I'd like to call to order the city council meeting of June 9, 2026.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Deputy Mayor Bushnell.

Present.

Councilmember Diaz.

Councilmember Hines.

Councilmember Palmer.

Absent Councilmember Rumba.

Here.

Councilmember Sidalgay?

Here.

Councilmember Scott?

Here.

Councilmember Walker.

Here, Mayor Ibsen.

Here.

Please join me in listening to the land acknowledgement and flag salute led by Deputy Mayor Bushnell, filed by a moment of silence.

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

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

Are there any modifications to the agenda this evening?

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

Is there a motion?

I move to adopt the consent agenda, including resolutions number 41925 through 41927.

Move and second.

Are there any uh questions, comments, or corrections?

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

I.

Those opposed to say nay.

Consent agenda is declared adopted.

Moving on, we have one ceremonial tonight proclaiming Tuesday, June 9th, 2026 as Mayors for Peace Day.

For the Mayors for Peace proclamation, I'd like to invite Mr.

Sean Arendt, nuclear weapons abolition program manager, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility to the podium as I read the proclamation.

Whereas the City of Tacoma is committed to peace, human dignity, and protecting present and future generations from the catastrophic catastrophic consequences of war, and whereas more than 12,000 nuclear weapons remain in global arsenals today, many far more destructive than those used against Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, and the detonation of even a small number of these weapons could cause catastrophic humanitarian, environmental, economic, and public health consequences worldwide.

And whereas growing geopolitical instability, the erosion of arms control agreements, continued hair trigger nuclear alert policies, and the ongoing modernization of nuclear arsenals increase the risk of accidental, intentional, or unauthorized nuclear conflict.

And whereas the immense financial resources dedicated to maintaining and expanding nuclear weapons programs could instead support urgent community needs, including housing, health care, climate resilience, infrastructure, education, and public safety, and whereas cities and local governments would be among the first and most severely affected by any nuclear attack.

And local leaders have a responsibility to advocate for diplomacy, nuclear risk reduction, and policies that protect human life and planetary health.

Now, therefore, I Andrews Ibsen, Mayor of the City of Tacoma, on behalf of the City Council, do hereby proclaim Tuesday, June 9th, 2026, as Mayors for Peace Day in the City of Tacoma, and reaffirm Tacoma's commitment to advocating alongside communities around the world to advance peace, reduce nuclear risks, and advocate for policies through actions like Back from the Brink.

We further call upon national leaders to pursue diplomacy, strengthen arms control agreements, reduce the role of nuclear weapons and national security policy, and take meaningful steps to prevent nuclear catastrophe and move toward a world free of nuclear weapons.

Please say a few words.

Thank you, Mayor Ibsen and uh Tacoma City Council.

Um, as you mentioned, my name is Sean Aaron.

I am the uh Nuclear Weapons Abolition Program Manager for the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Uh my organization and its affiliate PSR received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985 for our advocacy against nuclear weapons.

On June 12, 1982, a million people marched in the streets of New York City with millions more around the nation, demanding a freeze on the production of nuclear weapons.

They were successful.

In 1986, the U.S.

and Soviet Union agreed to dismantle 20,000 nuclear weapons, and the START Treaty was signed in 1991, which capped the deployment of ready-to-launch nuclear weapons.

In February of this year, the new START treaty expired with hardly a mention or sign of renewal.

The government plans to produce 200 new plutonium bomb cores a year by 2030, and we are on pace to bring new nuclear weapons and trident submarines to Puget Sound by 2032.

And the public, frankly, is hardly aware.

In 2012, Greater Tacoma Peace Laureate Father Bill Bischell broke into the banger Trident Naval Base in Kitsap County.

He, along with four others, risked their lives to demonstrate to the public that the largest concentration of deployed nuclear weapons on Earth are here in Puget Sound.

And they possess the destructive potential to end life on Earth as we know it.

Mayor Ibsen, by issuing this proclamation, you're playing an important role in civil society and joining with mayors around the globe in speaking about this unique danger.

But I want to say to the rest of the council, we also did ask for passing a resolution, a back from the brink resolution, which would have Tacoma join 80 governments around the nation in calling for common sense policies.

Good afternoon, Mayor Ibsen, Council members.

Um talked in detail about the destruction that they saw around them in Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

They also told us that the nuclear bombs they have today are a hundred times more powerful.

And if they um are actually enacted, it could be the end of humanity.

So I just wanted to share that because it was very impactful.

And the next uh Greater Tacoma Peace Laureate, Sally Scholl.

Hi, everybody, and thank you, Mayor, for this and counsel for possibly a future resolution.

Um, one of the reasons I got the peace prize was years and years and work against the Trident Nuclear Weapons System at Bangor.

If Washington state were a nation unto itself, we would have the third highest number of nuclear weapons on planet Earth.

So it's a local issue as well.

We are ground zero, and a new start treaty needs, you know.

The current administration let it go.

But in this proclamation, it talks about getting in touch with national leaders, and so I ask all of you to please do that.

Uh wait until there's a new administration.

I have a QR code to hand um perhaps could be given to each of you.

That's a short video on uh on why it's so important that we have some arms control in terms of the number of weapons and the number deployed, and I could go on and on and I'll stop there.

Thank you.

And for the public who's watching, here's the QR code.

Where's the camera?

Yeah, you're good.

Face to this way it also.

Face to front, face to front.

Towards there.

Stand at the podium and face up.

I'm sorry.

All right.

Uh, and then just last but not least, uh, want to invite up Dr.

Carl Reakin from WPSR.

Good evening.

My name is Dr.

Carl Rieken, and I'm a representative of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, and also a resident, a former resident of Tacoma uh community health care, um, so that's why I stand before you as a representative of a legacy that is not mine to own, as it belongs to each of us.

I am the fortunate recipient of an enormity of education with some of the most important education from right here in this very community.

I was trained to be an osteopathic family physician at the Integral Community Healthcare.

Their responsibility accompanies my education.

That responsibility became clear.

If I want to make a difference to the lives of patients, I must find the root cause of their health challenges.

At the intersection of CHC, WPSR, war and peace are, among others, the people of the Marshall Islands, whose home was used for nuclear weapons testing decades ago, but whose health will never be what I take for granted.

By making this peace proclamation, we are we acknowledge this reality and commit to a righteous trajectory.

With great education comes great responsibility.

I now get to share this education and responsibility with the city of Tacoma.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for bringing this forward.

Are there any council comments?

Well, as a mayor for peace signing on, I want to thank you all for bringing this forward.

I personally knew Father Bix during his life and his years of service and the principles for which he and all of you stood for, are certainly representative of Tacoma's values as well.

So once again, thank you for uh bringing this forward for this year.

Keep up the great work and uh please come forward to accept the uh proclamation and let's give this folks a round of applause.

Oh, there's personal goals there.

Smiles.

One, two, three.

Great job.

One more.

One, two, three.

Okay, moving on to public comment.

You have two opportunities for speaking tonight.

Public comment is for anything on tonight's published agenda.

Uh, and anything else that's directly related to something the city has jurisdiction over, but not on the agenda is for community forum at the end of the meeting.

So, with that, uh, public comment.

Clerk, please read.

This is a time set aside for public comment.

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

All right.

So these forums are intended to give speakers the opportunity to share their viewpoints and feedback with the city council to aid in our decision making.

It's not meant to be a back and forth uh dialogue.

Your remarks should be directed to the council as a whole and not to individual staff or individual members of the council.

Uh if you're attending virtually, then just raise your hand or press star nine and we'll call on you at the end of that.

Um, so with that, we're going to start with our list of in-person speakers, starting with uh Ms.

Sharona Kildoon, followed by Matt Davis.

And please state which item you're speaking to.

Good afternoon, Mayor Ibsen and the council.

Um, so I am speaking about Order 29109, um, is about a change in the electrical code amendment.

And I am the CEO for Tacoma Pierce County Habitat for Humanity.

And um, when the original code was written, there was an um unintended consequence.

As the builder, we want to be able to pull the permit, but we work with Bates Technical College and provide an opportunity for the electrical program students to come onto our sites and get real residential experience.

But the way the code is currently written in the city of Tacoma, um, and with the Tacoma Public Utilities, um, we would have not been able to sell that home for two years.

So when we found out about this, we went to Tacoma Public Utilities and asked, is there something else that we can do?

Because the code is written differently with the state of Washington and other places with L and I.

They've been able to work their magic, and the utility board approved the new language last a couple weeks ago, and so now it's coming to City Council, and as the CEO of Tacoma Habitat, I want to say I fully support it, and um I hope that we get to move forward.

So thank you for your consideration.

Thank you, Ms.

Kildoon.

Matt Davis, followed by Kit Burns.

And which agenda item are you speaking to, sir?

I am speaking to agenda item uh 4192 4, which is uh resolution that will be changing the way the community forums are run in our city council meetings.

Uh council members, 250 years ago, our country was founded as a democracy that would be run for the people and by the people.

And I know that in your hearts, when you took your oaths of office, you took that seriously.

You wanted to represent us.

But today, on the precipice of this resolution, I feel like I have to ask you, council members, how can you represent us if you cannot hear us?

How can you represent us if you cannot see us?

Council members, the American political system is not a safe space.

The American political system takes bravery and it takes grit.

It takes bravery to stand up to injustice, and it takes bravery to hear difficult truths.

I ask you, council members, that before you vote on this resolution, you look into your hearts and you think about whether or not this resolution is the brave thing to do, because I do not think that it is.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Kit Burns followed by Christian Isaac.

And which item are you speaking to, sir?

My name is Kit Burns, and I'm speaking to item 29109 regarding the electrical work.

I've looked at this uh specifically, and I think it's not good timing to support this.

So I ask that you reject this.

It has kind of a slippery slope feel to it.

It's allowing um just nonprofits to use unlicensed uh workers.

It's the definitions in this proposal is not very well defined.

For example, it says certified electorate uh trainees, but it doesn't say what that is, and it says appropriately certified electrician uh supervisors.

I think what the city needs to do in this particular case is uh have it come before one of the city's committees to study it a little bit more.

Also, I pointed out at the economic development forum today, I said you really need to have um the uh leap committee fully staffed.

According to your own website, it says you're missing 17 people.

It has 21 positions there.

And so I think if we're gonna educate people and get them involved, we need to have uh certified, not certified, but licensed Washington electrical contractors like uh is required throughout the state.

Having an unlicensed contractor is actually uh very dangerous.

As an architect with 50 years of experience, I've known what happens when you don't have somebody completely licensed.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Burns.

Christian Isaac, followed by Dez.

And uh which item you're speaking to, sir?

41931.

Uh thank you, Mary and City Council.

My name's Christian Isaac, and I have the pleasure of serving as an elected member on uh Tacoma Civil Service Board.

I want to start by saying that I have a deep appreciation and tremendous respect for the work that this uh council does every day for a city.

And like you, I love serving this community.

Uh, and I'm grateful to do so alongside each of you.

Uh the civil service board exists to protect the integrity of city employment, and that mission is only possible when the rules governing who receives civil service protections are applied correctly and consistently.

I'm here tonight regarding resolution 41931 because this vote matters deeply, not just to our board, but to the many city employees who may be missing civil service protections they are entitled to under our city charter.

The board proposed these rules in good faith with one goal, and that's to ensure that classification decisions are made with accountability and consistency.

Now I understand that the council has concerns about the scope of authority that these rules would delegate, but simply publishing a flow chart tells you how a decision gets made.

It does not tell you what the right decision is.

And without clear, enforceable definitions of terms like principal officer and assistance to department heads, there's no guarantee that employees are being correctly classified under the charter.

So I respectfully urge uh the council to continue working with the civil service board toward a solution because at the end of the day, uh, this is about the people who show up every day to keep this city running, and we owe it to them to get this right.

Thanks.

Thank you, Mr.

Isaac.

Des followed by Tyler Daniels.

And uh which item are you speaking to?

Uh 41924.

Uh, good evening.

I urge you to protect and preserve the community forum as a vital part of Tacoma's democratic process.

Community forum is one of the few opportunities where everyday residents can come before their elected officials all in the same space and speak directly about issues affecting their neighborhoods and their families and their future.

History has shown the value of this public platform.

Community members use this very space to advocate for the decriminalization of psilocybin, helping bring the issue into public conversation and ultimately contributing to the passage of a city resolution.

Whether someone agreed with that policy or not, the process demonstrated democracy in action.

People organized, spoke, and were heard.

And not every issue raised during community forum results in immediate action, but that does not make those voices any less important.

Public comment serves as an early warning system, bringing attention to concerns before they become crisis and allowing residents to hold their government accountable.

