I would like to call to order the City Council study session of December 9th, 2025.

Clerk, will you please call the roll?

Councilmember Bushnell.

Present.

Deputy Mayor Daniels.

Councilmember Diaz.

Councilmember Hines.

Councilmember Rumba.

Here.

Councilmember Sidalgay.

Here.

Councilmember Scott.

Here.

Councilmember Walker.

Here.

Mayor Woodards.

Here.

The study session material sent you at 11.

Wonderful.

As we move into our first agenda item, let the record reflect that unless something changes within the next week that this will officially be my last study session.

So with that, our first agenda item is the Media and Communications Quarterly Update, and I'd like to call on Media and Communications Director Amy Clancy to begin the presentation.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Good to be with you in the city council today.

I'd like to also introduce Golden Doles, our digital manager, and we look forward, as I've said before, to this every quarter because it's good for us to tell you what's going on.

So we're going to start first of all by talking about what's new.

You've been hearing us talk about podcasts.

We're getting very close to signing the contract.

Soon as the contract is up and signed, then Golden's going to start exploring ways to integrate it into the website and everything else.

But I just wanted you to get a look at.

We are currently building a studio, or at least when we get all the permitting and everything else through.

Because peg fees can only be used for cable television content.

So we are using those fees for the build out of the podcast studio.

Also want to let you know that since it's been not quite three months since our last update, we're going to be giving you our year-to-year social numbers instead of quarterly social numbers because the data is basically only two months old.

So, first of all, as we discussed, we're continuing our efforts for consistency in branding.

Secondary logos, most of them are being retired at the end of the year.

We're also, when it comes to consistency and branding, moving forward with a new report template, and you saw it in the Tacoma 2035 report.

That was the first to use it.

And so we will have consistency there as well.

And just a reminder the purpose of this is to go from this for the City of Tacoma as close to this as we can possibly get.

Obviously, there are going to be some exceptions, fire, police, and others, but this is where we're going.

And to that end, we've created a brand resources page on SharePoint so people know where to find all this content.

Moving to Tacoma.gov.

It's been um oh golly, uh how many months?

Seven months.

Seven months since our launch on April 30th.

And since that time, we've had 1.6 million total page views, more than 550,000 unique users, and a 12 million event count, which means how many times people clicked on something, watched a video, filled out a form, whatever.

Um, and in we've got some more website news that um just to give you some perspective on what we're doing with this.

Golden and her team are making enhancements to the back end of the front.

And for example, when there was a suggestion regarding a community resources page when the federal government was on a shutdown, Golden and her team stood something up where we shared information from our state, county, city, and private partners so that we could refer people to where community resources could be found.

We know that we can't help everybody in every situation, but we do have partnerships with um different organizations, and so we can refer people in one area.

You know, here's a page to go to, and this is where you can go find help.

Uh we're also working um with NCS uh D worked with NCS to restructure our homelessness services page.

It wasn't easy to find information, and so now there are clear pages dedicated to where community members can find shelter, our long-term strategies to end homelessness, how to increase affordable housing, etc.

Uh just a lot more streamlined way to find information.

Um, and in those seven months since our launch, we're working with departments to increase clarity on a lot of the different pages, public awareness, community access.

The good thing about a website, as I've said before, is that it's a living thing, and we can constantly tweak it and make it better.

Moving to Tacoma Hub, these numbers are just quarterly.

We've had 39,000 page views with 2900 unique users.

And the top visited site is the home page, and the top department visited is human resources, and the top visited link on global navigation is job openings.

Okay, our top three hub news posts in the past year.

Um so these are a year to year compiling.

The EEO community of practice with 2,600 page views, the do's and don'ts for visits by ICE to city offices or events was the second highest visited at 1,200 page views, and the retirement department upcoming changes to retirement calculations with also 1,200 page views.

Moving now to our social media report, again, these are year-to-year numbers.

In the past year, our content has been viewed 5.4 million times.

Wow.

We have over 30,000 followers, and we've gained 3,800 followers in just the past year.

We've had 93,000 reactions, comments, shares, saves, replies, etc.

in the past year, which is a 134% increase over the prior year.

We've had 15,000 link clicks, which is a 103 increase over the prior year.

And in the past 12 months, we have shared over 1,000 posts on the City of Tacoma's Facebook page.

So what are the top posts for the past year?

Top three posts.

Number one, Tacoma Kicks Off Pride Month highlighting the flag over the Tacoma Dome and the crosswalk ribbon cutting with 800 likes and loves.

Number two was Transgender Day of Visibility raising the flag over the Tacoma Dome with 1,300 likes and loves.

And number three was the Asia Pacific Cultural Center opening with 1,300 likes and loves.

First was the Tacoma Report on the Juneteenth celebration, which had 883 likes and loves.

The second was Tacoma Report's Dia de los Muertos celebration at Tacoma Art Museum with 326 likes and loves.

