OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Tacoma City Council Study Session - March 18, 2025

City Council Study Session — Tuesday, March 18, 2025
BodyTacoma, Washington
SessionCity Council Study Session
DateTuesday, March 18, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:02

All right, I would like to call to order the study the city council study session of March 18th, 2025.

0:08

Clerk, will you please call the roll?

0:10

Councilmember Bushnell.

0:11

Present.

0:12

Deputy Mayor Daniels.

0:13

Here.

0:13

Councilmember Diaz.

0:14

Here.

0:15

Councilmember Heinz.

0:16

Here.

0:17

Councilmember Rumba.

0:18

Absent.

0:19

Councilmember Stalgay.

0:20

Here.

0:21

Councilmember Scott.

0:22

Here.

0:22

Councilmember Walker.

0:24

Here.

0:24

Mayor Woodards.

0:25

Absent.

0:26

Deputy Mayor and Council members that study session material sent to you at 11.

0:31

Okay, it's nice to see everybody back from our trip to DC.

0:37

And our first item on the agenda is a media and communications action strategy update from our media and communications director, Amy Clancy.

0:47

We'll let her begin the presentation.

0:48

Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

0:50

Nice to see all of you council members.

0:52

I just want to say before we start, I really appreciate this opportunity.

0:59

But I think this is a great opportunity for us to show you all that we're doing in MCO.

1:04

You see some of the work that we do, but you don't see all the work that we do, and everything we do, we're doing to communicate with the people of Tacoma.

1:11

So thank you for this opportunity.

1:12

I look forward to presenting to you all every quarter.

1:15

And we'll go ahead and get started.

1:17

Make sure this works.

1:23

Oh, there we go.

1:23

Okay, great.

1:24

We're gonna start with Project Cobalt, which you know is our website rebuild.

1:28

Tacoma.gov is where it's going to be, and we are planning to announce in early April when the launch will be.

1:35

It will be sometime in the month of April.

1:37

We're getting close.

1:38

Uh the content migration is complete.

1:41

The training is almost 100% complete.

1:44

One of the things that we noticed within the past six weeks or so was that it wasn't moving as quickly as we would have liked to have seen.

1:52

In other words, it was tough to navigate, it was tough to load, and so um working with IT, we changed the platform completely.

2:02

Um, because we know that if it's not easy to navigate and if it's not quick enough, people won't engage with it.

2:07

And so that was a pretty big unexpected change.

2:11

But we knew that if we didn't do it, people would be frustrated with it, and it just wouldn't work.

2:15

So we made that change.

2:17

Um it's much better now.

2:21

It's it's much faster and more responsive.

2:24

Um so thanks to IT on the partnership for that, and also sitecrafting to make it happen.

2:28

We are going to start in the first week of April communicating both internally and externally when it comes to the launch date.

2:35

We're working on focus groups to gather feedback on both the desktop as well as the mobile app.

2:41

Stewards have completed review on content pages for them and their department's web pages, and we are now in the process of conducting the final review of the new site before launch.

2:53

So the final review will include testing to make sure that when it is launched, it will be all ready to go and all the the glitches will be gone.

3:02

So moving on to the next page.

3:04

One of the reasons why this is so crucial is just because between January 1st and March 5th of this year, our website had 624,730 total page views, which means when it comes to an engagement event count, it was 1.8 million.

3:22

And so when people say, Why do you need a new website?

3:24

Or how important is our website?

3:26

Our website is crucial to our communication, not only with the people of Tacoma, but people throughout the world, people who may want to come here to visit here, work here, do whatever here, move here.

3:36

And so that engagement is crucial.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Homelessness███████████████████████████████31%
Mental Health Awareness███████████████15%
Public Safety██████████████14%
Digital Equity Initiatives█████████9%
Public Engagement█████████9%
Procedural██████6%
Affordable Housing██████6%
Public Health█████5%
Technology and Innovation█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Tacoma City Council Study Session - March 18, 2025

The Tacoma City Council held a study session on March 18, 2025, to receive updates on media and communications strategy, alternative response programs, and the city's homelessness strategy. No votes were taken; the session served as an information-sharing and discussion forum. The council also convened a 10-minute executive session on pending litigation.

Media and Communications Action Strategy Update

  • Director Amy Clancy presented metrics showing high public engagement: the city website had 624,730 page views (Jan 1 – Mar 5, 2025), Facebook content was viewed over 1 million times, and Instagram engagement increased 134% over 2024.
  • The new website (Project Cobalt) will launch in April 2025 after a platform change to improve speed and usability. Content migration and training are nearly complete.
  • Social media growth includes 28,000+ Facebook followers, 14,000+ Instagram followers, and a new Fire Department PIO who launched a Nextdoor account (automatically reaching ~64,000 users).
  • Media inquiries rose from 70 (2022-23) to 149 (2024-25) in a three-month period; news releases increased from 163 (2023) to 232 (2024).
  • TV Tacoma provided 36 hours of live meeting coverage; new shows include "The 253" and "Tacoma Report."
  • Upcoming priorities: Project Cobalt launch, branding consistency (reducing ~70 logos to one), and exploring new platforms like YouTube and podcasts.