A healthy democracy is one where officials only hear from, is not one where officials only hear from experts or organizations.

It is one where every resident has the opportunity to stand at this podium and speak truthfully about what they are experiencing.

Tacoma should continue to be a city that values civic participation, transparency, and the free exchange of ideas.

Thank you.

Appreciate your comments.

Followed by Rose Mitchell.

And which item are you speaking to, Tyler?

Thank you.

I am speaking to ordinance number two nine one zero or one one zero, excuse me.

I am back from last week, having communicated my request for your full attention.

Ice being present as a neurodiverse individual being very critical, yours included, Mayor Ibsen.

I appreciate that.

This is the requested proposal for you to review to determine if the headquarters of my business, my vision for the healing of this community, is going to take place or if it will uproot and establish itself in another location on this planet.

34 years ago, I was birthed into this superfund site, having no awareness of what my life was going to look like, being a poisoned youth of three generations, having been born and living in this environment.

The only way that we can continue to do that is if you take action to stop the continued additives such as fluoride and other toxins in our water, and to understand that the transportation system is only going to collapse if you do not invest in your future from an outside source.

I thank you.

Thank you.

Rose Mitchell, followed by Lane Zessley.

And which item are you speaking to, Rose?

Sorry.

Speaking to resolution 41931.

Uh Rose Mitchell, business manager with IBW IBW Local four eighty three.

I'm here to speak to this resolution uh four one nine three one publishing the process and criteria for the determination of unclassified classifications.

The flow chart is appreciated, but I would like to urge the council to also include in this document an appeal process.

There are about eleven hundred employees that are unclassified, which means they do not have due process.

In the event of termination, they cannot appeal to the Civil Service Board.

I would also like to urge the city to commit to reviewing the existing unclassified classifications to ensure that they are correctly placed.

Thank you.

Thank you, Rose.

Lane, followed by Riley.

Hello, Council.

My name is Lane Zasky.

I am a member of the Pierce County Immigration Alliance, and I'm here today to speak against the adoption of resolution 41924.

Community forum is an absolutely essential opportunity for the uh people of Tacoma to be heard.

Democracy does not end at the ballot box.

It is necessary for there to be space for the people to speak on the most pressing issues of our city, regardless of whether or not they appear on an agenda.

It is actually more important to create space for issues to be brought up that are not already being considered by this council so that your blind spots do not lead to neglect.

It is necessary it is a necessary part of the democratic process to maintain this avenue for people to speak, even if it sometimes makes you uncomfortable or late for dinner.

Community forum as it current as it is currently held is the only way for people of Tacoma to speak to all the council members and the city manager together.

Well, each of you comes from a different district in our city.

You all make decisions that affect each and every Tacoma, everyone who lives or works in our city.

You do not individually represent solely the interests of the people, just in your districts, or just your own personal interests.

You each have a responsibility to every person who calls our city home, even if they're homeless or detained in a for-profit detention center in our port.

The decisions you make are issues that you choose to ignore are quite often life or death for the people of Tacoma.

This is not hyperbolic.

This is the reality of the significance of community forum and the issues your constituents bring to you during these already slim opportunities to speak.

Thank you so much.

And you're welcome to submit the rest of your comments in writing.

Our next speaker is Riley, followed by Marilyn Kimmerling.

Which item are you speaking to with?

I am speaking to resolution 41924.

Uh my name's Riley Guerrero.

I'm a resident of District 4, and I'm here today to speak against resolution 41924 and its limitation and restriction on the community forum.

Uh the alleged purpose of electing a local body to staff our council rather than allowing a city manager to run the place and name their successor when they're through, is to hear and represent the needs of our community, needs that shift, that arise rapidly, and may not independently make their way onto the city council's pre-written agenda.

The needs of the community are not always going to be conveyed over brunch or at seminars.

They are not always going to be delivered in individual meetings scheduled during working hours, they're not always going to be what you want to talk about or what you feel you should have to talk about as the representatives of a mid-sized city, and yet they are no less deserving of hearing for any of that.

And I would argue that they are more worth listening to, taking seriously and fighting for than suggestions that come pre-filtered through layers of professional review designed to keep any change from rocking the existing status quo, a status quo under which so many residents of Tacoma suffer daily and in a myriad way.

To have community forum by rote, uh to shunt it off to bodies that do not even require a quorum of counselors to be present, to have no notice timelines by which the public may be informed of these so-called in district special meetings that would substitute for a central bus accessible meeting place on a regular standing date is a raw display of disregard, not just for the age-old tradition of the town hall, but also the felt needs of the people of Tacoma and a profound disrespect to the honor this council holds in having been elevated to represent us.

Our next speaker is Marilyn.

And uh just for everyone's reference, uh let's keep the clapping and any other disruptive behavior to a minimum.

We're gonna move on to our next speaker of Marilyn Kimberling, followed by Gloria.

Good evening, Council.

My name is Marilyn Kimmerling, and I'm in District One.

I'm here today, and I broke my glasses.

I ran over them with the car, so bear with me.

Um, I'm here to speak about resolution 41924, and I want to just express I'm not unique, and here is what I get about the forums that are here where everybody from the city of Tacoma can come and everybody from the council can listen and respond or not.

This is so valuable.

In District One, if we just have the meetings there, I will not be as aware of the problems that every council faces in this city.

I become more educated when I come to a full meeting of the city council and the residents.

How can I possibly know without a hearing from the people that live there what their situations are and how I can help and support them?

So please, I beg of you, the city council and the public forum is a long standing tradition.

Don't break that tradition.

Keep democracy and open communication alive in the city of Tacoma.

No to separate.

If you want to have them in addition, that's great.

That would be even more democratic.

Thank you so much, Marilyn.

But don't end.

Okay, our next speaker is Gloria.

Is Gloria here?

Welcome.

Hi, my name is Gloria.

I'm a resident of Tacoma and a voter in District One.

Resolution 41924 would cut the number of community forums per year in half from 24 to 12.

It reduces quantity of caps and length.

The language says that each of the 12 remaining forums would occur either during regular business meetings or in district, presumably to make access better for respective district members, but there are no guidelines around what that means.

There are no early notice requirements to let community members know uh where the forum will be held.

The action memorandum says that the mayor uh that Mayor Ibsen has been taking feedback in meetings and other methods to identify what the community wants, but where is the data?

If the public wants to reduce community forums, there should be plenty of data to back that decision.

So, to recap, uh fewer meetings, capped length, vague language around location, and complete lack of uh data to show community support for the change.

Uh, I am here to speak against uh this resolution, and the people here are also here uh to speak against that.

And the people that do want to pass this resolution, um, you know, uh are honestly ignoring us, and that's why it's important to be able to speak at community forum.

So thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Our next speaker, and again, let's please keep the clapping to a minimum.

Our next speaker is Eugenia.

Good evening.

I uh rushed here from work because I wanted to make sure that um the council got to hear my comment, and although I didn't prepare anything, um I want to be completely clear and unequivocal about my opposition to resolution 41924.

I think um, as um another speaker mentioned before.

I don't see how this body can um represent the community if they don't hear from the community, and so yes, that is uh my comment today, short.

I oppose resolution 41924.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Our next speaker is Kathy Irwin, who is signing in virtually.

Followed by Heidi Stevens.

My name is uh Kathy Irwin, District 3.

I am actually speaking on two resolutions tonight.

First one is 41924, which I will not uh repeat my concerns because they have been well expressed by the other people who preceded me.

This um the one thing I want to mention is by having um community forum once a month, at least you're dealing with issues and hearing about them in a timely and consistent manner, which is very important for some of the issues there, rather than people having to wait to a time when it's not going to be as effective.

Resolution 41931.

I wanted to also mention that Christian Isaac and Rose previously spoke to the concerns with the way the civil service board has been able to propose amendments.

This whole situation with the Civil Service Board really needs to be evaluated further.

I did listen to the presentation that was done by the civil service board, and there's a lot of information that is being presented by council members that have not been addressed as far as fairness with job, uh due process, and so this is be a disservice to those classified, unclassified employees that keep getting their classifications changed as well and can therefore also be easily terminated.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Our next speaker is Heidi Stevens, followed by GEN.

Good evening.

Regarding resolution 41924, the community forum proposal, there's no indication of any required frequency.

So this could be our last community forum for all we know.

District meetings only keep concerns out of public record and segregate neighborhood information.

So please keep at least one in chambers forum per month.

Regarding resolution 41931, the unclassified positions.

The flow chart did not seem included in the online materials nor details of fiscal and other impacts.

This appears to override city charter's civil service board requirements and should be postponed or voted no.

Ordinance 29107, the stormwater management.

Tacoma is still behind on impervious surface limitations and tree protections, which should make most surface runoff less of an issue in the first place.

Regarding ordinance 29109, the electrical code, why would trainee guided work be approved only for nonprofit-owned property than possibly sold?

Again, a lot is missing from what was shared with the public about this.

And then lastly, ordinance 29110, the transportation plan.

The costs for Union Avenue South 31st to Highway 16 seem outrageously overpriced.

And the Department of Ecology settlement funds are not to be used without direction from the South Tacoma residents.

So this section should be removed from the plan.

Thank you.

And please see my written comments.

Thank you, Heidi.

Jen Gian, followed by Tracy.

Hi, this is not Jen.

This is his wife.

Can you hear me?

This is his wife, Rebecca Stitt, District 2.

And I'm speaking against resolution 41924.

The proposed rule changes on community forum do not sufficiently take into account the excellent feedback provided by many community members and several council members this past spring and again tonight.

The rule changes also risk free speech violations.

For example, if these changes are passed, then someone wanting to speak at community forum must let the presiding officer know in advance the content of their intended comment so that officer can decide whether or not to prohibit that person from speaking, even as that presiding officer allows other persons to speak after learning in advance what they plan to say.

This sets up the potential for classic content-based discrimination, which is prohibited by the First Amendment.

Another concern is raised by the rules not allowing people to express themselves through silence.

Silence is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment.

The rule says that silence can be treated as a disruption if it is intended to delay or does delay, but how can it delay if the person is using their allotted time?

Cutting off someone's intentional speech with silence while letting others to speak aloud is discriminatory and potentially unlawful.

Please tread cautiously city council.

Do not pass this resolution tonight.

Do not pass it in the future at all.

Think about it.

At least come up with something better.

This seems like an exercise in shutting down your representation of us and your listening.

Thank you for your comments.

Thank you.

All right, Tracy, followed by Cape Rosciuto.

Hi, I am Caitlin Henyon, and I'm speaking against uh resolution 41 uh 924.

I'm a resident of Tacoma and a member of Pierce County Immigration Alliance.

Um, community forum needs to be maintained as is.

Uh, we already have the separate farms and districts that you're claiming can replace community forum, and you know that these aren't well attended.

Um, you said that you will provide food and translation services.

We, as a grassroots organization with significantly less resources than the city, provide this every week, and you should be providing translation services anyway.

That shouldn't be seen as like a benefit or breadcrumbs that we get um for making community forum less accessible.

I also want to speak out against removing the zoom option as a working person.

It's incredibly difficult to get to council on time.

Um we know that community forum works, and you do too.

We have recently won additional protections for our our immigrant neighbors that never would have made it on your agenda without people mobilizing to community forum and telling you that it's important to them.

And I look forward to the day that council is as disturbed by the attacks on people and on our democracy as they are by clapping in the chambers.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Katie, followed, let's keep that to a moment, please.

Katie, followed by Janae Hostelover.

Uh hello, Mayor and City Council.

I'm speaking um in regards to resolution 41932.

My name is Katie Ricudo, and I am with the organization Transportation Choices Coalition.

We are a statewide nonprofit organization that advocates for more and better transit across Washington, including with our local partners in Tacoma.

I'm calling tonight in support of resolution 41932 to sponsor Ride Transit Month.

I want to thank you for your proclamation for Ride Transit Month last week.

We were honored as an organization to be there in person to support that proclamation.

Um your support for Ride Transit Month helps to fund our work to encourage folks to choose and support transit in Tacoma.

Um we've also appreciated the opportunity to have conversations with community around transit recently, such as a recent town hall we hosted with Tacoma on the go regarding Sound Transit.

So if and when there is an opportunity to help fund and support more transit in Pierce County and Tacoma, um, you can count on us to help lead the charge with local transit advocates.

And in the meantime, thank you again for your consideration and support for Ride Transit Month.

Thank you, Katie.

Janae, followed by Justin.

Hi, my name is Janae Hostetler.

I live in District 4, and I'm commenting on resolution 41924.

Community forum is sometimes the only place your constituents can speak our needs.

Most of us work nine to five and can barely make it to the in-person meetings or get off for a two o'clock coffee hour.

