I would like to call to order the city council meeting of August 12th 2025.

Clerk, will you please call the rule?

Councilmember Bushnell.

Present.

Deputy Mayor Daniels.

Here.

Councilmember Diaz.

Here.

Councilmember Hines.

Here.

Councilmember Rumba.

Here.

Councilmember Sidalgate, absent.

Councilmember Scott.

Here.

Councilmember Walker.

Here.

Mayor Woodards.

Here.

Thanks, Mayor.

All right.

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

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

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

All right.

Starting off with agenda modifications.

Are there any modifications to the agenda this evening?

Seeing none, uh, we'll move on to the consent agenda.

I move to adopt the consent agenda, including resolutions numbers 41734 and final reading of ordinance two nine zero four seven.

Second.

Are there any questions, comments, or corrections?

All right, all those in favor signify by saying aye.

Sorry, guys.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed, signify by saying nay.

All right.

The consent agenda is declared adopted.

Uh we have no proclamations, recognitions, or presentations this evening.

So we're gonna move on to public comment.

On tonight's agenda, there are three opportunities to speak or for people to comment.

Under public comment, you can speak about motions, resolutions, and ordinances on tonight's agenda, except for ordinance number two nine zero four seven for which a public hearing has already been held.

Under the public hearing um opportunity tonight, you can speak about the proposed amendments to the South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District Code as recommended by the planning commission.

Under community forum, which is held at the end of the meeting.

You can speak about items over which a city council has jurisdictions.

These forms are intended to give speakers the opportunity to share their viewpoints and feedback with the city council to aid in our decision making and is not meant to be a back and forth dialogue.

Your remarks should be directed towards the city council and not at individual staff members.

If you wish to speak under the public comment period, press the raise the hand button near the bottom of your Zoom window or star nine on your phone window now, so we can see the number of people wishing to testify this evening.

If you're speaking in person, please sign up at the back of the room if you have not done so already.

Your name or the last four digits of your phone number will be called when it is your turn to speak.

Clerk, will you please read?

This is a time set for public comment.

Speakers are asked to identify the specific legislation they wish to address.

Okay.

I would like to remind everyone to please keep your comments respectful, relevant, focused, and on topic.

We strive to present or to create a uh a comment period where people can feel respected and share a wide variety of viewpoints and acknowledge that we may hear comments that conflict with our values to ensure that speakers can express their First Amendment constitutional rights.

We ask that you refrain from clapping, cheering, booing, or otherwise being disruptive.

Tonight you will have 90 seconds to make your remarks, so please be mindful of the time frame.

As always, you are not required to use all of your time to make your point.

If you cannot remain on topic, you will be given two warnings.

If you remain off topic, we will have to move on and we'll end your time.

Clerk, have we received any written any written public comment for tonight's meeting?

We have not.

Okay.

Well, let's get started.

I think we'll start with those online.

Uh Rose Gunderson.

Thank you, Councilmember.

This is Rose Gunderson with the Washington Retail Association.

I want to commend the council for proposing resolution for 1735.

The 15 member task force that is going to review minimum wage and late workforce standard that will be inclusive by having broad representation of different people in the community.

It's far better than the measure two that had been proposed without consulting stakeholders that really have a stake in the game.

This balance approach is the way we should do policy making in Tacoma in the state of Washington.

Retail work, retail is the second largest private employer of the state.

And I'm sure that is a high percentage in Tacoma because the mall location and the urban density.

Therefore, your work is gonna have significant impact and it will be positive on retail workers.

And many of these retailers are also franchisees that will be uh there are small business owners who will be categorized as large employers under measure two.

Therefore, the balance approach you're adopting is one of the best ways you can do policymaking that is going to be positive for the people of Tacoma.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments tonight, Rose.

Uh moving on to Jonathan Potdall.

Hi, Council.

My name is Jonathan, and I live in District 2.

I'm speaking in reference to resolution 41735.

I'm an active union member in the Tacoma Community College Federation of Teachers.

That means I think a lot about the dignities do every working person and how often these are denied.

The workers' Bill of Rights Measure 2 will guarantee some basic rights that every worker should have in 2025, like a livable minimum wage, consistent and adequate scheduling and staffing and training to promote workplace safety.

How can anyone oppose these?

More than 10,000 Tacomans sign their support of the workers' bill of rights, me included.

Many labor unions like my own and community organizations have pledged their support.

We deserve better than chief parliamentary tricks designed to suppress election turnout and task forces designed to promote bosses' interests over those of workers.

I'll end by reminding everyone that the people overcame Council Shenanigans in order to pass the tenants' bill of rights, and it will be no different with the workers' bill of rights.

Thanks.

I yield the rest of my time.

Thank you, Jonathan, for your remarks.

Hello, Julie Anderson representing the Tacoma Pierce County Chamber of Commerce speaking to resolution 41735, the formation of a task force.

As the chamber has communicated many times and in many ways, our deepest concerns with measure two center on its definitions of covered employers, scheduling requirements, and enforcement structure.

These elements will make it harder, not easier for businesses to create and sustain jobs in our community.

Housing is too expensive, and too often wages do not keep pace.

We fully recognize these facts.

But policies that could reduce work hours, limit job flexibility, or accelerate business closures will only deepen the challenges facing working families.

With more than 1,400 members, the chamber represents a business community that is diverse and deeply invested in our community's future.

We support the city council's appointment with a task force to address unintended and harmful consequences of this proposal.

And the chamber stands ready to help identify both employers and workers who are willing to fully commit to this important dialogue and to find a better path forward.

We remain committed to meaningful solutions that support both workers and employers, and we ask you to pursue a collaborative approach.

Thank you very much.

Thank you so much for your comments tonight, Julie.

Michelle Reich, um I'll speak into resolution 41734.

Uh the divorcement of 5,513,652 dollars from the Solid Waste Fund.

Uh this brings up the issue of trash.

And uh in the past several years, uh the city budget many millions of dollars for trash cleanup throughout the city.

And that's uh in my opinion, is it's been a waste of city funds since uh there's a shortfall of nationally from federal and state, and uh spend millions of dollars and trash cleanup from uh littering and and uh homeless encampments and stuff.

And uh my opinion is that when you allow one encampment to start, it brings up a whole bunch of others, and it just it just builds up the trash, and you have to divorce millions of dollars to clean this project up.

And besides, it uh makes the city look bad uh with trash all over the city, and and uh and uh besides the encampment issue that encourages other people, kids, everybody to throw trash on the street, and you have more cleanup, and so it's a uh continuing cycle, and and you should nip it in the bud by not allowing that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Michelle.

Okay, moving on to Devin Wright Al Kelly.

Hi, folks.

My name is Devin Ride O'Kelly.

I live in Hilltop as of a month ago, and now the organizing director with Tacoma for All, and I'm here to speak about trash cleanup.

Oh, just kidding, the task force.

Uh I'm really deeply angered by the city's handling of the workers' bill of rights, and particularly spending crucial time last week discussing a cobbled together task force and delaying a vote on the workers' bill of rights, passed what everyone knows is the 90-day deadline.

Instead of serious public debate, Mayor Woodards pushed a vote out to a 9:30 a.m.

Friday meeting without public comment, and the only people in the room that weren't city staff were myself and three members of the Chamber of Commerce, including Julia Anderson and Andrea Ray.

What's even more disturbing is the tone that Mayor Woodard's council member Hines and the City Attorney's Office took that meeting.

They never mentioned the county cutoff or act as if the workers' bill of rights would be on the November ballot.

This was both disingenuous and offensive.

The mayor has implied the initiative represents two narrow interests, even though UFC W367 is one of the largest unions in the city and collected over 10,000 ballot signatures, over double the requirement.

Instead, the majority of you will likely vote on appointing a 15-person task force with over half handpicked by the mayor and aligned with the chamber.

Ostensibly decide the future of work in Tacoma, but we all know that the real goal is to kill the workers' bill of rights, to delay the vote, and either put on a counter initiative or run a no campaign.

Luckily, last week's primary indicate voters don't support this.

