Hello everyone.

Thank you for joining us this evening for the well, I don't have a diaphragm use either, so how about now?

Nicole, here why don't you take this one?

You need to get it going?

Okay, how about now?

Okay.

Okay, everyone.

So thank you for joining us this evening for our first council meeting of the year.

My name's Nicole Emery, City Clerk.

And I get the honor of kicking the meeting off tonight.

As you may notice, the dies behind me is a little empty.

And before the meeting officially gets started, we will swear in council members Bushnell, Palmer, Rumba, Sidalgay, and Mayor Ibsen.

After each member completes their oath, they will make their way up to their seat in the dais.

Once the council is at the dais, Mayor Ibsen will call the meeting to order.

And then shortly after they'll make some remarks.

Which will be followed by a short recess, which allow everyone to leave if they desire to do so.

So to kick off the first one, I'd like to invite up Councilmember Sidalgay, who will be sworn in by sweet speaker Lori Jenkins.

Please make your way to the front.

And the most beautiful too.

And I told you that I would not endorse you until you had uh knocked on a thousand doors in your district.

And you went to work and you did that, and then you called, you kept on reporting the numbers as they were rising.

And then um you called me and said, I've hit the thousand.

Will you endorse me?

And I said, now that you've hit a thousand, you don't need my endorsement because you know what your community needs, and you understand your community, and of course you have my endorsement.

Um, but I urge you to continue learning about your community, and that's exactly what you did over the course of this race, and that's exactly what you've done over the course of your service so far, and I um am so excited to have you sit on this council as a fully elected member, having knocked on as many doors as you have and really understanding and knowing your district and what the people of your district need.

And so I'm honored to be here to be able to swear you in.

Oh, thank you.

Um please repeat after me.

I Sandesh Sadalgay.

I Sande Sadalgay.

Do solemnly swear or affirm.

Do solemnly swear or affirm.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

And the Constitution of the State of Washington.

And the Constitution of the State of Washington.

I will comply with the city charter and all ordinances of the city.

I will comply with the city charter and all ordinances of the city.

And that I will faithfully and impartially.

And I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of the office of.

Discharge the duty of the office of council member district four.

Council member district four.

According to the law and to the best of my ability.

According to the law and to the best of my ability.

Congratulations on being sworn in as a council member.

No, I can't.

I can't let that comment.

And next up, I'd like to call up Councilmember Bushnell, who will be sworn in by his father, Joe Bushnell.

Which I'm excited.

Well, thank you everybody for coming tonight.

It's such a such an honor to be swearing in.

Uh my son.

And his grandfather was very big in the politics and wanted so badly to get involved in politics.

This would have been in the late sixties and early seventies, and to see us standing here now in front of the city council.

Uh I'll bet he's busting his buttons right now in heaven.

Thank you very much.

So if you'll repeat after me, raise your right hand.

I, Joe Bushnell, do solemnly swear and affirm.

I, Joe Bushnell, do swallownly swear and affirm.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

And the Constitution of the State of Washington.

And the Constitution of the State of Washington.

That I will comply with the city charter.

That I will comply with the city charter.

And all ordinances of the city.

And all ordinances of the city.

And I will faithfully and impartially.

And I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of the office.

Discharge the duties of the office.

Of council member district number five.

Of council member district number five.

According to the law and the best of my ability.

According to the law and the best of my ability.

Thank you.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

This is my beautiful wife.

The first time she's seen a swearing in.

Thank you, baby.

We have one more duty here.

Oh.

Sign here.

Right there where it says Joe Bushnell.

You sign there.

Right, Joe Bushnell.

Yeah, you got it.

Oh, yes.

And the other Joe Bushnell who's here.

It's very confusing.

We both have the same name.

All right.

Thank you very much.

Next up, I'd like to call up Councilmember Palmer to be sworn in by her daughter, Naeli Vasquez.

Hi, Mom.

Hi, baby.

So it's like really nice to see you have like a lot of intelligence and just to see you grow.

Because a lot of people with that intelligence don't actually grow as much as you can.

And just like as a city council member, is just the start because you can grow many more and like you can achieve way much more that you can.

This is just the start.

Thank you, baby.

Oh my gosh.

Repeat after me.

I Latasha Palmer.

I Latasha Palmer.

Do you solemnly swear and or affirm?

Do you solemnly swear or affirm?

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

And the Constitution of the State of Washington.

And the Constitution of the State of Washington.

That I will comply with city charter.

That I will comply with the city charter.

And all the ordinances of the city.

And all the ordinances of the city.

And I will faithfully and impartially.

Okay.

I will faithfully and impartially.

Discharge the duties of the office.

Discharge the duties of the office.

Of council member at large number six.

According to law and to the best of my ability.

According to law and to the best of my ability.

Next, we will have Councilmember Rumba, who will be sworn in by the Honorable Judge Stanley Rumba.

So we're having a contest for the cutest baby.

My granddaughter, Ty is here.

Sarah, are you ready to take the oath of office?

Yes.

So when you told me you're going to run for re-election, I didn't ask why.

I thought why, but I didn't ask you why.

You should have asked me why.

Too late now.

Um because I knew you're committed to service and to the principles that you stand for.

You give thoughtful consideration to everybody's points of view.

And then once you've made your decision, you stick with it.

So you prepared to take the oath of office?

Yes.

Raise your right hand.

Repeat after me.

I Sarah Rumbaugh.

I Sarah Rambah.

Do solemnly swear or affirm.

Do solemnly swear or affirm.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

And the Constitution of the State of Washington.

And the Constitution of the State of Washington.

That I will comply with the city charter.

That I will comply with the city charter.

And all ordinances of the city.

And all ordinances of the city.

And that I will faithfully.

And I will faithfully.

And impartially.

And impartially.

Discharge the duties of the office.

And discharge the duties of the office.

Of council member district number two.

Of council member district number two.

According to the law.

According to the law.

And to the best of my abilities.

And to the best of my abilities.

Just make a nice standpoint.

Stand.

That's your name called my honesty.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And last this evening, we have Mayor Ibsen, who will be sworn in by Puala Tribal Councilwoman Annette Bryan.

No promises, son.

Does he want to come up here?

Oh, that would be a disaster.

Okay.

Um Slahale, CEO of the e-shed, Net Bryan Seat stuff, Spiala Pobs Chad.

Um I am really honored to be asked to come here on behalf of the Pyalp tribe, but also on behalf of myself.

We have been working together since I started on the council almost ten years ago.

And my how things have changed.

And I believe that you're going to be able to fill those shoes of Mayor Woodards.

And not only establishing but maintaining a really good relationship with the Pyalp tribe of Indians.

And you have really tried and gone out of your way to learn about our culture, to learn about our people, to get to know us, to get to know me.

And that is so appreciated.

And one of the reasons why, you know, you see our flag here today, and you feel a whole different feeling than we did 10 years ago between the tribe and the city.

And I thank you for that and your your role in that.

And I know you're gonna continue to have that role.

And so are you ready to take this oath of office?

Yes.

Hey, please raise your right hand.

I Andrews Ibsen.

Hi, Andrews Ibsen.

Do you solemnly swear or affirm?

Do you solemnly swear or affirm?

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

That I will support the Constitution of the United States.

And the Constitution of the State of Washington.

And the Constitution of the State of Washington.

That I will comply with the city charter and all ordinances of the city.

That I will comply with the city charter and all ordinances of the city.

And that I will faithfully and impartially.

And that I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of the office of mayor.

Discharge the duties of the office of mayor.

According to law and to the best of my ability.

According to law and the best of my ability.

Thank you.

Clerk, will you please call the roll?

Councilmember Bushnell.

Present.

Councilmember Diaz.

Councilmember Hines.

Councilmember Palmer.

I am here.

Councilmember Rumba.

Here.

Councilmember Sidalga.

Here.

Councilmember Scott.

Here.

Councilmember Walker?

Here.

Mayor Ibsen.

Here.

Clerk will be called, excuse me.

Um you just called the role.

Um first time.

Um will you please join me in listening 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 Puallop people where they make their home and speak the Lushutsi language.

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

And to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation, under God, indivisible, liberty, and justice structure.

I'll keep my comments brief because I have four other colleagues who I'm sure would like to speak about either re-upping or joining for the first time our city council.

But speaking to so many friends here in this room, both new and established, some long time, uh others new friends.

I just want to express my profoundest gratitude for the opportunity to serve you.

Tacoma is the jewel of the South Sound.

It is a beautiful, amazing place.

And while the challenges we face are stark, the opportunities are so much greater.

Working together, I'm so excited, both with my colleagues and the community at large.

So I wanted to express my extreme gratitude.

The work is just getting started, but I really like work.

So we're gonna have a great time.

Who else would like to comment?

Councilmember Bushnell.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, and I just wanted to thank everybody for coming out for the swearing-ins and mine as well.

I just really appreciate my father.

Um, I wouldn't be the man I am today if it wasn't for him.

I learned the values of hard work, of volunteerism and service through him, and I hope to continue to make him proud.

I know he's very proud.

Um, but uh I'm also very proud of the Cambodian community.

I have a lot of members of the Cambodian community out here.

My mother uh was a refugee from Cambodia, and so um being mixed Cambodian myself is really deeply impactful.

Um, the stories uh from my mother's side and and the family and how they got to the United States, um, and then you know, to to be able to rise in this position, and I want to bring my community along with me as much as possible.

So um Akunchran, um uh swakum uh uh Joel uh Joel Tiny, hi uh Choikyom.

Hi, I'm uh Kyom Twani.

Um hi Akun um Wat Ja.

Hi, Watmai, hi uh Watkamai Krom um Joel Maini Kim um Sabai Kung But thank you, thank you everybody, and thank you all for everything.

I just I can't be prouder and uh I love the city and I love to serve and I'm so happy that I have the opportunity to continue to serve here.

So thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Bushnell.

Are there any other comments?

Councilmember Sodaga.

Thank you.

I didn't actually prepare any, so I'm gonna go off the cuff over here.

Um first I really want to recognize uh both my father and my mother.

Uh I didn't I applied for this position to fulfill the late great Katharinochka's um remaining term after my mother died wanting to do something really meaningful, and I've I've been able to do that these last year and a half.

Um I want to also recognize uh my brother who answered a call he found with himself and went into the military and spent 21 years over there who really influenced me it um over my lifetime and my sister who herself um left academia and became a council member in northern New Jersey.

Um I'm also proud of being the first South Asian, someone born in South Asia or from South Asia on this council.

I think it's really important that we reflect the diversity of uh peoples on this council and to see so much diversity here uh makes me proud.

And lastly, I'm just absolutely no second to last.

The last one's gonna be a very important person.

Uh second to last.

Uh my neighbors in District 4 who've been absolutely some of the most kindest, welcoming people I've ever interacted with.

Um sometimes you'll have some hard conversations with one another, and then you'll just love each other more.

4,337 is actually the total number of doors I hit.

