Tacoma City Council Study Session - December 17, 2024

The Tacoma City Council held a study session on December 17, 2024, at 12:00 PM. The meeting covered several major briefing items, including the Pierce Transit Destination 2045 Long Range Plan, the City Website Redesign Project, and an alternative response quarterly update. Council also discussed a proposed cancellation of 2025 council meetings, a grease interceptor education requirement, and a draft letter to Metro Parks regarding senior services. The session concluded with an executive session to review a public employee's performance.

Pierce Transit Destination 2045 Long Range Plan

• Pierce Transit CEO Mike Griffiths and Principal Planner Darren Stavish presented the all-new long-range plan, which will be released on December 20, 2024, with a 45-day comment period closing February 3, 2025.
• The plan includes four growth scenarios for fixed-route service, starting from the current 500,000 annual service hours baseline to up to 900,000 hours, each building on the previous. These scenarios would expand service back into areas that opted out of the Pierce Transit benefit area in 2012, pending a public vote to rejoin.
• The plan focuses on four pillars: where housing, population, and jobs are expected to grow, plus a transit propensity index for equity. It also incorporates the City of Tacoma's Home in Tacoma initiative and proposes a "fast, frequent, reliable network" of seven top-performing routes with lower-cost improvements (e.g., transit signal prioritization).
• Councilmember Walker (also Pierce Transit Board chair) thanked staff for aligning the plan with growth areas and equity indices. She noted the plan is "fiscally constrained" and highlighted the need for additional funding to achieve increased service hours.
• Councilmember Rumbaugh and Councilmember Bushnell raised concerns about lack of service in Northeast Tacoma. Pierce Transit staff responded that they plan to bring back 15-minute frequency on Route 3 and restore Route 63 in the area, addressing comments from the community.
• Councilmember Sidalgay noted the high transit usage in his district (zip code 98404) and emphasized the link between transit expansion and pedestrian safety, particularly on Portland Avenue. He also praised the flexible "runner" service for the Port area.

City Website Redesign Project Update

• Media and Communications Director Amy Clancy and Digital Manager Golden Doles presented the Project Cobalt website redesign, set to launch in spring 2025.
• The current website, dating from 2013, has over 12,600 web pages. Through a content audit, staff reduced that to 560 pages for the new site—a 65% reduction. The new site will use a modern, mobile-first design with improved navigation, search, accessibility, and a new projects section.
• The city will also transition from cityoftacoma.org to tacoma.gov, enhancing security and credibility. The domain change will happen approximately one week after the website launch, with existing .org emails automatically forwarded.
• Councilmember Bushnell asked about the email naming scheme and whether other city entities (e.g., TPU, TV Tacoma) would also switch to .gov. Staff responded that TPU is in scope, and other agencies could be considered later.
• Deputy Mayor Hines praised the pruning process and asked about ongoing content management. Golden Doles outlined plans for regular reviews and a custom search tool to keep information current. Councilmember Rumbaugh asked about archiving old but historically important information; staff confirmed an archive of the old site will be maintained.
• The project is on time and on budget, with a target launch in spring 2025. Councilmember Rumbaugh volunteered to test the search function.

Alternative Response Quarterly Update

• The update covered three program areas: Homeless Engagement and Liaison (HEAL) team, Behavioral Health Response (HOPE) team, and Community Safety Officer (CSO) program. An update on the Tacoma Public Library's Patron Crisis and De-escalation pilot was also included.
• HEAL Team: Director Alison Griffith reported that through November 30, 2024, there were 99 open homelessness-related requests, a 45% decrease from Q1. The team made about 2,800 connections, with 37% accepting services. Of those, 276 entered temporary shelter, 12 entered detox, and 15 were connected to the HOPE team. A public dashboard on Tacoma's open data site has been updated with filters for council districts and police sectors, and a new feature will allow users to view outreach and 311 requests together.
• HOPE Team: Co-managers Cassie Hallstone and Alicia Morales reported that the team is transitioning from salaried to hourly positions (effective December 30) to allow more flexibility for coverage. They lost one registered nurse and plan to hire a peer support specialist instead. The team will shift to 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. coverage, seven days a week, temporarily (previously included swing shift). They are working toward a behavioral health agency license to bill for services, estimating potential annual revenue of nearly $250,000 if fully staffed with two teams. In the last quarter, the field team dispatched to 196 calls, with 79 in tandem with Tacoma Fire. The case manager had 305 contacts. Two success stories were shared: one involving a person who had a pregnancy loss and avoided hospitalization, and another involving a chronically homeless frequent 911 caller who has had no contact with 911 in 60 days thanks to HOPE–HEAL coordination.
• Community Safety Officer (CSO) Program: Captain Corey Darlington reported that five CSOs are now fully trained and operating from police substations. From June 17 to December 4, they logged over 1,300 hours, responded to 770 calls (with 816 service events due to multiple responses), and handled over 200 calls at substations. Top call types included attempted motor vehicle theft (180 combined with MV theft), fraud, and theft from vehicle (80). The program has contributed to a decrease in median pending times: overall calls dropped by 8.2 minutes, and routine calls dropped by 22.2 minutes. One CSO is in the hiring process to become a police officer. The CSOs also now wear a less bright uniform (gray/silver) and are often flagged down by community members.
• Library Patron Crisis and De-escalation Pilot: Director Amita Lonial reported that a full-time social worker and a safety and security coordinator (currently vacant) have reduced security incidents by 40–45% (from 284 in 2023 to 178 through November 2024). The social worker had 212 interactions from February to November, with about 40% resulting in ongoing support. The library is working with UW Tacoma to host two social work interns in 2025.
• Councilmembers praised the holistic presentation. Councilmember Walker noted the dashboard is "really great and useful" and thanked the HEAL team for their straightforward communication. Councilmember Sidalgay appreciated the multiplicative impact of grants and cross-departmental cooperation. Deputy Mayor Hines asked about billing for HOPE services and suggested a broader conversation on using Medicaid/federal funds to sustain these programs.