We hope they'll do the same in November.

And all of us here, and many more of us will be organizing to get the multiracial working class supporting their own interests and democracy.

We hope you do too.

Thank you for your comments tonight, Devin.

Uh moving on to Pamzner.

Yeah.

Hi, um, I'm Pam Ketzner.

I'm uh retired nurse here in Tacoma, 40 years.

And um, not that uh we have to look at minimum wage all the time, but I was reviewing all of my payments over the years, and I made $20 an hour in 1996.

So something has to happen with minimum wage for sure.

I will help in any way I can, but I just want to say seems like we need a higher minimum wage.

Thank you.

Thank you, Pam.

Uh Ty Moore.

Hello, Mayor, City Council.

Uh, my name is Ty Moore.

This is my daughter Havana.

Um I'm the co-executive director of Tacoma for All.

Look, I mean, it doesn't surprise me that many on this council will choose to side with business over workers in this debate.

It doesn't surprise me that you're trying to use this task force as a way to prepare an alternative proposal to you know put to voters.

That's within your rights.

What is absolutely not within your rights, what is in our view illegal.

We have filed a lawsuit today, but more important, what is politically reprehensible is to use a dishonest maneuver as you did last week to try and deny voters the right to have this on the November ballot.

Putting it on the February ballot, if you indeed do that, there's reason to believe this may deny it on the ballot altogether.

Uh means that our people powered campaign, which relies on door knocking, faces dark, wet winters as opposed to the air war that out-of-town corporations who want to continue paying poverty wages, giving them an advantage.

I have no doubt that was a conscious maneuver on your part.

That was not, as some have said, uh, you know, well, we just needed to use a full 30 days to consider it.

And you have no right, and you have no moral obligation, no moral right, no legal right to play these kinds of games with voters.

There is a right to initiative for a reason, it's because when voters disagree with the council, they should be able to exercise the right.

Voters did everything right, and you failed in your obligation to sustain democracy in this city.

Shame on you.

Thank you for your comments tonight, Ty.

Uh up next we have Ann Dorn and Ann Dorn will be followed with Katherine Lee.

Good evening, Deputy Mayor, members of the council.

I'm uh Ann Dorn.

I am currently the chair, elected chair of Tacoma for All.

I live in the Fifth Council district, and I'm here today to express extreme disappointment in the actions of council and failing to forward the workers' bill of rights November ballot.

You can do it, but that doesn't mean you should, and you should not have done this.

Voters deserve the right to make a decision.

Residents of Tacoma have the right to determine our own destiny.

It is not for council to decide what goes forward and what doesn't.

Give it to the people, let us make a choice.

This was not something that you had to do, and we see through it.

We see through your meeting last Friday, just an effort to absolutely run out the clock.

Today, as you've heard, we filed a lawsuit against the city of Tacoma and the county.

And just like in the tenant Bill of Rights, when you tried to run a competing ballot initiative that the court struck down and called deceptive, we will fight you again.

We will fight you door to door, we will fight you at the ballot box.

We will fight for the democratic right for the citizens of Tacoma to determine their own future, to win fair wages and fair scheduling and live lives of dignity.

And I would call on each of you who truly support workers.

Now is the time for you to stand up.

Now is the time for you to take a side and join us in this fight.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ann.

Okay, Katherine Lee.

Good evening, Council.

My name is Catherine Lee.

I am the co-chair of the Tacoma Democratic Socialists of America.

I also live in District 5.

And I am also deeply disappointed by the decision that council made to neither put the initiative on the ballot or to pass it outright.

Instead, doing a third thing, which is unprecedented, to delay and to hold something that could have been democratically decided by voters from those voters.

While these delays are unprecedented, the city council's public opposition to aspects of the workers' bill of rights remind us of your opposition to initiative one, the tenant bill of rights in 2023.

Some of the same council people who have been publicly opposed to the people-powered initiatives that we've put forward to expand both tenant rights and workers' rights are currently running for re-election.

And in their campaigns, they make statements about working for Tacoma where everyone can afford their basic needs, and they take credit for the wins that renters and workers have fought for that they initially opposed.

It would be wonderful if our council would just pass the initiatives that we bring to them.

But the very least they could do, the very least you could do is to put them forward to voters instead of giving us a runaround with a technical loophole.

Workers need at least $20 an hour to survive, and they deserve fair scheduling to be able to live with stability.

These proposals are also incredibly popular.

Businesses will say that we have not thought about small businesses, that we have not made enough exceptions that we don't know what we are doing here, and that city council has inadvertently or deliberately aligned with those interests.

But people can make important decisions.

We can be trusted to do that.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments tonight, Catherine.

All right, that's all I have on my list for public comment tonight.

Um again, we have other opportunities to uh comment.

Uh we have public or community forum at the end of the meeting.

Um so I will bring us back into the meeting.

Okay.

Excuse the AI slide.

I'm on the give me one second, Marilyn.

Let me figure out where our paper is at.

Are we missing one?

Are you on Marilyn?

You're on community for forum.

Yep, these are two different things, so I can also get you sign up for that one as well.

Marilyn, I'll take you during community forum.

Okay.

So I think we have to remind them.

There are so we have three opportunities tonight.

So we had public uh public comment, which we just did, and then we also have a the South um the groundwater public hearing.

You might be signed up for that as well.

You do speak on that often, so that might be the one you did sign up for also.

Okay.

So that one's gonna be coming up in just a second, and then you'll have community forum.

Okay.

All right.

So moving on to our regular agenda.

Uh we have a motion for before us to consider.

Sorry.

I got it.

I move to authorize the city's full and final settlement of all claims against the city in the matter of Dorothy and Ellis Russ versus City of Tacoma et al related to a two-vehicle intersection collision involving a Tacoma police vehicle on August 28th, 2020, upon the payment of by the city in the amount of 230,000 dollars in the execution of a release in the form approved by the city attorney.

Second.

All right.

Uh all those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed signify by saying nay.

The motion is declared adopted.

Um all right, we have another motion before us to for consideration.

I move to authorize the display of the Indian National Flag over the Tacoma District Building North Tacoma Dome, Tacoma Police Headquarters and Tacoma Fire Headquarters on Friday, August 15th, 2025, in recognition of India's 79th Independence Day.

Second.

All right, I am gonna take this one.

Um and tonight I am happy to bring forward um a motion for us to proudly raise the Indian national flag over the Tacoma Dome on August 15th, 2025, in recognition of India's 79th Independence Day.

I want to take a moment to recognize Councilmember Diaz for her leadership and helping establish a thoughtful commemorative flag policy that ensures requests are well reasoned, respectful of staff capacity, and aligned with the values of our city.

Prior to bringing forward this motion, um mayor has asked staff to confirm that this Tacoma Dome team had the capacity to rise and lower the flag on the 15th.

She also wants to clarify that this is a one-time request and is not adding to this as a regular commemorative flag to our policy.

Raising this flag reflects Tacoma's values of inclusion, cultural recognition, and of honoring the global threads that are woven into the fabric of our city.

On August 15th, 1947, India emerged from over two centuries of colonial rule and began its journey as a sovereign democracy.

Tacoma is fortunate enough to be home to a vibrant Indian uh Indian American community whose contributions enrich our civic life and economic economy every single day.

Raising the Indian tricolor below the US flag at our iconic Tacoma Dome affirms our city's commitment to diversity and international friendship.

It recognizes that the strength of Tacoma comes from the many cultures and stories that call this place home.

And I respectfully ask for your support in this motion.

Okay.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All those opposed, signify by saying nay.

Okay, the motion carries.

Moving on to resolutions.

Item five.

Clerk, will you please read?

Resolution 41735, a resolution creating a 15-member task force to be named the Tacoma Labor Standards Task Force and authorizing the use of city council contingency funds and the amount of $50,000 for staffing and facilitation.

I move to adopt resolution number 41735.

Second.

Okay, for this I would like to call on council member Hines.

All right.

Thank you, Madam Dep.

There we go.