Um not every conversation was easy, but I think every single conversation I left feeling more connected to the people in my district.

And then last but not least, I absolutely have to thank my wife because I could not do anything that I've done in these last 16 years that we've been together.

Uh if it wasn't for her uh strength and her support.

So I am beyond grateful to be here, and I look forward to working with all of my colleagues as we look to move Tacoma forward.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments, Councilmember.

Councilmember Palmer.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, so yes, I wanted to first thank my fellow council members for such a warm welcome.

Um, you know, we've known each other for a little bit now, but um it's been great, and you guys have been so helpful today.

It was a lot.

It was my first day here.

Um, and so I really appreciate all the help.

Um, I wanted to thank my campaign team.

We have Sherry and Jonathan here, and my campaign aunties.

Um, my family, my sister Tanisha, my brother Devin, um helping me out with my kiddos and my kiddos.

Naeli, thanks for almost making me cry.

Um, Aries Avea, I love you.

Um, I want to thank Tacoma.

You know, I feel so supported, and I want, you know, everyone should know that this is uh position six is a seat for for everyone.

And I think I hopefully uh, you know, that's my job to make sure that you guys feel that, continue to feel that way.

Um, and you let me know if I don't.

Um so please hold me accountable.

That's first off.

Um in the that vein, um, I know some of you like to look back at some of the council meetings uh to see what we say.

Uh so I wanted to let you guys know and share my governing principles and what I plan to base my decisions on, so that if I stray from that, you guys say, hey, Latasha, what are you doing?

Or sorry, Councilmember Palmer, what are you doing?

Okay, so I believe our work should be measurable and transparent.

I believe that we can ensure that every resident has dignity and the chance to feel safe and belong.

to let you guys know and share my governing principles and what I plan to base my decisions on so that if I stray from that you guys say hey latasha what are you doing or sorry council member palmer what are you doing okay so I believe our work should be measurable and transparent I believe that we can ensure that every resident has dignity and the chance to feel safe and belong this includes people having real opportunities to remain in and meaningfully participate in their communities to share equitably in both the costs and benefits of growth and to build and keep wealth in ways that strengthen community well-being and stability I commit to seeking the most efficient and effective solutions whether conventional or innovative and to planning investing and problem solving together with residents workers and businesses guided by a responsibility to future generations and the health of our environment so again I can't do this alone thank you all for the support and hopefully you'll stick but stick by me as I go through this experience and let's change some things up black by block thank you council member palmer council member rumbaugh thank you and I just want to thank everyone who's here tonight and I especially want to thank um my family um who has always been so supportive and my daughter was here with her my granddaughter which is really exciting to have her see me be here um and I want to thank my husband I want to thank Stan because as a judge I have seen him as a personal injury attorney and serve on the um pierce county superior court for many years now and he for me is an example of an upstanding um public servant to our community and so that is sort of my lens and I know we have some judges here in the audience tonight and I want you to know how proud I was to be able to pick our let neck we're going to be able to vote on our next municipal court judge that is a big deal for me having our own court here in our city is important and the work that they do um every day um to provide the safety that we need as a community is important and um I just want to thank everyone who works for this city for believing in us who are sitting up here doing this work.

We don't get this work done by ourselves we work together and we have new members today and I'm really excited to have the new members um but I also want to say that leadership isn't about it isn't about doing easy things it's about doing hard things and during my last four years I did a lot of hard things and they may not have all been what you wanted done but that doesn't mean that there weren't other people that needed those things done so I hope that we can work together as a community and be honest with each other and I know I've had um that some people haven't been happy but I think also one of the things I think is important is that we continue to have conversation and continue to talk to each other and that's really what this is about is the opportunity to come here and have an opportunity to have your voice but also an opportunity to hear from us so I want you to know that we are available to you we care what you think and I want to thank you again for being here tonight.

Thank you, Councilmember Rumbau and thank you to all who've stepped up to serve either in returning or in joining the council for the first time so all of you are more than welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting however I'm sure there's a fair amount of you who um who aren't here to talk about purchase resolutions and sales taxes so you're you're certainly welcome to stay put but if not we are going to take a brief recess just to allow people to uh to leave and get on to funner things and to allow us to resume our business so is there a motion to have a temporary recess for five minutes I move to take a recess for five minutes second moving second in discussion saying none of those in favor please take your five by saying aye aye all those opposed say no we're gonna recess for five minutes

There is a modification to the agenda this evening.

We have a proposed motion to amend item twenty six.

Resolution number four one eight four one to add cancellation of the April seven and September one study session in council meetings.

Is there anyone and anyone wishing to comment on resolution number four one eight four one may do so during public comment?

Are there any additional modifications to the agenda this evening?

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

Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda?

I move to adopt the consent agenda, including resolutions number 41827 and 41828, and the first reading of ordinance number 29090.

Second.

Movement seconded.

Are there any c questions, comments, or corrections?

Is there a motion uh relating to the hearing examiner?

Uh I move to accept the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the hearing examiner for ordinance number two nine zero nine zero.

Second.

Move and second it.

All those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Those opposed signify by saying nay.

Motion is declared adopted.

All those in favor of adopting the consent agenda, including setting ordinance number two nine zero nine zero over to a day to be determined.

Please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those posts signify by saying nay.

The consent agenda is declared adopted.

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

Item number 12, uh, we are proclaiming January 226 as National Mentoring Month.

We have two ceremonials tonight for the National Mentoring Month proclamation.

I would like to invite uh Joelin Kenney, executive director, Hope Ambassador, um, Alice Um Masera, people and culture manager for Tacoma Power, and Cassandra Zoo, leadership development consultant for human resources, to the podium as I read the proclamation.

We please come forward.

Welcome.

Whereas January is recognized nationwide as National Mentoring Month, celebrating the transformative power of mentoring relationships, and whereas mentoring fosters meaningful connections that support personal growth, educational and career success, social emotional well-being, and a sense of belonging for both mentors and mentees.

And whereas mentors serve as role models, guiding individuals to navigate challenges and encouraging them to reach their full potential, helping to shape a strong and resilient community.

And whereas organizations like Mentor Washington and local mentoring programs play a vital role in training mentors, supporting mentees, and sustaining these invaluable mentoring relationships.

And whereas National Mentoring Month calls upon individuals, businesses, schools, faith communities, and civic organizations to engage in mentoring and ensure people of all ages have access to caring and supportive guidance.

And whereas the city recognizes mentoring as a proven strategy to increase engagement, improve well-being, and inspire long-term success, and whereas mentoring across the lifespan, including youth, early career professionals, and experienced public servants, enriches individuals, organizations, and communities alike.

And whereas Tacoma Public Utilities and other city departments invest in employee mentoring to cultivate confidence, leadership capacity, and a sense of belonging, recognizing that a supported workforce is essential to serving residents with excellence, care, and accountability.

Now, therefore, I, Andrews Ibsen, mayor of the City of Tacoma, on behalf of the City Council, do hereby proclaim January 2026 as National Mentoring Month in the City of Tacoma, and encourage all residents to celebrate the dedicated mentors who make a difference in the lives of others to consider becoming a mentor and to support local mentoring programs that strengthen our community and future.

Please say a few words.

Thank you, Mayor Ibsen.

Um, and happy new year, happy national mentoring month.

I love that uh first.

Okay, my name is Jolan Kenny, executive director of mentor Washington.

I love that your first proclamation is for mentoring on a night when everybody is sworn in to their new uh roles or continuing roles.

And every single one of you mentioned another person who is important to you in shaping your paths, your decisions, your service, your trajectory.

Sometimes those people are young people.

Sometimes our our our role models are younger than us and not older than us.

Mentor Washington is a statewide nonprofit.

There's about a hundred and seventy youth mentoring programs across the state.

We're leading the national mentoring movement here in the state of Washington.

And I will tell you that Pierce County and the city of Tacoma have one of the strongest presents of youth mentoring across the state.

So we are incredibly grateful to be here.

We have some of our local programs also here tonight.

Palmer Scholars, Multicultural Um, Family and Child Hope Center, Big Brothers Big Sisters has a presence here in town, the Big Homie program.

There's tons of local youth mentoring programs we're celebrating.

So thank you for having us.

Thank you.

Congratulations on getting sworn in if you were tonight.

Uh my name is Malekai Kabera.

I serve as the development coordinator for Palmer Scholars.

And if you're unfamiliar with Palmer Scholars, we have been around since 1983, over 40 years of mentoring youth, college education, college readiness, and pre-apprentip training.

So tonight is not just a proclamation.

It's a it's uh meaning that Tacoma sees our programs.

It's a it's uh meaning that Tacoma sees our programs, the youth sees our programs and sees our impact.

So thank you so much for just acknowledging this for uh proclaiming this month to be National Mentor Month.

Um, I know personally that I have several mentors in my life.

Some of you may be here tonight, right?

Um, but I'm just so grateful that this city is officially recognizing and proclaiming this this month to be National Mentor Month.

And I hope that uh we see some people here tonight engage with Palmer Scholars.

Uh we have our annual luncheon coming up for March 26th, so just wanted to put a plug in there.

So, and we welcome everybody to come learn about our programs and how to be a mentor to our youth and community.

Thank you so much.

Hello, thank you for the opportunity to be here.

My name is Cassandra, and I am the citywide leadership development consultant.

In my work, I've had the opportunity to connect with employees in every city department across all levels, and it's clear to me that there is huge leadership potential within our existing workforce.

As city employees, we're surrounded by individuals with a service mindset who make efforts to better lead those around them toward our collective success.

We as an organization, as a city, we are focused on the growth, development, and continuous improvement of our adult workforce.

And I'm here to speak to you about the leadership launchpad coaching program for city employees, which is designed to grow talent from within by bridging the gap between individual contributors and first level leadership.

By connecting our emerging leaders with experienced and established leaders, we facilitate cross-departmental knowledge sharing and on-the-job learning that directly connects to a more effective and cohesive organization, which most importantly allows us to better serve Tacoma's community.

We completed the first cohort this past fall with 54 participants across 14 departments.

Mentees have highlighted that a key takeaway from the program is learning that advancement means finding opportunities right where they are to improve their teams and ultimately improve the way that we serve the city.

If we want our work to benefit Tacoma, then we have to invest in supporting the development of those who are doing the work.

When our employees are better equipped with skills like critical thinking, empathy, and accountability, they're better prepared to solve the complex challenges that our residents face every day.

So we'll be launching our second cohort this spring, and city employees can find more information by searching for leadership launchpad on the hub.

Thank you again for the opportunity to say a few words.

Thank you, Mayor Ibsen and members of the council.

I'll keep it quick because I know we have many of us, but we're just very excited about uh mentoring month.

And I want to uh thank you specifically for honoring us uh and honoring the work that not only uh the public does uh when they mentor the youth, but also what our own employees do when they mentor each other.

And I think that that helps build the leadership pipeline and it helps us become better employees, better public servants so that we can provide better customer service to our community.

