Tacoma City Council Study Session: LEAP Updates, Broken Windows, Youth Trip – June 4, 2024
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Tacoma City Council Study Session
On June 4, 2024, the Tacoma City Council held a special study session to discuss the Local Employment and Apprenticeship Training (LEAP) program update, a council consideration request for Broadway broken window repairs, and a request to sponsor Tacoma youth to attend a youth week in Fuzhou, China. The council also reviewed the agenda for the evening meeting and scheduled additional special meetings.
Discussion Items
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Local Employment and Apprenticeship Training Program (LEAP) Update
- Workforce Programs Analyst Deborah Trevorrow presented an overview of the LEAP program, which ensures local residents and apprentices work on city-funded construction projects. Projects over $250,000 (civil) or $750,000 (building) require 15% local employee hours (journey or apprentice) from Tacoma or economically distressed areas within TPU service area. For projects over $1 million, an additional 15% apprentice hours from TPU service area are required.
- Compliance is tracked via LCP tracker; non-compliance can result in withheld payments or penalties. The LEAP Advisory Committee (voting members from seven constituency groups) provides oversight.
- Program outcomes: from 2020-2023, average local employee utilization was 26% (above the 15% requirement), and apprentice utilization averaged 8%.
- 2024 priorities include contractor education, enforcement, and re-implementing penalties. Proposed code revisions: replace "goals" with "requirements" (to strengthen enforcement), change "CED director" to "LEAP coordinator," and increase penalty amounts from $10 per unmet hour to $60 per unmet hour (based on average step-three apprentice wages).
- Councilmember Daniels (Chair of EDC) expressed full support, noting the change from "goals" to "requirements" is a value statement and that raising penalties was overdue. Councilmember Walker asked about the number of people training but received no immediate data. Councilmember Bushnell praised the adjustments and the collaboration. Mayor Woodards asked about current partners; Trevorrow replied that the city manages LEAP directly, with partners like Goodwill and Clover Park Technical College for EPA grants.
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Broadway Broken Window Repairs
- Mayor Woodards introduced a CCR requesting $25,000 to supplement the existing broken windows replacement fund (supported by ARPA dollars) to help businesses on Broadway (Antique Row) where an individual broke over 50 windows on May 18, 2024. The funds are intended to match dollars raised by the Downtown Tacoma Partnership and impacted businesses. The total cost is estimated at nearly $100,000. The suspect is in custody.
- Carol (staff) explained that the existing broken windows fund had $40,000 remaining from a previous allocation, and a recent $250,000 allocation was fully allocated via lottery. The $25,000 would be combined with the $40,000 for this incident.
- Councilmember Walker expressed support and asked about the existing fund. Councilmember Daniels supported the request, noting broken windows harm safety and business viability. Councilmember Rumba suggested exploring long-term fixes (e.g., roll-down closures) for frequently targeted buildings. Councilmember Bushnell supported, noting that insurance costs and deductibles make repairs burdensome.
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Sponsor Tacoma Youth to Attend Youth Week in Fuzhou, China
- Mayor Woodards presented a CCR to provide up to $1,250 to cover uncovered costs for up to 10 Tacoma students (from Stadium and Lincoln High Schools) to participate in the 30th anniversary sister city youth week in Fuzhou, China, June 21-30, 2024. Most expenses are covered by the host country.
- Councilmember Bushnell expressed strong support, calling it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for cultural exchange and lifelong friendships.
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Agenda Review and City Manager's Weekly Report
- Special Assistant to the City Manager, Melanie Harding, reviewed the evening's agenda: ceremonials for Pothole Palooza, Ride Transit Month, and Gun Violence Awareness Month; the Citywide Systems Transformation presentation was postponed. Two public comment periods were noted.
- Mayor Woodards announced special meetings: Friday, June 7, to discuss CRC recommendations (ranked choice voting added, auditor confirmed to attend) and a tentative half-day meeting on June 21 to revisit CRC recommendation 24 (form of government) and council staffing models. Councilmember Rumba requested the June 21 start time (likely afternoon due to AWC attendance).
