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Record of Proceedings

Tacoma Council Study Session Summary (November 18, 2025)

City Council Study Session — Tuesday, November 18, 2025

BodyTacoma, Washington

SessionCity Council Study Session

DateTuesday, November 18, 2025

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 2:42:53

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

0:05

I would like to call to order the city council study session of November seventeenth, twenty twenty five.

0:09

Clark, will you please call the role?

0:11

Council Member Schnell.

0:12

Deputy Mayor Daniels.

0:14

Councilmember Diaz.

0:15

Council Member Hines.

0:16

Here.

0:16

Council Member Rumba here.

0:18

Council Member Sidal Day.

0:20

Council Member Scott.

0:20

Here.

0:21

Council Member Walker.

0:22

Here, Mayor Woodards.

0:26

I believe she's online.

0:27

Uh the May material is sent to you at eleven oh one.

0:30

Super quick clarification.

0:32

It is uh the study session of November eighteenth for the record.

0:36

Uh we have one modification on today's agenda.

0:38

We will first be entering an executive session.

0:41

Uh once complete, we will re we will resume our first agenda item.

0:46

Um I will entertain a motion to convene to an executive session.

0:50

RCW for two point three zero point one one zero one I I and I I to discuss potential impending liquid litigation not to exceed fifteen minutes.

0:59

So moved.

1:00

Second.

1:01

All right, all those in favor to convene to an executive session.

1:04

Signify by saying aye.

1:06

All those opposed signify by saying nay.

1:08

The motion is declared adopted.

35:00

All right, I would like to call the study session back to order.

35:05

Our first item on the agenda is the Tacoma 2035 10-year strategic plan.

35:12

For that, I would like to call on the director for strategic priorities, Jacques Collon and Ted Richardson.

35:22

Thank you, Deputy Mayor, members of council.

35:24

My name is Jacques Cologne, and I serve as the director of the Center for Strategic Priorities.

35:28

With me today, I have Ted Richardson, who serves as our strategic initiatives coordinator.

35:32

And I have the pleasure of bringing Tacoma 2035 our new 10-year strategic framework to you today.

35:38

And before I jump into the presentation, I want to take a moment to thank you all as a council for your leadership and guidance in helping to shape this.

35:45

I hope as we go through this, you'll see that it reflects your priorities and gives us a really strong foundation for moving into 2026.

35:54

As a quick reminder, about a year ago, we combined three offices, the Office of Strategy, Equity and Human Rights, and Environmental Planning and Sustainability, into the Center for Strategic Priorities.

36:05

In doing that, we have been rethinking and refining our approach to addressing those critical issues.

36:11

And that has included thinking about how we do consulting as our Office of Equity and Human Rights.

36:16

We're currently engaged in a pilot project with public works.

36:20

Similarly, thinking about guidance, putting out guidance around community engagement, serving residents with disabilities, and more.

36:29

For environmental policy and sustainability, thinking about how we continue to best implement our climate action plan that you took action on most recently in the summer of 2025.

36:39

And in our Office of Strategy, rethinking how the strategic plan can help advance your priorities.

36:44

And that's what we'll be talking to you about today.

36:49

So, how we got here, 10 years ago, there was a citywide engagement effort to really capture what the vision of the Tacoma community was.

36:59

That broad vision covered not just the work of the city but also the other jurisdictions that overlap with us to provide the services that folks want.

37:08

So things like parks and schools were also part of that broad vision.

37:12

Synthesizing all of that engagement led to seven focus areas and 20 indicators.

37:18

Those indicators included things like increasing the percentage of Tacoma residents spending less than 35% of their income on housing and transportation, and things like increasing the percentage of Tacoma high school students graduating.

37:33

As we implemented Tacoma 2025, there were other strategies and plans that came from it, such as the Affordable Housing Action Strategy and the Climate Action Plan.

37:43

And through these plans, we have been implementing the direction of Tacoma 2025.

37:50

Now, COVID was a major disruption to everything, including our strategic planning.

37:55

But as you look to the next box in the middle, council priorities, which were passed in 2020, you'll see that council refined those 20 indicators to their six highest priority indicators, which we have shorthanded into the six that you see here community safety, housing and homelessness, access to facilities and services, health, livable wage jobs, and belief in trust.

38:58

For engagement, because a vision like this requires that we get a lot of community engagement and really ground truth, whether the direction we're moving meets the needs of our community.