And number three was the Daffodil Parade recap with 292 likes and loves.

Moving to Instagram, for the past year, our content was viewed 1,500, more than 1,500 times.

We have over 16,000 followers, which was a 71% increase over the following year.

We didn't really have much of an Instagram presence in years past, and it's something that we're really looking to keep growing because a lot of people like Instagram.

You don't necessarily see all the comments.

You can get the pretty pictures and the, you know, we have a picture of the week which we love sharing and people love contributing to.

And so Instagram is something we're definitely focusing on.

We've had over 60,000 likes, comments, shares, saves, etc., 688 link clicks, and in the past year we've had more than 750 posts.

So what are the top three Instagram posts from the past year?

Um, as I've shared before, it was an Orca pick when the Orca made that appearance at the Dune concert preview.

Number two was this one, which I love the photos of the week, uh, which is on their paddle boards around Halloween.

And number three was uh the new Pride Crosswalk.

Our top three Instagram videos over the past year was the Pride Crosswalk and the flag drone footage with 1,200 likes.

Um, number two is Pride Festival and Porch Fest are happening this weekend, which had over 430 likes.

Um and this is one that's fun to talk about.

When you see your first fall colors in Tacoma, this is something uh Tara Long, our social media um expert, saw the pictures or saw the beautiful colors and the leaves, and she said, wow, I'm just gonna start taking some video, put up a reel.

Um, and people really responded to it.

And so that's the beauty of Instagram.

It can just be something as simple as we really live in a beautiful place.

Let's show it off and share it.

Other social media trends, it's not going to be a surprise to you that ex followers are down.

A lot of people are leaving that platform.

We still have um over 58,000 followers on X, so we still do share news on X, but we continue to see a decline in followers, but we are seeing steady growth on Facebook and Instagram.

Uh next door is a new space that we are in.

Um there are 74,000 members in the city of Tacoma.

And the good thing about Nextdoor is that we can target our posts to demographics or council districts.

So, for example, if there's an event that's just happening in your district, we can send out uh the next door post specifically to that geographic location.

Same thing with alerts.

If there's something happening, um, if there's a need to evacuate or information that we want to share for a safety standpoint with just a small targeted area, we can do that on next door.

Um we've had 12 posts since August, and we've had over 9400 impressions.

On YouTube, um, we've gained 714 YouTube subscribers in the past year.

We have over 5600.

And in the past year, our content, we've had 225,000 content views, and we've uploaded 596 videos.

That's just in the past year.

City of Tacoma PIO, you guys all work with Maria Lee very closely, and I just wanted to share some information.

The five most frequent media topics from the past quarter, homelessness and shelter, 31 questions, shelter funding, 34 questions.

Grease traps with 22, questions for the mayor and interviews, 16.

And home and Tacoma and Northwest Ice Processing Center questions, 15 each.

In the last quarter, Maria Lee handled 91 distinct media inquiries on a high volume of complex and sensitive topics, with a notable upward trend in the pace of media questions resuming in September.

So in August and July, things kind of get a little quieter, and then it ramps up again.

This was really important information that Maria shared with me, and I wanted to pass along with uh to you.

In 2024, the top the top topic was also homelessness, but it generated half the number of inquiries as it did in 2025.

Um the media questions are escalating in pace and pressure.

So what does that mean?

Uh there's an intensification of interest.

When an issue catches fire in 2025, it burns hotter and longer, which requires sustained engagement.

And so it's not just answer the question and it's one and done.

That question for one media outlet could lead to questions from other media outlets who are just picking up the story.

They could lead to follow-ups, and that's something that Maria uh has noticed.

There's also a complexity of the ask.

The shift from 2024's questions about recycling and senior centers to 2025's focus on shelter funding deficits, business regulations, i.e.

grease traps, and international diplomacy represent a massive increase in the complexity of her work.

These topics have higher reputational stakes and require coordination across legal, the mayor's office, and multiple other departments.

So, what do we mean by repu um reputational stakes?

We need to make sure we get it right.

And we need to make sure, yes, it's important to be timely, but we want to make sure we get it right across all the different areas the legal area, the departmental area.

Um, also there's been more of a sustained crisis mode.

Um, Maria has handled the consistent high volume in the last quarter, averaging 16 inquiries a week with peaks of up to 24 in a week.

Um, and this is her continuous strategic operation.

And this was my favorite point that Maria shared with me when I asked her for this information.

She said she still loves her job.

Okay.

So she's handling a ton, yes, but she uh is doing it with a smile on her face and happily.

Um moving on to TV Tacoma.

Um TV Tacoma had a big quarter.

Um they shared the general election candidate forums in partnership with the League of Women Voters.

They also put out video voters guides.

A lot of people are getting their information now in video, they don't necessarily want to read it, so this is a continued and very valuable service.