Key Outcomes
- LEAP Ordinance: The first reading of the proposed ordinance with code revisions is scheduled for the evening of June 4, 2024; second reading tentatively set for June 11, 2024, pending council feedback.
- Broadway Broken Windows: The CCR will be placed on the next Tuesday's (June 11, 2024) agenda for action.
- Youth Trip to China: The CCR was discussed; no formal vote was taken during the study session. It is expected to proceed pending final approval.
- Special Meetings: A special meeting on June 7, 2024, at 9:00 AM (tentative) will cover CRC recommendations and ranked choice voting. A special meeting on June 21, 2024 (likely afternoon) will address form of government and council staffing.
- Closed Session: The council adjourned the study session and immediately convened a closed session under RCW 42.30.140(4)(a) and (b) to discuss labor negotiations.
Meeting Transcript
Or the special meeting or order the city council special study session of June 4th, 2021. Mayor Hines. Here. Here. Council number five. Here. Councilmember Walker. Here. Mayor Water. Here. Mayor and Council members assistant sent to you at 951. All right. Our first agenda item today is the local employment and apprenticeship training program update. And I'd like to call on workforce programs analyst Deborah Trevorrow to begin the presentation. Good morning, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Council members. Thank you for your time and consideration of updates involving the local training program on this week. In this presentation, I will share the background and an overview of the program, the makeup and role of the LEAP advisory committee, past and current program outcomes, along with priorities and proposed Tacoma Municipal Code revisions. The purpose of LEAP is to ensure. Oh, next slide, please. Thank you. The purpose of LEAP is to ensure opportunities for local residents and apprentices to work on city funded construction projects. To measure contractor compliance with LEAP, we use an online software program called LCP tracker. Oversight of LEAP is provided by the LEAP Advisory Committee, which will be discussed later in this presentation. To provide an overview, next slide, please. To provide an overview, I will detail the items listed, the types of projects subject to LEAP and the monetary thresholds involved, how contractor compliance is measured, and the consequences for non-compliance, benefits of the program to our community, and other workforce programs, workforce development programs LEAP staff is involved in. Civil projects are all public works and improvements, not defined as building projects, with the cost estimated at 250,000 and up. Building projects are all public works projects. Public work and improvements for which a building permit is required, and with the cost estimated at $750,000 and up. Next slide, please. All right, that'll be make it a little clearer. When projects are estimated above the thresholds just mentioned and below 1 million dollars, the LEAP employee local employee requirement applies. That is 15% of the labor hours must be performed by journey or apprentice level workers that live in Tacoma or in the surrounding economically distressed areas that are within TPU service area. For projects estimated at 1 million and above, LEAP assigns an additional apprentice requirement. With this, an additional 15% of the labor hours must be worked by apprentice level craft workers who live in the Tacoma Public Utilities Service Area. Next slide, please. Thank you. LEAP benefits workers and families by ensuring opportunities for apprentices to learn a trade, and it ensures local residents are provided living wage opportunities on our projects. Also, many find a sense of pride in being able to point out projects they contributed to, such as Cheney Stadium, the Lemay Carr Museum, and the Link Light Rail. Contractors benefit by putting local residents to work and training the next generation of tradespeople. Part of the LEAP coordinator role is with other workforce development, building the pipeline of workers by coordinating the city's work with Tacoma Public Schools and the Jobs 253 program, managing a brown fields job training program. The EPA awarded the city $500,000 for this five-year program. And this is the ninth such award managed by LEAP staff. Also by participating in Green Economy Workforce initiatives with community partners. Next slide, please. I'm sorry, go go back one. Okay, measuring compliance. To measure compliance with these workforce requirements, all project paymrolls must be entered into the city's online system LCP tracker. LEAP uses this tool to determine compliance and regularly reports compliance status to city project staff and the prime contractor. Noncompliance with entering project payrolls in LCP tracker may result in the city withholding progress payments. Noncompliance with meeting LEAP requirements may result in monetary penalties issued at the end of a project.
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