If you shut down community forum, you are no longer able to hear us.

And if you cannot hear us, you cannot represent us.

If you cannot handle listening to your people and your their needs, then you are not capable of doing your job and you need to resign.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Justin, followed by Matthew Karas.

Hello, my name is Justin.

I too am here for Lucy 1924.

To me, public forum feels nay, I even think by necessity is the very bedmark of what democracies are built on, even on a local level.

The idea that we can communicate these ideas and policies that we could build as a community together, that we have the capacity to bring even citizen or discussions on so it's in avenues of power and where we should place it together.

If we try to undermine the very definition of what it means to even have a democracy by devaluing the very nature of what should be necessary even on a local level, I am of the mind, nay, the necessity to say no.

That not only undermines the very definition of what value democracy has, it devalues the very definition of what it even has.

Do you even have a community?

So all I ask is those on the council understand if you truly value our community.

Please don't disavow the says of even making this democracy.

The one thing we might still even call it, even within our community, dismantled.

The same as everything else on the federal level as we're seeing.

Thank you.

And that is all I can say at this time.

Thank you for your comments.

Matthew Carras, followed by Abby Greenfield.

Hello.

My name is Matthew Karis.

When we limit the avenue for people to speak at community forum, we are closing the door for communication.

How would you know if your neighbor is in need?

How do you know where pockets of infrastructure are needed?

How do you know that there will be accountability for the council itself?

As a member of your community, a Tacoma substitute educator, and also a Pierce County educator.

I urge the council to vote no on 412 or 41924 because I want to work with my community, including you.

I'm the type of constituent who wants to be involved.

And if you want to stay in your positions, you need to be officials who want to work with us and not against us.

Community forum is a de is a democratic process that should be celebrated as residents of Tacoma.

As an educator and someone who is also looking for work next year, I also want to point out that I cannot attend in person today because I've been working and applying for jobs, so I would not have to be a substitute next year.

So attending in person isn't always an option for people who are working class.

Thank you for your comments.

Thank you.

And you're welcome to submit the rest of your comments in writing to the council as well.

Our next speaker is Abby Greenfield, followed by Michael M.

Hi.

My name is Abby, and I am a resident of Tacoma.

I live in district one.

I've talked to a lot of people in district one, and when I explain what's happening, the overall reduction in community forums and opportunity to bring up issues that are important to us.

The people I've talked to have all been against it.

Now, obviously, you can't just take my word for it, right?

But I'm hearing a lot of people against it here, even just calling in today.

And I'm not hearing a lot of people for it.

So if the people I talk to in person in my district, one of the least politically activated districts for things like this, right?

Everyone lives kind of a comfy life.

Not everyone, but often do.

And so there's a lot less motivation to get out and talk.

But for the people that matters most to having accessibility to come in or to call in and talk to city council two times a month at a regular location with easy to find Zoom links, is going to be critical.

And the people in my district are not for it that I've talked to.

The people here in the room and on the calls are not for it.

I'm not for it.

I would urge you to vote no on this and um improve it.

There's improvements that can be made for sure.

But let's make it data data centered.

Make sure that we're actually enacting something that the people want, not just what the people sitting on the desk want.

Uh the community forum is for us, we are the community, and we want it to stay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Abby.

Michael M.

Thank you.

I'll be brief.

Uh I urge the council to reject resolution number 41924.

While the proposal is presented as improving access and efficiency, it cuts community forum opportunities in half and gives the presiding officer greater authority to limit public participation.

Public comment is not a disruption to be managed, it is a fundamental part of a transparent government.

Tacoma residents deserve more opportunities to speak with to speak their elected officials, not fewer.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And with that, those are all our speakers who are signed in.

So we're going to close public comment and move on to our regular agenda, starting with appointments.

Item number 10, clerk, please read.

Resolution 41928 a resolution reappointing an individual to the Tacoma Public Utility Board.

I move to adopt resolution number 41928.

Move and second, I'd like to call on Chair Hines from the Government Performance Finance Committee.

Thank you, Mayor Ipson.

At the May 19th, 2026 Government Performance and Finance Committee meeting, the committee reviewed applications and interview candidates and recommended to the mayor the reappointment of Anita Gallagher to the public utility board.

I just want to thank uh board member Gallagher for her interview.

I see her here today, and also thank the other applicants we had for the position.

Again, we have so many amazing talented people applying for our commission's boards and committees is very difficult decision, but I think uh Board Member Gallagher has distinguished herself and been a valuable part of the board, and I think the committee well, I don't think the committee agreed with me on that point, and we are happy to bring her forward uh for reappointment.

Thank you, Chair Hines.

Any other council comments?

And I see uh board member uh Gallagher in the audience, thank you for your service and for re-upping.

Uh with that.

Um, all in favor of adopting the resolution to reappoint uh Ms.

Gallagher to the utility board.

Please signify by saying aye.

Those opposed to say nay, eyes have it.

Congratulations.

All right.

Moving on to purchase resolutions.

Item number 11, Clerk, please read.

Resolution 41929, a resolution awarding a contract to Orion Marine contractors, Inc.

in the amount of four million four hundred and seventy-eight thousand six hundred dollars plus a twenty percent contingency budgeted from the street fund for operating and maintaining movable bridges for an initial contract term of three years with the option to renew for projected contract total of five million three hundred and seventy-four thousand three hundred and twenty dollars plus applicable taxes.

I move to adopt resolution number four one nine two nine.

Second.

Move and second, although, uh are there any council questions or comments?

Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting resolution number 41929.

Please signify by saying aye.

I'm supposed to say nay.

Resolution is declared adopted.

Moving on to resolutions.

Item number 12, Court, please read.

Resolution 41924.

This is the second reading of a resolution amending Rule 9 of the rules of procedure of the Council of the City of Tacoma relating to public comment and community form.

All right, this is the um the first reading was held last week on this resolution.

Are there any additional council questions or comments?

Uh we have uh council member Walker.

Um thank you, Mayor.

I just wanted to clarify a few things because there were quite a few comments about it.

Um my understanding is the resolution keeps community forum but just makes it once a month, correct?

That's correct, yes.

And uh it does not remove anything.

It the current language in front of us is simply the adoption of rules that allow the council the option of having uh community forum, for example, in a regular council meeting, um, off site or in regular council chambers.

So it's an it's an or and an and not an instead of.

So if we wanted to do those in district meetings, that would be in addition to public comments, which is every week, and community forum.

Correct.

Okay, and then um the piece about community forum in a regular meeting.

Can you say that piece again?

Yes, so um, as it's currently written, this could this could be, for example, a regular city council business meeting that could be held in chambers as usual.

There's there's nothing precluding that, or it could be held if somewhere in district five at Lincoln High School, or it could be at the Star Center or wherever, right?

Uh this is just about enhancing flexibility about where these things can take place.

Great.

And then there was also the question about uh or the comment about language access, and I know we've talked about this at study session, but just to clarify, language access is available at all our meetings, correct?

Yes, that's right.

And there's there's currently no plans at my understanding in the current language for removing any of the virtual attendance options.

Great, thank you.

All right.

Uh any other uh questions or comments.

Uh Deputy Mayor.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

Um, I do have a question.

There was um any time we just a question for the city attorney, any time we have any sort of uh meeting where the there's likely gonna where there's a quorum present.

Uh do we have to follow uh regular um uh posting procedures and could you walk me through some of the procedures because it it sounds like there's gonna be any notice or anything like that.

It's not my understanding that that could even legally occur.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

When a quorum of the council is present, it uh it the council meeting is an open public meeting under the Washington State Open Public Meetings Act and is subject to all the publication requirements, uh agenda requirements, um, and your own council rules.

Um so it it is a full city council meeting.

So even if it's not explicitly stated in the rules currently as it's written, um it's legally we're bound to do those notification requirements.

You absolutely are.

The Washington State Open Public Meetings Act applies regardless.

Great of course, thank you.

Thank you for that clarification.

And the other the other part of this is uh, you know, I think it's really important to meet people where they're at.

Um, and uh I personally uh when I was in my previous life, I worked in a warehouse.

I worked in a second shift, and you know what I was doing at five o'clock every single night up until nine o'clock, I was working in a warehouse.

And so I never had the opportunity to come before my city council, never had the opportunity to speak about issues that really matter to me in person.

And I think it's really important that we're finding ways to make sure we're reaching people that are not able to traditionally come to city council meeting, and that's why I like the flexibility and the options to be out in community and to do it in different times so we can reach different people because everybody hasn't should have an opportunity to speak to the council.

And so I think it's really important that we're making sure we're following all legal obligations to notify people that these opportunities present themselves.

But I think it's really important again that we're reaching as many people to give them the opportunity.

We have a lot of people that work second shift or third shift, or can only work on weekends or only work during the weekdays.

And so if we're all consistently having these same uh forums at the same time every single week, where there's a whole swath of our community that we're not reaching.

And so I think it's really important that we have opportunities and options for our community to weigh in on issues that are happening within our community.

That's really important to me.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

Um I had a question too, city attorney.

Uh we had a concern from why I think it was one of the uh the virtual callers.

Um my understanding is the the pre-vetting of virtual questions that was removed from the draft ahead of us.

Is that correct?

That's correct, Mayor.

That was removed.

Okay, thank you.

Uh, are there any other council questions or comments?

Okay, uh, Councilman Rumba.

Thank you, Mayor.

I move to table resolution 41924.

Okay, there's a motion to tables or a second.

Second.

All right, move and second it.

All those in favor of tabling the resolution, please signify by saying aye.

Oh, I'm my understanding, city attorney is that under parliamentary rules, tabling motions are non-debatable.

You just vote on it, and if there's discussion, there's discussion.

That's correct, Mayor.

Okay.

So there's no discussion.

This is simply a motion in front of us to table.

All those in favor of tabling the motion, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed to say no.

No.

No.

All right.

Um, it appears the no's have it.

Uh the motion is uh call for division, or can I call for a roll call vote?

Okay, call for division.

Uh clerk, please read the roll.

And the motion in front of us is to table the motion.

Councilmember uh Council Member Bush now or Deputy Member Bush.

No, I'm sorry.

No.

Councilmember Diaz.

Aye.

Councilmember Heinz.

Aye.

Councilmember Palmer.

Aye.

Councilmember Rumba.

I council member Sidalgay?

No.

Councilmember Scott?

Nay.

Councilmember Walker?

No.

Mayor Ibsen?

No.

Uh the motion to table fails.

Is there any final council comment?

Councilmember Hines.

Oh, thank you.

Uh so uh thank you, uh Mr.

Mayor for bringing this forward.

I think there's been some concerns that have been raised here this evening to me that I really think probably should be addressed as part of this.

I I could make amendments that I think something around the fact of like picking a designated day of the month by which we do community forum, which I heard from commenters that right now it's the second and fourth, and right now it says we're gonna do it once per month.

Could we designate a day?

It's very clear so the public knows when to show up.

Um I think that uh there's some other pieces here about kind of the conduct that's written in here that I have some concerns about that I would love to kind of make some justice to.

Um, but uh seeing as this here we are with the proposal, that's I don't think this is the time or the place that died start making amendments.

So um I just would just say that I'm I'm not supportive of this right now.

I'm happy to work further with my colleagues on if we need to make a change here, but uh hearing from the public here, I I just I think I'm not ready to support this just yet.

Uh but I would just say, as I'm hearing the comments from the public, um community forum is not the only opportunity people have to communicate with us.

Um I get lots of phone calls, text messages, emails.

People talk to me at all times the day.

I get stopped in the coffee shop, I'm out present in the community, and so while I do really value the what we have here and this time and place together each uh twice a month, I do think I just want to make sure I reiterate that this is not the only time we hear from the public, and this is not the only venue by which people are able to share their voices.

And I would just uh remind everyone that if you feel like you are not being heard enough in this venue, there are multiple other ways to communicate and share your thoughts and um ideas with the mayor and council.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Hines, Councilmember Scott.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um I wanted to say I appreciate um everybody who spoke about this and not just tonight but um in the months preceding as we've had this conversation.

Um I think I I've had a little bit of frustration with this in general, uh because I know that we originally we set out to do a couple of things.

One of them was making the experience of community forum better for everyone.

Um there are times where people call in and they say things that nobody well, I can't say nobody wants to hear, because I guess some of the folks who are saying the things want to hear those things, but um that you know make people uncomfortable, that disrupt the meaning.

Um I, you know, and I I think we were, you know, a lot of people have gotten stuck on the well, you don't want us to clap and you need to be more concerned about this, and it's not necessarily a concern that you support something that someone up here has said.