They're also working, they also had some special presentations, the Tacoma Reads presentation on October 16th, and coming up December 13th, Tacoma City Ballet presents the nutcracker.

As you know, City Line is also one of our big shows on TV Tacoma.

And some of those interviews included the Crystal Judson Family Cent Justice Center in October because October is DV Awareness Month.

Um the picture above is uh the Rainbow Center fundraising Gala.

Um on the far right, we also had Snoopy, the City Line Pet of the Week, and they did an update because he was finally adopted after being featured a few times.

And in the middle, the Hartward Haven Animal Rescue.

Every week, Cheryl DeMark, the producer of City Line puts together five or more great interviews with people in the community to highlight what we're working on in Tacoma and Pierce County.

And then of course, there is the 253, which um focuses a lot on the arts, but also as you can see, the TMB restoration, it gives us an opportunity to talk about that project.

And we share this content often on our social media channels as well, and also share it on YouTube.

Uh YouTube, as I've mentioned before, is where most people between the ages of 18 and 34 get their content.

Um Mark McKittrick put together an In the Spirit 20th anniversary event um story, a live out loud story, and the TMB restoration story.

So lots of good content being created by TV Tacoma that you don't necessarily just have to tune in on your television and see.

You can also pull it up on YouTube and on our website.

When it comes to email marketing and gov delivery in the past year, um we sent out 508 e newsletters, e blasts or notifications, um, delivered to 2.1 million recipients.

Delivered to 2.1 million recipients.

The total number of subscriptions is just over 301,000.

Wow.

The total number of subscribers is 125,000, which is more than half the population of Tacoma.

So many of these subscribers have multiple subscriptions.

They may subscribe to all the newsletters of the council and other newsletters in the city of Tacoma.

And just something for you to be aware of.

So if you're ever wondering, ooh, how is my newsletter landing?

Who's, you know, where are these people coming from?

You can get that information from them.

You can also reach out to Golden.

One of the things that I did want to talk about today, because I haven't really before is the things you don't see.

And sitting in the front row are a lot of the folks from MCO that you don't see.

Manny who handles uh Web Steward relations and training, he also handles the hub.

Um Dee and Stacy are our communications and marketing analysts.

They um work with departments to coordinate all of their marketing and communications efforts.

They contribute to website and social media content, they contribute to TV Tacoma and digital videos, um, all city emails, much, much more.

Uh, one of the things I do want to point out is we basically have one person for every job.

We have one PIO, we have one multimedia person, Brian in the back.

We have one social media person, we have one digital manager.

Um, we we have one graphic artist, and so everybody is really busy, really likes to be busy.

Um, Stacy and D, between the two of them handle all 20 plus departments, so they each have about 10.

Um, so when somebody is on PTO or whatever, we try to pick up the Slack, but we try to not schedule that for when it will be too impactful because we all still have a job to do.

So, what's coming up in quarter one and beyond?

We're gonna continue with our branding consistency efforts.

Um, hopefully the podcast contracts will be signed so we can start uploading our meetings, first of all, uh, and then we can get into original content.

Um, the podcast studio build once permitting and everything else comes through.

Um, we'll get that going.

And you know, that may take a while, but we're going to enter into that space as soon as we get the contract signed and the um the the everything figured out.

And we're also just so you know, I know that AI is something a lot of people are are talking about.

We are exploring AI options for Tacoma.gov in partnership with uh ITD.

Um because of budget constraints, it may not be something that will happen immediately, but it may be something that will be part of the 27-28 budget.

Um but I just want you to know we're exploring options.

We know that's a big um, it's just a big part of communications.

People want not necessarily a link to something, they want the answer uh as soon as they type it in.

So we are exploring those options, and that's what we have for you, but we are happy to answer any questions.

Great.

Uh thank you.

I always love this report because it really gets down to just real numbers and um and gives us really good data.

I will open it up for questions from anyone.

Do we have any questions from the council?

Councilmember Bush now.

Uh thank you, Mayor, and thank you so much for your presentation.

I agree.

Um, getting the data and the information and the raw numbers is really helpful.

Um, one of my questions is in regards to when we do make these posts.

I have noticed that we do have some engagement with some of the comments.

Um, are we doing that across all platforms, or are we kind of picking and choosing kind of the methodology and thoughts behind that?

Because I know sometimes folks will comment things that are clear misinformation and stuff like that, and we're trying to make sure that we're correcting the record or could you just talk about that philosophy a little bit?

Yeah, I'd say on the daily basis, we are constantly monitoring what is being posted on our channels and what people are saying, commenting on or sharing.

Um, so yes, we do.

If we if that we do notice misinformation, we do want to go in and correct that as soon as possible.

We'll go put some facts, some additional information, and we usually always like to try to include a link as well so people can go back and get more information about that.

Um, because again, you know, sometimes if the post gets too long, you know, you know, we want people to go back and actually find the the facts.

