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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Tacoma City Council Study Session - April 2, 2024

City Council Study Session — Tuesday, April 2, 2024

BodyTacoma, Washington

SessionCity Council Study Session

DateTuesday, April 2, 2024

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 2:14:02

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:03

I'd like to call to I'd like to call to order today's city council study session for April 2nd, 2024.

0:12

Um, Clerk, will you please call the roll?

0:15

Councilmember Bushnell.

0:16

Present.

0:17

Councilmember Daniels.

0:19

Councilmember Diaz here.

0:21

Deputy Mayor Hines.

0:23

Councilmember Ramba here.

0:24

Councilmember Scott.

0:26

Here.

0:26

Councilmember Eshka.

0:28

Here.

0:29

Councilmember Walker.

0:30

Here.

0:30

Mayor Wooders.

0:33

Here.

0:34

Mayor and Councilmember's study session materials sent to Chet 11.

0:38

Wonderful.

0:38

Thank you.

0:39

All right.

0:40

So we have a couple of items on our agenda today.

0:44

Actually, two.

0:45

And we're going to start with the first agenda item, which is the work of the charter review.

0:52

Our charter review committee.

0:54

And they're going to be going over their work and their recommendations for consideration.

0:59

So I'm going to call on charter review committee chair, Stephen Wombach to begin the presentation.

1:05

And thank you all so much.

1:07

I'm so glad to see so many of you here today.

1:09

But thank you all so much for taking the time to be here with us today and looking forward to the presentation.

1:16

So, Chair Wombeck, I'll turn it over to you.

1:21

Good afternoon, Madam Mayor, members of the City Council.

1:23

I'm Steve Wombach, and I have been honored to serve as your chair of the City of Tacoma Charter Review Committee for 2024.

1:33

We are joined today by a majority of the Charter Review Committee members, and I think it would be a good opportunity for each of them to introduce themselves so that you know who is joining me here today.

1:45

So we can start with the people, members of the committee that are sitting at these tables.

1:49

We'll start at the table on my right, folks at this table, and then uh there are a couple other folks in the audience, and they'll come up to the mic and introduce themselves.

1:57

So starting over at the far right.

2:01

Hi, Council.

2:02

I'm Latasha Palmer.

2:03

I'm a lifelong resident of Tacoma.

2:05

I'm also a mother and um currently reside in uh Hilltop.

2:12

I'm Rebecca Stith.

2:13

I was appointed by Sarah Rembaugh.

2:15

I live in District 2 and I've lived in Tacoma almost 13 years and have served on human rights and human services commissions, and I'm honored to be part of this effort.

2:24

Thank you.

2:27

Hi everyone, Melissa Millat here, executive director of communities for Healthy Bay and Tacoma resident of nearly nine years.

2:34

It's good to see you all today.

2:37

And good afternoon, Andrea Ray, President CEO of the Tacoma Pierce County Chamber, new resident of Tacoma.

2:44

Proud to work and live downtown and to be serving on the Charter Review.

2:48

So thank you.

2:50

Afternoon, Mayor Woodards and Council members.

2:52

My name is Nicholas Carr.

2:53

I was appointed by uh Deputy Mayor Hines in the first district.

2:57

Uh I work at THA in the daytime and uh been a resident uh or a or working in the city of Tacoma for about a quarter century.

3:11

Good afternoon, I'm Katie Baird.

3:13

I was uh appointed by you, um, and I'm honored to be on the committee.

3:17

I've been a Tacoma resident for 24 years and work at University of Washington, Tacoma.

3:23

Thank you.

3:26

Good afternoon.

3:27

My name is Patrick Fisher.

3:28

I was appointed by uh Councilmember Uschka.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Charter Review█████████████████████████████████████████████46%

Procedural███████████████████████23%

Public Engagement█████████████13%

Fiscal Sustainability█████5%

Federal Funding█████5%

Public Comment██2%

Housing██2%

Term Limits█1%

Public Safety█1%

Summary of Proceedings

Tacoma City Council Study Session - April 2, 2024

This study session focused on two main agenda items: a detailed overview of the Charter Review Committee's work and recommendations, and the annual update to the 2024 Action Plan for federal housing and community development grants. Council members also discussed committee reports, agenda review, and entered executive session.