It's that when we don't enforce the rules um clearly and consistently, it creates an imbalance that allows the process of community forum to get off kilter.

Um, and doing having those rules having um I know people don't like the word decorum, and I get that we all have free speech, and that is something that I am incredibly fond of is my free speech and yours.

Um but I I think my concern here has been that a lot of these a lot of these moments have been overtaken by talking points, and uh we're not actually working to solve we get lost in that.

We're not it doesn't feel like we're actually working to solve the issues that we know we have with community forum.

Um and so I mean I think that this is a good start.

Um this doesn't stop us from continuing the conversation and coming back to it and making updates and upgrades and amendments as we see fit.

Um, and so I think because this is not um it's not cutting it off entirely, it's not uh blocking people from saying what they want to say.

In fact, we've you know, even we've increased the time uh from 90 seconds back to three minutes and things like that.

So um I get people's frustration, I get their concern and their dissatisfaction.

Um but I do again, I do think that this is a step in the right direction, and I hope that we can continue this conversation because I still think that we haven't really hit the mark on how we make sure.

Uh that when the community shows up that they feel heard.

Um, and I think that there are various ways we can do that, and I don't know that we've gotten there just yet.

I think that these rules will help us with um just some of the procedural stuff of it in some ways.

Uh the other thing I wanted to say is that we have been talking about this for months.

Um there have been plenty of times for fellow council members to make amendments to share their concerns, to listen to the community and bring those concerns to the table to have them added into uh what we have before us today.

So I feel like it's a bit frustrating that we had this conversation about tabling it because I feel like we could have gotten to a point where we had something in front of us that more people felt that they could support if people had engaged more earnestly in the conversation.

So just from here on out, whether this resolution passes or it doesn't, uh the conversation around it should continue.

Um, and I I hope that people continue or will start engaging in the conversation in a more earnest way that actually leads us to getting things done for the community and for ourselves.

So thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Scott.

Councilmember Diaz followed by Councilmember Palmer.

Thank you.

Um, I am not gonna be voting for this tonight because I don't think it's fully baked, I don't think it's ready to go.

Um, while there are definitely some changes to community forum that need to be made to help make the process more protected for both free speech and um to contain or be able to um trying to think of the best way to phrase it.

Um to make sure that we're allowing everyone's free speech to continue, but not um letting that be disruptive or um harmful to folks who might hear things that are offensive, including things that we have heard as um disparaging to individuals on this dice or in the public.

So I think um we have more work to do there while um I don't know if these rules will pass tonight.

I think I would encourage folks to um find a new way to engage with um the rest of the council who was not on OSAC around amendments.

I know in every study session that this was brought forward.

I requested different amendments, different takes, none of them were incorporated.

Um so I am not clear how else I could have gone about that besides um voting to table it so that we could get to that dialogue.

So I don't really feel like my concerns were reflected in this document, so that's why I won't be subordinate at time.

Thank you, Councilman Palmer.

Thank you.

Um I move to amend resolution this resolution to strike the proposed edition of the following language to rule nine section C of the council rules.

Um comments should be limited to those related to legislative policies adopted or under consideration and services provided by the city.

Speakers are asked to identify the topic that their comment pertains to so that the presiding over officer can determine if the topic is within the scope of the community forum.

It's been moved.

Is there a second?

Second, move and second.

Would you like to speak to your motion?

Yeah.

Um if if this does move forward, then I I feel like this is one thing that I think the other ones there's still maybe time to work on.

Um it's not putting us into a corner of like we have we have to do this, we have to do that, but it's um opening up to other more possibilities.

But this one in particular, um, I think there's a need to remove language that would excessively narrow the scope of the comments during community forum and potentially prevent community members from speaking to topics of importance.

I think it's more restrictive than what we have now.

Um, and it kind of go, in my opinion, it goes against the spirit of what community forum um is supposed to be.

Councilman Palmer, do you have your amendment in writing?

Yes.

Do you have copies that you can pass along?

No.

Okay.

Yes.

Okay.

Um while we pass it along.

Um, I have one copy I can pass around, yes.

Alright, so while while we read the single copy being passed along, it looks like uh Councilmember Sidalgay has a comment on this amendment.

Uh I just have a question.

If I heard it right, we current well I don't know who this this these sets of questions are for.

I think we currently have um something that says this is generally related to uh community forum uh comments and generally related to things under the auspicious of the city of Tacoma, correct?

That's correct, Councilmember.

And you're and the amendment you're proposing just removes that language completely.

Does it replace it?

No, there's a a red line um addition that I would like to.

So this is some that was an addition to what you you just said.

That was already in uh the rules.

Um so I don't think we should touch that.

But okay, what is the portion?

I just I guess it would be nice to see the red line of what exactly what portion is changing, then just for my yeah.

So under section what was it, nine C what I read was the addition, and so I'm striking I'm asking to not add that.

Okay, I'll wait until it comes back for a second before I chime in because it sounded to me like we were removing, I thought a reasonable you know um uh request because we do I think currently you know interpret it relatively liberally on what is within our purview and not um so my initial inclination was not like this was not needed.

Okay, I'm okay.

Thank you.

Councilmember Hines, did you have something you wanted to add?

Well, just to clarify to Council's point.

So earlier in the document, there was a line that said the purpose of this forum is to assist the council in making policy decisions.

Therefore, items discussion shall be limited to matters over which the city council has jurisdiction.

That has been struck out in this proposal and has been replaced by the doc the language that Councilmember Palmer is proposing.

So if Councilmember Palmer's language moves forward, that earlier piece, unless it's added back in, would remain struck out, and we would end more in the um in the place where you're right, there would be no kind of limitation around this.

So I I don't know if there's a second part where we would put back in the red line piece to put that language back in or not, but that's kind of gets to answer to your question of where we're going with here because I I think the idea was meant for this what has been added to substitute for what was there before.

So just for clarification, and this uh this is admittedly kind of hard for me to track seeing as I don't have anything written in front of me.

If this passes, it appears that there is no restriction on any speech.

So someone could come to a community forum and talk about the weather.

They could talk about the Iran war, they could talk about what they watched on Netflix.

Like there's currently no limitation if on any kind of content of this amendment passes, or can you clarify please, Councilmember?

Sure.

So I was not aware that that original line was uh stricken.

So I will amend my amendment to say that it should revert back to that.

I'm sorry, I'm not clear.

This red line language that is proposed to being to be added, I move that it is not added and we continue with the original line.

Councilmember Hines, what was the line?

Uh, that there's uh to add back in the sentence, assist the council in making policy decisions, therefore, items of discussion shall be limited to matters over which the council has jurisdiction.

So maybe the city attorney can.

I understand councilmember Palmer to be moving to amend her motion.

Um, and the motion would be to continue to strike the uh the new language, uh, but also to restore the original scope language uh which is stricken in the proposed draft.

Um so councilmember Palmer, you move to amend your motion, and that would require a second on the amended proposed amended motion.

And sorry, that amendment is to go back to that original language.

Is the motion on made?

That is the motion.

Okay, I just wanted to make sure I was gonna second that.

And so okay, since I seconded the first time, just to have the discussion, I could second it again, and then we can have the discussion with that.

Okay.

That would that would work, Councilmember.

So it's moved and seconded, and and so we're clear.

This is just bringing the okay.

This is to bring the old school restriction language that is currently in the rules for community forum as the wording.

When and pertain to the in, yes, we were talking about the topics uh uh that are possible during community forum.

Okay.

Are there any comments on this?

Uh I certainly respect the intention behind this.

Um I myself will not be voting for this amendment as it's 11 hour and I don't have anything in writing in front of me.

And uh I don't have information with which to make an informed choice.

I do appreciate the earnestness of this being brought forward um as well as the intention.

Uh, there I'm sure will be opportunities for further refining this process, but um I I need something in front of me, ideally pref prior to the council meeting to make informed decision.

Any other comments?

Okay, seeing none, the motion in front of us is the amendment.

The amendment as amended.

So city attorney, is this vote to confirm the amendment or is it to to confirm the amendment?

This vote is to confirm the amended motion, and then you would vote on the amended motion.

Okay, so the first motion is the friendly amendment from the motion maker, seconded by council member Hines.

All was in favor, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All supposed to say no.

The amendment as amended is now before us.

All those in favor of the amendment as amended.

Aye.

I was supposed to say no.

No.

The amendment fails.

Is there any further comment, question, or amendment on the motion?

Does it fail?

Okay, well, seeing none.

Can I call for a what is it called?

Roll call.

Call for division.

All right.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Deputy Mayor Bushnell?

No.

Councilmember Diaz?

Aye.

Councilmember Heinz.

Aye.

Councilmember Palmer?

Aye.

Councilmember Rumba.

Aye.

Councilmember Sidalgay?

Nay.

Councilmember Scott?

Aye.

Councilmember Walker?

Nay.

Mayor Ibsen?

Nay.

The amendment fails.

And passed.

The amendment passes, excuse me.

Yeah.

So this is the amendment to.

Pardon.

It's been a long evening.

Thanks for bearing with us.

So the motion as amended is now in front of us, and this is the resolution as amended with the motion.

Okay, yes.

The motion, the motion for the amendment.

Passed.

And now the resolution as amended is before us.

Are we all clear on that?

That is correct.

Mayor.

Okay.

Councilmember Hines, you have a comment?

Just a quick question.

Mr.

Mayor, before we vote on this.

The sign that we're currently seeing the chambers.

Would that sign still be allowed to be here if this passed?

Is it does that is that person obstructing reading that what it says here?

Holding a place of the banner to sign council chambers in any way that endangers others or obstructs free flow.

So would that be allowed if this passes?

City attorney.

I apologize, Councilmember.

I can't see the banner.

I mean, I guess as he moves into the aisleway, that might do it.

But there we go.

I think not.

Okay.

Thank you.

Councilmember Scott?

What what was your question?

Just well so the rule here says holding our place.

Sorry.

The question is holding our placement of a banner or sign in the council chambers in any way that dangers other obstructs the free flow of pedestrians or views of those attending the meeting.

So we have a sign here.

I just was curious to know if that meets the qualification for this or or not.

And so if he's against the wall, I mean I guess that was why I just it's about obstructing people's view, right?

So and this person is not.

Yeah.

So it would be allowed.

Yeah.

Unless they were standing here.

That's what we were saying.

Okay.

I just want to clear.

Would have been great to have all these conversations.

So you're fine.

Yeah.

Thank you for clarifying and for your question.

Deputy Mayor, did you have anything?

No, that's it's and it would be my understanding that the presiding officer is the one that would kind of make that determination.

Is that correct?

That's correct.

I think you're fine.

That's my determination.

Okay.

Seeing none, uh no further comment.

The motion before us is the resolution as amended.

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

Aye.

I was supposed to say nay.

Resolution passes.

All right.

Is there a is there a motion is there a call for a roll call vote?

No.

Okay.

Alright, so the resolution is declared passed.

Moving on to item number 13.

This item will also cover item 21.

Clerk, please read.

Resolution 41930, a resolution authorizing the execution of a collective bargaining agreement with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen retroactive to July 1st, 2017 through June 30th, 2030.

I move to adopt resolution number 41930.

Moved and seconded.

I'd like to call on Mr.

Dylan Carlson.

Good evening, Mayor Ibsen and members of the city council.

I am Dylan Carlson, Labor Relations Division Manager for the City of Tacoma.

Uh I am have a resolution and an ordinance to present this evening.

I apologize.

My notes missing the ordinance.

The resolution number.

Resolution 41930 authorizes the execution of a collective bargaining agreement as negotiated with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

The agreement covers 19 full-time equivalent employees and was approved by the utility board on May 27, 2026.

The agreement provides for wage changes and increases effective retroactive from July 1, 2021 to July 1st, 2029.

Increases will be applied retroactively for all engineers employed at Tacoma Rail as of the date of City Council approval of the agreement.

At the end of the contract term, if a successor agreement is not reached by July 1st, 2030, the basic daily rate will increase by two and one-half percent effective July 1 of 2030.

Other changes to the agreement include effective the first full month following city council approval of the agreement.

Employee medical insurance premium share will mirror that of other city employees.

The city will match the 457B deferred compensation contribution of employees up to 3% of base salary, subject to maximum contribution limitations for 457 plans.

The elimination of historic wellness program, which rewarded employees for the non-use of sick leave.

Employees who earned one or more wellness day between well January 1, 2020 and the date of City Council approval of the agreement will be eligible for a one-time payment equal to two basic days' wages.

In exchange for the union's prejudicial withdrawal of all disputed time claims associated with working off bid assignment and the removal of related seniority rights and penalty pay provisions in the collective bargaining agreement.