Uh so uh last Friday, Mayor Woodwards shared that this tat that the task force being proposed would examine labor standards and both identified in initiative two and those brought up by community feedback with the purpose of bringing recommendations for future policy improvements to the city council.

This 15 member task 15 member task force would be appointed by the city council, with each council member appointing one member, preferably from their districts to ensure geographic and cultural diversity that represents the Tacoma community.

The remaining seven members and two alternates would be nominated by the mayor with input from the council to represent uh business interests and community organizations that will strive to represent the following views that are not already included by the council nominations.

So the idea of council members picking our members and then kind of rounding out the group with what who is missing with the additional nominations.

If adopted tonight, uh the proposed timeline the mayor is putting forward uh would aim for September 9th, uh, which time the city manager will bring back details on how he will staff uh this task force.

Um this resolution also allocates $50,000 in council contingency funds to support the facilitation of this committee as a city manager sees fit.

Um the mayor was unable to join us today to talk through this, so she just asked me to read for her this in for her, and at this point in time, Deputy Mayor, if there are the council members for questions or comments about it.

Sure.

Do we have any council comments or questions?

Thank you.

All right, Councilmember Diaz, you're up first.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor Genials.

Um, I guess I more have questions or more comments than questions.

I asked questions at the study session last week where this was daylighted, and I didn't get sufficient answers to make me feel like this is both needed, urgent, or um time sensitive.

Um I'm unclear why it's being rushed.

I'm unclear how we arrived at a 15-member task force.

Um I don't know why it would cost 50,000 dollars.

I'm not comfortable with that dollar amount for this project.

I think that there is a lot of unintended consequences that are in the workers' bill of rights.

Uh the least of which is raising the minimum wage.

I think we need to do that as a city, and I think we probably have the votes to do that.

But the rest of the provisions do need some work, do need some review, and I don't know how this commission or task force is going to get to some of those solutions in a way that makes sense for me at this moment to support it.

Um, I also don't think it's the right number of people.

I don't know who these 15 people are.

There's over 30 unions that are represented by the city city workers alone, let alone public members, let alone different industries, different businesses who might need to be engaged.

I just think that there's a lot more questions, and I have a lot of pause about the mayor bringing this forward in such a rush timeline.

Um, and I think that we really need to be um more transparent with folks about what what the goal of this is and what that $15,000 is going to be used for and who that's going to go to.

I don't know who would convene this, what kind of consulting process there's gonna be.

And ultimately, I'm just not gonna be able to support this tonight for a lot of those reasons and more.

So thank you.

I want to make sure that I give uh Mayor, if she's still on, a chance to uh respond if she so chooses.

I don't want to answer those questions on her behalf.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor Daniels.

Um I I um had an opportunity to speak with Councilmember Diaz today, and I totally respect her opinion and her thoughts.

Um to me, this this group is needed, um is necessary, and it has nothing to do with whether or not the initiative passes.

I think even in light of the initiative passing or not passing, this is the conversation that Tacoma needs to have.

Um this provides us an opportunity to put together 15 different people, 15 different voices from different parts of our community to be able to have a discussion to talk about what fits for Tacoma.

Is $20 the right number?

Should it be 19?

Should it be 22?

Um, and so is is when we talk about secure scheduling.

Have we really examined the effects?

So some of my biggest concerns about initiative two is the effects that it will have on our nonprofits.

When we talk about franchises, we're not just talking about a McDonald's or a taco time.

We're also talking about a united way that's part of a national franchise, an urban league that's part of a national franchise.

So for me, this gives us an opportunity to get all of those people at the table and be able to have a discussion of what's right for Tacoma.

One of the things I am committed to is making sure that this task force is balanced and that it doesn't just get to be who I want on the task force.

We as a council will decide and vote together on who's on the task force.

And so I think this is necessary at this step.

I think in all honesty, we waited, I waited too long to bring this forward.

But um I think I think it is timely.

The time to do it is now, and I think it is absolutely necessary in order to in order to talk about what is the right thing for Tacoma.

Thank you, Mayor.

Do we have any other comments or questions from council members?

Okay, well, with that, then we will take the vote.

Uh, all those in favor of adopting resolution number 41735 signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed signify by saying nay.

Okay, the resolution is declared adopted.

Moving on to public hearings.

Um this item will have a PowerPoint presentation, and I would like to call on Miriam Moeyan.

I'm sorry, Miriam, to begin the presentation.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Clerk, will you please read what we're doing?

One second.

I'll read this real quick.

Um, this is the date set for a public hearing by the city council on the proposed amendments to the South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District Code as recommended by the Planning Commission.

Thanks.

Good evening.

My name is Miriam Moinion.

I am a senior planner with the city's planning development services department.

Um I'm here tonight on behalf of uh Tacoma Water, Tacoma Pierce County Health Department, um, environmental services and planning and development services to present the proposed updates to the South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District Code or STGPD code as recommended by the Planning Commission.

Uh the purpose of tonight's meeting is to hold a public hearing on the South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District Code update.

Uh I will start by giving a little background on the CGPD, what it is, what this overlay district does, and why it matters.

Then I will talk about why this update is so important and the information that shaped it.

Uh from there, I will walk you through the code changes that the planning commission has recommended.

Um I will also address some uh frequently asked questions uh we have received.

Uh we look at uh the outreach and engagement efforts we have carried out over the past year and a half, and finally I will wrap up with what's coming next in the process.

The SCGPD was uh created as an overlay uh zone in 1988, even before the Washington state adopted the Growth Management Act and its guidance for protecting critical aquifer recharge areas or CARAs.

Its purpose is to protect the South Tacoma Aquifer from contamination.

The SCGPD code applies mainly to commercial and industrial uses, uh prohibiting incompatible land uses and setting standards for hazardous substance storage, stormwater infiltration, spill prevention, and enforcement.

The lead partners uh in this work are Tacoma Water, uh, Tacoma Pierce County Health Department, Planning and Development Services, and Environmental Services Departments.

So uh I want to talk about what informed the code update.

Uh this code update is built on a strong uh foundation of local priorities, state requirements, and best available science.

Um the code update was informed by findings from Tacoma Waters Integrated Resource Plan or IRP, uh which forecasts a greater reliance on groundwater in the future and identifies the South Tacoma Aquifer as essential for our long-term water supply.

Uh it also incorporates guidance from ecologies' CARA manual.

Um, recommendations from Tacoma Pierce County Health Department's HYA or health uh impact assessment were also incorporated.

Uh the code is also informed by a technical memo produced by the IRP update consultant team.

This memo reviewed neighboring jurisdictions codes and relevant uh state regulations, identified gaps in the existing code, and uh shape the recommendations in this update.

Alongside this scientific foundation, uh feedback from community has been critical in updating the code to ensure it reflects local concerns and priorities.

Um here is uh a high-level overview of what's changing in the code based on planning commission's recommendation.

Um currently the CGPD code uh doesn't connect to our critical areas preservation ordinance or CAPO ordinance, and uh it isn't clearly uh aligned with the GMA's designation of CARAS.

The update fixes that by formally establishing this CGPD as a CARA under both the GMA and CAPO and by recognizing it as part of the central Pierce County Soil Source Aquifer.

Um for map refinements, the boundaries of the CGPD are uh being updated to reflect the Manitou neighborhood, which was annexed into the city last year and to show the well head protection area time of travel zones.

In regards to high impact use standards, the update introduces the tiered protection approach based on the vulnerability of different areas within the aquifer.

This approach also clearly separates prohibited uses from those that may be allowed with conditions.

The draft code also proposes to permanently prohibit the uses that are temporarily prohibited by the moratorium.

For definition of periodic update, the current code calls for periodic updates to the high impact use list, but doesn't specify how often, what criteria to use, or who should be involved.

The update clarifies that.

Clarifies that reviews will happen at least once every 10 years in line with the GMA's periodic update schedule.

Best available science will be used to evaluate new or evolving threats.

The process will now involve environmental services and Tacoma Water, in addition to PDS and the health department.

For enforcement, the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department currently leads enforcement, starting with voluntary compliance before escalating to formal actions.