Charter Review Committee Overview of Work and Recommendations

Chair Steve Wombeck and committee members presented the results of the once-a-decade comprehensive review of the City of Tacoma Charter. The committee identified three core principles—accountability, equity, and clarity—and organized work into seven subcommittees: public outreach, administration, public utilities, power of the people, police accountability, miscellaneous, and form of government.
The committee expects to deliver up to 30 recommendations for charter amendments, with a final report due on May 7, 2024. Recommendations include: land acknowledgment, changes to form of government (council-manager vs. mayor-council), term limits, empowering the city council (full-time status, independent staff hiring), updating language from "citizen" and "freeholder" to modern terms, expanding the landmarks preservation commission, adding internet as a public utility, allowing a non-resident TPU board member, clarifying audit and inquiry language, modernizing anti-discrimination provisions, enabling ranked-choice voting, adjusting waterfront property transfer policies, creating a climate commission, and deleting references to the Tacoma Humane Society.
Council members expressed both support and concerns. Deputy Mayor Hines questioned the volume (29-30 items) and potential voter fatigue. Mayor Woodards asked about fiscal impacts and suggested phasing proposals over multiple election cycles. Councilmember Rumba emphasized the need to distinguish between charter-level and municipal code changes. The committee has held multiple meetings, with additional public comment sessions scheduled, including an extended meeting on April 18, 2024.

Annual Action Plan Update

Felicia Medlen presented the 2024 annual spending plan for federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), and HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) funds. Estimated allocations: $2.39 million (CDBG), $209,000 (ESG), and $1.4 million (HOME). These funds serve households at or below 80% AMI, with many programs targeting 0-30% AMI.
CDBG funds are allocated to housing (homeowner rehab, Paint Tacoma Beautiful, Rebuilding Together), economic development (technical assistance for small businesses via RevB, Chamber, Me Centro), and public services (temporary/inclement weather shelter). ESG funds support rapid rehousing and shelter. HOME funds are split between the city of Lakewood (23%) and Tacoma housing projects (67%).
Next steps: a 30-day public comment period runs from March 29 to April 29, 2024, with a public hearing on April 23, final action on April 30, and submission to HUD by May 15.
Councilmember Walker asked about rapid rehousing scaling ($63,000) and overall need; staff noted that ESG dollars are limited and additional county resources supplement the system. No objections were raised.

Other Items of Interest

Ceremonial proclamations: Caribbean Queen's Day (April 6), National Public Health Week (April 1-7), Fair Housing Month (April).
The City Manager's weekly report was provided.
The council entered executive session to review the performance of a public employee and discuss pending litigation (not to exceed 30 minutes).

Key Outcomes

No formal votes or decisions were taken during the study session. The Charter Review Committee will finalize recommendations by May 7, 2024, for council consideration. The council will vote on the Annual Action Plan on April 30, 2024, with submission to HUD by May 15.

Meeting Transcript

I'd like to call to I'd like to call to order today's city council study session for April 2nd, 2024. Um, Clerk, will you please call the roll? Councilmember Bushnell. Present. Councilmember Daniels. Councilmember Diaz here. Deputy Mayor Hines. Councilmember Ramba here. Councilmember Scott. Here. Councilmember Eshka. Here. Councilmember Walker. Here. Mayor Wooders. Here. Mayor and Councilmember's study session materials sent to Chet 11. Wonderful. Thank you. All right. So we have a couple of items on our agenda today. Actually, two. And we're going to start with the first agenda item, which is the work of the charter review. Our charter review committee. And they're going to be going over their work and their recommendations for consideration. So I'm going to call on charter review committee chair, Stephen Wombach to begin the presentation. And thank you all so much. I'm so glad to see so many of you here today. But thank you all so much for taking the time to be here with us today and looking forward to the presentation. So, Chair Wombeck, I'll turn it over to you. Good afternoon, Madam Mayor, members of the City Council. I'm Steve Wombach, and I have been honored to serve as your chair of the City of Tacoma Charter Review Committee for 2024. We are joined today by a majority of the Charter Review Committee members, and I think it would be a good opportunity for each of them to introduce themselves so that you know who is joining me here today. So we can start with the people, members of the committee that are sitting at these tables. We'll start at the table on my right, folks at this table, and then uh there are a couple other folks in the audience, and they'll come up to the mic and introduce themselves. So starting over at the far right. Hi, Council. I'm Latasha Palmer. I'm a lifelong resident of Tacoma. I'm also a mother and um currently reside in uh Hilltop. I'm Rebecca Stith. I was appointed by Sarah Rembaugh. I live in District 2 and I've lived in Tacoma almost 13 years and have served on human rights and human services commissions, and I'm honored to be part of this effort. Thank you. Hi everyone, Melissa Millat here, executive director of communities for Healthy Bay and Tacoma resident of nearly nine years. It's good to see you all today. And good afternoon, Andrea Ray, President CEO of the Tacoma Pierce County Chamber, new resident of Tacoma. Proud to work and live downtown and to be serving on the Charter Review. So thank you. Afternoon, Mayor Woodards and Council members.

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