Um my name is Alice Masera.

Uh I'm the people and culture manager at Tacoma Public Utilities, and um this year will be the seventh year that we've brought the TPU Mentor Program to the organization.

And over the course of those seven years, we've had upwards of 650 employees who have gone through it, and they either act as mentors, mentees, as peers, or as part of a group.

And what I get to see every single year is the joy in them and the opportunity to give back and the opportunity to grow as professionals and again as servants.

So thank you very much.

Thank you.

Now please come forward and accept the nomination.

Join me in giving a round of applause.

Could you send us the luncheon?

Congratulations, absolutely.

All right, everybody, let's be together, make a smile.

All right.

One, two, three.

One, two, three.

Thank you all so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We now move on to item number 13, proclaiming January 2026 as whole child month.

For the whole child month proclamation, I'd like to invite Laura Allen, whole child director, Tacoma Public Schools, to the podium as I read the proclamation.

Whereas every child deserves to grow up in a community where they are seen, valued, and supported, and where schools, parks, and neighborhoods are safe, joyful, and empowering places to play, learn, and dream.

And whereas education is about nurturing the whole child, supporting not only academic success, but also critical thinking, creativity, health, and emotional well-being.

And whereas strong communities are built through partnerships among families, educators, mentors, and civic leaders who work together to create environments rooted in belonging, wellness, and hope, and whereas investing in the whole child strengthens our city's future by fostering equity, compassion, and opportunity for all.

Now, therefore, I, Andrews Ibsen, mayor of the City of Tacoma, on behalf of the City Council, do hereby proclaim January 2026 as Whole Child Month in the City of Tacoma, and encourage all residents to join me in supporting the well-being, growth, and potential of every child in our community.

I'd like to call on Laura to say a few words.

Thank you very much, Mayor.

Uh Council members, and congratulations.

My friends, so what we've just declared is a promise.

It's a promise that every child in our community is worth fighting for, worth believing in, and worth showing up for every single day.

And let me tell you something that when we choose to see the greatness in our kids, when we choose to lift them up, we're not just shaping their future, we're shaping ours.

And that's work, that's a mission, that's a magic.

So let's walk out of here with a little more courage in our stride, a little more hope in our hearts, and maybe just maybe a little more faith in one another.

Because when we stay united, when we stay relentless, and we say kind, there's nothing, and I mean nothing, that our children won't be able to achieve.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Please go on the accept your proclamation.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thanks for all the work together.

Thank you.

All right, everybody wanted to see you agree.

And one more one to see you agree.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Moving on to public comment.

On tonight's agenda, there is one opportunity for people to comment.

Under public comment, you can speak about motions, resolutions, and ordinances on tonight's agenda, except for ordinance number 29090, for which a public hearing has already been held.

This forum is 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 to the city council and not at individual staff members.

If you're attending virtually and you'd like to speak under the public comment period, press the raise hand button near the bottom of your Zoom window or asterisk 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 in 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's your turn to speak.

Public comment, clerk, will you please read?

This is the time set aside for public comment.

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

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

We strive to provide a comment period where people can feel respected while sharing a wide variety of viewpoints and acknowledge that we may hear comments that conflict with our values.

To ensure that all speakers can express their First Amendment constitutional rights, we ask that you refrain from clapping, cheering, booing, or otherwise being disruptive.

You'll have 90 seconds to make your remarks, and please be mindful of the time frame.

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

If you cannot remain on topic, you'll be given two warnings, and if you remain off topic, we will have to move on and we'll end your time.

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

Mayor and Council members, we did not receive any written comment today.

Okay, move very good.

Moving on to our first and only um in-person speaker, uh, Michelle Reich.

Please come forward.

Right, excuse me.

Michelle Reich.

I was speaking to 1127 mentoring.

But first I wish to welcome Mayor Ibsen and our new city council member Palmer.

Uh new year, a new city council in uh social psychology, they call that a new beginning.

Back to Mendering.

Uh I had a minor in my life when I joined the military in 72 with the GED.

And I just completed eight months of military training, and I got to my first duty station.

And I followed on that, and over the years from 1970 to 2000, I attended 40 universities and had a lot of degrees.

Uh I'm not uh smart, I'm just educated.

And my mentor, Sergeant Tomkins, I gotta thank for all those years in my where I am today.

And if I didn't have that training and mentoring, I would not be able to come to city council all the time to speak to you on issues there.

So I have an extensive background, and that's why you see me all the time.

Thank you.

Thank you, Michelle.

That does it for our live people who've signed in for public comment.

We have one virtual attendee, uh, Ms.

Misty Roll who wishes to speak virtually.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Thank you.

Uh, this is addressed to the members of the Tacoma City Council.

Um, this statement is submitted on behalf of the York Apartments regarding recent events about involving the New York Apartments tenant union.

Tacoma for all public statements and actions taken in connection with the New York Hartman's property.

Following a news conference held outside the New York Apartments on December 6th, which was supported uh Misty, just to just for clarification, uh I don't mean to interrupt, but um the purpose of public comment is for items on tonight's agenda.

Is there a topic on the agenda that you wish to speak to?

Um can I see the agenda?

Well, well, ma'am, we have to respect other people who've signed in.

So uh what you're absolutely welcome to do is to either wait for a topic that's germane, or you can speak at a in an upcoming community forum.

Or if you'd like, you can just call or email us, and we're happy to respond to your concerns.

Is that okay?

I'll stay on line and see if that comes up.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you again for your for caring about our city.

Um with that, um, there is no other speaker who's signed in, so we are going to close public comment and we're going to move on to the regular agenda, starting with appointments.

Item number 14, Clerk, will you please read?

Resolution number 41829 is a resolution appointing Sergio Ramon Cueva Flores as judge to Tacoma Municipal Court Department No.

I move to adopt resolution number 41829.

Second.

Movement seconded.

On Friday, November 21st, 2025, municipal court judge Drew Henke announced her retirement effective December 31st, 2025.

This leaves the department number two seat vacant with an unexpired term ending December 31st, 2026.

Washington state law allows the city to determine what process it wants to use to fill a vacant judicial position and list qualifications and appointments must have so long as the individual is an attorney and live in Pierce County on the date of appointment.

For this appointment, former Mayor Woodards has asked the council to go through a process in December of 2025 to be proactive and have a candidate to consider for the first council meeting following the formal vacancy in the position.

The process asked those interested in the position to submit application materials to the city clerk, who then compiled candidates and sent them to the government performance and finance committee for interviews and selection of two to three candidates for the mayor's consideration.

Mayor Woodards interviewed two finalists for the appointment, and after reviewing materials and meeting with candidates, has forwarded Sergio Flores for consideration for this appointment.

Mr.

Flores has extensive and well-rounded experience as both a prosecutor and judge pro tempore.

Mr.

Flores has served as a judge pro tempore in Tacoma Municipal Court since September 2022, and in Pierce County District Court since January 2023, where he has demonstrated a calm demeanor, strong command of the law, and a s a consistent commitment to fair and just outcomes.

Previously, as a prosecuting attorney with the city of Auburn, he was instrumental in the creation of the Auburn Community Court, which is now a model for jurisdictions across the region, including Tacoma, showing particular strength in therapeutic and problem-solving court approaches.

Over the past three years, Mr.

Flores has presided over all Tacoma Municipal Court dockets, including therapeutic courts, and is fully prepared to assume the responsibilities of Department 2 on the first day of his appointment.

If appointed, he would begin as soon as possible and serve throughout the fall until the general election process concludes and the new judge takes office.

Are there any council questions or comments?

Councilmember Hines.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank the work of the Government Performance Finance Committee.

Uh this was as you mentioned was sent to us by the mayor, and we had were very uh lucky to have so many amazing applicants for this position, but I do want to say that um Judge Flores did stand out above all the rest.

And I think we the committee felt very confident that he was a wonderful choice for taking this role, and we were happy to forward his name to the mayor and look forward to confirming him this evening.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Hines.

Councilmember Diaz.

Thank you.

Um I also wanted to thank the uh GBFC committee for their work.

I am not on that committee, but I'm really glad that they landed where they did, and that um Mayor Epson will be going forward with this uh appointment.

Particularly for the Latino community, I think said he'll is going to be a really important member of our municipal bench, probably a history maker.

I don't see former Mayor Barsman in the room to confirm that, but I would venture to assume as the first Latina on Tacoma City Council, he will probably be the first municipal court judge of a Latino background.

And I'm just so excited to hopefully be welcoming Judge Flores to the bench.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Scott.

Thank you, Mayor.

I just wanted to, I won't bigger the point, but I just I'm I'm really happy to uh welcome Sergio to the our municipal team, and I'm just really happy to know that we are gonna be in great hands, and we're adding somebody who is compassionate and empathetic and smart and kind and will bring a whole lot to the work that we do here in Tacoma.

So thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Scott.

And at just a point of personal privilege, I can say, besides someone who is eagerly looking forward to working with uh with Sergio on innovative policies, uh I just consider the man a friend.

I've I've known him personally since 2007, the legislative internship.

Um it's it's funny how time flies, right?

Being an aging millennial.

But um, but uh seeing that level of consistent dedication, nearly 20 years of consistent interest in public service, most of which has been in Pierce County.

I I think is astounding.

Um welcome back, welcome back to the city of Tacoma.

We're really excited to work with you.

Um so with that, all those in favor of adopting resolution number 41829, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say no.

Congratulations, Judge.

Before we move on, I'd like to give uh newly mentioned judge uh Sergio Flores the chance to speak.

I'm not sure if I will.

I I'm very emotional.

You're stuck here now.

Go ahead.

Um, I want to thank you all for putting your trust in me.

Um all of you have I've spoken to it, all of you at some point in uh in the past four years about my passion for Tacoma Municipal Court and why I wanted to be a judge in Tacoma Municipal Court, and that passion has never changed, it actually got it has changed because it's gotten stronger.

I um I am committed and passionate to making sure that Tacoma Municipal Court is the court of our people and that we are welcoming and that we are creating a court and programs that are benefiting the community, the victims, and the defendants, and that we are not part of the problem but part of the solution for the city of Tacoma.

I am honored.

I uh to receive um uh your confidence in me for this role, and I am excited to work with the other judges and the council and the city to do great things.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Judge.

All right, moving on to item number 15.

Clerk, will you please read?

Resolution number 41830 is a resolution appointing and reappointing individuals to the community's police advisory committee.

I move to adopt resolution number 41830.

Second.

Moved and seconded, I'd like to first call on Councilmember Rombaugh.

Thank you very much.

Um at the December 11th, 2025 Community Vitality and Safety Committee meeting, the committee conducted interviews and recommended the appointment and reappointment of the following individuals to the community's police advisory committee.

Kai Black Blakeney Robinson, Christopher Putnam, Daniel Knox, Mason Harris, and Rolette Churchwell.