Um we monitor across all of our platforms that we are on, so we want to make sure that we're consistently looking across um whether it be Facebook, Instagram, X, um, we've been working with HR with our LinkedIn um platform as well, too.

So again, if there's something that we posted there that we can share additional information on, we um are commenting on that.

Right, thank you.

I I think about next door as well.

I I personally have removed myself from that platform because of how interesting it becomes.

So it can be a challenge, I'm sure.

Yeah, there can be a lot.

And that isn't one of the newer the newest platforms that we're on since the uh beginning of this year.

So yeah, we're not trying to overpost, but just trying to share that important hyperlocal information where we can share information that are that's going on in the communities or in your in local council districts or in very specific targeted areas.

So thank you, Mary.

All right, thank you.

Councilmember Diaz.

Thank you, Mayor.

I also had a question about next door.

Um it might be sort of broader than that, but I'm wondering because you can geo-target it a little better.

Is that something that we'd work with TPU on at all?

Because again, though they often have different sort of neighborhood specific things.

Like I always hear about like the water flushings and different things that happen, so I'm wondering how we coordinate with them on those kinds of announcements.

Yeah, I'm not sure enough exact exact example that we've worked with TPU, but I know we we are in communication with them.

So, like again, if there was a power outage or maybe now too with this, the weather we've been having this week, too, looking into um opportunities to share messaging of what they're posting.

Um we as a city of Tacoma can set up kind of our own areas or jurisdictions because I know TPU also goes outside of the city of Tacoma, and as a utility that they are able to communicate outside of just the city of Tacoma.

So yeah, I know we have our council districts, we can go um do by zip code, um, but that is a very good opportunity to to continue to to work with our partners at TPU because yeah, we I know we have, like I said, with the storms and some of the um I think our Spotified wrapped um posts that we did last week, we were communicating with and working with them to help um collaborate and share that information out.

We do also um all the PIOs, including TPU's PIO meets monthly, just to talk about upcoming um campaigns, platforms, things that we should be looking forward to so that we can share their content, and we also have a monthly digital team meeting so we can talk about what we're sharing, what we're doing, our philosophies, and how we can support each other.

Thank you.

I just think that's I figured you were already doing the work, and I just think it's really helpful to highlight that that's a really good platform for geospecific things like that.

Um I was wondering also um once you get the podcasts um set up going on up on 15.

Um, if that's something that uh we would be amenable to trying to make available to the public, or if that's something I should try to think about how we might structure a CCR around in the future to try and do it is either a discounted enterprise or just a way for people to have access to a podcasting studio.

I know that that's a thing that I've heard from different folks in the community about.

Um so to what degree that's possible or feasible, I'd love to look into in the future, and just wondering if that's at all something that folks would be amenable to.

We could definitely explore it.

Um there are challenges because it's a secure building.

Um we don't necessarily have people in the office every day.

Um I'm there, but um I would not be able to staff a podcast for an outside source on a daily basis.

Um but we can definitely explore whatever it is you want to explore.

You know, we did meet with um the Tacoma Public Library to see um its podcast space, which is available to the public.

Uh and so it's it's something that we can definitely explore, and if that's what you would want to do, we can move in that direction, but it would most likely require additional staff.

Thank you.

And the library option too, just to um piggyback on that.

Um that wasn't quite an option for us because we needed the video component, so we can um help use those funds that are available through TV Tacoma and those peg funds.

So that's the video components really important for for us and our project.

So we can fund it.

Yeah, happy to explore whatever you want to do.

Awesome, thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Diaz, Councilmember Heinz.

Oh, uh thank you, Madam Mayor.

I I think my question was answered, which is just kind of how are we coordinating all the amount of communication that we're setting out there?

So it sounds like there is there are cross-departmental conversations about the cadence, tone, tenor, volume of communications going out of the organization.

I people probably don't like the fact I set up so many meetings, but I'm a big talker and I like to know what's going on.

And I think those relationships are really important.

Uh it's important for us to support each other.

Um we all have social media that we um can use to reach people, and you can see by the numbers, people are reached through these platforms, and the more that we can elevate uh other people's messages um the better off we are.

Yeah, I I also just I think there's a the cadence conversation is a is an important one, which is what a message goes out, how much space time does it have to breathe before some other message lands on top of it, right?

And so sometimes there's emergencies where you you can't control that, but I think the more coordination we can have around, you know, I don't as a resident hear from the city six times in a 30-minute window and then hear nothing for three days, right?

I mean it's like how are we coordinating some of that?

You're your prescient.

Um we are actually working on exploring how do we message in a crisis situation and who's responsible?

You know, do we put it in a banner on the top of the webpage?

Do we send it out on social media?

Is it something we should do through the Genesis Alert?

Do we do all of the above?

Um so we're starting to recognize that we need to have more coordination in that area, and we're gonna figure out how to do it.

