The Tacoma City Council held a study session on March 5, 2024, to review the quarterly update on the city's homeless strategy, discuss a Council Consideration Request (CCR) to sponsor the Tacoma Refugee Choir's first annual symposium, and consider a CCR to explore increasing deconstruction and salvage efforts. No public comments were heard during the study session.
Neighborhood and Community Services (NCS) Director Allyson Griffith, along with Caleb Carbone and Javon Carlisle, presented the update. Key points include:
Councilmember Walker presented a request for $10,000 from council contingency funds to sponsor the symposium, titled "From Welcoming to Cooperation," to be held at Tacoma Community House. The event aims to create a welcoming environment and promote multicultural cooperation, culminating in a relationship-building toolkit. Co-sponsors included Mayor Woodards, Councilmember Bushnell, and Councilmember Ushka. Councilmember Bushnell praised the choir's unifying work. No opposition was expressed.
Councilmember Walker introduced a resolution to explore alternatives to demolition. Deconstruction involves dismantling buildings piece by piece to reuse materials like lumber, fixtures, and roofing. The resolution directs the city manager to provide options by May 22, 2024, in five areas:
I'd like to call the order. You're making it worse, not better. Sorry, hold on. I'd like to call the order of the city council study session of March 5th, 2024. Clerk, you'll please call the roll. Councilmember Bushnell. Present. Councilmember Daniels. Here. Councilmember Diaz. Absent. Deputy Mayor Hines. Here. Councilmember Rumba. Here. Councilmember Scott. Absent. Councilmember Eshka. Absent. Councilmember Walker. Here. Mayor Woodards. Absent. Deputy Mayor and Council members to study session materials sent to you at 11. All right. Thank you. Our first gender item is the homeless strategy quarterly update, and I'd like to call on neighborhood and community services director Allison Griffith to bring begin the presentation. Allison. Good afternoon, Deputy Mayor Hines and Council Allison Griffith, Director of Neighborhood and Community Services. Here with me today are Caleb Carbone and Javon Carlyle. They'll handle the majority of the update. But before they begin, I wanted to orient council to something we're doing slightly differently than our recent quarterly updates. We've moved some of the information that's more background to the items we're discussing today to a memo provided to you in your study session briefing materials. This includes things like the raw numbers for 311 requests as well as information on calls for service. We've made this change in an effort to streamline the information we present to you today. So we're definitely open to your feedback on whether this approach is helpful or not as we uh continue to provide these quarterly updates. Uh prior to handing the presentation to Caleb, I would also like to take a moment to pause and thank both our internal partners, uh, particularly public works and community economic development uh department who you'll hear have been critical in upcoming shelter transitions. And then I also really want to emphasize uh the work of our contracted partners who repeatedly and consistently step up and answer the call to assist. You'll hear about their work in shepherding a successful transition from one shelter location to another, as well as filling the gap to offer temporary space as we complete some needed renovations in another shelter location. None of the work that you will hear about today is accomplished in a silo, and our success depends on communication and collaboration as we work together to address this community-wide issue. With that, Deputy Mayor, I'll turn the presentation to Caleb, but I will remain available for questions that council may have. And D'Angelo, if you could move to the next slide. Thank you, Allison. Uh, good afternoon, uh, Deputy Mayor and Council. Um Caleb Carbone, Homeless Strategy Systems and Service Manager with Neighborhood and Community Services. Here is our outline for today's conversation. Uh, we'll begin this presentation with our regular update on the implementation of TMC 819. Uh, additionally, we'll be updating council on the shelter projects in the city of Tacoma, and that are coming up to a critical point. And then lastly, we'll finish the conversation with an update on the City of Tacoma's five-year homelessness strategy. As Allison discussed, you received a memo as accompany this presentation, and we'll be referencing figures and page numbers from that document during the presentation.