And I just want to say that this was like one of the best groups of people that we had had like apply for these positions to CPAC.

I was just so overwhelmed with um we were, I think, as a committee just of the qualifications and um the diversity of people interested in serving serving on our CPAC committee.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair Rumbau.

Are there any other council questions or comments?

Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting resolution number four one eight three zero, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed to say no, the resolution is adopted.

Moving on to item number 16.

Clerk, please read.

Resolution number 41831 is a resolution appointing and reappointing individuals to the landmarks preservation commission.

I move to adopt resolution number 41831.

Second.

Movement second, I'd like to call on Councilmember Walker.

Thank you, Mayor.

At the December 10th, 2025 infrastructure planning and sustainability committee meeting.

At the December 10th, 2025 infrastructure planning and sustainability committee meeting, the committee conducted reviews, uh interviews, actually, and recommended the appointment and reappointment of the following individuals to the landmarks preservation commission.

Um Maddie Levesque or Lavecita Modric and Sarah Hilsendeger.

Okay, wonderful.

Thank you, Chair Walker.

Are there any other council comments?

Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting resolution number 41831, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say no.

Resolution is adopted.

Item number 17, this item will also cover item number 18.

Clerk, will you please read?

Resolution number 41832 is a resolution appointing and reappointing individuals to the Tacoma Arts Commission.

I move to adopt resolution number 41832.

Second.

Movement second, I'd like to call on Councilmember Diaz.

Thank you, Mayor.

At the December 9th, 2025 Economic Development Committee meeting, the committee conducted interviews for Tacoma Arts Commission and the Tacoma Creates Advisory Board and recommended the appointment and reappointment of the following individuals.

To the Tacoma Arts Commission, Lindsay Dodge, Dominique Heron, Sierra Safua McClain, Janessa Post, Ishwen Penn, Elizabeth Panamino, and Sarah Jane Hope.

And to the Tacoma Creates Advisory Board, Elena Schernack and Martina No.

Thank you, Councilmember Diaz.

Are there any council questions or comments on this item or item 18?

Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting resolution number 41832, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Item number 18, Clerk, please read.

Resolution number 41833 is a resolution appointing individuals to the Tacoma Creates Advisory Board.

I move to adopt resolution number 4183.

Second.

Moved and seconded.

This item was just presented.

Are there any additional council questions or comments?

Councilmember Diaz, are you logged in?

Yep.

No.

Okay.

All right.

Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting resolution number 41833, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say no, the resolution is declared adopted.

And we have invited the individuals being appointed and reappointed tonight to attend the city council meeting virtually or in person.

Whether you are attending virtually or in person, I would very much like to thank you for volunteering and continuing your service on the community's police advisory committee, landmarks preservation commission, Tacoma Arts Commission, and Tacoma Creates Advisory Board.

And we really appreciate your willingness to serve.

Is there anyone here in the room who's currently been appointed?

Please join me in giving them a round of applause.

Thank you for your service to our community.

Moving on to item number 19, clerk, will you please read?

Resolution number 41834 is a resolution appointing city council members to various national, state, regional, and local committees, boards, and commissions, including the city council standing committees through December 31, 2026.

I move to adopt resolution number 41834.

Second.

Moved and seconded.

Each year we confirm our appointments to various regional boards and commissions, including our own council standing committees.

These roles help us engage in policy discussions across the region.

It will impact our residents and ensure Tacoma is well represented.

Are there any other council questions or comments?

Councilmember Rumba.

Um thank you, Mayor.

I just want to say that um this is where the real work happens.

Um serving on these on different um boards around the community and like standing up as a council member for the city of Tacoma and representing your values and needs.

Um this work is really important, and I think if you're looking to get involved and know what's going on, this is a really good list to keep with you and kind of see what um what we're doing, and you can ask us about what what goes on on the different committees that we might serve on or boards.

So I just I just want to put that out there.

I think people are always trying to figure out what we do.

We spend a lot of time doing things in other places and other venues with other um maybe nonprofits or other um community leaders, leaders, um groups like Parks Tacoma, the schools.

So just giving that information.

We also serve on things that are part of the state of Washington, um, and also um more um at the federal level.

So I just thought you might be interested in that and know that we're working really hard to serve the people of Tacoma.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Are there any other questions, uh questions or comments from the council seeing none, all those in favor of adopting resolution number 41834, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed signify by saying nay.

The resolution is declared adopted.

Item number 20, clerk, please read.

Resolution number 41835 is a resolution nominating and electing council member Joe Bushnell to the office of deputy mayor to serve a one-year term to expire December 31, 2026.

I move to adopt resolution number 41835.

Second.

Movement seconded.

This resolution will appoint Councilmember Joe Bushnell is Deputy Mayor for the 2026 calendar year.

The Deputy Mayor serves as a senior council member, primarily responsible for chairing council meetings in the mayor's absence, attending community events on the mayor's behalf when the mayor is unavailable, and serving as acting mayor when the mayor takes a leave of absence.

On a personal note, uh I will say that um having known uh Mr.

Bushnell over the years, uh both as a friend and as a colleague, uh I've seen tireless representation on uh on behalf of our community uh and on behalf of small business, uh the work that he's done in uh corridors like Hosmer Street and general advocacy for public safety in our neighborhoods, uh the API community, the South End in general, uh speaks to his servant leadership character and his devotion to our city, and it's my privilege to nominate him for the position.

Are there any other council uh questions or comments?

Joe.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

I just want to just appreciate my um send my appreciation to my council colleagues for allowing me for the opportunity to serve in this role.

Um it takes a majority of the body to approve something like this, and it really is a vote of confidence.

Um then I also want to just thank the the community um for also uh wanting to entrust me with this role as well.

Um uh I represent District 5 very strongly, and I I do my best to also represent the city of Tacoma as a whole uh on many of the regional boards and commissions that has been mentioned by Councilmember Rombaugh.

Um and so I'm looking forward to uh continuing to serve in this way and um listening to everybody in the city and try to make the best decisions on our behalf.

Thank you.

Very good.

Are there any other questions or comments from the council?

See none.

All those in favor of adopting resolution number four one eight three five, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All supposed to say no.

Resolution is adopted.

Congratulations.

Deputy Mayor Bushnell, please join me in giving a round of applause.

Moving on to purchase resolutions.

Item number 21, Clerk, please read.

Resolution number 41836 is a resolution awarding a contract to Psalmus Inc.

in the amount of two million eleven thousand eight hundred sixty-one dollars and seventy-two cents plus applicable taxes budgeted from the Transportation Capital Fund for planning, data collection, and design services for the Portland Avenue Vision Zero Improvement Project.

I move to adopt resolution number four one eight three six.

Movement seconded.

Are there any questions or comments from the council?

I have one.

Councilman Sildogue.

I just wanted to confirm this is part of the um improvements from roughly I-5 down to 56th Street.

Is uh Ms.

Charlotte Kinlow available?

Okay.

I'm the project manager for the Portland Avenue Vision Zero project.

And yes, Council Member.

Um, this is going from I5 all the way down to the East Side Community Center by 56th Street.

Great.

And it's uh if I recall correctly, it's three years or how long is this for um well, this is a planning study.

So long would the planning study take, or we anticipate.

Um I mean, about two years.

It's uh actually I misspoke there.

It's not just a planning study, it's for designing the project as well.

We don't currently have construction funding, so we don't know how long it would take to get the whole project constructed, but about two years to design.

And if I'm not mistaken, this also will take a lot of uh community input into uh account in the design that we do come up with for traffic coming on Portland Avenue.

Absolutely, yes.

All right, thank you.

And to the rest of the um my colleagues over here, uh I think we all know that Portland Avenue is absolutely um uh a high risk corridor in this city.

Um and I am just so glad that I'm here where we're finally putting um uh money together to move this one step forward to eventual construction.

I know we're gonna have to end up finding money for that when that happens, but I'm looking forward to um the community uh engagement and uh cool designs that we're gonna see for what we can do in Portland Avenue.

Thank you.

Thank you for your for your questions and for your explanation.

Any further uh comments or questions from the council on this topic?

Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting resolution number 41836, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say no.

The resolution is declared adopted.

Item number 22, Clerk please read.

Resolution number 41837 is a resolution awarding a contract to R.

L.

Alia Company in the amount of four million a hundred and seven thousand three hundred and sixty-five dollars plus a fifteen percent contingency budgeted from various funds for railway surface improvements, ADA compliant curb ramps, stormwater main replacement, and a new pedestrian and bicycle connection for a projected contract total of four million seven hundred and twenty-three thousand four hundred and sixty-nine dollars and seventy-five cents plus applicable taxes.

I move to adopt resolution number four one eight three seven.

Second.

Movement seconded.

Are there any council questions or comments?

Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Councilmember Rumba.

Um, can I can I know where this where this is going?

Is this all over the city or just curious?

All right.

Um is uh Veronica Munyao available.

Good evening.

Uh good evening.

Um Veronica Munyao, uh Engineering Project Manager, uh leading this project.

So you would like to know the location of the project.

Um this is gonna cover various traits uh leading up to Tacoma Mul Boulevard and the I-5 uh all front and uh connecting through 54th 56th, and I'll be happy to send a details uh visit me to map uh via memo to just give full details of the location.

Thank you.

Any further questions?

All right, hearing none, all those in favor of adopting resolution number four one eight three seven, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say no.

Resolution is declared adopted.

Moving on to item number 23.

Clerk, please read.

Resolution number 41838 is a resolution awarding a contract to U.S.

oil and refining company in the amount of three million two hundred and eighteen thousand seven hundred fifty dollars plus a 35 percent contingency budgeted from the asphalt plant fund for bulk asphalt oils for an initial contract term of five years for a projected contract total of four million three hundred and forty-five thousand three hundred and twelve dollars and fifty cents plus taxes.

I move to adopt resolution number four one eight three eight.

Second.

Move and seconded.

Are there any council questions or comments?

Council Mr.

Hines.

Yes, I'll make this one really quick if Jacob's in the audience.

We're gonna make it go three for three.

Uh my question would be we're buying we're purchasing oil from U.S.

oil for uh asphalt.

This is for our asphalt plant in the city of Tacoma, correct?

Correct.

So because we do purchase bulk from let's say Miles or Tuccies, but they that's all that's separate.

Perfect.

Thank you very much.

All right, thanks.

Thank you for your question.

Any further questions or comments?

Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting resolution number four one eight three eight, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those posed say no.

Resolution is declared adopted.

Item number 24, clear please read.

Resolution number 41839 is a resolution authorizing an increase to and extending the contract with Herrera Environmental Consultants Inc.

in the amount of 1,589,8181 dollars budgeted from the stormwater fund to continue a field study to monitor stormwater and storm sediments for contaminants of emerging concerns for a projected total of $2,799,468 plus taxes through April 30, 2028.

I move to adopt resolution number 41839.

Second.

Moved and seconded.

Are there any council questions or comments?

Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting resolution number 41839, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed to say no.