The update strengthen this by adding tools such as stop work and stop use orders for serious or emergency violations, allowing faster action when the aquifer is at risk.

In the current code, education is mostly tied to enforcement and focus on regulated businesses.

The update expands outreach to both businesses and residents, directing the city and health department to promote best practices for protecting CARAS and to increase awareness for water conservation.

The update also emphasizes infiltration as a preferred stormwater management method where it's safe and adds limits on maximum lot coverage in industrial zones to improve recharge and manage runoff.

New standards are proposed for landscaping for industrial zones in the SCGPD, the South Tacoma Manufacturing and Industrial Center, and Tacoma Mall Regional Growth Center.

These standards aim to improve stormwater infiltration, reduce impervious surfaces, and help cool the surrounding environment.

One of the questions we often hear is what will happen to the SCGPD moratorium once the updated code is adopted.

For those who may not be familiar, the moratorium was first enacted in March of 2023, and it has been extended three times since then.

It temporarily prohibits the establishment of new underground storage tanks and metal recycling or auto recruiting facilities, as well as expansion of existing ones.

This moratorium is set to expire on September of this year.

The planning commission recommends that no further extensions be made after the code update the updated code is adopted, since the new code will make these prohibitions permanent.

How does the code change impact existing businesses?

For businesses that are already legally established, operations may continue under the city's non-conforming use provisions.

No immediate changes to operations, structures, or permits are required.

However, if a business plans to expand, redevelop or add a new structure, the updated standards in the code may then apply.

City staff will work closely with businesses on a case-by-case basis to ensure compliance is achievable without imposing undue burden.

What does this code do to support aquifer recharge?

The existing code focuses heavily on preventing contamination, but it does doesn't give enough attention to the importance of aquifer recharge in CARAS.

Recharge is essential to maintaining our groundwater supply, so addressing that that gap is a key part of this update.

The draft code establishes infiltration as a preferred method for managing stormwater in aquifer recharge areas, as long as it doesn't pose a risk to groundwater quality.

It also requires um soil contamination assessments to evaluate whether infiltration is feasible and safe.

Uh, in addition, uh the new code sets maximum lot coverage standards in industrial zones within the SCGPD and increases tree canopy and landscaping requirements in industrial zones, the South Tacoma Manufacturing Industrial Center, and Tacoma Mall Regional Growth Center.

These measures um help limit impervious services and supports better groundwater recharge across these areas.

To inform the public about tonight's hearing, over 25,000 notices were sent to property owners and residents within the CGPD boundary.

In addition, citywide notifications were shared through social media, the city's website, local newspapers, city press release, and TB Tacoma.

Notifications were also sent directly to key partners and stakeholders, including agents and jurisdictions, local business groups, Tacoma Permit Advisory Group, neighborhood councils, uh libraries, and regulated businesses.

Over the past uh year and a half, significant effort has gone into reaching out to the community.

This includes included large uh public events like sustainability expo, as well as meetings with neighborhood councils and business districts.

Uh, we also hosted multiple workshops as part of the spotlight South Socoma and the one to coma comprehensive plan update.

Engagement uh with the IRP and HYA advisory committees helped ensure the code reflects both scientific findings and community values.

Um, just before the planning commission hearing, staff held an informational meeting to provide a detailed overview of the proposed code changes and to answer questions from the public.

The planning commission then held their public hearing on May 21st, gathering valuable feedback before finalizing the recommendation on June 18.

Um so here's the next steps.

Um, after tonight's hearing, uh there will be a public hearing debrief at next week's study session.

The first reading of ordinance uh is tentatively scheduled for August 26th, followed by the final reading on September 9th.

Uh, this concludes my presentation.

Uh, we appreciate the public engagement and look forward to hearing your comment tonight.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you.

Okay, so we're gonna start with the folks online.

Uh one second, yeah.

So I don't know.

Okay.

So if you want to speak um under the public hearing regarding the proposed amendments, the South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District Code as recommended by the planning commission.

Please press the raise the hand button near the bottom of your Zoom window or star nine on your phone now so we can see the number of people wishing to testify this evening.

If you're speaking in person, please sign up at the back of the room if you have not done so already.

Your name or the last four digits of your phone number will be called out when it is your turn to speak.

You will have 90 seconds tonight to make your remarks for the public hearing.

So please be mindful of the time frame.

As always, you are not required to use all of your time to make your point.

Clerk, have we received any written comment for the public hearing?

We've received seven.

Okay.

Thank you.

Okay, so we're gonna start with folks online.

Um, and it looks like we've got Kathy Irwin.

Kathy, can you hear us?

Hi.

Yes, yes, I can.

Um hi, my name is Kathy Irwin.

I live in South Tacoma District 3, and I am urging the city council to not rush through this through for approval, despite the fact that the code moratorium is going to be expiring in September.

The current code that you were looking at has actually been written even two months ago, and that code from the June 18th was actually the same as what was written back in May with few changes.

Do not feel like you have to rush it through because we have been sitting on this now for two months.

The language of this code is vague.

And by different departments, this needs to be more clear.

This needs to be more clear.

Who's responsible for what?

At what point it's not clear to many of the employees in these departments.

Of the bridge industrial warehouse, 100 acres was not included in these studies at all.

The consultants were told not to include it.

So you're thinking about best available science, it has not happened.

We need to have clear language.

We need to protect the aquifer.

Looking for ways to have exceptions to it so that industry can continue to develop in South Tacoma.

Thank you.

All right, thank you, Kathy.

Next up we've got Tracy.

Hi, we can hear you.

Great.

This is Gemini.

I just need to share a Zoom account that always says Tracy.

Um, yeah, I I want to agree with everything Kathy said.

The best available science was not used.

Um, this is clearly written in a vague way that allows people to pay to pollute.

We know for a fact that any vaginos or any loopholes loopholes can and will be exploited.

And it's my opinion, that's why they're put there in the first place.

Um, if to allow you know, friends and business to continue to exploit the planet and the people for profit, uh, while the vast majority of Tacomans suffer with worse water and as an extension from that worse air, worse living conditions.

Um I also think, especially in terms of the aquifer, with is uh not in alliance for an alignment with the bolt decision.

We need to be protecting our salmon, we need to be protecting um indigenous fishing rights.

Uh I'm indigenous, I'm Ostage, um, so I understand the importance of protecting our ancestral waste.

Uh, and by allowing additional pollution by allowing these loopholes, um, you are you know further damming all of the uh indigenous uh Coast Salish people and their traditional lifestyles, not to mention everything else that depends on the salmon, right?

You know, but uh yeah, single issue.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments tonight, Gemini.

Um moving on to Heidi.

She's been good evening.

My name is Heidi Stevens.

Implementing this protection district in the 1980s cannot be bragged about as ahead of the curve because it wasn't instigated by Tacoma, but as a mandate from the EPA due to the disastrous contamination Tacoma had allowed to occur, just as this present code update likely wouldn't be happening if not for residents having insisted on it.

Yet we had no inclusion for drafting changes, only timeline updates.

The critical aquifer recharge area requirements and impervious surface limitations need to be part of the code, not separate, where they will continue to be overlooked.

This is an overlay, which is to supersede every other city category and zoning, but still doesn't seem to be presented as such.

Tree canopy and green space should be for the entire recharge area.

There needs to be more stronger oversight, consequences, and mandatory remediation.

And what modern-day best science?

There wasn't any actual hydrologic studies recently done or review of appropriate contaminants, and in fact, information was even withheld, such as the impacts of the mega warehouse.

So the consultants' data and conclusions are incomplete.

There's a clear growing importance for future need of our groundwater, yet these updates do nearly nothing to ensure it.

Please see my written comments of what still needs to be, still can be, and still must be done.

Thank you.

Thank you, Heidi.

Welcome back to Comment.

Uh Stacy Oaks.

Good evening.

My name is Stacey Oaks, and I'm a community organizer for 350 Tacoma.

Um, our organization has been trying to follow and support getting stronger regulations for the South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District for a while now.

And we would like to echo the comments made before us.

