Tacoma City Council Study Session on Proposed Charter Amendments - June 18, 2024
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Tacoma City Council Study Session on Proposed Charter Amendments - June 18, 2024
The Tacoma City Council met on June 18, 2024, for a study session primarily focused on reviewing proposed amendments to the city charter, following the Charter Review Commission's recommendations. The session included brief updates on the Alternative Response program and extensive discussion on several charter amendment proposals, with decisions to advance some amendments and schedule further deliberations.
Briefing Items
- Alternative Response Quarterly Update: City Manager Elizabeth Pauli provided a brief verbal update, noting that a detailed PowerPoint presentation would be provided to council members by email and posted for the community. The session did not include a formal presentation due to time constraints. Councilmember Rumba expressed concern about recent drug-related deaths in the community and the challenges of outreach. She asked about additional strategies, to which Pauli responded that programs continue to iterate and that the council is also supporting court system changes. No formal action was taken.
Discussion Items
- Term Limits (CRC Recommendation #2): Mayor Woodards presented a revised amendment (Version C) that would limit council members and mayors to three consecutive full terms, with a 10-year cap for those in office before the 2025 election. The amendment would apply to those first elected in 2025 or later; current council members would retain existing term limit rules. Councilmembers expressed support, and the amendment was moved forward to the next process.
- Full-Time Council (Version B): Mayor Woodards sponsored an amendment stating council members shall prioritize city council work, devote sufficient time to duties, and have authority to hire or contract personnel for direct advice or assistance. Councilmembers Walker, Rumbaugh, Bushnell, and Daniels expressed support. The amendment was advanced.
- Climate Commission: Councilmembers Daniels and Scott proposed an amendment (Version B) to remove specific criteria for seats on the commission, allowing flexibility via resolution or ordinance. Several councilmembers expressed concern about adding commissions to the charter, preferring to address climate goals through city code or other means. Councilmember Walker noted working on an ordinance around the climate action plan and studying a carbon budget. The amendment was not advanced; discussion deferred.
- Planning Commission: A proposed amendment (Version B) would remove specific seat requirements for the planning commission, allowing flexibility, and increase membership from nine to eleven. Councilmembers generally supported the change, noting it could facilitate subcommittees and better representation. The amendment was moved forward.
- Form of Government (Version B): Councilmember Diaz and Deputy Mayor Hines presented a revised amendment to change from a city manager form to a mayor-council form. Key features include a directly elected mayor as chief executive, a nine-member council (with a council president), and provisions for succession and transition. Councilmembers raised concerns about implementation, fiscal impact, and voter confusion. City Attorney Chris noted conflicts with other proposed charter amendments (15 potentially overlapping), requiring contingent ballot language or consolidation. The council agreed to schedule further discussion on this amendment for a special meeting on June 21, 2024, at 10:00 AM.
- Disposition of Waterfront Property: Councilmember Rumbaugh introduced an amendment to allow sale or disposition of waterfront property to public agencies for park purposes, park structures, or open space, with a lease limit of 75 years. Councilmember Daniels questioned the restriction to open space, preferring broader language for public access. Councilmember Walker clarified the intent to maintain public ownership and access. After discussion, the amendment was moved forward.
- Citizen to Resident Language: Councilmember Walker proposed an amendment (C6) to change the term "citizen" to "resident" in charter sections related to commissions and petitions, to be more inclusive. Questions about the definition of "resident" were addressed. The amendment was advanced.
Key Outcomes
- Advanced Next Steps: The following amendments were moved forward to the next stage of the process: Term Limits (Version C), Full-Time Council (Version B), Planning Commission (Version B), Waterfront Property Disposition, and Citizen/Resident language. The Climate Commission amendment was not advanced.
- Further Discussion Scheduled: A special meeting was tentatively scheduled for Friday, June 21, 2024, at 10:00 AM to discuss the Form of Government amendment, the initiative process (amendment #4), staffing models, and police accountability.
- Timeline Noted: The council outlined a timeline for finalizing charter amendments: public hearing on July 2, 2024; study session on July 9; final vote on July 16; and resolution transmitting amendments to the auditor by July 23.
- No Formal Votes Taken: All decisions were procedural to advance or defer discussion; no formal votes on final ballot measures were taken at this session.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 2:30 PM, with a reminder of the evening city council meeting at 5:00 PM.
Meeting Transcript
I'd like to call to order the city council study session of June 18th, 2024. Clark, will you please call the roll? Council member Michelle. Council Member Daniel. Absent council member Diaz. Here, Deputy Mayor Hines. Council Member Walker. Here, Mayor Order. Here. Mayor the study question material is actually at 1111. All right. Our first agenda item today is going to be the alternative response quarterly update. And I'd like to call on City Manager Elizabeth Pauli to begin the presentation. And City Manager, how long do you anticipate your presentation being today? 42 seconds. That's helpful. Thank you very much. Please move forward. So, mayor and council, given the um the number of time-sensitive items before the council in this time period, we've been shifting some of the format of a number of your um standing updates, including this this one today for alternative response. And some of those updates are being shifted to written reports again while we're managing these heavy um heavy schedules. So we are not today providing a detailed presentation on quarter two alternative response activities. And I can see you looking around the room for our your the familiar alternative response faces. Um it's just me today. Um we know that council and community continue to have a high interest in these programs. So what we're going to be doing is um providing to you after today's study session, you will all get the standard um PowerPoint presentation by email. Um so you can look at the same um updates um that you are um have historically received. So you'll get that to read and review at your convenience. And those um slides follow um a detailed update on CSOs that went out in the June 6th. You may have noticed. Hopefully, you noticed in the June 6th City Manager's weekly report, but you can go back to that for more detail on a CSO app update. And then, of course, after you have an opportunity to um familiarize yourself with those materials, please follow up with questions and inquiries through um assistant city manager Melanie Harding. And we will follow today's session also be uploading the the PowerPoint for um access by the community. And that um mayor is our um presentation for today. If there are any specific questions about any either the um heel team, the hope team, or our CSL program, we can try to answer those today, but otherwise um please review those materials. That's the presentation, Mayor. Thank you. Great, thank you, City Manager. And um again, um appreciate the fact that we've got a lot on our agenda today. Um and so appreciate the fact that that we got this update and that we'll be able to get all of the um all of the details um in our in basket. So um grateful for that. Um our our second agenda item today, or look, I'm sorry, are there any questions for city manager? Yes, council member Rumba. Thank you, um Mayor, and thank you, City Manager. I just I think that I'm just curious because I did get an um I did get an email from Allison today about um the about reaching out, our alternative response reaching out and people denying you know, not wanting services. And I know that we had um several drug-related deaths last week, and I'm just uh first off just stating that because that's like the facts, but it's also that we're working really hard to reach people, and I know it's really difficult. And I just want to say that on the record, that I know that we're trying really hard to reach out to people and help them. And I know that the opioid money that we have, I hope that it can provide some of those beds and the needed help to get people, but I'm just curious if you have other ideas of how we might um structure or do what we're doing. Um, that would be an added thing that we're not doing if you if there's anything that you want to add to that. If you're if you're directing that question to me, I would say that um through all of our alternative response programs. We we are continuing to iterate as we go as we as we learn things, as again certain grants become available for aspects of programming that we may or may not have right now or may or may not be able to accommodate.
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