And how many PIOs operate inside the city of Tacoma in general, right?

Because we have Maria who's our PIO for general, but how many other PIOs currently exist?

Maria, um there's Chelsea for um Tacoma Fire.

There is um uh Shelby Boyd at Tacoma PD.

There is um uh Shelby Boyd at Tacoma PD, uh Hillary at TVE.

Who am I missing?

Is TPU TPU?

Yeah, TPU has its own PIO, yeah.

And library, yeah.

Uh TPU and library have their own as well.

Does TPU have just one for rail, water and power, or do they have separate?

They have one for all of them, but they they have multiple comms people.

Gotcha.

Okay, I mean I think that along as part of that conversation, right?

Is you know, do are those folks communicating with each other around messaging and making sure we're as aligned as possible, I think is just something it sounds like you're doing that work already.

We're trying, yeah, for sure.

Yeah, it's important to forget.

You don't control the send button for every PIO.

No, I wish I did.

For everybody, non-T.

No, I I mean I think that's just a in my mind.

Um, again, the public does not see the differences, right?

You know, so when general government says something and TPU says something and the police department says something, the public isn't because they're busy living their lives, are not disseminating, like, oh well that came from the fire department, so that's different than this thing that came from TPU.

They just they see it all as the city.

You're you're absolutely right, and that's one of the really important reasons for the consistency in branding, because we are the city of Tacoma.

And um you're right, people don't necessarily distinguish between them.

Yeah.

No, uh I think that was my main question.

I I think as we're one of the broader projects I think we've all been engaged in is how do we believe build belief and trust in the city of Tacoma and a clear, consistent message um that is clearly communicated with some sense of cadence, expectation and validity.

I mean, I think is a critical component of you know building belief and trust.

So I appreciate all the efforts on that and happy to know what I can do to support it for.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Hines, Councilmember Rumba.

Thank you, Mayor.

And um, I want to I really appreciate this conversation.

And um I just was curious on the NCS page for homelessness.

Now that we're talking about our branding, um, how are we making sure that the information is broader than just the city for the homeless services that are available?

So does it have any link that sends them to like the county for their resources?

Or how does that work?

And I know that's maybe out of our scope, but also it's like the come it's a holistic approach since we're looking at a unified regional approach to homelessness.

Is that going to be maybe something we look at?

Um, yeah, we did again.

I think the pages are just finalized to get about probably about a week or so ago.

So um don't remember the exact details, but we do definitely have resources and really just try to divide up the information so it's more easy to find what you're looking for.

Some of the stuff was we felt it's a little bit buried because again, we were just trying to get everything transitioned over to the new site.

So yeah, definitely want to provide more resources, direct links to where people can get information very specific to Tacoma, but also yes, for other regional um resources, information, um websites.

So, yeah, we're definitely open to that.

Again, we just kind of took our first revamp of trying to just make it more clear and get that information there so we could direct put people right directly to what the information they're trying to do.

Because if you're doing it there, are you doing it other places that are city of Tacoma resources that work with other um partners?

So thank you so much for the answer.

Yeah, the community resources page too that Amy mentioned too that was new, where we just wanted to have kind of like a one-stop shop for resources where people could go and get get information without having to search all over the place.

All right, are there any other questions?

Well, I don't see any, so thank you for um the presentation.

Great work um by MCO with a mighty small but mighty team.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Thank you all so much.

All right.

Um next, our second agenda item is the Museum of Glass joint use agreement, and we've got a couple people coming to the table.

Looks like we have got uh deputy city attorney Steve Victor joining us.

Is that Dylan?

Is that Dylan?

Good afternoon, mayor, deputy mayor, members of council.

Uh Steve Victor with the City Council.

Yes, yes, that would be helpful.

Dylan or Jeff?

Dylan.

Dylan, I was like, I was like, that's Dylan, right?

Thank you, Dylan.

Um mayor and members of city council.

Okay.

There is.

I'm joined by Dylan Harrison from Public Works Real Property Services.

Uh there is also uh a museum representative here, uh, but not part of the presentation.

Um we're going to be uh presenting on an item on your agenda tonight, which is a resolution approving uh an amended and restated agreement with the Museum of Glass, uh joint use agreement for the parking garage.

We're going to be presenting on an item on your agenda tonight, which is a resolution approving an amended and restated agreement with the Museum of Glass, a joint use agreement for the parking garage.

I'm presenting today because I wrote the original 2004 agreement because I'm old.

So this is you said it, not me.

This is uh unlike the last presentation, this will be dry and dull, so I'll do my very best to march through it.

Um before I talk about the agreement that's in front of you tonight, I wanted to give you a little background.

Um in the mid-1990s, the city of Tacoma assembled all of the FOSS waterway upland property, and we engaged in a cleanup of all of those properties on the uh west side of the FOSS and the in-water portion.