Engineers employed on the date of city council approval of the agreement will be eligible for a one-time lump sum payment of $5,000 each.

The agreement includes an increase in the amount provided for annual boot allowance from $200 to $400.

It includes edits to provision related to union dues necessary to comply with the Janus Court decision.

And includes language that provides for employees hired as locomotive engineer whose original hire date of continuous city employment with Tacoma Rail begins on or after July 24th of 2024 will not be eligible to participate in the longevity pay program.

Finally, ordinance 29106 will provide for the implementation of the provisions included in the agreement as negotiated with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

I'd be happy to answer any of your questions.

Thank you, Dylan.

Do we have any questions from the council?

All right.

All those in favor of adopting resolution number 4193, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Hearing none, the resolution passes.

Next, we are moving on to item number 14.

Clerk, will you please read?

Resolution 41931, a resolution publishing the process and criteria for determination of unclassified position position classifications and positions.

One second.

Uh city attorney, did you have your your mic was on?

Okay.

Oh, gotcha.

Okay.

Apologies.

Uh please proceed.

And disapproving amendments to the city's personnel rules proposed by the civil service board that would delegate authority over such determination to the civil service board.

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

Moving second, I'd like to call on Steve Victor to give an introduction of this item, followed by a presentation from Linnea Jawanski.

Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and members of the City Council.

This resolution addresses amendments to the city's personnel rules proposed by the city's civil service board.

While the resolution does not approve those proposed amendments, it does address an important issue raised by the Civil Service Board, specifically that the criteria by which employees are determined to be classified or unclassified has not previously been public.

This by this resolution, the City Council makes those criteria public.

For a description of the criteria and how they work, I turn the presentation over to our human resources director, Linnea Jabronski.

Thank you and good evening.

I do have just a short presentation.

I think you guys all have a copy of what I'll be presenting.

So the first slide does just cover the decision tree of how we determine classified and unclassified positions within the city.

One of the first things I do want to point out is that the default rule uh in our charter is that all positions are classified unless expressly provided otherwise within the chapter.

We do list out the criteria for why they would be considered possibly unclassified, and that is the process that we follow here at the city.

I'm not gonna go through the entire decision tree, but I am here for questions if anybody has any of those at this time.

And I want to add finally uh by this action, the council permanently makes these criteria public.

So even if they are changed in the future, they remain public.

Um Linnea and I will be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Any questions?

Deputy Mayor.

Uh thank you, Mayor, and thank you so much for the presentation.

I think that there's a lot of opportunity for for additional transparency, and I think that this decision tree really gets to it.

I think there was a lot of um there's without having it in a public document that's really readily available by everybody to be able to read it's very difficult to ascertain what kind of criteria was created for um how someone became unclassified.

And as you mentioned, it is uh default that all positions are classified unless they meet these specific criteria.

Um, so one of the commenters that raised the question in regards to an opportunity to appeal, is that something that we could do uh in the future or or is there a process for appeal when it comes to the classified positions as has been outlined in the decision tree.

Do you mean uh an appeal for the classified positions or the unclassified positions?

For the um the unclassified position, so if if uh uh either the individual or an organization felt that there was a misclassification, is there an opportunity to appeal that misclassification from their perspective?

So currently the employee can come to the human resources director um to appeal that decision.

Um we do not have anything documented formally, but I am happy to work on that.

Um, as you all know, I'm very new here, so um happy to have that discussion and get something um solidified for that process.

Yeah, I think that's certainly worth exploring an opportunity to make sure things are clear for both the employees that are are working for the city, um, and also for our um our folks at the civil service board and everybody else.

So uh thank you so much for all your work on this.

Um and I appreciate everybody on the civil service board for all their work and due diligence on this and our labor partners.

I think this is uh certainly an area of of concern that needed to be raised.

And um, we have a solution here before us that helps get to a lot of the the concern around transparency, and uh I'm really looking forward to uh continued conversations.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

Conserver Sidalgay.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

Um I had a couple of questions, actually.

I think one of them um Deputy Mayor got to around uh D process, but I want to talk a little bit more about that because I think there's some confusion.

Uh I definitely had some confusion when we heard about this in GPFC between um the term classified, not classified, represented, and not represented.

Can you explain?

They're not the same, correct?

Correct, correct.

So classified and unclassified are what we would consider at will and ones that are covered by um civil service.

So unclassified employees can still be covered by a collective bargaining agreement, as we're aware we have many, many represented staff.

I think it's at 70% now.

So you can still be an unclassified employee within a bargaining unit.

So those are two separate things.

So you may not be covered by the civil service board, but you could be covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

And that makes sense.

I think a lot of the the ideas around um civil service was predates a lot of kind of more modern uh job protections that we've had, because I mean, let's face it, the the charter was written in the 50s, um early 50s.

Um and that helps.

I also want to ask, you know, do we in the city, you know.

I think I know the answer to this.

Maybe you can uh say it a lot better.

You know, whether you are classified or unclassified or represented or not represented.

We do have robust policies and procedures and how we go about uh around discipline up to and including termination with a lot of policies, etc.

Correct?

Yes, that's correct.

Got it.

Um so some of the comments I'm gonna have is, you know, I am supportive of this resolution.

I think it's really important that we take an action to increase transparency in how we make decisions within the city.

Um and as we go about our business, especially since, first of all, the city charter explicitly grants the city council that that discretionary authority.

Um the amendments that were proposed would have been properly delegated that authority, and some you know, distinct ministerial functions.

It would have taken that away.

So we really don't have the ability to do that given how the city charter uh is written.

But I do appreciate this really important point that the civil service uh board's investigation brought, which is uh the lack of transparency around this criteria.

Um, and in direct response to that concern, we are publishing a a very detailed comprehensive uh flow chart that that explains um the decision tree.

And something that that needs to be said here is we have authority, but the charter has given us very specific, very specific.

Um I don't know if you can bring the the the presentation, I think it was the uh the very next slide where it kind of shows um in the charter exactly which paragraph and what the definition was, and you have to fit into that very specific role.

Otherwise, the the default is you are classified.

Like that is the actual rule.

There it's not arbitrary, it's not capricious, there are actual reasons.

Um they're very publicly known on on the charter, and what we're doing is showing that we are going through that decision tree as the charter uh requires us to.

Uh and I do appreciate the the point that the default value of every position is that you're classified and you have to fit into these very specific uh uh reasons.

Um so um I do think um, you know, that it does address the underlying issue that is come up because you know the question was, you know, how are we making these decisions?

And this is exactly how we're making these decisions, and we're can and not only are we publishing it this one time, we're gonna continue to make sure that if there's any changes, and quite frankly, any changes are gonna be changes to the entire charter that that's gonna uh do that.

We can't change it on a resolution um uh willy-nilly here.

Uh we're gonna continue to make sure that that's um uh uh available.

So I think um, well, I support this because I do think this makes us fully committed to upholding the city charter and our requirements, and that we're still acting responsibly in our legal framework and and local government and in communicating that.

So thank you.

Thank you, Councilman.

Thank you, Councilmore Hines.

Uh thank you, Mr.

Mayor, and and thank you, Councilor Delgate, for uh bringing forward this resolution.

Resolution, correct?

Yeah, resolution.

There we go.

And I first of all, I want to begin as Chair Government Force Finance.

I've talked quite freely with the chair of the um civil service commission.

And I want to just first of all appreciate the work that they've done and those multiple conversations Chair Hans and I have had.

I think one thing that's really clear, and I would say this here is I really do think they are a duly elected body of representatives here in the city.

It's coma, and they have a clear role in the charter.

So I think the more we can work with them to be transparent to answer the requests, to provide the information they're looking for, I think will be very helpful to address some of these issues going forward.

I do think this flow chart lays out one of the major concerns that was raised to me in those conversations, which is the thought that there was an arbitrary and capricious nature by which these people were classified or unclassified, and this lays it out very clearly.

So thank you for bringing this here.

Um I think the what is underlying a broader piece of this, right?

So you have the flow chart that lays it out.

Where do the where do those positions come from?

So where how do we where do we get the guidance by what is classified or unclassified for us?

So every position that's created throughout the city, if it's a new classification, it would be brought to human resources.

And again, if we look at the new position, we would say this is a classified position, unless, and then we would go through that criteria.

And those criteria are found in the charter charter.

Yep.

Which I think underlying a broader piece of this, right?

When I read what the proposal brings forward, what actually it's looking to do is add further information into what the charter provides, right?

So the charter gives very gives a kind of a I don't want to say vague, but gives kind of broad definitions of what is unclassified versus classified.

So one of the things I would say at this moment is if that is something that the civil service board would like more clarity around, I feel like the appropriate place would be to looking at the charter in the future when we update it to provide some clarity around that.

And if I'm remembering correctly, and I don't think we see the expert here, this was not a topic of the last charter review commission that was conducted two years ago, was what was classified or unclassified.

So I I do I think it begs the question of why this is coming up now when there was a really good opportunity to actually dive into the charter and do what is here as part of that process.

But I there were no requests related to that as part of it.

And I think that would be the more appropriate way when you look at our current charter and why it was written this way and look at some of the historical records of it.

I mean, they landed in these places for a reason.

Um they could have been much more prescriptive in 1952 or 1962 or 1972.

You know, all the time they went through.

So I just that's it's something in my mind.

If people are very concerned about this, that there is a path by which you could be more prescriptive, and that would be changing the charter in the future.

I I do though think um, so I appreciate all the work that's gone into this, and I I look forward to further conversations with our civil service board because I I think they have brought up something very important to me, which is how much we value our employees and how much um the you know certainty and the level expectations you have with your job and your stability of your job is really important to all of us, and so thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Palmer.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I agree with Councilmember Hines.

I thank you.

I think the service uh civil service board for bringing this forward.

I understand the need for the resolution tonight, um, but uh that is also my understanding that there is much more conversation that needs to happen and uh to see if there's more that we can do to make the process of classification a little bit more uh friendly.

I think the flow chart is amazing.

I think that you know that's being the uh bare minimum of what we should be providing our folks in order to understand um understand our processes.

So I think um again, this is just kind of brought up an issue that I think needs further attention.

Um and I from what I've heard from my council colleagues, um, everyone's open to considering this further.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

See no further council comments or questions.

The motion before us is adopt the adoption of resolution number four one nine three one.

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

Aye.

I was supposed to say nay.

Resolution is declared adopted.

Thank you, Linnae.

Item number 15, clerk please read.

Resolution 41932, a resolution authorizing the one-time use of council contingency funds in the amount of ten thousand dollars to sponsor Ride Transit Month.

I move to adopt resolution number four one nine three two.

Second, moved and seconded.

Um, Councilmember Walker, did you have comments on this?

Thank you, Mayor.

I am always happy to talk about transit and um we are now in ride transit month, so excited to sponsor with you this uh CCR to support Ride Transit Month.

It is a partnership between Tacoma on the go and um Transportation Choices Coalition, and it's a long-standing tradition, but the goal is really to get more people trying transit and for those who have tried it to maybe take it a little bit more Pierce Transit um sponsored day one with free rides throughout the city, and um there's lots of events uh happening throughout the month.

So a big thank you to um those two nonprofits who do a lot of great work around transit, but especially as they celebrate this month.

And I would be remiss if I did not mention that you can take a free transit ride to the fan zone for all of your World Cup um excitement uh here in Pierce County.

Uh you can get your bus uh or light rail to the dome and then hop on that free shuttle or drive to the dome for free parking and a free shuttle to the um Pewelp Tribes fan zone.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, and appreciate your leadership on these crucial issues.

Any other council questions or comments?

Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting resolution number 41932.

Please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Those opposed to say nay.

Resolution is declared adopted.

Moving on to item 16.

Clerk, please read.

Resolution 41933, a resolution authorizing the one-time use of council contingency funds in the amount of twenty thousand dollars to sponsor the next gen GM sports executive internship pilot program.

I move to adopt resolution number 4193.

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

Thank you, Mayor.

Um I talked about this a bit at study session, but just high level um points as to why the council would want to support this very cool new program.

Um it is called the Next Gen Sports Executive Internship Pilot Program.

It's a unique new internship program designed to provide career exploration opportunities in sports management and related fields.

Students are going to have a chance to experience firsthand the business side of professional sports through hands-on work in high growth fields like sports, analytics, marketing, contract administration, and facility operations.

As I mentioned before, it will be based at Cheney Stadium, but we're already working on more connecting them with more uh folks across Pierce County so that the students will have a broad um variety of experiences and our money that uh this sponsorship will ensure that students in the program receive stipends so they can actually treat it as a summer job.

It will also help support food and transportation as part of the program, making it accessible to more folks.