Resolution is declared adopted.

Moving on to resolutions, item number 25.

Clerk, please read.

Resolution number 41840 is a resolution authorizing the submittal of an application for a low-interest drinking water state revolving fund loan from the Washington State Department of Health and the estimated amount of one million dollars for two water main replacement projects.

I move to adopt resolution number four one eight four zero.

Moved and second, I'd like to call on Mr.

Mark Powell.

Good evening, Mayor Ibsen and members of the Tacoma City Council.

My name is Mark Powell, and I'm an analyst with Tacoma Water.

Today I am here requesting your consideration and approval of resolution number 41840, which would authorize Tacoma Water to apply for a low-interest drinking water state revolving fund loan from the Department of Health.

If successful, proceeds from this loan would be used to fund two main replacement projects that would remove galvanized and plastic main on A Street South and East D Street and replace it with eight-inch ductile iron pipe and also replace associated valves and fittings and add fire hydrants.

The interest rate uh is expected to be 1.75%, which is um a very good uh interest rate uh when we look at other ways of uh you know borrowing funds.

We often look at bonds which uh hover around the three percent mark, so this is a very favorable interest rate for us.

The the payback term would be 24 years, uh and we expect to get a subsidy of uh 50 percent loan uh forgiveness at the conclusion of the project.

So, you know, potentially get 500,000 back for the uh ratepayers.

Um if the council approves this resolution, then uh Tacoma Water will return uh for the final reading, and then if our application is successful, uh we will come back and work through the executing that agreement with you as well.

And with that, I'm happy to take any questions.

Are there any questions or comments from the council?

Councilmember Walker.

Thank you, Mayor.

I'm just curious, and maybe this is Councilmember Diaz question.

Is this the first grant coming through with our new um process?

Or this have come forward anyway.

Okay, sorry, city manager.

Thank you very much.

Um council member Walker.

Um we are looking forward to having that program launched um in conceptually um sometime this year, but um the resolution directed me to have that complete by it's the start of 27.

Um so this is not part of that.

We're not tracking on this one yet.

Thank you for that.

So this um grant would have come to us for approval or the application would have come forward for approval anyway.

Correct.

Working with uh director flowers, we would be working towards this effort this year.

Thank you.

Gotcha, thank you.

And just a point of clarification, this would be a low interest loan.

Um, so slightly different thing of the grant.

Great.

Thank you for clarifying that.

That does make a huge difference.

Thanks.

Okay, thank you.

Any other questions?

All right.

Well, thank you, Mark, for your presentation.

All those in favor of adopting resolution number 41840, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say no.

Resolution is declared adopted.

Moving on to item number 26.

Clerk, please read.

Resolution number 41841 is a resolution approving the cancellation of the following eight regular city council meetings and eight regular study sessions in 2026.

January 20, February 17th, March 17, May 26th, September 8th, November 24, December 22, and December 29.

I move to adopt resolution number 41841.

Second.

Moving seconded, we have a motion before us for consideration.

Yes, I move to amend the resolution number 41841 on page one line 10 and on page two line three by inserting the dates April 7th and September 1st.

Second.

Moved and seconded, I'd like to call on council members uh Hines and Diaz.

Yes, uh, thank you, Mayor Ibsen.

Uh so what we're doing here is um thanks to the voters back in 2024, we changed our process by the number of meetings we need to hold within a given year, including allowing us to count um study session and special meetings as part of our overall total, which gives us flexibility on when we do need to hold our business meetings.

So we've made pretty consistent um cancellations of meetings around federal holidays, but something council Diaz and I had discussed in the past was the August time period tends to be a little bit slower when it comes to policymaking here in the council, and so we're already canceling the September 2nd uh date for Labor Day.

We want to include September 1st for a kind of a two-week break.

Um, it's usually a slower time for policymaking here.

Um, a lot of our staff members, a lot of our council members, a lot of our constituents are out enjoying their summer breaks, and it makes sense that we take a period of time of which to break before we move into kind of the intense period that follows after with budget making, and that we also added the date of April 7th, which coincides with the Tacoma Public Schools uh spring break, which is also a time where we have staff members, constituents, council members often looking to take breaks around that time.

There's less going on at that council meeting, and so trying to best balance the scheduled meetings with when our public is paying attention, when our public is engaged, uh really kind of leading into some more of the transparency we want to see on the council going forward.

So uh I'm proposing that we add these two dates to the schedule for cancellation.

And I would pass uh if council Diaz wants to add anything, I'm happy to let her join in.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you for bringing these amendments forward.

Is there any additional council question or comment?

See none.

The vote is on the motion to amend resolution number four one eight four one.

All those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed, please signify by saying nay.

The motion is declared adopted.

Resolution number 41841 as amended is now before us.

As noted earlier today, this resolution will cancel the following Tuesdays January 20th, February 17th, March 17th, April 7th, May 26th, September 1st, September 8th, November 24th, December 22nd, and December 29th.

The following traditional council meetings for Tuesdays, these follow traditional council meetings for Tuesdays that follow a holiday each year.

Are there any additional council questions or comments?

Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting resolution number 41841 as amended, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say no.

The resolution is declared adopted.

Moving on to final reading of ordinances, item number 27.

Clerk, please read.

Ordinance number 29079 is an ordinance granting a non-exclusive 10-year telecommunications franchise agreement to SQF LLC doing businesses VRTA to construct, operate, and repair a telecommunication system in the city.

This item was presented December 2nd, 2025.

Are there any additional council questions or comments?

Councilmember Palmer.

We are voting on this tonight, right?

That's correct.

Okay.

Just um I will just abstain just because I I wasn't around for the discussion.

So just FYI.

Thank you.

Okay.

Thank you, Councilmember Palmer.

Any additional questions or comments?

Seeing none, Clerk, will you please call the roll?

Deputy Mayor Bushnell.

Aye.

Councilmember Diaz.

Aye.

Councilmember Hines.

Aye.

Councilmember Palmer is abstaining.

Uh Councilmember Rumba.

Aye.

Councilmember Sidalga.

Aye.

Councilmember Scott?

Aye.

Councilmember Walker.

Aye.

And Mayor Ibsen.

Aye.

The ordinance is declared passed.

Item number 28.

Clerk, will you please read?

Ordinance number 29087 is an ordinance amending chapter 6a.70 of the municipal code relating to local option taxes by adding new sections 6A 7043 and 6A7044 and imposing a local one-tenth of one percent sales and use tax to fund investments in criminal justice effective April 1, 2026.

This item was presented December 9th, 2025.

Are there any additional council questions or comments?

Councilmember, Deputy Mayor Bushnell.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

Um, and uh just want to this is uh a sales tax increase um that is gonna be councilmanically imposed on to the residents of Tacoma.

Um but I I wanted to make sure to let folks know that you know we have very limited funds, and what's available for us um is dictated to us by the state legislature, and this is one of the tools that the recent legislative legislature uh has given us in order to help fill some budget uh constraints within local government budgets and particularly around public safety.

Um these uh I really appreciate the our government affairs team for as this bill was going through the legislature.

Um they found some flexibility in that language tool out for many of our different uh public safety programs, including domestic violence, alternative response, and other things uh because public safety in our community is not just a police response, it is it is the whole picture uh of community response to public safety issues, and this is uh this sales tax is going to help us to fund those vitally important programs.

Um, with that being said, this is a sales tax, and I want to recognize that uh sales taxes, in my opinion, are uh very regressive in nature and uh really impact community members that can least afford it uh because of the way in which they uh are imposed on our community.

Uh but again, this is one of the few options that are given to us by the legislature, and so I will be supporting this tonight.

Um, and I do appreciate um our legislature for giving us this option.

I'm really looking forward to um other options that we can do with this.

Thank you.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

Councilmember Palmer.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um I echo uh Deputy Mayor uh uh Bushnell's comments there um about taxes, taxes are never fun.

Um, this is a uh one of the things that we have available to us in order to fulfill some of the the things that we're trying to do at the city.

Um so a number of council members have reached out to me with some questions about the tax, so I just wanted to take a second to address those questions.

Um our city manager and director of finance have also addressed the points, done a really good job about speaking to them, um, but I wanted to stress them for clarity.

Uh first, this legislation only authorizes a one-tenth of one percent sales tax.

We are not deciding tonight how the city will use this new revenue or what services it will help fund.

Um the state does does require that we use the revenue for criminal justice purposes, but that does not mean that we are required to use this revenue only for our police force.

Uh, the state has given us a broad definition of services that meet a criminal justice purpose.

This list includes domestic violence services, diversion programs, re-entry work for inmates, alternative responses programs, uh, mental health, and other services.

The second issue I wanted to clarify um is that the state requires us to ensure that our police department uh participates in a variety of trainings to be eligible for this tax.

Um these trainings include violence de-escalation techniques, mental health training, special trainings for trauma-informed gender-based violence investigations.

Um I know that we've been working hard, or you guys have been working hard before I got here, um, to set high standards for our police department.

Uh and I'm very pleased that the state is is tying this funding to these types of ongoing trainings for our police officers, and I think it's vital uh that we ensure our police department reduces harm and violence in our community, and I believe this legislation and the trainings that are required for eligibility will help us advance to that important goal.

So I'm looking forward uh to discussing how we might use this revenue in the future in the coming months, and I'm excited to hear from the community about what you want us to prioritize.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Palmer.

Councilmember Saldake.

Thank you.

Um I'm gonna be honest, I actually wanted to be a very strong no on this.

Um I wanted to be a strong no on this because the thousands of residents I've talked to are just tired of being taxed of having their um every one of their costs go up.

And then I got angry.

I got angry because we live in a state which has such a regressive system where we obstensibly we're taxing poor people to help poor people, because you know, one tenth of one percent for many of us is not much of anything.

But you add that, you build that to the neediest people in our communities, and that adds up.

I wish we had a fairer way of taxing.

Um we have a regressive system, not just based on the fact that a sales tax charges uh the people that make the least amount of money the highest percentage of their total income, but because we have a structure on a local level that structurally also effectively keeps us from keeping up with even inflation.

Where even though we have certain rates of taxes, we really as a city our general fund is not growing much more than about two percent a year, and we've done a really good job of keeping our inflation rate or our cost increase rate a little over three percent, but that's still an entire percent that we're always behind.

And it ends up costing us service levels.

And invariably we come back and we find a new fee, we found some other way of finding some other additional revenue, and it becomes jarring, it becomes galling, and it starts eroding trust.

We have to face that fact that that's what happens when we are sitting up here and we're saying we need this money to keep up, and so we're just gonna have to tax someone a little higher.

And every day when someone goes and buys a cup of coffee or anything else that they're buying, they're gonna see on their receipt another tenth of one percent.

And they're gonna know that we're the ones that did it, right.

But at the end of the day, you know, we're all sitting up here because we have to make hard decisions.

And so what I want to implore a lot of people out there is that if there is a system that needs to change in this state, it is this taxing system.

