Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.
The Tacoma City Council convened at 5:00 PM on October 13, 2026, in Council Chambers and via Zoom. The meeting included four proclamations, public comment on agenda items, approval of a legal settlement, a first-reading ordinance for a telecommunications franchise, a recess for a Transportation Benefit District special meeting, and a Community Forum with extensive public testimony. Councilmembers also received committee reports and adjourned.
Cleared adopted. Moving on to proclamations, recognitions, presentations, and announcements. We have four this evening. We have a lot of wonderful community members here. We have four ceremonials before we invite our first one. Just because of the fact that we want to honor your time, and we have some uh we have an additional budget hearing to attend to tonight. Um we will be welcoming people up as usual. Uh we just won't be taking photos via our staff. So just as a heads up, if you do want to take photos, uh members of the council are welcome to walk out individually if you want to go outside in the hallway. Um and you're of course welcome to take your own photos during the presentations themselves. So with that, we're gonna start by calling up Community Conflict Resolution Day. And for this, I'd like to call up uh Marlise Hood Kwan and Michael Tranzu, uh executive director and board president respectively for the center for dialogue and resolution to the podium as I read the proclamation. Whereas the City of Tacoma actively promotes the use of and access to creative and productive community-based dispute resolution by highly highly qualified mediators, and whereas mediation is an empowering, timely, and effective way to settle disputes, as attested to by an 86% settlement rate, and whereas anyone in Tacoma has access to a community mediation center to resolve conflicts between family members, neighbors, tenants, landlords, merchants, consumers, employees, employers, schools, civic organizations, and government agencies. And whereas jurisdictions and taxpayers in the state of Washington save significant resources and time and money annually by settling district and superior report cases through community-based dispute resolution centers rather than court hearings. And whereas the third Thursday in October has been designated as conflict resolution day since 2005 and is recognized internationally. And whereas the city must lead by example and promote conflict resolution by engaging in civil dialogue throughout any and all interactions. Now, therefore, I, Andrew Ibsen, Mayor of the City of Tacoma, do hereby proclaim Thursday, October 15th, 2026, as community conflict resolution day in the City of Tacoma, and extend our deepest appreciation to the Center for Dialogue and Resolution for the vital services they perform and their exemplary dedication to the communities they represent. Their free community-focused de-escalation workshop, de-escalation, turn conflict into connection on Thursday, October 15th, celebrates over 30 years of peacemaking in Pierce County and stands as a testament to their unwavering commitment to fostering dialogue, understanding, and a stronger, more connected community for all. And this is to proclaim that our community is resilient because we do know how to deal with conflict. We're not going to make it go away, but we're going to figure out how we react to it, how we interact with one another, and work through our disagreements. And so that aspect of being a member of our community that helps increase our resiliency is really what our goal is. Um, as the proclamation sort of lays it all out, there's a hardly a conflict in town that we haven't been able to offer some coaching, some support, and some moral support. What I wanted to share with you is last Saturday we ended our fall basic mediation training, which sometimes people forget that takes five full days for people to put aside to learn different ways to engage in conflict. And every single person walked out, showed up thinking it's going to help me at work. And when they left, they said, I've discovered it made me a better person, a better spouse, a better neighbor, a better co-worker, because I actually listened before I spout off what I have to say, and I found that it worked really well. So those are quotes from some of those who've taken our class, and I just want to thank all of you for this not only this proclamation, but the fact that the city of Tacoma actively works with us as a partner. So thank you so very much to all of you. Thank you so much. Are there any comments from the city council? All right, well, seeing none, thank you for all you do to serve our community. Let's give uh these folks one big round of applause. And come forward to accept the proclamation. Well, we're here collecting. All right, there you go, Michael. Thank you, so we appreciate it. Of course. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate your support. Of course. Thank you. Thanks, Chris. All right. All right, thank you so much. All right, our next proclamation is recognizing Saturday, October 17th, 2026, as Day of Democracy. For Day of Democracy, I'd like to invite Alice Phillips, president of the Pierce County Central Labor Council, AFL CIO to the podium as I read the proclamation.