Um, and just to note that uh our strategic goals are to engage um and support young people in our local economy, so this fits right in.

Um, and I want to thank Councilmember Diaz, Councilmember Scott, and Councilmember Hines for joining us co-sponsors of the proposal and for the great folks at um the next gen sports executive internship for walking us through this, talking us through this, getting excited about it, and um being really open to um ideas as we go into and out of the pilot and hopefully into many more years.

Thank you.

Any other uh questions or comments from the council?

Thank you all for bringing this forward.

All those in favor of adopting resolution number 41933, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Suppose say no.

Resolution is declared adopted.

Final reading of ordinances, item number 17.

Clerk, please read.

Ordinance 29106, an ordinance amending chapter 1.12 of the municipal code relating to the compensation plan to implement rates of pay and compensation for employees represented by local number 120 of Washington State Council of County and City Employees and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 483 Water Division Unit.

This item was presented last week.

Are there any additional council questions or comments?

Seeing none, clerk, please call the roll.

Deputy Mayor Bushnell.

Aye, Councilmember Diaz.

Aye.

Councilmember Hines?

Aye.

Councilmember Palmer.

Aye.

Councilmember Rumba.

Aye.

Councilmember Sidalgay.

Aye.

Councilmember Scott?

Aye.

Councilmember Walker.

Aye.

Mayor Ibsen?

Aye.

The ordinance is declared passed.

Item 18, Clerk, please read.

Ordinance 29107, an ordinance adopting the updated stormwater management manual to provide policy and design requirements in compliance with the city's municipal stormwater permit and amending chapter 12.08 D of the municipal code to reflect the updated manual effective July 1st, 2026.

This item was presented last week.

If there are any additional council questions or comments, seeing none, clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmember Diaz.

Aye.

Councilmember Hines.

Councilmember Palmer.

Aye.

Councilmember Rumba.

Aye.

Councilmember Sidalga.

Aye.

Councilmember Scott?

Aye.

Councilmember Walker.

Aye.

Deputy Mayor Bushnell?

Aye.

Mayor Ibsen?

Aye.

The ordinance is declared passed.

First reading of ordinances.

Moving on to item number 19.

This item will have a PowerPoint presentation.

Clerk, please read.

Ordinance 29109, an ordinance amending chapter 12.06A of the municipal code relating to the electrical code to allow nonprofit corporations to obtain electrical permits with certain conditions are met.

Effective July 1st, 2026.

I'd like to call on Chad Edinger to begin the presentation.

Good evening, Mayor Ibsen, members of the city council.

My name is Chad Edinger.

I'm the electrical service manager within Tacoma Powers Transmission and Distribution Section.

Ordinance 29109 will extend eligibility for obtaining an electrical permit to include nonprofit housing providers when certain criteria are met.

As an overview, currently, uh chapter 12.06A, uh, requires that uh for a permit to be polled, you either have to be an owner occupier of that uh of that uh house that you're going to be rewiring or or facility, or you be a licensed electrical contractor.

Next slide, please.

So this update will allow certain uh nonprofits, as I mentioned before, under certain conditions.

These conditions include uh the entity must be a registered 501c3 nonprofit.

Work must be performed by a certified electrician or properly supervised certified trainee, and neither can be compensated for the work.

The value of the electrical work must be less than $30,000, and the nonprofit must maintain ownership of the land where the building sits.

If approved, this change will help facilitate construction of affordable housing and support electrical training opportunities.

This change better aligns Tacoma power with the state of Washington's requirements for obtaining an electrical permit.

Thank you for your consideration.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you.

Are there any council questions or comments?

Councilmember Walker.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, and thank you for the presentation.

I think that I understand this very clearly.

It seems very simple and um like a great thing to support our nonprofit housing providers.

That we got some information this afternoon that said this is connected, or um there's parity with a state rule around this.

Can you just talk me through that?

What was the state change?

Are we required to do it, or is it was it one of those where we can choose?

Uh so this amendment uh would bring us into alignment with the state of Washington um labor and industries.

They currently allow nonprofits meeting the criteria that I mentioned above uh to pull an electrical permit.

Um they also have the other the other two requirements that we have that that allows the permit to be pulled.

Either you're an owner occupant or your certified electrical contractor.

So this sort of adds a third option for somebody to pull the permit.

So pulling the permit is not necessarily doing the work but just pulling the permit.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

All right, any other comments.

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

Thank you.

Item number 20.

Clerk, please read.

Ordinance 29110, an ordinance adopting the six-year comprehensive transportation improvement program amended for the years 2026 and 2027 through 2032.

I'd like to call on Jennifer Camersell.

Good evening, Mayor Ibsen, Deputy Mayor Bushnell and members of City Council.

Um, thank you for the opportunity to present the proposed six-year transportation improvement program, amended 2026 and 2027 through 2032.

The revised code of Washington requires each city to annually update its six-year transportation program through our public hearing process.

The State Department of Transportation and the Puget Sound Regional Council use each city and county six-year program as tools to coordinate transportation projects as well as ensuring that each agency's six-year look ahead is consistent with their future land use, population, and job growth goals.

The six-year program lists planned city-led capital transportation projects and programs, including improvements to roadways, bridges, non-motorized facilities such as sidewalks and trails, separated bike lanes, and other capital-related transportation projects.

It does not include maintenance projects such as chipseal and pothole repairs.

In summary, this year's proposed amendments include seven new projects proposed for addition to the draft program.

Total project costs are approximately 38 million dollars and include three unfunded projects.

At a total cost of 161,000, and it is also proposed for removal.

A public hearing was held on June 2nd, 2026.

Two members of the community provided verbal testimony and one provided written testimony related to development impacts in South Tacoma, street design best practices, and tree planting and removals as part of future capital projects.

The six-year program does not include private development infrastructure improvements or required mitigation unless they are part of partnership for grants or other project support into the six-year program.

This year's amendments do include a Department of Ecology partnership project that includes tree plantings, installing a landscape medium, median, excuse me, uh, removing repairing, constructing a parklet, sidewalks, curb letter, and pavement, as well in the South Tacoma area.

Based on the public testimony provided, staff recommends that city council adopt the six-year transportation program as proposed.

This concludes my presentation.

I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.

Thank you, Jennifer.

Are there other any com uh council comments or questions?

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

Thank you.

Thank you.

Item number 21.

Clerk, please read.

Ordinance 29111, an ordinance amending chapter 1.12 of the municipal code relating to the compensation plan to implement rates and pay and compensation for employees represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

This item was presented earlier in the meeting.

Are there any additional council questions or comments?

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

Is there any unfinished business?

All right, we're moving on to community forum, during which you may speak about items over which the city council has jurisdiction and items that were not on tonight's published agenda.

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

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

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

You can either raise your hand or hit star nine.

With that, Clerk, please read.

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

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

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

Alright, thank you.

Community formally limited to a total of two hours, and each speaker will have up to three minutes to make your remarks.

Please be mindful of the time frame.

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

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

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

So with that, we have some speakers who've lined up.

We have Sean Arendt, followed by Joseph Sid.

And can you tell me the topic you're speaking to?

What was that?

Uh, can you speak uh can you speak to the topic that you're talking to?

Yeah, I want to talk about the community health clinic residency here in Tacoma.

Um I've had the privilege of working with uh many of these wonderful folks uh at community health clinic um for I think about three years now.

Um, it's a unique program.

They train uh uh family physicians in our community, over half of them stay in the community and they serve um low-income Medicaid and um uninsured patients.

Uh I was informed that uh the residency which which practices at uh St.

Joseph's um was was kicked out with with no reason given.

So really what I'm what I'm here to do is just you know ask, you know, as a as a representative of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility for the Council to weigh in on this and use your influence to try to get the residency to continue its practice, continue to serve our community.

Um if the residency goes away, not only will it impact uh the residents themselves in the program, uh it's gonna impact our community that that really needs health care, really needs that continuity of care.

Um, and the unique thing about the program for for me is that the residencies they also get to learn about becoming advocates.

So I've really valued um working with um these uh doctors in residency, talking about um you know what it means to not just uh serve your patients in the clinic, but also to serve your patients by uh tackling existential threats to health.

And um it's just really unique, and I I would hate to see it go away.

Um, I really implore you all to do what you can to help save this program and listen carefully to the uh residents and physicians for the program that'll be speaking tonight.

Thank you.

Thank you, Sean.

Joseph Sidd followed by Reginald Reese.

Good evening, Mayor, Council.

Um, my name is Reginald Reese, and I represent the Buffalo Soldiers Museum of Tacoma.

Uh, where I am a chaplain, board member, and of course, a retired veteran.

The Buffalo Soldiers Museum requests a formal review of the recommended fifty-two thousand six hundred and thirty dollars funding allocation from Tacoma Creates.

That's 30% of the requested $175, $1,000 433.

So while we respect the panel's competitive process, the resulting 70% reduction creates an exceptional disparity, placing a high performance, a high performing institution with a panel score of 90.4 at the absolute bottom tier of funded organizations.

We asked the board to review a critical baseline inconsistency in this cohort's allocation.

There seems to be a score to funding anomaly.

Our application received a 90.4, yet received a 70% cut in funding requests.

Conversely, Tacoma City Ballet received a lower score at 85.4, but was awarded a higher funding tier, 40%.

So to prevent a proposal to prevent $123,000 deficit that severely threatens our current public operations, which include, among many other things, outreach to public schools and the military.

We propose an adjusted funding compromise of 60% of our original requests, which would be 105,000 two hundred and sixty dollars.

This aligns us equitably with other organizations scoring under 100, like the Symphony of Tacoma and Tacoma Opera, and respects our documented merit.

We have our formal request letter here, along with supporting documentation.

And if it's okay with the council, I would like to submit that.

Yeah, you can leave it with the clerk, of course.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So like we were talking about earlier.

How was your name, sir?

I'm sorry, for the record.

For the record, my name is Joseph Sidberry, Sid.

Okay.

I'm a veteran, retiree, Boeing retiree.

Long before 1884, the Buffalo soldiers protected and created the pathway for all these settlers to come through.

We provide a very instrumental attribute, communication, and engagement to the entire community, not just the African American community.

And when you look at Tacoma Creates and the funding distribution thereof, it's baffling to see where out of five guys you hit over 90, 90 points, you get the lowest percent of the entire 15.

While we're talking about a budget of over 4 million dollars, Buffalo soldiers only requested 175.

And out of that uh nine members uh were just distributed 85 percent or 85 to 90 percent of their requested budget, for example, uh out of two 440,000, uh they got 327.

We requested 170,000, got a 30 percent uh distribution of 52,000, and it's just baffling when as a board member you sit with a group of folks that's keeping a legacy uh of members that pave the way, basically for America, long before Tacoma, you know.

Uh I don't know how many many of you guys have been by the community, I don't know how you engage in the community, but the Buffalo Soldiers basically we have the horses, we got bikes, we got the museum.

So I would like to make a formal request that if you don't know who's doing the panel deal at Tacoma Creates, get to know, and uh we would appreciate some kind of coordination and communication with someone reviewing our portfolio.

Because once you meet the met, I'm an old Boeing guy.

So if you meet the metrics, you meet the metrics.

We met the metrics, and we didn't get the results.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Reginald Reese, followed by Kit Burns.

Oh, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

The names were in a different order.

I apologize.

Thank you for your comments.

Kit Burns, followed by Tyler Daniels.

Good evening, Mayor and City Council.

I just wanted to bring to your attention.

I've been looking at the Tacoma Dome link extension, and that's what I'm speaking about tonight.

I've made a presentation to the Sound Transit Board, also to the Pierce County Transit Board.

I think there are better, more effective ways of getting transit to the tribe.

There are methods that are less expensive and will be a better benefit for the community.

I find it troubling that we would wait 14 years to provide more transit to the Piab tribe.

So I look forward to seeing how the fan zone works this year.

I'm very excited about this Friday.

I'll be in the parade.

Actually, as a follower, I'm not leading.

But I do have some plans, and I'll be sharing those with you as I go through and look at some of the options that I think are less expensive.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Burns.

Tyler Daniels, followed by Wendy Pintoha.

Greetings.

This is Relit.

Today is a very sacred day for my soul on my journey here in Tacoma.

Five years ago today, I spoke out utilizing my voice to express my experience with discrimination, sexual harassment, and hostility in the workplace while working at your organization, the City of Tacoma, while working with Sound Transit and their private contractor Walsh Construction.

On that day, your employees took the opportunity to initiate their tactics of silence and suppression of the voices of the community and the people that serve you when they work in your organization.

For that, everything that I communicated during my time as a traffic and safety operations engineer, licensed and professional with the state of Washington, was also suppressed and silenced.