Um, and there's been a lot of time and energy and research by community members into what needs to happen, and it's really unfortunate that you know, people like Heidi and and Kathy and Climate Alliance of the South Sound when they put in a lot of really detailed written stuff that it feels like it's really just kind of not going anywhere, it's not being looked at.

And it would be really great if that was not the case.

I mean, this is our water.

There is really nothing more basic, you know, that is we have to have this, and it's it's just not being treated with the importance that it really is going to be in people's lives, and there's not going to be there's not going to be enough water one day.

That's just a fact, and that we're not doing all that we can to make sure that people that live in Tacoma in decades from now, or hopefully generations from now, aren't better protected, and to have clean water and to have enough water and things like keeping the mega warehouse out of the assessments.

This is the type of stuff where it's just about checking a box instead of about actually protecting our water, which should be the focus of this entire thing.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for your comments tonight, Stacy.

Okay, seeing no more hands online, we'll move forward to those that are in the room.

Um, and first up first, we've got John Allen, and John Allen will be followed by by Michelle Reich.

Thank you for seeing me tonight.

Let me speak.

I'm John Allen with Disquali Environmental.

We're an environmental firm that helps people in your district in the South Tacoma Ground Water Protection District stay compliant to environmental regulations.

I'm well versed in the district policies to mimic some of the folk things that people have said before.

Um, even though I make more money when the regulations are ambiguous, it's not good for my clients.

And in this particular case, there's some things that probably need to be addressed.

Um I'm worried about the grandfather clause that's in there, and there's no effect where a client or industry can go to the South Tacoma Health Department or the city and say, look at my system.

Is this going to be good enough?

As it is written right now, if they train change names like a large uh employer in your area just did.

Um they are re-evaluated, and there's no definition of what that means.

It could shut them down, it could do all those kind of things, and that's worrisome to me.

The prohibitive use tables, the presentation that you saw, although thorough, doesn't list all the industries that are on there.

I urge you to take a look at those.

It involves almost everything that makes money in your country in your in the South Tacoma groundwater protection district.

It's not just metal recycling and it's not just uh foundries and um folks that store chemicals.

There's some ambiguity in the system where that, for instance, for above ground storage tanks and underground storage tanks, which is what was listed on that presentation.

Um John, if you want to hang around tonight for community forum, you can also, if you have a lot more, you can do that there, or you can if you have written remarks, you can also leave them with the clerk and we'll be able to read over those.

I tried to get it down to 90 seconds, sorry about that.

No problem.

Thanks.

Okay, um, Michelle.

Hi.

Michelle Reich.

There is a great study, it's a 20-year satellite imagery study of groundwater aquifers around the world, and they're all depleting.

And especially it's critical in the Middle East.

So if we have uh aquifer that's not uh destroyed, uh we should protect it and cherish it.

That being said, the hundreds of diesel trucks that will go there with a mega warehouse, they will not contribute one cent to the city revenue.

Those trucks are out of state, out of thing, they'll drop their load and drop all the diesel particulate pollution to the groundwater and the air pollution, and to get a reading on what it would be like to have that pollution.

Uh, go to love's uh truck stop, do an air quality and ground quality study of the diesel particulates per million there, and you'll get an idea of what the meg warehouse will have when it gets built if it gets built.

So you've got to look into it, the science of it, and not go for the quick buck.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments tonight, Michelle.

Uh now we've got Kyle Joe.

No, Kyle Jolly Boy.

Kyle Jolly Boy, and then Kyle will be followed by Kit.

My name's Kyle Jolly Boys.

I've been standing up a long time.

And I've never understood why you guys aren't ever on this side.

I have an eight million gallon bomb still in my backyard.

With a 15-mile radius if it blows.

You guys never informed us of that.

I'm a South to come a kid.

We used to race cars down there.

And you guys are building another large warehouse on top of our aquifer.

On top of the aquifer.

We have warehouses where I used to go watch drive in, go to the drive-in on top come away.

That's empty.

There's a warehouse where I used to work at the news tribune.

The news tribune is gone.

It's a warehouse.

You guys are wanting to build all these warehouses.

But this one is in particular the worst idea Tacoma's ever had.

You brought someone in from another state to dictate what we're going to do.

But it's not in my district, so I don't deal with it.

But this is your legacy.

And you guys are poisoning us.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments tonight, Kyle.

Kit.

Kit will be followed by Tyler Daniels.

My name is Kit Burns.

I live in District 3 on the hilltop area.

Regarding the underground aquifer in the South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District, I've looked at that for probably the last two years or so.

And I want to point out that when you drive along South Tacoma Way and you go by South Park, there's two wells that the City of Tacoma has Tacoma public utilities.

Well, 11A and well 6B.

Well, 6B produces nearly 4 million gallons of water in Well 11A, which is the most productive well in the Tacoma system produces $8.8 million according to their information.

What did the city of Tacoma do with that uh sponge aquifer nearby?

Basically put two and a half million uh square feet and paved it over.

Two and a half million square feet is just the building.

It doesn't talk about the paving.

So we have, I think, a potential problem there.

It's been mentioned that we haven't done the best available silence science.

What I would like to see is a hydrology report of the effects of covering that water uh next to those most productive wells.

They're within 800 feet of that whole development down there.

You can you can't miss them.

Um I have presented to the city clerk some information that came up today uh about what is the uh um time of travel.

So I've got a couple drawings that explain that to you graphically.

You'll see the drawing with the red on it.

That's only six months time of travel.

It's basically covered.

Oh, thank you, Kit.

Are you okay?

All right.

Um, Tyler Daniels, and Tyler will be followed uh by Chad Setter.

Hello, my name is Tyler Daniels.

I'm a licensed civil engineer, and I'm extremely concerned about the contamination of our groundwater.

There's heavy metals from arsenic, lead, and pollutants from your industrial areas.

This serves 40% of our drinking water in the most time.

What it does is pollutes all of our drinking water.

Whether or not you're new here, or you've been here for your entire life like myself, you see the effects.

These are neurotoxins.

They affect your brain and lead to things like dementia.

Our aging population has these health complications.

As you look through our community, we are a very unhealthy organization as a people.

My grandfather is one of them suffering with dementia, and he has lived here his whole life drinking this water.

It is imperative that you take action now versus create stop gaps and just try to band-aid the problems that have taken place.

You must take action, or we will not make it through this.

Our water is toxic.

You've got to understand that there are areas that have zero vegetation.

It is not just trees, it is a biodiversity that is needed to be planting now.

Don't take about talk about the regulations and landscaping plans.

If you are not going to actively begin to vegetate, it's over.

Thank you for your comments tonight, Tyler.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor Daniels.

Okay, next up we have Chad, and then after Chad, it'll be Ryan Svince.

Hi, good evening, Council.

I'm Chad Sutter from Center Metals.

Um, I'm probably the single most impacted uh business from this uh moratorium.

Um I just wanted to take an opportunity to uh know that I do have some concerns around this particular moratorium, specifically around um the standards to which uh the requirements the SCPG are um currently imposing when we came into this development when we came into the city in 2020.

We had drastically different standards that was communicated to us, and since then we have new standards which um in the SDPG uh that are basically we have to produce bottled drinking water from our sites.

No other uh no other uh companies or like mall parking lots, parks, they're their standards are higher than ours.

So I think that the city really needs to evaluate the standards that they're setting forth in this, also for the industrial users in this district to understand what those are because currently the city doesn't um have anything codified there, and I think that that's something that really needs to be addressed.

So um that was something that I just wanted to highlight for you guys to be able to evaluate and look forward as you guys progress in this process.

Um, and I appreciate your time.

I guess I will add one other thing.

Um, if you're looking for a job that pays you more than $20 an hour with full benefits and a guaranteed schedule, come apply at Sutter Metals.

Thank you, Chad.

Um, okay.

Next we've got Ryan Spence, and after Ryan will be.

I can't tell if this is Eva.

Okay.

Perfect.

All right.

Uh thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight.

I'm Ryan Spence.

