review█████████9%
Community Engagement██████6%
Racial Equity█████5%
Public Comment████4%
Public Engagement████4%
Budget Equity Analysis███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Tacoma City Council Meeting - July 9, 2024

The Tacoma City Council met on July 9, 2024, at 5:00 PM in the Council Chambers (747 Market Street, Tacoma, WA) and via Zoom. The meeting featured a consent agenda, public comment, regular agenda items, community forum, city manager reports, committee reports, interviews for the District 4 council vacancy, and extensive discussion and votes on proposed charter amendments. The meeting adjourned after 10:00 PM.

Consent Calendar

  • Resolutions 41462-41467 were adopted unanimously. These included interlocal agreements with the Washington State Department of Ecology for stormwater monitoring and laboratory procedures ($69,440 and $1,224,287), a contract for a scenic overlook on East 32nd Street ($518,942 plus contingency), on-call tree removal services ($600,000 total), stormwater sewer pipe rehabilitation ($870,656 plus contingency), and additional design services for the Titlow Park Regional Stormwater Facility ($175,125.33).

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Eleven written comments were received: seven on charter amendments and four on District 4 appointments.
  • Heidi Giaz opposed charter proposal C4B (sale of waterfront property), citing the Charter Review Committee's vote against it and city attorney advice that perpetuity cannot be guaranteed.
  • Sean Arndt (District 4 resident) supported changing the form of government, noting the city manager's salary exceeds the governor's.
  • Stacey Oak (350 Tacoma) urged the council to put charter review recommendations (police accountability, form of government, climate commission) on the ballot.
  • Ann Dorn (DSA) supported a strong mayor system and urged council to back Councilmember Diaz's amendment.
  • Beverly Allen (District 3, attorney) supported the Charter Review Committee's recommendations, especially form of government, and opposed resurrecting the waterfront sale proposal.
  • Devin Riddell Kelly (District 3) supported the committee's recommendations and the strong mayor amendment, but criticized the rule waiver for Rick Talbert's application.
  • Marilyn Kimmerley urged adoption of the Charter Review Committee's proposals as-is, supporting police accountability, climate commission, and strong mayor.
  • Kathy Lahan supported charter review recommendations and criticized lack of air conditioning in public housing.
  • Michelle Reich addressed Resolution 41463, emphasizing benzene from vehicle emissions as a major stormwater contaminant.
  • Marion Schwartz supported strong mayor, climate commission, and police accountability amendments.
  • Rebecca Stith (Charter Review Committee member) thanked the council and staff, urged moving 24C forward.
  • Julie Angiowski (Indivisible Tacoma) supported the strong mayor proposal and other amendments.
  • Eric Hurdy opposed competing initiatives on the ballot, urging the council to allow all charter review amendments to go to the ballot.

Discussion Items

  • Regular Agenda – Settlement: The council approved a $2,000,000 settlement for the Simone Scott v. City of Tacoma case (Cause No. 18-2-11143-4) related to an October 2015 incident. Vote: unanimous.
  • Final Reading of Ordinance 28973: Amended the Compensation Plan for employees represented by the Professional Public Safety Managers Association and Tacoma Firefighters Union Local 31. Passed unanimously (7-0, with Councilmember Scott absent).
  • Community Forum: Speakers addressed: vehicle emissions, contaminated soil at the Harrison shooting range, encampment sweeps, tree loss in South Tacoma, and community events.
  • City Manager Report: Elizabeth Pauli announced heat relief efforts: distribution of hygiene supplies, water, and activation of cooling centers when temperatures reach 85°F (90°F for cooling centers). Non-emergent encampment removals are paused during heat events.
  • Committee Reports: Deputy Mayor Hines reported on GPFC (June 18 meeting: claims procedures, Tacoma Power/Water long-range financial plans). Councilmember Rumbaugh reported on CVS (June 13 & 27 meetings: opioid settlement update, nuisance code review, anti-displacement strategy, Measure One study).
  • District 4 Interviews: Six finalists were interviewed in random order: Sandesh Sedalgay, Justin Everman, Jasmine Brown, Salong Chun, Steven Womback, and Rick Talbert. Each had 15 minutes (2-min intro, seven question, 1-min close). The council will decide on July 16.
  • Charter Amendments: The council debated and voted on numerous proposed amendments. Key discussions included:
    • 24C (Strong Mayor): Councilmember Diaz moved to advance to the ballot. After debate (Councilmembers Diaz, Hines, Rumbaugh in support; Councilmembers Daniels, Walker, Woodards, Bushnell opposed), the motion failed on a roll call vote: 4-5 (Bushnell no, Daniels no, Diaz yes, Hines yes, Rumbaugh yes, Scott yes, Walker no, Woodards no).
    • 1 (Salary Commission): Advanced to July 16 (unanimous).
    • **C6 (Replace

Meeting Transcript

I didn't put I'd like to call to order the city council meeting of July 9th, 2024. Clerk, will you please call the roll? Councilmember Bushnell. Present. Councilmember Daniels. Here. Councilmember Diaz. Here. Deputy Mayor Hines. Here. Councilmember Rumba. Here. Councilmember Scott. Absent Councilmember Walker? Here. Mayor Woodards. Here. Please join me in listening to the land acknowledgement and flag salute led by Councilmember Daniels, followed by a moment of silence. We gratefully honor and acknowledge that we rest on the traditional lands of the Piala people where they make their home and speak the Lashut seed language. Please stand for the flag salute and remain standing for a moment of silence. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. All right, agenda modifications. Are there any modifications to this evening's agenda? Seeing none, consent agenda. We now have the consent agenda before. I'm sorry. We now have the consent agenda before consideration. I move to adopt the consent agenda, including resolutions numbers 41462 through 41467. Second. Are there any council questions, comments, or corrections to the agenda? Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting the consent agenda, please signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed. Moving on to proclamations, recognitions, presentations, and announcements. We do not have any of those this evening on the printed agenda, but I would like to take a moment to recognize staff who contributed to the council chambers remodel project. For those of you who are here tonight, you can see that there's been a little bit of a change in the council chambers. And for those of you who are at home, you might notice that there's a big table in front of the dais this evening. We um engaged in this remodel project because we wanted to um be make sure that we could televise all of our meetings, um, that even during our study sessions, we would have an informal place to meet and talk and still have it be televised. Um we also wanted to make sure that we were continuing to make sure that we were open and transparent, and I am glad this evening and grateful for all of those who worked so hard to make this happen for the city. And with that, um, I'd like to invite staff from public works, information technology technology, and media and communications office to stand. And I'm gonna call you by name. So maybe I'll ask you to sit until I call your name, um, and so that we can recognize you. Um, not only did you do um an amazing job of blending in something new that looks like it's been here forever, um, but the time period in which you got it done um was amazing. I will admit tonight um and confess that yes, I am an HGTV junkie, and I love to watch remodel shows. And I know that on NHGTV, they can get something done in 48 hours, but I've also um had to remodel a house, and I know that nothing happens that fast. And so the fact that we were only delayed one week um shows the amount of work and commitment that you all put into this and making sure that we could get people back in the chambers as soon as possible. And so I just want to thank you all on behalf of this entire council and commend you for the quality of the work that you have um that you have completed. So, with that from the facilities management division team, I'd like to recognize David Pagel, Steven Kruger, Hans Cavalli, Chris Conley, Jeff Adams, Jack, oh sorry, Jim Jacqueline, Aaron Squires, Glenn Corby, Jason Burnett, Will Will Coates, Angel Sanchez, Sean Burfoot, Kurt Mackey, and Sun May. And how could how does this list not have Justin's name on it, the head of the department? Justin, please stand.

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