39:08

We did uh something a little different this time, which was we partnered with planning and development service and other departments on a combined one Tacoma engagement effort.

39:17

And this was really intended so that all of the work that we did throughout the city to figure out what was the community's vision wasn't separated by project or department, but was really approached holistically.

39:29

In addition to that, we've been doing deep work with our actual departments to figure out what strategies what strategies and plans are they implementing to move this forward.

39:40

And by doing that, you'll see in Tacoma 2035 that has really become the bulk of the structure for how we are moving goal areas forward.

39:48

More on that later.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Procedural██████████████████████████26%

Affordable Housing█████████████████████████25%

Strategic Planning████████████████████20%

Public Engagement█████████9%

Homelessness█████5%

Environmental Protection████4%

Public Safety██2%

Transportation Safety██2%

Budget Equity Analysis██2%

Summary of Proceedings

Tacoma City Council Study Session - November 18, 2025

The November 18, 2025, study session began with an executive session to discuss potential impending litigation. The primary agenda items included a presentation of the "Tacoma 2035" 10-year strategic plan, a significant amendment proposal to the Landlord Fairness Code initiative via the Community Vitality and Safety (CVS) committee, and several Council Consideration Requests (CCRs) regarding funding and resolutions. Council members engaged in extensive discussion regarding the strategic plan's flexibility, the complexities of landlord-tenant policy changes, and the prioritization of contingency funds.

Consent Calendar

No routine consent calendar items were presented during this study session; all items proceeded as discussion or presentation items.

Public Comments & Testimony

No formal public comment period was held during this study session.

Discussion Items

Tacoma 2035 Strategic Plan:
- Director Jacques Collon and Coordinator Ted Richardson presented the new framework, which consolidates over 40 existing plans into six goal areas: climate and environment, community safety, housing and homelessness, jobs and economy, placemaking and experiences, and transportation and mobility.
- Council members expressed support for the plan's holistic approach and its potential to improve communication. Councilmember Walker requested a formal briefing on the community safety action strategy component prior to final adoption. Councilmember Hines suggested the council review the list of included plans to determine which need updating or sunset.
- The resolution to adopt the plan, including the community safety action strategy, is scheduled for the December 9th council meeting.
Landlord Fairness Code Initiative Amendments (Councilmember Rumbaugh):
- The CVS committee proposed amendments to the Landlord Fairness Code to address concerns regarding economic hardship for small landlords and to align notice requirements with the Rental Housing Code (120 days).
- Support/Position: Councilmember Rumbaugh supported the proposal to align with Seattle code and streamline processes. Councilmember Walker expressed strong support for moving forward while acknowledging the need for clearer definitions and public education to counter misinformation.
- Opposition/Concerns:
  - Councilmember Scott: Expressed support for specific amendments (expelling deed-restricted affordable housing exemptions to include nonprofits, adjusting cold weather moratorium dates to Nov 15-March 15, removing means testing for eviction defense, and using an escalating late fee model). However, she voiced concern over the "sell to evict" exemption without verified hardship guidelines and suggested keeping two notices for rent increases.
  - Councilmember Hines: Expressed concern that the current code impacts marginalized populations' access to housing and suggested a moratorium rather than blanket exemptions for deed-restricted units. She questioned if data exists to prove Seattle's model is superior for their community.
  - Councilmember Diaz: Expressed discomfort with late fees rising to $75 (based on the 1.5% cap) and suggested capping it at 1.5% visually without the high dollar figure. She requested further data on naturally occurring affordable housing impacts.
  - Councilmember Bushnell: Highlighted confusion regarding ownership tracing due to LLC structures and questioned the reliance on Seattle's code without specific local data on outcomes.
Council Rules (Proposed by Mayor Woodards):
- The Mayor proposed postponing administrative rule changes to the Operational Strategy and Administrative Committee (OSAC) for further review, suggesting they be discussed in the fall rather than finalized at this study session.
Additional Agenda Items:
- Labor Standards Task Force Funding: Mayor Woodards proposed canceling the $50,000 allocation for a formal task force to reflect a shift in addressing labor standards, requesting the funds be returned to the contingency fund.
- Downtown Holiday Activation: Mayor Woodards requested $35,000 from the contingency fund to support a holiday event on Broadway and downtown revitalization efforts as a pilot for future activations.
- Sister City Sign Installation: A request was made for city council support for a permanent sister cities sign installation, with funding to be drawn from the contingency or other sources, with public feedback on design to follow.
- Tacoma Rescue Mission Youth Program: Councilmember Bushnell requested $10,000 from the contingency fund to support expanded services for traumatized youth at the Rescue Mission.
Judicial Appointment (Judge Hankey):
- Mayor Woodards outlined the process for appointing a replacement for Judge Drew Hankey, who is retiring December 31, 2025. Applications will begin immediately after the motion, with the GPSC committee conducting interviews on December 2nd and a recommendation to be made in January.