My concerns for the safety and the construction quality of Sound Transit's Hilltop Tacoma link extension, now known as the T line, remains an active concern.

As a licensed professional engineer who reviewed the 1,200 page plan set of that project and work directly with the contractor daily, I know that corners were cut in an attempt to save money.

I am concerned for the well-being of our entire community and for the LGBTQIA 2S Plus community in this region who continues to be suppressed in their communications and their experiences.

And for that, I stand here in silence to remain in a presence of recapturing my energy that was lost over the last five years of going through this process.

Peace be with you.

And so it is.

Thank you, Tyler.

Moving on to Wendy Pantoha, followed by Marilyn Kimmerlinger.

Good evening, everybody.

My name is Wendy Pentoha.

Popular issue right now this Friday, June 12th.

We will have a parade, our fireworks show celebrating the start of the FIFA work-up with a Pia Lab tribe.

I would like to ask to this other council.

What do we have for safety?

Because many people is really afraid about immigration and operations.

And also in that area over fire banks, we have many problems with shooting on the streets over all Portland area.

We have a problems with racing cars, and we have a lot of holes in the street over Portland Avenue.

But the most important is the safety for the people.

So I would like to know what there are plans for the safe of our people.

Because these will be also at night.

Thank you.

Thank you, Wendy.

All right.

Marilyn Kimmerling, followed by Jessica Lynchitsky.

Merilyn?

Okay, moving on to Jessica, followed by Edward Sato.

Thank you so much.

My name is Jessica Lenzicki.

I am a voter in District 6, and I am a labor and delivery nurse at St.

Joseph Medical Center and have been since August 2019.

And since that time, I have been working directly with the community health care residents and doctors who provide a primary and labor and delivery care to families in Tacoma.

The families that they serve are often on Medicaid state insurance, uninsured.

They're often migrant families.

They're often families who don't speak English.

And I just want to speak out in support, as my friend Sean pointed out, that as of I believe July 1st this year, the residency program will sunset at St.

Joseph Medical Center with no clear plan of what is going to happen to these doctors in training.

And I'm sure you've heard in many different ways what a health care crisis we are in, how long perhaps some of your own wait lists are to see your own doctors for specific issues.

And I can only adamantly explain, or my position is that this is only going to be a detriment to our community members and the most vulnerable of our community members.

They are collaborators with us nurses.

They work hard at clear communication and making plans with the families so that we have the best possible outcomes.

They've expanded to work with more of our triage patients just to get as much bedside experience as they can.

And it has been a privilege and a joy to work alongside them as I've matured in my own nursing career to see them grow and blossom into doctors that I'm extremely proud to work with.

And it breaks my heart that not only will these individuals be losing out on an opportunity to have a continued training program in their own communities, but that these vulnerable families will have a huge disruption in their care.

My prediction is that the families will continue to come to St.

Joseph Medical Center, but because we will no longer have a relationship with community health care, they will come as what we call no-doc patients.

So we will not have access to their prior medical records.

We will have to rely on them as historians, and if you can imagine someone coming in to have a baby might not be in a space to give us a full medical history if they're in an emergent situation, you know, heaven forbid.

So I'm extremely concerned about the sunsetting of this program and ask that this council do whatever it is possible in their power to work with our local health care systems and ensure that these families have a place to go.

Thank you for the comments.

Alright, Edward Sato, followed by Julia Waters.

Hi, thank you, Council.

Tonight, I appreciate the opportunity to speak at the community forum.

I'm Dr.

Eddie Sito, one of the associate program directors here at Community Healthcare Family Medicine Residency Program.

As many of you all are aware, I believe I emailed the council about three weeks ago with our initial concerns about the residency program shutting down effective June 30th after our affiliation agreement with St.

Joe's Medical Center had ended at December 2025.

And so I'm here as a in my and in presence to address my concerns from the residency training standpoint and and in the whole the primary care pipeline for the residency program for Pierce County and to in the Greater Tacoma area.

As we have multiple advocates here to speak on behalf of themselves and my uh colleagues, I like to say from my standpoint, the residency training uh coming out of residency residency education has been the passion for me.

And so from the standpoint of patient care and caring for the most vulnerable in our federally qualified health center, um the closure of our residency program not only affects the primary care of our most vulnerable patients in the Tacoma community, but also for future training uh for our residency program and to serve the greater community in general.

We data support that half of the residents who train at the residency program at least practice in the area within five years of training before they choose other paths.

And so the direct closure of the program would not only um short track the primary care pipeline, but also have two residents two resident classes have already been displaced for that res um from the residency program, and then we have only six of our eight residents continuing on with our residency program for this upcoming residency training year.

My ask from the whore faculty standpoint is to have the council try and facilitate a local Pierce County hospital for us to continue our hospital training and to serve as a training partner for us.

We've already established communication lines with multi-care and Virginia Mays and Franciscan Health in the Pierce County and Tacoma areas with not very much progress.

Thank you, Doctor.

Julia Waters, followed by Jim.

Good evening.

My name's Julia Waters.

I'm a nurse.

I live in District 4.

Uh, I am here to speak about the importance of the community health care program as well.

Um, when St.

Joe's announced that they were going to be ending this program, there was not a lot of clear information put forward as to the reason for this program being terminated as far as financial details.

Um I would like to see there be more transparency so that the community has an opportunity to, if it's financial resources, to find other avenues uh to fund this very critical program.

Um, as we all know, uh access to preventative and primary care is not just a business decision for these hospitals.

Um the social and economic costs of the loss of this care for our low-income community members uh who are at most risk for chronic health conditions will be externalized to our city and to our county.

Um and as we all know, the crisis and the loss of Medicaid funding and the loss of ACA subsidies has uh has is offending as uh creating a crisis in our state as well.

Our state has tried to make up some of that funding.

Um, and we are gonna continue to see our ERs become overburdened with people who are not able to access uh preventative care for chronic health conditions.

So this is not just a business decision, and I urge council members to utilize your leverage to find out what we can do to seek either alternative placements for these uh for these prior providers or to seek some more transparency as to what our what our options are moving forward to ensure that we continue to have health care providers in the city and county.

Thank you.

Jim, followed by Mark.

Thank you for allowing me to present to you this evening.

I'm James Lunhart.

Two weeks ago, I celebrated my 50th year of graduation from medical school.

I have been a family physician for 47 years.

I've been delivering babies and taking care of people like those at community health care during this entire time.

My career is spended uh 10 years in private practice on Vashan Island.

Uh, an academic appointment with University of Nevada with University of Nevada, the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, the University of Arizona, and now I am clinical professor of family medicine with University of Washington, and I've been at community health care since 2014.

I detail that to you because without question, in all that time, this is the most ludicrous, egregious, and I'll just say dumb decision that I've ever witnessed with respect to the care of people, with respect to a community, with respect to people like you, people behind us, and people with throughout South Puget Sound.

The decision by Virginia Mason was made without cause, without the ability for us to come to the table and discuss it with us.

We were given six months to terminate our program.

They terminated our affiliation without disgust.

And it's just it's just so it's just so wrong.

But we're tough, we are tough, and with your help, we're gonna get back to the table with Virginia Mason and other players in this community with your help and reverse that decision and carry on and take care of our community.

Thank you.

Mark, followed by Jenny.

Hi, uh I'm Mark Craddock, I'm a former family doctor.

I worked in Gig Harbor, but I also um had the opportunity to work at the free clinic at St.

Leo's for about 15 years and currently I'm retired, but I'm working uh to aid people that get out of the detention center on the tide plaths.

So I have, even though I worked in a very rich community, I also spent time in the other parts of our community, and I am currently spending time in one of the worst parts of our community.

Um because I don't work for anybody anymore, I have the ability to speak anything I want to say, and here's what it is.

Virginia Mason wants a system where the nurse practitioners and specialists.

That's their that's their system in Seattle.

They want to eliminate primary care.

Why?

They cost a little more money.

But you know what?

The care is not as good.

And we I've seen that we helped, we at one point uh had an HMO, and we were able to see the costs of outpatient care.

And we saw that nurse practitioners, even though I employ them and I use them, referred more often, did more tests uh, and that's exactly what the hospital wants.

They want to be fed a lot of referrals, they want specialty care, they want all that kind of thing to happen.

If you get primary care into the community, and 50% of the people from this program end up in this community, what you do is you provide chronic care.

If you take these people away, you will have an acute care system.

Even if some of you up here, I had a lady the other day who is probably one of the wealthiest people in Tacoma, her doctor told her that if you get sick, don't come here, go to the ER or urgent care.

So, what you be you then develop into is a acute care system.

When you have an acute care system, what you have is many, many more sick people.

You don't keep the people alive to produce, to pay taxes, to be part of a community.

They fall off the radar, and pretty soon they're not working.

When I worked at St.

Leo's in the free clinic, I would see healthy young men come in.

I'd say, Why are you here?

No health care.

They might have some medical problems, but those medical problems would tend to worsen over time with lack of care.

We were only able to give episodic care.

The next thing we knew, they weren't able to return to work.

So if this if this travesty is allowed to happen, you're gonna lose some very young, earnest people that really care about taking care of this community.

They're gonna go somewhere else.

They're gonna go to Nevada or Texas.

Thank you, Doctor.

Okay.

And you're welcome to submit the rest of your comments and writing to the council too.

Thank you.

That's okay.

All right.

Um Dana.

Good evening, Council members, and thank you for allowing me the opportunities to speak.

Um, I am currently a rising second year family medicine physician at community healthcare family medicine residency program.

Um I previously completed a year of preliminary general surgery internship before coming here.

Um I found placement here in March of last year and started my position here in June.

Um, graduated from Princeton, went to med school at UNC School of Medicine, thought I would do surgery, then pivoted to family medicine.

I've spent the last year um rotating through the labor and delivery floor with the amazing nurses that work there, delivering babies, providing care to the um pregnant and postpartum ladies up on the 14th floor of St.

Joe's.

Um I've been on the inpatient medicine service and was actually on that service when we heard the news about the program um sunsetting, um, and was still working that week as I scrambled to find a position elsewhere.

Um I've also been working in the clinic, which serves about 54,000 patients a year, and uh our residents as a collective serve about 13,000 patients, 8,000 of which will no longer be seen because of this decision.

And then I just wanted to read um some of what I wrote that I hoped would be published in the newspaper, but was ultimately not due to timing issues.

Um in early December, we were notified that our affiliated hospital had ended their contract with us, making it impossible for us to stay open as a residency program.

We would be unable to complete required inpatient rotations and inpatient family medicine and OB in order to stay open as an accredited program.

We were shell-shocked and threw ourselves into caring for our patients who are blissfully unaware to distract from the imminent demise of our program.

Our program director, Dr.

Timmer worked tirelessly to find a solution.

We ultimately learned that multi-care goods Samaritan was willing to host a residence for the required rotations.

At least this was our acting assumption until we found out mid-May that multi-care good Samaritan would only be able to host the rising third year resident doctors.

Family medicine requires completion of a three-year medical residency.

This meant that the eight rising third years would graduate, but our program would lose a total of 14 resident doctors, six incoming first years and three rising second years.

Due to this, the area we serve will be short, 22 doctors.

This means that 8,000 counters will be lost in the coming year and have to be absorbed by a system of health care workers who are already spread thin.

People will die as a result of this decision.

Thank you, Jenny.

Dana, followed by Kerry.

Mayor, Council, thank you for receiving us.

I stand in support of the comments made uh about community health care's family medicine residency program.

Um, I have been a I'm a clinical psychologist and I've been in family medicine residency programs for over 25 years.

Eighteen of those years have been served in Washington State.

Um, and the last uh 11 years here in Tacoma.

And like uh my my dear colleague Jim Lenhart, I have never witnessed the demise of a program, especially in a family medicine shortage, makes absolutely no sense.

I was staring out my office window, realizing that this wasn't just a medical tsunami, but an emotional tsunami.

And I see the extraordinary impact of this unconsidered decision as impacting our community, our family medicine train uh doctors in training.

Uh all of us who are devoted to teaching the next generation of family uh family doctors, and uh ultimately our patients and the community.

And I thank you for your assistance in helping bringing uh the hospitals and our uh community health care uh back to the table to find a solution that would work for everyone.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Kerry, I'm sorry.

No, I think it's time.

Okay.

Okay, taking it.

All right, my name's Carl.

Um, as uh as a family physician uh in the area, um I've already highlighted earlier today uh community health care is an integral part of this community.

I'm a product of the good inherent in this community.

I'm a family physician and a member of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility that I would not have found if it not for uh CHC.

Um let's talk broadly about the economics of family medicine residency and what that process is like to create uh what it's the process is like to create a family medicine resident.