And I hope that there is as much energy in wanting to come up with a better, more progressive system across this state that can help us manage our finances appropriately.

But as I sit here, like I said, and I realize that my job here is to be a responsible governor for the city, and I look at the programs that we as a city have been very on the forefront of funding.

Alternative response models, for example, um, and public safety.

I have to weigh this inherent distastefulness, let's say, to be diplomatic, because there's a lot worse words I can use on how I feel with what this money can help us do, which is to keep some of these programs that we do not have sustainable revenue sources for going.

So I implore all of us up here to be cautious, to be thoughtful at the budget, and think about this not as a fund that allows us to expand our um our budget greatly, but to help keep funding in a sustainable manner, some of the really good programs we've already uh put together and to make them to make them be the types of programs that make our city stronger.

Um so at the end of the day, I am gonna say yes, and I'm gonna feel terrible about it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Sidagi, Councilmember Heinz.

Yeah, uh, thank you, uh Mr.

Mayor.

And and just uh I first of all reiterate the fact with my colleagues, right?

That um you no one runs for office with the goal of raising taxes.

Um, you know, and and no one people often struggle to pay them.

We have regressive tax funds.

I think those are all really important points.

I I would just like to preface and just make sure I'm clear right here.

First of all, thank you to staff and all the work you've done.

Thank you for all of the employees that of which we when we implement this, if we implement it and vote by it.

Um I look forward to working with them about our saying how we better allocate these fund these dollars to pay for some of the services we're looking for.

Um I do think this conversation, I would just make sure I'm gonna bring it back here in a few months we have this further conversation, because I do think that while I am hesitant to raise taxes because I recognize how regressive sales taxes are.

I also recognize that the reason one of the other reasons for the costs of providing public safety in our community is we've expanded the definition of what public safety means over the last few years, said on council.

So when I started on council, we had a police department, we had a fire department.

Since then, we've added a hope team, a heel team.

Well, we had a heel team, but we expanded the heel team.

We added uh community service officers, we're looking at expanding other alternative response models.

So we're we're growing what we are looking to pay for through public safety, and one of the ways we have to try to pay for that is by asking our residents to pay.

And I think we can talk about looking at a more fair and uh system of how we tax people in our state, and I think the state legislature is going to be looking at that here in this next legislative session.

I would just hope that we hold on to this as we move into our budget cycle, and we start thinking about how do we best allocate these dollars in a way that meets the needs of the community.

But one thing I have noticed in my six almost a little more than six years on the council is no one has ever come to us and said I want less.

Everybody's come to us and said I want more.

And um, so this is a broader, I think a good conversation to be had as we think about it, which is kind of how do we best meet the needs of the community with the resources we have, um, working with our staff, working with our community in a way that's transparent and gets us closer and closer to kind of the community safety plan we have in place.

Um I that's something I think we should be keeping top of mind as we move forward this conversation.

And I'll be voting in support mostly because the number one thing I heard from the residents of the city over the last year was that they want greater perceptions and a sense of safety.

Um and so I have very limited compunction about investing in more safety when that's the number one thing I hear.

While I do have concerns about the kind of tax system at which we're addressing it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Heinz.

Councilmember Rumbaugh.

Thank you, Mayor.

I just want to say that I really appreciate everything that Councilmember Sidalgi had to say, and Councilmember Heinz as well.

Um I see this differently.

I see um the erosion of funding for domestic violence in our community.

I see domestic violence as something tied to youth violence uh and gun violence that we see in our community, what's happening with our youth.

Um, and this is a way to do something preventative.

And that's where I see this, and I see it um in our courts, having a court-appointed advocate, which we don't have in our municipal court, but I also see it as um supporting something that we care about in our community, which is Crystal Judson Family Justice Center, which I sit on the board of, along with um my vice chair on that, it which is Jamika Scott.

And I just want to say that uh this is so important to me that when I first got on council, I this is what I talked about when the reporter got to me.

She said, What do you want to talk about?

I said, I want to talk about domestic violence and sexual assault.

And she did she was not interested in that conversation, but I am, and I'm gonna continue to talk about it, and this is a way to fund that, so that we are not looking to um say that this isn't important, we're saying it is significant, and we see it, and this is money that is actually for that, and I like that because when it's just sitting in the general fund, it's sort of, you know, maybe that money goes away.

And I don't want it to go away.

I want us to continue to see this as an important thing.

Um the rates of domestic violence continue to increase in our county and in our city, and every day when we look at the crime report, there is some type of death or violence that's happened that's related to domestic violence.

So I appreciate my counsel.

I am gonna be supporting yes on this.

I would love to have a different type of setup for our tax system, but we don't.

Um, and that's unfortunate.

It's in our constitution the way it's written up that we don't have um an income tax, which I think does create the people who might be creating let be the victims are the ones having to pay for this, which just doesn't seem right.

Um, and I am just gonna continue to be that voice to stand up for these silent um people who are out there struggling with this issue.

And I appreciate my counsel and I and um I look forward to us passing this tonight.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Rombaugh, and I too share those sentiments.

At the end of the day, public safety is one of, if not the core responsibility of local government.

And just as much as I I'd be the first to express my my deep frustration with the regressivity and unfairness of the state's tax code.

I mean, I pay the BNO tax.

That's very regressive as well as the sales tax, for example.

The reality is that voters have expressed to us time and again, more than just over the last year or two, uh, the desire to feel safer in their neighborhoods.

Our neighbors, our schools, our community members from all walks of life.

And we can walk and chew gum at the same time.

We can advocate with our state and our federal partners for a fairer, more just um of revenues for paying for core services.

And at the same time, we can't have the luxury of making the perfect the enemy of the good.

People need assistance, people need more support, people need to feel even safer now.

So to that end, I will be supporting this increase, um, not with an eye towards throwing money at at um something broadly speaking, but with very uh intentional conversations about what the specific return on investment is going to be and how we specifically are going to align these new allocated funds with our community safety action strategy, uh, with working towards the full and and hopefully even greater staffing of our police department and ensuring accountability through our upcoming budget process.

So those will be the uh factors that I myself uh am looking very intently at.

And with that, with uh no further question um questions or comments from the city council.

Will the clerk please call the rolling councilmember Diaz?

Aye, Councilmember Hines?

Aye.

Councilmember Palmer.

Aye.

Councilmember Rumbach.

Aye.

Councilmember Sidalgay?

Aye.

Councilmember Scott?

Aye.

Councilmember Walker.

Aye.

Deputy Mayor Bushnell?

Aye.

And Mayor Ibsen.

Aye.

The ordinance is declared passed.

Moving on to first reading of ordinances, item number 29.

Clerk please read.

Ordinance number 29091 is an ordinance amending chapter 12.10 of the municipal code relating to water regulations and rates by amending section 12.10.310 entitled system development charge for charge adjustments and annual increases effective February 1, 2026.

Very good.

I'd like to call on Mr.

Andrew Zaremba for a presentation on this matter.

Uh good evening, Mayor Ibsen and members of the Tacoma City Council.

My name is Andrew Zarumba, and I'm an economist with Tacoma Water.

Uh we heard tonight to ask for your consideration on ordinance number two nine zero nine one to amend Tacoma Municipal Code Title 12 Utilities, Chapter 10, Water Regulations and Rates, Sections 3 Section 310 System Development Charge.

The purpose of this amendment is to establish an adjustment schedule for the system development charges, also known as SDCs, beginning February 1, 2026 through January 1, 2030.

The SEC is a one-time charge assessed at the time of connection to the utilities water system and is intended to represent an equitable share of past and future infrastructure investments.

Keeping these charges in line with actual utility costs helps ensure that existing ratepayers are not overburdened with the cost of system expansion.

To support these recommendations, Tacoma Water presented to the Tacoma Public Utility Public Utility Board at study session, to the uh Master Builder Association, the Tacoma Permit Advisory Group, the Tacoma Perf Tacoma Government Performance Finance Committee, and held a public hearing at the public utility board evening session.

Thank you.

Are there any council questions or comments?

Councilmember Hines.

No, uh we have this presentation of governments of finance.

Um, and just as a reminder, um, what was the impetus behind making these updates?

The you talked about this at the meeting, but just what is the impetus behind making the changes?

Sure.

Um, there are a number of reasons that we decided to bring these changes uh to the council and the public utility board now.

Um one of the reasons it's been about five years since our last update in 2019, um, and there's been a number of infrastructure investments actually made onto our system and uh as well as uh uh changes in our future capital plan that we wanted to show we wanted to be sure were incorporated into the uh into the system development charge.

Um what this also lets us do is with the um uh adjustment schedule that we're proposing via ordinance is it gives us a nice uh uh mile marker by which we can review the charges again and determine if they're appropriate for uh uh for the charges at the time.

Um and also today being uh uh an off-budget year uh gives staff the resources to to take on um some of the modeling work and working with consultants to ensure that um we're bringing forward the right proposal.

And and that's a great point.

So we are moving into the rate setting year coming ahead this year, 2026.

So why and so the reason it was done outside of the rate setting process was there was capacity in 2025 by which to do it and then propose it this year?

That's that's part of the reason alongside you know the various other just ensuring that um it would be difficult to do it alongside budget and rates given sometimes it requires um engaging with the consultant and doing that alongside budget and rates um can be can be limiting.

And again, um the IRP process for Tacoma water was completed when or is it in process right now?

I see to the IRP?

The IRP, yeah.

Yeah, that's the integrated resource plan, I believe.

Sorry, integrated resource plan.

Uh that is uh I believe that is ongoing.

That is more for system uh and supply and infrastructure planning.

Um I believe that is in progress or nearly done uh yes, that is in process.

We have an update expected this year.

Okay.

And so this was so this the increase in system development charges should fit with what is developed out of the infrastructure, the IR the infrastructure infrastructure resource plan, they should fit together pretty well.

Yes.

Yes.

They um they will be consistent.

So the planning that will come out of the integrated resource plan, that those infrastructure investments are reflected in these SDC charges.

I will say the SDC charges are intended to capture our current investments and not future investments.

Is that to a yeah, sorry.

Um state law allows us to include up to 10 years of our capital portfolio.

Uh what is applicable to a system development charge.

The integrated resource plan is, I believe, much further looking than just that.

So we we incorporate there there is overlap in what is incorporated, but the integrated resource plan often looks out even further than that.

Yeah.

Okay.

I I think this is just uh we had this conversation government performance of finance, which is just around um I know when were system development charges in put in place for Tacoma Water, 1993?

Uh 99 I'm sorry.

It's I I'm sorry, I feel like I'm given a jeopardy quiz here.

I just uh in the 90s, so I'll just say that out loud.

They've been in place for a period of time.

I think my broader concern that I articulated at the government performance of finance committee, and I'll articulate again here for the public is we seem to be raising rates on almost every piece of development in the city right now.

Um and this is just a part of it.