And the result of all of that work, which was partially federally funded, um, was the development that we see on the FOSS today.

And our earliest development partner was the Museum of Glass.

Um that was first in, and in order to facilitate that development, uh the City of Tacoma partnered with the museum, and Tacoma funded and owns uh the parking garage and the plaza uh that are below the Museum of Glass.

And the parking garage is run by Tacoma as part of our parking system, and uh provides public public some public parking on the Foss.

The museum uh approached us uh late this year uh with plans to uh make some improvements um in part to the operation of the garage, the circulation, uh, and in part to add museum programming to the uh the garage.

The first uh thing that's needed for the museum to proceed is permission from the owner, which is the city of Tacoma, uh, because they cannot file permit applications uh for city property without city permission.

And so the vehicle to provide that permission and to somewhat scope uh what they're doing, is this amended and restated, proposed amended and restated joint use agreement.

Um the proposed improvements uh include um improvements to protect the museum from king tides, um, improvements to uh traffic circulation, removal of some barriers, um, lighting improvements, and these are all at the museum's expense.

So these are not at the city's expense.

And then the museum proposes to remove some of the parking and replace those with wood and metal shops and storage space.

So the um because we don't know because the if if the council chooses to enter into the uh agreement tonight, the amended and restated agreement, that will allow the museum to apply for permits, but it does not guarantee that exactly what they apply for will be result will result from permitting.

So we're not sure exactly what improvements will be permitted, nor how many parking stalls will be displaced by those improvements.

So the final feature of this is to defer the question of exchange of value, because the parking stalls have some value to the city, uh, but the improvements also have value, and so at the point at which uh we understand the um scope of the improvements and the number of parking that's removed, uh we will reconcile the value.

Um, and there are a number of ways to do that.

Um, including uh the museum taking more responsibilities uh for maintenance, which will reduce the city's you know obligations or other other ways of exchanging value.

So that is the general scope of the proposed amendment, so authorizing um submission of permits, uh giving the city full indemnity for any anything arising from uh the improvements, and uh agreeing to refine the value exchange at the point at which the actual improvements and parking displacement is known.

So authorizing um submission of permits, uh giving the city full indemnity for any anything arising from uh the improvements and um agreeing to refine the value exchange at the point at which the actual improvements and parking displacement is known.

So those are the aspects of the the um proposed agreement, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you very much.

I'll start with uh thank you very much, Steve.

Um and Dylan for being here.

Let me start with council member Rumbaugh.

Um, thank you, Mayor, and I just um thank you, Steve, for going through that.

So I did meet with the museum, and um I understand that this is one step and a step of several other things that they're gonna need to do.

Um I just I want to say this is like part of their capital plan, and um when they talked about the store the storage that they're putting down there, it's because they are doing some of that work upstairs in their other parts of their museum, and then they could store their art on site rather than paying thousands of dollars every year to store it up in Seattle.

And so that just makes lots of sense.

Could you just walk through um so this you're asking us this would be something that's on the agenda tonight, and you're asking us um to support this so that they can move forward with applying for their grant.

Um, not their grant, but for their um their permit, correct?

Correct.

That's the first step, right?

The first step.

Um, could you talk about the next step?

Because the isn't part of this to try to get to where they they own it again after the value values figured out, or how does that work?

Councilmember, that's a separate um uh potential transaction, and so it is not at all part of this it's not part of this at all.

Not part of this at all.

That would be something that that the city would separately review and the council would separately consider.

I want to thank you so much for working on this, Steve.

I know this is really important for them getting moving on their project, and I'm really excited to see their what I saw the scope of what they're looking to do, and I think it will be really wonderful for the city of Tacoma to have that asset and um increased in the amount of space they have for galleries, and so I mean I'm just I'm really excited to support this.

So thank you.

Thank you, Steve.

Uh, and thank you, Councilmember Walker.

I guess I probably should have let you all know I'm bringing this forward this evening after my conversation um with the director of the museum, and because of our long-standing relationship with the glass museum, their success is our success as a city.

It's funny.

I was on a podcast last night and someone asked me about tourism.

And were we gonna, you know, are we gonna spend more time recruiting more people to come and visit Tacoma?

And it's because we have great assets like the Glass Museum are going to be the reasons why people come back to Tacoma.

But as they continue um to grow and improve um the experience, not just for those who live in Tacoma, but for those who come to visit, um, again, their success is our success.

Um as we've said, approving this agreement allows the permitting process to begin.

Um, and the city will obviously thoroughly review the plans for compliance um and make sure that they meet all called code and environment and environmental requirements.

One thing I do want to say for those who might be concerned, one of the questions I asked Debbie was Debbie Umlink was um this will actually remove some of the parking.

Um, and I asked her about you know how many times a year do we fill up that parking lot?

So what kind of impact will this have?

And she said maybe three or four times a year.