Other Items of Interest

2025 Proposed Cancelled Council Meetings

• Deputy Mayor Hines presented the Council Action Memorandum proposing to cancel council meetings on specific dates in 2025, including November 5 (Election Night) and September 23 (Rosh Hashanah), aligning with historic practice. The resolution will be voted on during the evening council meeting.
• Councilmember Walker asked if canceling the 5:00 PM meeting also cancels the study session; staff confirmed yes. Councilmember Bushnell asked about committee meetings; it was clarified that committee chairs can decide to hold or cancel them. Councilmember Daniels noted that canceling the November 5 meeting leaves only one meeting in November, but the council can add back a meeting if needed via special meeting with 24-hour notice.

Grease Interceptor Education Requirement

• Councilmember Diaz introduced a Council Consideration Request for an ordinance requiring anyone selling or leasing a property for food or beverage businesses to provide a city-created flyer educating the buyer/lessee about grease interceptor requirements. The goal is to prevent unexpected costs for small and micro business owners, especially BIPOC and women entrepreneurs, who often lock in leases before understanding infrastructure needs.
• Diaz emphasized that no business owners have asked to reduce environmental protections. The proposal is step one of a multi-phase approach; future steps may include working with the health department to clarify calculations and exploring cost-sharing with property owners.
• Councilmember Bushnell and Councilmember Scott expressed support, noting the importance of upfront education. Councilmember Walker asked about the source of grease interceptor calculations; Diaz said it is a mix of city and health department requirements, and she plans to send a letter to the health department as well. Councilmember Daniels highlighted the broader need to streamline all permitting requirements for small businesses.
• The ordinance is expected to be brought for a vote in January 2025.

Draft Letter to Metro Parks Board Regarding Senior Services

• Deputy Mayor Hines presented a draft letter summarizing concerns heard from seniors at a December 7 Senior Summit and through public feedback during the transition of senior services from the city to Metro Parks. The letter outlines seven themes: predictability and consistency in programming spaces, ongoing meal services, accessibility of community centers, specific programming for diverse senior age groups (50-year-olds vs. 80-year-olds), effective communication (including non-tech options), social inclusion and respect, and celebrating senior diversity.
• Councilmember Sidalgay supported the draft as written, emphasizing he will track the transition closely. Councilmember Walker suggested adding a sentence indicating the council's continued commitment to working with Metro Parks. Councilmember Diaz noted that Metro Parks' partnerships (e.g., with the Asia Pacific Cultural Center) could offer cultural programming benefits beyond current city capacity.
• Deputy Mayor Hines closed by reiterating that the transition is an expansion of services (from two to four locations, and from 65+ to 50+), and that the goal is to serve the thousands of seniors not currently using senior centers. The letter will be updated with council feedback and sent to the Metro Parks Board.

Executive Session

• The council unanimously voted to convene an executive session for 60 minutes under RCW 42.30.110(1)(g) to review the performance of a public employee. No further business was conducted after the session, and the meeting was adjourned.

City Manager's Weekly Report

• City Manager Elizabeth Pauli noted that the study session material was sent at 11:02 AM and highlighted the weekly report attached to the agenda. She also reminded councilmembers to share content with MCO for broader communication.