So not only are we talking about system development charges for water, storm water, uh impact fees for traffic improvement, um, and now water and system development charges.

I I am getting um concerned that all these pieces are moving together at the same time.

And while I you all have been very clear our system development charges are much lower than anyone else, which is very clearly articulated in the presentation.

This is nothing related to your work.

I'm just kind of articulating this broader concern I have around it.

When the council has often talked about the fact that we need more housing and some of the cost of development is a real barrier to some of the housing we want to see, and we just went through this long process or home at Tacoma to try to allow more housing.

Um it just it's something I've been thinking about, and I I brought this up in government for finance.

I bring it up again this evening, and something I'll probably continue to talk about.

But I I do really value the work you all have done.

I understand how we've landed here and why we are moving forward with this at this point in time.

I appreciate all the work.

But I just think that broader kind of philosophical point should be made.

Uh and then the other part that I will remember, we haven't changed for the 2019, but didn't we did we not lower them at some point in time?

There there was so uh the 2019 update was had been the first update since I believe 2004.

Excuse me.

That study did result in a reduction in in the system development charts at the time.

So there is possibility for that to happen depending on uh the makeup of of the uh infrastructure portfolio as well as uh depending on the availability of our water resources, if we uh drill additional wells and have additional supply, then you're spreading the cost over a larger capacity.

So it is possible for a study to result in a lower charge.

All right.

And and again, Tacoma Water service territory is larger than the city of Tacoma.

So this applies to every customer who is a Tacoma water customer, not our wholesale customers, or does it apply to our wholesale customers too?

It it would apply to a new wholesale contracts for additional capacity.

So for capacity that's already been secured through contract, this would not affect that.

But if a wholesale customer said we want to increase our capacity, or a brand new city said, hey, we'd like to purchase wholesale water for Tacoma, then there is a portion of the rate schedule that would be applicable to them.

Okay.

Well, those are all of my questions.

I may have uh additional questions between second from now and second reading, but I'll be sure to follow up directly with staff on that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Hines.

So before we move on to Councilman Sidagia, this is just a new guy question.

Uh ma'am, I didn't get your name.

I'm so sorry.

Sorry.

Yes, thank you, Mayor Ibsen and Council members.

I'm Carrie Burcharduarez, Tacoma Water Superintendent.

Of course.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

Thank you.

We have another question from Councilman Soldaka.

Yeah.

Um who's paying this?

Is it something people are going to see on their water bill when they see it every month?

Because every time we talk about rate increases, that's the number one thing constituents are going to be asking for.

Yeah, thank you for the question.

Um, this is not something that will people will see on their water bills.

This is a one-time charge that's assessed by the utility onto a brand new connection to our system.

So think of uh a brand new home being constructed or a new apartment building construct being constructed, it represents the load that that building or home represent or is on our system.

So it is charged uh at the time of connection, so often to a developer.

And then whether the home is sold and purchased, there's there's no additional charge, it's just the one time that the the uh meter is first hooked up into our new system hookup, or is it also upgrade of some sort?

Yeah, if somebody upgraded their meter size, they would pay the difference between the charge associated with their existing meter and then the charge associated with the meter, they would be upgrading to.

So if you were doing an ADU or DADU, you would pay this as well.

Uh depends on exactly how the ADU gets developed.

If somebody uh decides to separately meter the ADU, then it would be charged at the meter size that they are being assessed.

If somebody is taking uh an existing meter and then serving two uh lots or two plots off of it, then there would be a calculation associated with the uh multifamily rate, which is a factor of the single family rate.

So it may result in a small charge.

It in some cases could result in a credit, depending on how the math works out.

Got it.

But net net, this isn't something that someone who's watching, you know this meeting is should take away that it is something that is going to all of a sudden pop up on their regular water bill.

That is correct.

I would not anticipate that this would be applicable to most customers.

And generally, how much of an increase it is it that you guys are doing, or is it like a number of increases like uh so we're proposed so the result of the system development charge studies showed that we needed to have um uh uh relative to our existing rates uh a sizable increase.

Um we decided in the spirit of how we normally do our rates, which is through the the idea of gradualism, we want to phase into costs, we decided to spread out the impact of this over five years so we have equal uh adjustments every year uh uh through 2030.

And um once fully phased in, uh we we did a a review study of of peer utilities uh in the region and found that once even once fully phased in, we are second from the bottom of 15 or so utilities by the time we're fully phased in, assuming nobody else changes their um their system development charges.

So, what is the percentage increase that we should be seeing between now and five years?

Um is it three percent?

Is it 30 percent?

No, no, it's uh it's so the existing charge there's a there's a schedule of charges.

Uh for a 58 inch single family home, I believe the current charge is around $860, and by 2030, the proposal is to be around, I believe, $2300 or so and that's uh a five eighths is standard for a single family home.

It is about approximately ninety-eight percent of our existing uh uh single family.

Is that work also for DADU or is that a higher one for us?

Because I'm thinking about home and Tacoma and Yeah, I it depends on uh how many um homes would be served off of a meter.

It's possible that to serve a detached ADU or an ADU may upsize to a three-quarter inch meter.

I have to ask an engineer.

I'll get some of these specifics later.

I just wanted to know, like, so it does look like it is a substantial, it's over a hundred percent increase over five years, obviously, right?

You said 900 to like 23.

800 to 23, 2700, excuse me.

Wow, that's a 300% increase over five years.

That's that is a substantial increase.

Okay.

Um I share some of the concerns that council member Heinz has uh raised over here.

Um, and I will probably have some questions for you as we go.

So maybe then on the other side, there's rates that are going increase.

What what are we getting?

What what are the people of Tacoma getting for these increases?

Yeah, thank you, Councilmember Sidage and Council Member Himes for your for your comments and questions.

Um I want to make sure is clear is that a homeowner selling or buying a home in in the vast majority of cases would not be impacted by this, right?

So the transfer of a service from one owner to another does not incur this charge.

It is simply if it is a new connection to the system.

Um or a larger meter.

Um the way that um a lot of homeowners are developing ADUs, um, do not require this as well, right?

Um most five-inch uh most homes and including an ADU can still be served on a five-eighths inch meter, right?

So there are ways that developers can avoid this charge.

Um we work very closely with the Master Builders Association.

Um we we um take that concern about development charges overall very seriously.

We understand that that is there is a stack of charges, and we are part of that, and it can feel like death by a thousand cuts.

And we're very sensitive to that concern.

One thing that they have told us is that predictability is extremely important.

So when they are financing their project, they need to know what the fees are.

And so that's why it's important to us to have a consistent and predictable schedule of increases.

But just to go to the original question.

Sorry.

What should we expect to get over time for this?

Yes.

So what could what developers are buying into or what Tacoma is the people who pay this are buying into a system that is sustainable, right?

Going forward.

So the way the Washington state law is outlined is it it gives water utilities the ability to charge this fee so that when a new service is added, they are sort of buying in to the value of the system that our current ratepayers have been paying for generations and decades, right?

So it's it's this one initial buy-in fee that sort of reimburses our current ratepayers for their investment in the system and allows us to continue making the investments that we need to maintain our system and develop it in a sustainable way over time to continue to serve the growth that our community has.

Maybe I'll I'll rephrase that.

If we weren't getting this money, would we lose?

If we don't, if we if we are not funding, yeah, if we're not funding, um so we are a ratepayer funded organization, so anything that is not chart any revenue that we're not getting from SDCs will go to ratepayers.

So if we don't do this, people will see it uh higher on their rates because we have to pay for these cat, these are mostly capital improvements.

That's right.

These are these are capital, these are capital expansion improvements that we um you know have planned out decades in some cases in advance to serve our growth, right?

That we've had in the works for for years and that we continue to plan for with our integrated resource plan that council member Heinz noted.

So those are the expenses of you know growing and maintaining our system.

If they're not paid for through a system development charge, they're gonna get paid for in rates.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Soldog at Council Member Gias.

Uh thank you.

I have one little question, not to keep us here in the weeds, but if um if it's better to give me an example later offline, please feel free to say that.

I'm just wondering, you touched on it a little bit with there not being a charge at home ownership transfer or different different sale transfer points.

But I'm wondering if there's other examples beyond just giving an ADU or just building a whole new development on a plot of land.

What other if there are normal just casual ways that people would be upgrading their um their meter and they would incur this fee?

That's a great question.

And I might ask Brian Cox to come up and give a couple of real world examples.

You know, right now we're seeing a lot of growth in the Tahale neighborhood, for example.

So, you know, we're seeing a lot of SDC revenue coming in from that.

Those are those are new connections and an expansion to the system.

Um when we're talking about in field development, um, it's really if there is a vacant lot that doesn't have a service on it, or if it is a lot that is densifying, right?

So let's say um a developer buys a lot with a single family home and puts in like a sixplex, right?

Um they in that case, they will likely need to upgrade from a 5-8 meter to maybe a one-inch or a one and a half inch, depending on their irrigation needs.

They will get credit for the value of their 5-8-inch meter, but then they have to pay the difference between that and their new meter size, right?

So that is an initial investment that that developer is making when they build that denser housing development, and they are rolling that into their finance cost um, you know, for their entire for the for all of their project cost.

Um so you know, this isn't something that your average Tacoma water rate payer is is paying, right?

Um it is it is more for um developers that are coming in and um developing in areas that are not currently developed, which is like Tahale.

Um if a developer buys a vacant lot that is you know within our service area but doesn't have an existing service.

Some vacant lots have an existing service, right?

And so there's already one there they connect to.

If that's the case, they don't pay an SDC.

But if there's a vacant lot with no service, that's where this would come in.

I hear you.

I just I'm just curious about what those anomalies are when inevitably should this pass, we will get an email from someone who says, hey, I live on G Street and I'm trying to do put in a pool and I'm getting this charge.

I'm just trying to assess what what if any of those just casual ways that someone might have this happen to them, even if they are not usual.

It's typically if it's somebody who is building an ADU and they want a separate meter for it, right?

So they a lot of times there's the capacity within the five inch five eighths inch meter to serve their ADU or detached ADU, right?

A lot of times the capacity is there in that in that existing meter, but they may for for whatever reason want to have a have a separate meter rather than to submeter, right?

If they want their whoever they sell or rent their DADU to be able to pay Tacoma water directly rather than paying them, they might choose to uh purchase a separate meter for them.

And um, and then they would pay they would pay that $2,700 fee, which it'll be $2,700 in five years.

So that that is that is that's an example of you know when what we think of as more of our typical homeowner might be impacted by it.

They like they largely would not be impacted by things like pools or hot tubs or or things like that.

Okay, thank you.

Yeah.

Thank you, Councilman Diaz.

Deputy Mayor Bushnell.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

And I appreciate all the comments.

So I just wanted to a few quick clarifications.

Um, and sorry if this was in the presentation earlier.

Um when did we last update the system development charges for this?

Um I believe the last time we undertook a study was in 2019 with rates effective in 2020.