I'm representing the chamber and the manufacturing industrial council.

I'm also a business owner in South Tacoma, and I participated in the South Tacoma neighborhood plan.

Um I'd like to thank the mayor and the council for your work in the South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District, as well as staff and the health department.

Um, a lot of work went into this.

Uh, you know, I think we continue to lead and develop partnerships and strike a balance on complex issues.

I think that's the case here.

Uh, there are a couple of things that I think uh are a little out of balance.

Uh one would be, as mentioned before, the lack of clear, reasonable water quality standards, uh, the fact that industrial lands have to produce water after their processes that are uh more stringent than a spray park for kids to play in.

Uh it's a little out of balance.

Also on the prohibitions, uh the prohibition on machining really impacts our advanced manufacturing and clean and green economy work there, and then also the metal recycling.

You know, that's a really important part of the circular economy, industrial symbiosis, but as mentioned before, it's also jobs and economic development.

The production district has been working since 1988 in producing contaminant-free drinking water.

That was one of the findings of the health impact assessment.

Uh, and I hope that we can continue to work together to find balance that serves all of Tacoma.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ryan.

Okay, Ifa, and then after IFA, we will have Marilyn Kimmerleen.

Hello, uh, my name is Ifa Pasquale.

I'm with Climate Alliance of the South Sound.

Um, considering that the groundwater protection district hasn't been updated since its creation in the 80s, you know.

I'm glad to see that this is finally being addressed.

Um, however, I know that the environmental protections can still be stronger, and I would like to see the Climate and Sustainability Commission empowered to add stronger environmental protections.

Our drinking water comes from Mount Tahoma.

If you can see the mountain through the wildfire smoke, you might notice our mountain is turning brown.

The glaciers that provide our water are disappearing, and we need our groundwater now more than ever.

Whether it's the climate emergency, workers' rights, immigrant rights, indigenous sovereignty, you trample those rights.

Poor environmental protections, permitting environmentally racist projects such as the uh liquefied natural gas facility, the mega warehouse, the Northwest Detention Centers.

Your interests are diametrically opposed to the interests of the people of Tacoma.

And industry and environment do not need to be at odds.

We have smart people in this room that I wish you would listen to.

All of us have unity that we want a better world.

And I'm proud to be a member of this community.

And when we're empowered and we fight for what we want, the world that we deserve, we can we can make Tacoma a livable city, have a living wage, have a livable environment.

Thank you for your comments tonight, Ifa.

Okay, I'd like to bring up uh invite Marilyn, you're up, and then after Marilyn, Teresa Evans will be our final speaker tonight.

My earphones work great back in the back of the room, but as you move forward, they get very static y.

Good evening, council.

My name is Marilyn Kimmerling.

I'm in District One.

I'm here to talk about the the South Tacoma groundwater issue.

And I want to bring up that in listening to the presentation, there is no one assigned and no timeline assigned for these quote periodic reviews of the of the uh soil, the contamination of the soil.

As everybody has said, or many people tonight have said, there is a lot of ambiguity written or left out in this statement.

Um I live in district one, but that doesn't mean that I don't love all of Tacoma, and that includes the South End.

Just because it's not my district, doesn't mean that I'm not gonna be dependent on drinking that water.

We need to protect and cherish our groundwater.

And I think that this uh this is a start.

It's a start, but it needs work.

Please listen to the people who have told you.

We have we have engineers, we have people that are much more expert than I am that are really asking you to do the level of modern science that needs to be done to make sure that we're not poisoning ourselves.

Thank you.

And by the way, when I went to go sign up, there were only two forms to sign up there.

So when I wanted to talk about the workers' bill of rights, that wasn't up there.

If you want to uh bring that back during part of, I know you only get two minutes, but if you want to bring that back, you can do it.

I couldn't hear you.

Okay, yeah, don't worry about it, Marilyn.

I'll talk to you later.

Okay, all right.

Uh Teresa Evans.

Um, and then after you, Teresa, we're gonna take a 10-minute break and then we're gonna uh come back and do community forum.

Okay, thank you.

Okay, well, hello, um, if Victoria is still online, hello.

And hello, Kiara, um, deputy mayor and city council and all.

Um, I'm here because I had a had an inkling, I heard a reminder of Katharina, and I know that her uh the four area person uh Sandash Sadalgay isn't here today, or maybe he's online, but anyway, so she was on my mind, and her last name was on my mind, considering it's water, and we're talking about the South uh Tacoma um area.

Anyways, um so I I I thought about it.

So I'll start with uh Luchut seed because it's what's where we are with the pual uh and the word for water is quo.

Uh well, so I don't know if my ancestral languages, uh, Welsh come right at door, uh Hungarian Major Rule, uh Viz, German Deutsche, Vasa, Irish, Gwelga, Ishka, Scottish Gaelic, Ushka.

And then I had uh Russian on my mind, and I looked at Vada.

But anyways, um, I want our water to be uh clean and healthy and um refreshing, and so it can do the cleaning and so it can keep us hydrated, and I saw that it was gonna be changing from 40% to 50% if you guys uh pass all that uh that from that um aquifer that they will provide our our drinking water, which is or can sometimes that's quite a bit.

So I want the water to be well, and I know it's a lot of work you guys did in um making the proposed changes, and anyways, thank you so much for your time.

Thank you, Teresa.

Okay, with no other folks on my um list for the hearing, I will declare the hearing closed.

Um moving on to unfinished business, and before we do that, I will entertain a motion to uh take a 10-minute recess.

So moved second, all right.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed, signify by saying nay.

All right, the motion carries.

We are gonna take a 10-minute break and we will come back from for community forum.

All right.

You guys ready?

All right, I'm gonna call the meeting back to order.

Thank you all for indulging us in that uh recess tonight.

Okay, moving on to community forum.

Um you may speak about items over which the city council has jurisdiction.

As a reminder, these forums are intended to give speakers the opportunity to share their viewpoints and feedback with the city council to aid in our decision making and are not meant to be a full back and forth dialogue.

Your remarks should be directed towards the city council and not at individual staff members.

At this time, I would like to ask attendees if you want to speak under community forum.

Please press the raise your hand button near the bottom of your Zoom window or star nine on your phone now, so you can see the number of people wishing to testify this evening.

If you're speaking in person, please sign up at the back of the room if you have not done so already.

Your name or the last four digits of your phone number will be called out when it is your turn to speak.

Clerk, will you please read?

The purpose of community form is to assist the council in making policy decisions.

Items of discussion will be limited to matters over which the council has jurisdiction.

Arguments shall not be made in support of or opposition to any matter on this week's agenda, and each person may address the city council only one time during this forum.

Okay.

Community forum will be limited to a total of sixty minutes, and each speaker will have 90 seconds to make your remarks.

Please be mindful of the time frame.

As always, you are not required to use all of your time to make your point.

If you cannot remain on topic, you will be given two warnings.

If you remain off topic, we will have to move on and end your time.

Clark, have we received any written comment for community forum?

We've received two, one regarding initiative measure number two and one regarding the historic preservation code.

Okay, perfect.

Thank you.

Okay, we are gonna start with our folks um online, and then we will move on to those in the room.

So Tracy, you are up first.

Hi, yep, this is Gemini again.

Oh, uh founding member.

Oh, you're good.

Climate alliance of the South Sound.

Um there's a lot that there's a lot to say.

Um first.

Uh misuse of um public funds.

I know this was a grant, uh, but you're talking about buying it now, right?

Um, absolutely despicable.

And uh you know, Native Americans, indigenous people, uh, and black folks are the most likely to be killed by the police, right?

And so you want to over surveil us, you want to put I live right off Hosmer right now, we're pretty close in Zoutkoma.

And this is just uh uh flies in the face of reason in the face of science.

We heard a lot earlier today about um using the best available science.

Uh and I think that you should do that.

And if you do that, you're not gonna install shot spotter.

Um, we don't need to be further surveilled than we already are.

I also want to condemn with my whole chest every city council member who voted in favor of spending fifty thousand dollars to to crush democracy or try to crush democracy, uh, and further um stifle workers in Tacoma.