Residents don't take home much money for their work, but that's because they are part of uh part, in part purposefully delaying the gratification so that they may be able to earn a living uh caring for others, others' lives to be careful to be clear.

They go through years of medical school and then at least three years of apprenticeship training to earn the right to help you.

Yes, you, each person in here.

It costs money to pay a resident a modest salary, pay faculty to decrease how many patients they themselves see, and therefore bring into the bring into whatever company they're working for, and then pay all of those other staff uh who help the residents, such as the nurses who spoke uh tonight.

Where does that money come from?

Well, it comes from Medicare and Medicaid mostly, uh, which has recently been cut.

Without these programs uh and funding, people just like me could find uh themselves without a place to train because there aren't enough residency programs for all the graduates in the United States.

Um, and that means that they can't be physicians for anybody because they will not have the required training.

And anybody means anybody, including those with private insurance, who think they may be safe from worry about the caught cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.

The loss of the CHC residency is a loss of the community that will affect each one of us.

No one is accepted.

I implore each of you uh present tonight to put pressure on those who can make a difference here and uh and save the CHC program.

Elected officials, your fellow voters, and the local hospitals where residents must train to gain environment invaluable experience with the sickest among us to heal them and extend that same healing ability to you.

Do this because your life uh because your life is on the line because it is.

So I ask for transparency in these processes over what um why these decisions were made, and then if this is a funding problem, help us be creative about finding other resources.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And I only want to mention in the last 20 seconds that Carl is a graduate of our program.

Thank you.

All right, um, Carrie, uh, you were signed in.

Do you want to speak?

Hi everyone.

If you haven't heard yet, Cordelia is running for pet mayor.

And as someone with many chronic health conditions, I spend a lot of time at community health care in St.

Joe's, and as my service dog, she comes with me, so it only made sense for us to go there and campaign.

And while we were there, my doctor told me that they were discontinuing the residency program, which shocked me because I've been a patient there since 2012, wanting to use my Medicare dollars.

That was before the Affordable Care Act.

And I thought, well, maybe my federal Medicare dollars can help pay for someone who doesn't have insurance, and it just seemed like a really good thing to do.

And I know a lot of people in the community that have also gone to community health care, including, well, I guess I probably can't say name names because that's their private health information.

But I'll just say some of them were in the room tonight, and you probably wouldn't know that they went there.

You'd probably think they went somewhere a lot fancier, but they also believe in the mission of CHC.

So last year they only had one dental resident, which meant that there was one lady who was trying to cover like anybody who wants a crown or anything like that.

They have to go through the dental residency.

The regular dentist can't do that there.

And so there's a waiting list a mile long for that.

So I thought, well, after he told me that, and I said, Well, why on earth do you think they do this?

And he said, Well, I don't think they want our patients.

Well, that kind of pissed me off, and I said, Well, I'm pretty close to the hospital.

I'm gonna go talk to them and ask them why they don't want me.

I've already spent um probably almost two weeks there this year, made them probably half a million dollars.

I had heart surgery, it wasn't cheap, so I think that um they probably spent a lot of money.

Cordelia really liked the chicken, so she wouldn't mind if we had to go back there.

She had a great time and got to meet a lot of nurses and stuff.

And when I went there, not only did the administration like we couldn't even go talk to anybody there, so we decided to go from department to department, put our ear to the ground.

That's what you do when you want to find out why a system's not working as a social scientist.

I know this.

And that's when we found out that they're about to undergo yet another merger.

Four mergers in about six years.

And so that explains to me probably why they weren't too interested in renewing this relationship.

Also, my mom is a pediatric nurse practitioner, and I saw firsthand what happened to her and her students when they didn't renew their clinicals and the devastating effect that had on their program and all these nurses.

So, um, I'd like to say to all of you, you probably can't recruit your patients, but as a patient, I sure can.

So I'm happy to join forces and let's surround the hospital.

Let's go to wherever their headquarters is and let's get loud.

I wouldn't mind us.

We took back a radio station.

Maybe we can take back a hospital too.

So just throwing that out there to Allah Tacoma, St.

Joe's is ours.

CHC is ours.

I was at the ribbon cutting.

I was at Eastside before there was a CHC hilltop.

And thank you for your comments.

We need CHC.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

So with that, we're moving on to our online speaker, Heidi Stevens.

And can you identify which topic you're speaking to, please?

Good evening.

My name is Heidi Stevens.

Speaking on oncoming challenges the city will be facing and protections needed.

Over the years, it's been really disheartening to see Tacoma fail to take action on obvious issues, such as doing nothing to proactively prohibit the detention center and then the mega warehouse.

Other cities have successfully managed that, but we are now stuck with the disaster disease facilities bring.

And it's only going to get worse as Geo Group may sell their detention property to ICE, which would then make it a federal facility and would not only further reduce city and state oversight, but also eliminate any business tax benefit, unless you immediately press for an agreement regarding payment in lieu of taxes.

Otherwise, we'll be left responsible for even more costs on our own.

Technologies and industries are moving faster than our outdated codes.

And now is your chance to put preventative measures on upcoming destructive data centers and battery energy storage, as well as no more detention centers and delivery centers in city limits.

Please get ahead of these now while we still hold some cards and before control would then inevitably be completely taken away.

Please see my written comments, and I would love to speak one-on-one with any of you further.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That is our last comment for community forum.

So with that, we're going to close community forum.

It looks like there's no planned report from the city manager tonight, so we're going to move on to comments and committee reports of the city council for a report from the government performance and finance committee.

I'm going to call on the deputy mayor.

Thank you, Mayor.

The Couple Reports of the Finance Committee, GPFC convened twice since the last update.

The May 19th meeting began with an interview to fill vacancy on the Tacoma Public Utility Board, which we did the appointment tonight.

The next item was a presentation on small works roster proposing to change to the Tacoma Municipal Code to authorize use of statewide small works roster administered by the municipal research and services center.

The final agenda item was an informational briefing on job order contracting as an alternative public works procurement method that can streamline project delivery by reducing the need to develop detailed plans for individual products.

The June 2nd meeting was an informational briefing from the state auditors office regarding the 2025 audit entrance conference on the city's financial and federal audit.

The next GPFC meeting is scheduled for July 7th at 10 a.m.

in room 243 at the Tacoma Municipal Building.

The public is also invited to attend virtually.

The agenda for this meeting is to be determined.

That concludes my report, Mayor.

Thank you.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

Councilmember Sidalga.

Thank you, Mayor.

And I actually want to address all the health care workers over here, and I want to thank you for everything you do.

I also want to let you know that when I first moved to Tacoma, because of the strong ACA marketplace, I didn't have insurance.

I got a plan, an ACA plan, and community health care is uh where I went.

And uh my physician uh was a resident in the family uh medicine program, so I understand not only theoretically but personally how important that was because I actually felt like I got some really really wonderful care.

Um so I want to thank each and every one of you for doing that in our community.

I will say I don't know what the powers I have is, but I've already sent an email out to see what I can do.

Um and to the greater public.

Um, you know, this is sad, this is a travesty.

This is also, in my opinion, I am, you know, I don't know all the facts, but I am willing to bet that this is of course a product of the local repercussions of terrible federal policy.

Let's just remember to say that over and over again.

Yes, we will fight on this local level, and does not mean that I do not care, and I'm going to fight for you.

I will talk to our state legislators, we have to talk to our congresspeople and let them know that these are the types of you know, these are the types of things that happen on a local level when you have a federal administration that is literally trying to take away uh protections around health care that were hard won and fought in 2010.

And you know, we're one year into this federal administration, and they're causing these, and this is just the start.

And it is also the reason why.

Um, you know, I think it's absolutely stupid that we live in this country and we have to even have this, this conversation, because we should have universal health care.

We should have everyone demanding every single day to this federal administration that we have a right to have our uh to have uh uh our health be a priority.

Um, but having said that, I do again uh want to just express my appreciation for everything you're doing.

Um, and I I feel for each of you, and you know, whatever limited power or authority I have over here, I will do my best to wield it.

Thank you, Councilmember Rumbach.

Thank you, Mayor.

And I have three things tonight.

Um, I just first off I want to um just sort of echo what council member Sidalgay said, and I actually asked our government relations person to reach out to the CEO of community health care, which they did reach out to them, and I hasn't heard back because my whole um thought was we need to talk to our um delegation in Washington DC about this, but I definitely think this is tied to the administration there and the work that they're doing to limit the ability for people to have health care.

And just another thought to this is that this is a way that you limit the other jobs that come with the job of a doctor or physician or a nurse, those secondary jobs like teachers.

So when someone doesn't come here to be a doctor, a nurse, uh psychiatrist, then there's not the extra job that comes with that.

So then we limit the pool of people who are here to do the work that our city needs.

Um so I think that this is really important, and um I have been on it since I got my email, and I want to thank you all for showing up tonight.

It does really matter that you're here tonight.

And then on to my uh my talking points here for something.

Um the city is currently considering a critical areas ordinance update, and the city council held a public hearing last week on June 2nd.

We received a lot of community feedback on this, and I'm continuing discussions with community, my peers and other um and our subject matter expert staff to fully review the impacts of the proposed ordinance.

Um I've also heard from several of my peers that they're working on amendments to the critical areas ordinance, and those will be coming forward in the near future.

And due to the complexity of this topic and the high interest from our community in the final decision, I'm asking the clerk's office to move the first reading of the ordinance back from next Tuesday, June 16th to July 7th, in order to have enough time to fully review the proposal and to talk to my peers about their desired amendments and their impacts.

Um the extra time will help ensure a more deliberate, transparent review of the policy and ensure there's time for any amendments that um will be introduced at first reading.

I believe we will provide better outcomes for residents of Tacoma.

So that's the um thing I was bringing forward.

And then one last thing, just all of it at once.

Um we always recognize everyone's birthday um on our council.

And um, this is the last day I'll be doing birthdays because after this, Councilmember Diaz is taking over.

But I want to recognize um Councilmember Scott.

It was her birthday the other day, and um we had cookies for her in the other room, and we're just really excited to um recognize her.

And um, if it had actually been the same day, we might even do more, like get you hats or something.

But um, just that we have a card for her, and I just want to um wish her happy birthday.

Thank you.

All right.

Wonderful.

All right, any other comments.

Uh just a few uh responses to some of our community forum comments as well.

Thank you, uh to other council members for your comments on the CH uh CHC conversation.

Um while the city of Tacoma itself is not in a position to contribute financially, uh, those conversations are ongoing.

I'm happy to do what I can, and and so are my colleagues in terms of helping facilitate those.

Um and uh definitely all the appreciation in the world for all the advocacy and just all the work you do caring for our people in our community.

So thank you for that.

Uh there are a couple of other uh points of clarification as well for staff.

So the first is uh I think our uh friends from Buffalo Soldiers left.

Um but there's some some questions about Tacoma Creates and uh city manager uh my understanding is that the city council does not uh directly determine who receives those fundings, the those funding uh decisions, nor can we overrule it as Tacoma Creates as an independent um organization that was authorized by a vote of the people.

But could we, for example, have city staff who do work with them follow up with organizations to just provide feedback and maybe even some coaching for how to improve their chances next round?

That's more than appropriate, Mayor.

If I'd be happy to have staff talk to this organization as well as any other organizations that are having questions as far as the competitive solicitation and the independent advisory council that you uh that you have that is vetting this competitive slate of uh of dollars and limited finite dollars that are available.

More limited this year, unfortunately.

And there are a lot of very worthy organizations that didn't get everything.

But there's absolutely nothing wrong with uh providing that technical assistance, and uh that that's really appreciated.

And uh my final um question to another um, I think uh Ms.

Manto is still here tonight.

Uh, was uh it was a question about the safety plan for uh FIFA and just in general for that area.

Can uh you please explain what we're going to have with TPD and otherwise?

Thank you.

Uh Mayor Ibsen.

Um for the public as far as our partners at the PLUP tribe, um, and the the watch party launch that's happening this Friday with a parade that the tribe is putting on for the community.

Um we have a full compliment of most of our officers that will be out in the community um providing uh support for that citywide event.

Um, responsiveness as far as any questions specifically, I would look forward to finding some contact information, and I'll direct staff to to directly um if we can in time, um, speak to that individual that testified tonight uh on concerns about public safety, perception safety.

Um we will talk to you afterwards, and I'm getting a thumbs up when do we want to get your information.

Okay, wonderful.

Thank you, city manager.

Any other uh counsel questions or comments?

All right, seeing none, is there a motion to adjourn?

Move it to adjourn.

Second.

Move and second, all those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

I was supposed to say no, we are adjourned.

Good night.