Do they use the entire parking lot?

So it even though we'll be losing some parking spaces, it won't it won't have huge implications for an extended period of time.

There are just a couple events that happened during the year that that that happens, and she assured me that they would be working with signage and information to make sure that you know, for those events that people are clear about where they can park so that we don't get a bunch of of emails um for people who are really upset because there wasn't a place to park two or three times a year.

So um excited to bring this forward with that.

I'll turn it over to Councilmember Walker who has a question.

Thank you, Mayor.

My question was on parking utilization, and you just answered it.

So I'm assuming we have those numbers somewhere.

I see Eric's back there.

I know he's got all those numbers.

We do.

I would love to see those.

Okay.

Um and then it makes complete sense.

So just trying to sort of maybe take it to uh the next level, and maybe we can work with Debbie as we move forward and helping support people taking transit to the museum on those days and um coordinating with the light rail and bus service that we that we do have.

So but we'd love to see those numbers just to keep that top of mind as we think about utilizing our city garages and assets because there is a dollar amount attached to that, right?

So appreciate that.

Thank you.

Great.

Thank you very much.

Councilmember Walker suddenly I jumped in before you.

Um are there any other questions?

All right, seeing none, this will be uh on the agenda this evening.

Thank you all very much.

All right.

Our third agenda item is the public safety sales tax.

And I'm gonna call on interim city manager Kim and Andy Chirillo, the director of finance.

All right, city manager.

Madam Mayor, uh Deputy Mayor, uh members of council.

This is um by my count, this is the fourth time we've talked to you in 2025.

Um in the thread of revenue options for council.

We've talked about this through Midmod.

We've talked about this to a certain degree as the uh session wrapped up uh back in the spring.

Um so uh Director Trillo is here to present on um uh both a primer for our public that may be listening uh with the news coverage that we've had through the news tribune and other media.

Um, this is something that we've been talking about.

Um I'm gonna wrap up at the end with conversations on something that um I want to make sure to emphasize uh this is also uh based on the last conversation that this is from a sequential order, uh, the first step in terms of moving towards first and second reading for certification from the council to pursue a public safety sales tax or pursue grant options for the city.

Um we will be coming back from a staff perspective through the budget process to talk about how you will be allocating and uh instructing the use of uh potential uh new revenues that maybe you derive from the authorization from Houseworth 2015.

So, with that I will pass it over to my colleague uh Director Trello.

Thank you very much.

Uh thank you, Mayor, members of the council.

I'm Andy Chirulo, the finance director.

Uh very quick presentation here on um the public safety criminal justice sales tax.

Some of this will look familiar.

We were here last month uh with very similar presentation.

Uh House Bill 2015 passed by the legislature this last session created two programs the local law enforcement grant program and the ability for a local jurisdiction to raise a one-tenth of one percent sales tax.

Uh the grant program has a hundred million dollars appropriated to it, and that is for um paying up to 75 percent of the salary of a law enforcement officers, peer counselors, and behavior health professionals working in co-response.

There's a 25% uh city match on the local grant program.

But we are here to talk about the criminal justice sales and use tax program.

And on the next slide, um again, the city has the ability to use their uh councilmanic authority to pass this one-tenth of one percent sales tax.

Uh, the requirements for both the grant program and the sales tax are the same.

Um, so once you qualify for one, you qualify for the other as well.

Uh we will um if the city council does not use their council medicity prior to June 30th of 2028, um you the there's still an ability to raise one-tenth of one percent sales tax after that point, though it would require a vote uh the community.

What can you use money's raised for uh the sales tax on this is this slide shows um all the different uses you can use this for as you can see on the list domestic violence, public defenders, diversion programs, reentry work programs, um homelessness as long as it's preventing people interacting with the criminal justice system.

Uh you also see at the last bullet there the uh a large list of things with uh juvenile programs, outreach, alternative responses, and mental health crisis response.

Uh at this point again, a a big shout out for our government relations staff.

They worked really hard with the legislature to make sure that this definition and the uses were as expansive as they could be and included things that Tacoma is uh leading the way on.

Uh, this next slide talks a bit about the timing of all this under House Bill 2015, since the requirements for both the grant program and authorizing the sales and use tax are the same.

The criminal justice training commission, the CJTC, uh, is uh authorized with approving applications from local jurisdictions.

Once a local jurisdiction has submitted an application, the CJTC has 45 days to review it and provide any feedback.

If there are things that need to get fixed, the local jurisdiction after that 45-day period, and they hear back, has 30 days to respond and up to 180 days to come into any uh compliance with requirements that they may not be fully in compliance with.

After the 180 days, again, House Bill 2015 contemplates that uh if a local jurisdiction is still not in compliance, the Department of Revenue could withhold 100,000 per month from the sales and use tax until a jurisdiction comes into compliance.

And the last couple bullets talk about a different timeline.