This is just absurd.

You you have money to oppress us, but not to help us.

Get get real.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments tonight, Jim and I.

Um, April Smith.

Hi, my name is April Smith, and I live in the South End The closing of the Fred Meyer at South 72nd and Pacific will leave an already underserved area without a major grocery store, deepening an existing food desert.

When a large grocer like Fred Meyer leaves an underserved area, the harm is immediate and far reaching.

Residents, many of whom lack reliable transportation lose a primary source of affordable fresh food.

Increasing reliance on costly convenience stores or distant supermarkets.

This can deepen food insecurity, cause economic losses for nearby small businesses, and diminish community cohesion.

The vacant space also risks.

Okay, thank you for your comments tonight.

Tacoma resident.

The last speaker was going exactly where I was about the few food issues in that neighborhood.

But it's it's a crime issue, that's why Fred Myers is closing the store.

We talked to the landlord, and they're paying, they're still gonna pay their rent.

So what that means is they were losing probably three to four hundred thousand dollars on top of the expected profits a month in theft and prime.

If a little uh Walgreens or something closes down, that's they're closing down all over the country.

But when Fred Myers closes down that serves the whole community, there's a reason.

I own two rental properties there, they're active right now and active on the market for rent, and they're really nice, clean, and we've come home and this week a broken window randomly.

Um, and then every day somebody uh outside using our outlet that we had to install for the city electric code, and then when they're using all that, there's drugs and stuff and needles on brand new homes.

You guys need to pick up the security, the crime, you need to prosecute crimes.

We've called the police every time one of our team members goes there, and nobody shows up.

So that is why the Fred Myers is leaving, and it's a big problem.

People are gonna shop at comedian stores or eat at fast food restaurants, and that's not healthy for them or our community.

We have to be something.

Fred Myers is a great store.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments tonight.

Okay, those are all of the folks that I have online.

Uh, we're gonna start with those that are in the room, and Michelle, you're up first.

The city council has the power to do a genocide resolution about what's happening in Gaza.

Um, the whole UN voted against what's happening there, with the exception of the US, Canada, Britain, France.

100,000 people demonstrated in Sydney Bridge this weekend.

Um, journalists have been killed.

6,000 people have been shot going after food, and they're not even combatants just going to try and get food to live.

And there's a continuing starvation pattern going on there, and everybody's science.

So if you're solid, you're part of the problem.

And in Israel, there's two UN uh to Israeli human rights condemned the genocide as happening by their own government in Israel.

So this is something that Israel's planning to take over the whole strip.

And they would like to kill all the two million Palestinians and let God sort them out.

But uh, that's not happening, but they are killing them through sniping, through bombing, and through starvation as a weapon of war.

And that's something that should be condemned by this city council.

And if you're silent on the last resolution, uh you're part of the problem.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments tonight, Michelle.

Uh Kyle, you are back up.

My name's Kyle Jolly Boys.

30 years ago tonight, I got my last DUI.

My third and final DUI.

Eight days later, I quit drinking.

This is my 29-year coin.

Tacoma has a problem with people having problems.

Um I was trying to help a homeless guy across the street from where I live.

I live downtown Tacoma, just blocks from here.

I won't say the apartment name, but they had a security guy, and I was helping a homeless guy that was on a city sidewalk.

He wasn't on that property.

Which I was allowed to be on a city sidewalk.

So was this gentleman?

The guy wanting to mace me on a sidewalk for helping someone out.

Now, this administration that we have now is putting homelessness and addictions on blast.

What's the city gonna do?

Because what you guys do is you harden the streets, you put rocks and boulders where there's ever been a tent.

And it's disgusting to drive down 705 and see all those rocks.

Because they cost just as well.

You guys spend money foolishly and you do not help out anyone.

So I thank you.

Thank you for your comments tonight, Kyle.

Uh Kit Burns, and after Kit, we'll have Barb.

I'm Kit Burns and I live in District 3.

Um, I would like to speak tonight just on the streets initiative, although that ship may have sailed.

Um I'm disappointed that I didn't hear any of the discussion of running it again.

You know, Tacoma presents itself as kind of a poor community, I think.

That's the impression I have having lived here for so long.

But in 2014, the Metro Parks passed the bond issue of 198 million dollars.

And then in 2020, the Tacoma School Board ran a levy for I think it's 535 million dollars.

Four years later came back and passed another for 658 million dollars, because we do believe in good schools and we do believe in parks.

We also believe in roads.

And um what I found out lately, I've been my goal is to walk two hours a day.

So I get to walk the streets of Tacoma, the sidewalks, look at the trees and stuff.

And so I'm really um distressed that that was not run again.

Why it wasn't promoted more.

And it's shocking to me that I didn't hear any uh debrief of what we can do to make it happen.

Now I listened to it at the IPS committee, the government performance and finance committee at the city council meeting, the transportation.

I listened to that probably more than any citizen in the uh city, and I never heard anything after it failed.

Why did it fail?

You know, we had a small turnout, and people didn't like the idea of voting for one issue.

I think something we missed an opportunity.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments tonight, K.

Okay, Barb, and then Barb.

After Barb, it'll be Eva.

Thank you.

My name's Barb Church.

I'm a Northeast Tacoma resident, and I'm speaking about the sub-area plan.

I'd like to thank the sub-area plan steering committee, planning department, and Tacoma Pierce County Health Department for all the work that they did on the sub-area plan.

Many of you talk about your five-year involvement, but the first meeting was on January 9 uh January 2019 by December 2025.

That'll be seven years in the mirror, and me and many concerned uh community members were at that January meeting.

I appreciated that Steve Atkinson recognized that the uh there were meetings prior to that first meeting in January at the Realto Theater where there was standing room only about this issue.

The City of Tacoma community was intense and passionate about passionate about the development of the Port of Tacoma, how the city would address polluting industry, and most importantly, how they would address the health and safety impacts of the neighboring communities.

At the first steering committee meeting, they had a public engagement plan that included public input, open houses, early and often it said.

That didn't happen.

It did happen actually once.

That's why there were only eight attendees at the last planning commission meeting to share the recommendations of the steering committee.

From the Rialto Theater to eight people.

It wasn't the fault of the people.

It was the str the way it was structured.

We were promised engagement, and we didn't get it.

Thank you for your comments tonight, Barb.

Okay, Ifa, and then Marilyn.

Hello again.

Uh my name is Ifa Pasquale.

Um, I'm with Climate Alliance of the South Sound, and um, you know, I don't really have anything new to say.

I come here all the time and tell you guys uh just reiterating the same thing.

Um I actually I really just want to thank like the people in this room for coming out tonight and um and sharing what's on your heart, like the the things you guys talk about, whether you know, a shot spotter, Palestine, the climate, um, workers' rights, um, labor battles, um the utilization of the best science of you know, it's it's you guys that inspire me to come out and keep fighting.

Like the world we live in right now is so chaotic and messy.

Um, you know, growing up, I felt like, you know, I born and raised in Tacoma.

I felt like this place was like a prison.

And now that, you know, I being organized and being with you guys, I you know, I I've known a lot of you guys for a long time at this point, and um it being in this community gives me life, and um, I just want to express gratitude.

Um, there's so many evils that we're fighting against.

Um, you know, the pollution of our planet, the destruction of our futures.

Um, and I'm just glad to be here with you in the audience and fighting back against it.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments tonight, Eva.

Marilyn and Marilyn will be followed by Beverly, but I don't see her.

Good evening.

So, what IPA was talking about is something that's really important.

It's solidarity.

I'm a member of the Climate Alliance of the South Sound and Democratic Socialists and IWW, and of course you know I'm a raging granny, and I'm also president of Radio Tacoma.

Why?

Because I love community, and only by getting together and solidarity are we gonna turn the current state of our country around.

I know we're all concerned about it.

We have to work together.

Now, one of the things that's on my mind that I didn't get to talk about earlier, but some other people did, is I'm very upset that the city council chose to hold Prop 2 back and then have a 15-person commission of some sort to study it, and that way delay it going before the people.