Alternative Response Quarterly Update

  • HEAL Team (Homelessness Response): Responded to 5,859 requests in 2024; made 2,856 contacts (5% decrease from 2023). Repeat contacts rose 18%. Interest in shelter declined. HEAL placed 10 individuals directly into the stability site and 43 into temporary shelter via the state right-of-way partnership.
  • HOPE Team (Behavioral Health): Received over 2,000 client contacts in 2024. Diverted 166 clients from the emergency department and 41 from jail. Call volume decreased during inclement weather shelter activation. The team is pursuing behavioral health agency licensure to bill Medicaid.
  • Community Service Officers (CSOs): Five CSOs handled 33% of low-priority calls in Q1 2025 (up from 24% in Q3 2024), on track to reach 40% by year-end. CSOs are all on day shift; expansion to swing shift is being negotiated.
  • Designated Crisis Responders (DCRs): Two DCRs embedded with TPD responded to 236 in-person co-responses in 2024, with 60 involuntary detainments for medical treatment. Weekend coverage is a gap.
  • Library Patron Crisis Team: A social worker at five library locations handled nearly 230 patron interactions in 2024, and security incidents dropped 40%.
  • Council members discussed funding sources (city, state, Medicaid), the need for expanded DCR coverage, and coordination among programs.

Homeless Strategy Quarterly Update

  • Caleb Carbone presented the five-year homeless strategy implementation. Key Q1 actions include contracting for the Tacoma Rescue Mission shelter expansion (100 beds, expected for council vote in early April), executing a $1 million street medicine pilot with the health department, and awarding $2.24 million in permanent supportive housing services.
  • Point-in-time count data (Jan 30-31, 2025) is pending; the by-name list shows 439 actively engaged individuals. HMIS data for Feb 2025 shows 1,113 people using the shelter system.
  • Seasonal shelter (Vallejo Vocation, 53 beds) and inclement weather shelter (Catholic Community Services, Beacon, St. Vincent DePaul – 60 additional beds) were activated 42 days in 2025, including a 40-day continuous stretch.
  • Three shelters are slated to stand down by June 2025: Shiloh Baptist (single men, 18 residents), Bethlehem Baptist (families, 36 residents), and Forging Path Community (113 residents) – the latter depends on state funding for a potential housing project breaking ground in fall 2025.
  • TMC 819 (camping restrictions near shelters) boundaries were reviewed; future updates will depend on shelter funding.
  • Council members expressed concern about shelter reductions, family shelter capacity, senior-specific needs, and the need for a unified regional approach. Staff noted ongoing work with property owners and cross-departmental teams on encampment management.

Key Outcomes

  • No motions or votes were taken during the study session.
  • The council received information on media metrics, alternative response programs, and homeless strategy actions.
  • An executive session of 10 minutes was held for pending litigation (RCW 42.30.110(1)(i)), after which the meeting adjourned.

Meeting Transcript

All right, I would like to call to order the study the city council study session of March 18th, 2025. Clerk, will you please call the roll? Councilmember Bushnell. Present. Deputy Mayor Daniels. Here. Councilmember Diaz. Here. Councilmember Heinz. Here. Councilmember Rumba. Absent. Councilmember Stalgay. Here. Councilmember Scott. Here. Councilmember Walker. Here. Mayor Woodards. Absent. Deputy Mayor and Council members that study session material sent to you at 11. Okay, it's nice to see everybody back from our trip to DC. And our first item on the agenda is a media and communications action strategy update from our media and communications director, Amy Clancy. We'll let her begin the presentation. Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Nice to see all of you council members. I just want to say before we start, I really appreciate this opportunity. But I think this is a great opportunity for us to show you all that we're doing in MCO. You see some of the work that we do, but you don't see all the work that we do, and everything we do, we're doing to communicate with the people of Tacoma. So thank you for this opportunity. I look forward to presenting to you all every quarter. And we'll go ahead and get started. Make sure this works. Oh, there we go. Okay, great. We're gonna start with Project Cobalt, which you know is our website rebuild. Tacoma.gov is where it's going to be, and we are planning to announce in early April when the launch will be. It will be sometime in the month of April. We're getting close. Uh the content migration is complete. The training is almost 100% complete. One of the things that we noticed within the past six weeks or so was that it wasn't moving as quickly as we would have liked to have seen. In other words, it was tough to navigate, it was tough to load, and so um working with IT, we changed the platform completely. Um, because we know that if it's not easy to navigate and if it's not quick enough, people won't engage with it. And so that was a pretty big unexpected change. But we knew that if we didn't do it, people would be frustrated with it, and it just wouldn't work. So we made that change. Um it's much better now. It's it's much faster and more responsive. Um so thanks to IT on the partnership for that, and also sitecrafting to make it happen.

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