Okay.

And so in that time, uh, what's really I'm I'm I'm assuming there's been a lot of cost escalations.

I know that construction costs alone have risen over 100%, so that could factor in.

But where's the other percentage of cost escalation coming from?

Because I feel like we've kind of really gone out of whack from I guess where we would expect to be at this point in time to where we're needing to see these significantly.

Sure, it's it's uh sorry, um it is the uh infrastructure that has been uh built into the system since since the last update goes into the the pool of um of costs that we can uh include as part of the system development charge, as well as uh our new capital improvement plan, which is now including things like uh pipeline one pressurization, uh PFAS treatment that we're gonna need to start putting into our system.

So those are costs that previously had not been part of the study because they had not been part of the regulations yet, or things that we just hadn't put into our system yet.

Great, thank you.

And uh, you know, this is really in alignment, I think, with the growth pace for growth uh you're buying into the system and what it provides to you.

Um and I don't want to necessarily burden um our current ratepayers with this when they're tapping into the system.

Um I'd love to see in uh gradualism is one of the tenets of TPU, especially when it comes to rates, and so this seems to me a little out of alignment with that um policy.

Um, but I know that with the five-year plan, we're trying to implement that gradualism within it uh to really get us to where we need to be.

Um but I it does it does strike me and how far off we were from the last time we did these adjustments.

And so I don't know if there's any way we can control for that going into the future, um, but it's something that we think we should definitely consider.

All right, thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

Councilmember McCalmer.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you for the presentation.

Um I'm definitely gonna have more questions because I wasn't available or here yet for the presentation.

So I look forward to talking with you all more about that.

I just had I guess an immediate question.

Uh you know, it sounds like maybe a lot of our concerns because um our goal here is to kind of we just passed Home and Tacoma, right?

And we want to do that middle house uh middle housing and encourage that.

And I think we want to encourage our um our owners, our residents uh to do some of the development as well.

And so I don't know if there's been any kind of um conversations around exemptions for maybe current owner occupies who are wanting to develop their own property.

Um thank you for the question.

I I don't believe we've had any discussions about exemptions, but what I will note is that um uh particularly as um residents uh want to densify their existing plots through an ADU or a DADU.

One thing that we did as part of the study is we did review um the multifamily component of the assistant development charge uh prior to this new study.

Prior to this new study, the data we had available and we had access to suggested that we should assess a multifamily unit a rate equal to 60% of the single family home charge.

The assumption that a multifamily unit has has less usage, particularly during the summer, and that would uh justify us charging a lower rate for a multifamily unit, which an ADU or DADU would apply.

As we reviewed the study, we found we were able to lower that factor uh down to uh 44%.

So uh through this study, we're able to more clearly identify the usage of a multifamily customer and then reduce the factor by which we are assessing compared to a single family home.

So that is one way we wanted to ensure that we could um support the the goals of Home and Tacoma and make sure that we are charging only what is necessary to represent the load that a new meter is putting on the system.

Thank you.

Councilmember Rumbaugh.

Thank you, Mayor.

And I want to thank Councilmember Palmer for her question because it's sort of on the same line as mine as um is there an exemption for affordable housing?

Um I know that and when we went ahead and did um we have an exemption from impact fees for affordable housing.

So I'm just wondering if there is there a state law that says you can't do that.

Can you talk a little bit about that?

Uh I am not a lawyer, but maybe somebody who has some.

I also am not a lawyer, and um, and I don't play one on TV either.

Um yes, the the law is more restrictive around how utilities can charge customers and what types of exemptions or discounts we can give.

Um so the language is just a little more uh restrictive.

Um we are allowed to give discounts through like we do through our discount program to individual customers, um, but not to like an LLC, for example, or or like a development company or even uh like an affordable housing provider, right?

We're only allowed to give discounts like that to individual customers.

Um that's your BCAP program, right?

What's that?

The BCAP program.

Yes.

Well, what are our oh Ingle is here?

Yeah, you you have an attorney here.

Oh, awesome.

Yes, well we'll let the actual attorney um answer these questions.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Rumbo.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Good evening, uh Mayor Ibson and uh council members.

Uh so you know, the general rule is that yeah, no, there is no gift to public funds, right?

Um you generally have an exception for the poor and infirm that's outlined in the state constitution.

And so we do have programs that allow for that to our typically our residential customers.

Um as Carrie was explaining, it's very hard for a you know, a corporation to qualify as a you know, as the poor and infirm.

I I have never seen it happen.

I suppose there's potentially a path, but I I just have never seen it happen because the housing authority would not be able to be exempt.

It is not exempt currently, and I you know, again, I think that's a very slippery slope if you were to endeavor to go down that path.

Because I think what you see nowadays is every development is LLC specific, right?

Meaning that they could create it for whatever purpose they want.

And you know, I don't know that you would be re you know I I think that path is fraught with uh with potential for abuse.

Okay, I I think I'll ask some questions offline.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Rombaugh.

Councilman Soldagi.

Uh I'm gonna try to keep it really brief.

Thank you very much for the second chance at this.

Uh I had two things, one based on Councilmember Rumba.

Uh I would love to maybe work with you on exploring um whether you know, legally we can uh get uh um low-income housing providers in because we do have the requirement of a deed restriction um which does keeps certain developments uh affordable at a certain level for a really long time, and maybe that's a way to go through that.

But my main question is is this because you know one of the the things that's up everywhere is PFOS and or whatever it's called, the nonstick stuff, right?

That's really bad for you.

Is this a way to help us potentially deal with with contamination of some sort?

I mean, I know we're generally uh you know at or well below those levels, but I do know if I recall there's one or two wells that found that, or is it are those types of programs not there?

I'm thinking about stuff that my constituents would ask me in these what do we get for it?

Yeah, these um the the revenue collected from these charges would be usable for um PFAS related capital work.

Um the capital work would have to be added to your program, or is it already?

There are components of it that are in our program.

Got it.

Okay, so that's one tangible thing we can say that there are you know, these are the types of programs we need to uh fund as a way to kind of understand why they're such a large what what I guess what I am struggling with, and maybe you can help me in this next week is to understand why is it such a large increase.

Sure.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Soldagar.

Are there any further questions or comments?

Seeing none, the ordinance will be set over for final reading next week.

Moving on to unfinished business.

Is there any unfinished business?

Seeing none.

Reports by the city manager, interim city manager.

Do you have a report this evening?

Mayor, I just have one short report.

I do want to report um and celebrate staff.

Um there's things that happens in the course of running our operations where things happen and and and when everything is working well, we don't speak about those things.

Um we had an incident in Furcrest from our environmental services department for a sanitary sewer.

We had a forced main, 16-inch main line that actually ruptured on December 19th.

Um I want to celebrate uh Craig May and his team.

They're I would say to say it's tireless efforts.

They spent approximately uh 28 hours from 6 a.m.

to the next day, next morning, um, taking care of this because it was impacting two residents.

Um we are still doing some remediation cleanup.

Um I want to thank uh Craig May and his staff.

I want to thank the engineers from environmental services.

Um I want to thank the crews, the the main crews that responded, they were they were responsive at 6 a.m.

They stayed until 11 p.m.

before they were actually rotated out.

And so over the course of that 28 hours uh to uh Mr.

Craig May and his team at Environmental Services in our um in our sanitary sewer division.

I want to thank them.

And so I just want to say that for the record and um uh more of these are come and just celebrating them.

Thank you very much.

That's my short report.

Thank you.

Thank you, interim city manager.

Appreciate that.

Moving on to council uh to comments and committee reports of the city council.

Are there any final council comments?

Councilmember Walker.

Thank you, Mayor.

I have three quick announcements.

Um, one is very exciting.

A press release just went out about some funding that the city has received for transportation projects from the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board.

And two key projects.

I won't go into them in detail, but they both are Vision Zero projects that will help make our streets safe safer.

Uh one is the South 12th Street Improvements, um, and that's 3.7 million dollars for that project that we've just received.

And then the other one is a safe routes to school pro project on South Park Avenue.

Um, and that is adjacent to Fern Hill Elementary.

So very exciting that we're gonna be able to add a safer route for kids uh and families that are walking to school every day.

So congratulations to Public Works and very excited to implement those or see those projects implemented.

Um speaking of safe transportation, one of my favorite events of the year is tomorrow.

It's light up your ride with Tacoma on the go uh tomorrow at 6 p.m.

And they will provide um materials to light up your ride with lights and reflectives, uh reflective gear, and then we pedal around downtown.

Um the last one is uh may seem premature.

It's an event on May 2nd, but it is important to announce it now.

It's the uh first Tacoma Literature Festival, and it is um announcing now because they are gathering vendors.

So this is a um uh big festival that will bring together writers, filmmakers, poets, and artists.

Um there's vendors, but there's also panel discussion, talks, and keynotes um being put on by Grit City Studio.

And so if you want more information or you are a vendor that wants to participate, reach out to them and get excited about that on May 2nd at the Tacoma Armory.

Thank you, Councilmember Walker.

Are there any additional council comments or questions?

Uh I have um a thing for the good of the order myself.

So, in um in the interest of accessibility and proactive communication, something I'm going to start doing effective tomorrow and on subsequent Wednesdays, uh Wednesdays, is uh what I'm gonna call a mayor's office hours.

So this is um pretty informal, basically, but it's just me going to a public location, usually uh um a cafe, a pub, a restaurant, um, rotating through the different council districts uh for no more than hour and a half, two hours.

And uh all I'm gonna do is just my work, um checking emails, making calls, but uh with an announced location and time to be available for anyone who wants to drop in, who doesn't want to go through the formal process of getting on my calendar, give me a call.

Uh it's just an opportunity to say hello, ask questions if you need constituent casework or have any suggestions, then it's your opportunity to see me.

Um the first of those um mayoral uh mayor's office hours is going to be tomorrow, uh, the first of many Wednesdays from uh 2.30 to 345.

It's going to be in district number one, because counting.

Uh it's a late night.

Um we're going to be at the uh Cutter's Point on the corner of Pearl and North 21st, 2 30 to 3 45.

And uh moving forward, um starting tomorrow as well, uh district council members are certainly welcome.

So um my assistant will be reaching out to yours in case you happen to be free and are interested.

Um figured I'd borrow liberally from really good ideas as I've seen them.

I I really like what I've seen, for example, from uh Councilman Hines' uh count uh coffee with a councilman, for example, so definitely interested in running with uh that and other ideas.

Uh so councilman Hines, this is your invitation.

Uh if you're free, you're certainly more than welcome.

And uh moving forward with future um district representatives as well.

So expect a little bit more information as we uh as we unpeel that particular idea, but just wanted to daylight that.

Uh come one come all.

Uh and with uh that, unless there's any further comments from the city council, and it looks like there's no need for excusing uh any members of the uh there's a movement to adjourn.

Moved and seconded.

All that's in favor, please signify by saying aye.

We are adjourned.

Good night, everyone.