Democracy is what we need.

We see what happens when democracy is pulled away from us.

We have to be able to have transparency with our government to know what's going on, and government city council needs to work with its citizens.

We should have had the opportunity to put that proposition before the people in November, and I'm upset about it.

Thank you for sharing with us tonight, Marilyn.

Um I have Beverly Beverly on here, but I don't see her, so I'm gonna put her to the end and then move on to Teresa.

Hello, Silly Council.

Um okay, so community forum, I can talk about things that you guys do.

Well, um, transportation is something you guys work on.

Um vehicles being able to drive in the roads, uh fixing the roads and things like that.

I think when I rode my bike from my sisters today, it looked like by uh Vasalt Park that the that the road had been painted, including the lines for the um for for the bike lanes, and I was very, very pleased, and yes, it does uh decrease possibility of collisions when the lines are painted.

I do appreciate that.

But um, anyways, I wanted to say um I walk outside every day.

Um and I I am practicing for my cognition because I was hit twice.

Uh I practice language a little bit, so maybe Kutambey and Kila Siku for that's I'll walk outside every day and um a la libre coming no todos mosquitas and doing care that we are bot peep.

Anyways, um thank you for um anyways uh um safety for bike rides and walking is a good idea.

There's some strangeness that was happening a couple times, but it was pretty reduced today.

So I don't know really know how to describe it to you.

Um I would rather not have to protect myself and um if uh vehicles want to try to uh scare me or people want to jump out in front of me while I'm riding my bike, literally.

Anyways, have a good day.

Thank you for your comments, Teresa.

Um okay, we have Jin Lee.

Okay, do I start?

Absolutely.

Hello, my name is Jin Lee.

I'm a volunteer for La Resistencia.

As an immigrant, I am disheartened to see the police being used by GEO as a form of retaliation to disturb and hinder the work of La Resistencia.

On a Thursday afternoon of July 24th, volunteers from Lawasistencia saw geo personnel surveilling us as you were setting up a canopy on the public sidewalk on J Street to greet those released from the Northwest Detention Center.

And at 4 26 p.m., two Tacoma Police Department vehicles arrived, and the canopy was ordered to be put down because they received a call accusing LR of public vandalism and of building an encampment.

Members of La Resistencia tried to explain that since 2017, Northwest Aid has set up two canopies in the RV on the same public street.

And on August 11th, they were able to relocate their tents and RV.

Yet they have not received any police calls.

We also know that Gio, along with the Tacoma Police Department, have suppressed and ignore cases of sexual assault and abuse reported by detainees inside.

So we ask that why is the city of Tacoma enabling the close relationship between the Tacoma Police Department and Gio.

And so we asked that our work should not be hindered or used as a form of retaliation to intimidate us.

Thank you for coming to speak tonight, Jen.

Okay.

Mac Andrews and Mac will be followed by John.

Mark.

Mac?

Mark.

Yeah.

Hi, good to see you.

Um I'm Mark.

I'm with uh Climate Alliance South Sounds.

Um I'm very heartened to see the solidarity in the room.

Um with uh Climate Alliance uh of the South Sounds uh 350 uh Tacoma and La Resistencia.

Um I I'm disappointed in uh the city council's decision to uh uh further delay and use uh these procedural techniques to uh uh defy the will of uh your electorate who it's clear that you see as more of an impediment to uh your clear goals, right?

You there's a lot of talk about uh uh finding balance, right?

Um uh about uh you uh it's but it's clear to see where that balance uh is in your eyes, where it should be.

Um and uh I'm looking forward to using our solidarity in the upcoming elections.

Um Joe, uh I I understand that you're up for re-election, uh Sarah Rumbo.

Uh and also uh Councilmember Sidalgay.

Um so I'm I'm looking forward to uh seeing how the people uh decide uh November 4th.

Um thank you very much.

Take care.

Thank you for your comments tonight, Mark.

Go ahead, John.

Thank you for giving me another opportunity to finish off what I was going to say.

Um there's two major points that I wanted to finish with.

The test room requirements of the South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District have for what the water is quality needs to be for the sites that are influenced by their parameters.

It's not codified, it's not regulated, it's not any regulation.

Um they're falling back to some code that was back 40 years ago, but none of it's in the regulation, so they actually don't have what I have found any legal authority for in the parameters that they set.

I ask that you ask them to prove to you or show you what their authority is to set those regulations, and if you find what I find, ask them to develop those authority.

The second thing is on the prohibitive use tables.

I'd like to be able to um add the ability for folks to apply for a waiver if they're on the end list for that.

There's a lot of science, a lot of technology out there that the city of Tacoma, not the health department, can regulate and allow folks to be able to operate safely in the South Sound Groundwater Protection District using those techniques.

Just saying, heck no, you're not gonna do it.

Isn't good for the economy, isn't good for the city, and there's techniques and stuff out there that I have seen that works to be able to do that.

In fact, we're doing that at a site right now inside the South Sound Groundwater Protection District.

Um that's all I really had to say.

If the regulations are clear, people like me can help people follow them.

But if they're ambiguous, then I get a lot more billable hours, but it's not very good for the client.

So thank you very much.

Thank you for sticking around to take a second shot at it, John.

Uh Tyler.

And Tyler is the last person I have got signed up to speak in person unless Beverly is back.

All right.

As I've communicated, I am a licensed professional engineer.

I worked on the Sound Transit Hilltop Extinction Link Extension Project, and I am concerned that the City of Tacoma has filed suit over the uh willful and malicious striking of a conduit because what I'm here to tell you is I am concerned about the construction quality and the design standards of that project.

I worked on it from 2016 to 2021 when I was removed from being sexually harassed and discriminated against and in a hostile work environment.

I am concerned for the health and well-being of our entire community.

Uh this is my orca card that Sound Transit gave me to try to write it.

I wrote it once and I got off at the stadium district station from the end of the line because I wouldn't go down the curve.

I am concerned about the construction quality and the potential for things like a derailment.

And I'm truly, as a human, coming to you to say there are concerns that can be taken action now.

This is not about creating a whole new system for water quality and impacting our health.

It's literally allowing an organization outside of yourself to come in and create systems of transportation that are not done correctly.

And there is intentional withholding and federal misuse of funding, and this will come out, and you will be aware of it in the coming periods of time.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments tonight, Tyler.

Um, with that, I will seeing no other individuals wishing to speak, I will declare the community forum period closed.

Uh, we will move on to reports by the city manager.

Thank you, thank you, Deputy Mayor.

Um, with committee forum, I do not have a report ready for you this week.

Oh, yeah, thank you.

Perfect, thank you.

Okay.

Um comments and committee reports of the council.

Uh it looks like we've got uh Councilmember Rumbaugh, chair of the community vitality and safety committee, uh, to give us a report out from CBS.

I don't have a report tonight.

Just kidding.

Okay.

Um with that, we do have one last uh proclamation that I'm gonna call on Council Member Romba again to make.

So, as usual, as the birthday person, um, we celebrate everyone's birthday who is on council, and we missed uh councilmember walker's because she was gone.

But guess what?

We're still celebrating.

So um we You didn't miss it.

We didn't?

This is not your time.

Oh well, it's still coming.

Okay.

Well, I thought I missed it.

Sorry.

I thought I I must have it wrong on my calendar, but we're wishing you a happy early birthday.

So could you tell us when your birthday is?

Oh, so it is Friday.

So we're anybody who wrote, we hope you had a great birthday.

We're telling you we hope you have a great birthday.

So thank you.

Thank you for that presentation.

Council Member Rambah, again, happy birthday to you.

Councilmember Walker.

Um, if that's all of the business that we have, I will uh take a final motion unless we have any other.

We have a excuse.

Oh, yeah, sorry.

Um, I will take the um both motions.

I move to excuse Council Slow Day from this evenings meeting.

Second.

All right, all those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All right.

The motion carries.

I move to adjourn.

Second.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed, signify by saying nay.

The motion is declared adopted.

We stand adjourned.