Key Outcomes

Strategic Plan: Staff will schedule a briefing for Councilmember Walker on the community safety action strategy. A resolution to adopt the Tacoma 2035 plan is expected at the December 9th meeting.
Landlord Fairness Code: The proposed amendments remain under discussion. Councilmembers Scott and Diaz requested specific edits to be incorporated into the draft. Staff confirmed that definitions will be aligned with the Rental Housing Code and that a technical review of definitions is ongoing.
Funding Adjustments:
- The Labor Standards Task Force funding ($50,000) is proposed for return to the contingency fund.
- A net increase in contingency fund requests is being calculated: $35,000 (Holiday Broadway) + ~$10,000 (Rescue Mission) vs. $50,000 (return from Task Force) + $50,000 (original allocation) adjustments. (Exact final balance was requested to be confirmed by staff). Councilmember Bushnell queried the remaining balance, noting it may be nearly exhausted.
Future Meetings:
- Council Rules items will be referred to OSAC for further review.
- A council retreat is tentatively scheduled for February 2026.
- The next study session or regular meeting will feature the formal adoption of the strategic plan and the finalized landlord code amendments.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned following the final motion.

Meeting Transcript

I would like to call to order the city council study session of November seventeenth, twenty twenty five. Clark, will you please call the role? Council Member Schnell. Deputy Mayor Daniels. Councilmember Diaz. Council Member Hines. Here. Council Member Rumba here. Council Member Sidal Day. Council Member Scott. Here. Council Member Walker. Here, Mayor Woodards. I believe she's online. Uh the May material is sent to you at eleven oh one. Super quick clarification. It is uh the study session of November eighteenth for the record. Uh we have one modification on today's agenda. We will first be entering an executive session. Uh once complete, we will re we will resume our first agenda item. Um I will entertain a motion to convene to an executive session. RCW for two point three zero point one one zero one I I and I I to discuss potential impending liquid litigation not to exceed fifteen minutes. So moved. Second. All right, all those in favor to convene to an executive session. Signify by saying aye. All those opposed signify by saying nay. The motion is declared adopted. All right, I would like to call the study session back to order. Our first item on the agenda is the Tacoma 2035 10-year strategic plan. For that, I would like to call on the director for strategic priorities, Jacques Collon and Ted Richardson. Thank you, Deputy Mayor, members of council. My name is Jacques Cologne, and I serve as the director of the Center for Strategic Priorities. With me today, I have Ted Richardson, who serves as our strategic initiatives coordinator. And I have the pleasure of bringing Tacoma 2035 our new 10-year strategic framework to you today. And before I jump into the presentation, I want to take a moment to thank you all as a council for your leadership and guidance in helping to shape this. I hope as we go through this, you'll see that it reflects your priorities and gives us a really strong foundation for moving into 2026. As a quick reminder, about a year ago, we combined three offices, the Office of Strategy, Equity and Human Rights, and Environmental Planning and Sustainability, into the Center for Strategic Priorities. In doing that, we have been rethinking and refining our approach to addressing those critical issues. And that has included thinking about how we do consulting as our Office of Equity and Human Rights. We're currently engaged in a pilot project with public works. Similarly, thinking about guidance, putting out guidance around community engagement, serving residents with disabilities, and more. For environmental policy and sustainability, thinking about how we continue to best implement our climate action plan that you took action on most recently in the summer of 2025. And in our Office of Strategy, rethinking how the strategic plan can help advance your priorities. And that's what we'll be talking to you about today. So, how we got here, 10 years ago, there was a citywide engagement effort to really capture what the vision of the Tacoma community was. That broad vision covered not just the work of the city but also the other jurisdictions that overlap with us to provide the services that folks want. So things like parks and schools were also part of that broad vision. Synthesizing all of that engagement led to seven focus areas and 20 indicators. Those indicators included things like increasing the percentage of Tacoma residents spending less than 35% of their income on housing and transportation, and things like increasing the percentage of Tacoma high school students graduating.

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