Uh since the Department of Revenue controls uh the sales and use taxes in Washington State, they only allow changes to the sales and use tax three times a year, January 1st, April 1st, and July 1st.

Um and they need 75 days advanced notice of any changes.

So, as that last bullet says, if we are hopeful to have an April 1st, 2026 effective date, we would need to notify the Department of Revenue on or before January 15th or 16th.

I think my math was one day off on that one.

I apologize.

This is a snapshot uh from the uh criminal justice training council's website of the 18 jurisdictions that have already applied for the one-tenth of one percent sales tax.

As you can see, there are a lot of cities on there, all different kinds of demographics, bigger cities, smaller cities, east of the mountains, west of the mountains.

There are three counties there at the end: King County, Pierce County, and Skaggett County.

This slide um shows uh we pulled all the cities that had a sales tax rate over 10 percent in the state.

This is the list of them.

You can see a clump at the bottom at a 10.2 percent.

You can see Tacoma highlighted there in blue uh with a couple of uh Seattle and Renton, they're all in the 10.3% range, and then above that you can see others go all the way up to 10.6 percent.

Uh there are some asterisks along the side there, those are all cities that have uh applied for the uh one-tenth of one percent criminal justice um sales tax, one tenth one percent sales tax.

Uh so you can see uh jurisdictions on this list again contemplating increasing their sales tax to dedicate it toward criminal justice and public safety uses.

Uh and again, uh one last note on this one.

Uh both King County and Pierce County have applied.

This is a stackable one, which means that the city can do it, the county can do it, um, and both of those would be additive to the sales tax rate.

And with that, happy to answer any questions.

You will see the first reading of this on the agenda tonight, as our city manager said.

So we're happy to answer any questions you might have.

Okay, thank you.

Uh Councilmember Bush now.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

Uh, thank you for the presentation.

Uh one of the this isn't the first time we were doing like uh a sales tax for um one type of one percent.

Um but some of the requirements obviously are different depending on what it is for.

Uh do we have the ability to set us set aside like reserve funds not too dissimilar to like Tacoma Creates and other or or is there flexibility in that to do that?

Uh that is 100% under the council's control, um, what what you actually end up doing with these as long as the expenditures of these funds are within what's allowed in House Bill 2015.

So, yes.

Long answer to say yes, you can.

And just to um add on to that, um, Councilmember Bush now, uh the council has the City of Tacoma has a practice upon which we actually take a look at what revenues are coming in, and we are very forward-thinking in terms of um sales tax is whether it's elastic or not, it does change with what's happening in consumption.

Um so when you look at what's most recently been authorized by the council with Tacoma creates for that one-tenth of one percent um when we started that tax, um, we looked at the what we captured in terms of uh recovered for those revenues, and then we started talking about programming.

So, this would follow that practice as well.

Okay, thank you.

Yeah, I I understand the sales taxes can be very um elastic and in what comes in year by year, and so trying to make sure that um whatever programming is created out of this um it it accounts for that.

I think it's a really prudent, so I appreciate that.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

Right, Councilmember Sidalga.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

Um, this is this one's a tough one for me because at a time when everyone's costs are going up to think about a tax increase, which is literally the most regressive thing we can do because taxes, you know, we tax poor people to help poor people generally is how we kind of run it.

Um that that brings me pause because hundreds and hundreds of my constituents have talked about just how much they're being hit left and right.

Um so I'm gonna give this one a really long thought because it on the other side is we are limited by design in where we can find revenues.

Um I'm at this place, and I think many of my colleagues are where we're limited to a very poor tool to do something very meaningful for the city.

Um and that is the balance that we have to kind of take a look at, understand, and come to terms with.

Um the question I have is in passing this, this does not already set aside dollars for various things we would still have an opportunity if this were to pass to consider how we would uh invest this money for the good of the city.

Um and if so, when would the first day that we could see this being used before thank you very much.

Um Councilmember Sidage.

Um staff is bringing this to you for consideration first from a prompt from council to take a look at uh and recognizing that sales tax is a regressive way in which we tax our constituents that we serve.

Um incredible level of respect and hardship in the balance test that you'll be looking at um to answer your question succinctly.

If and we should talk about um first reading tonight.

Um staff we are proposing a uh second and final reading on January 6th uh to allow um the council next year to also be able to um stamp that as well.

Um if we notify Department of Revenue uh by the 15-16th, um give that 75 notice, we will start collecting taxes prospectively uh second quarter next year, starting that point.

Um coincidentally, on a parallel track, the city council will be in uh budget season.

Um and so we will, because this is potentially um a decision that council could confirm on the 6th of January, we will start working towards a pro forma for your consideration.

Um we also heard, and I heard this very keenly through mid-Mod.

Um I am incredibly proud, and I've only been here for two years, of the efforts that the city is already doing without dedicated revenues.

Many of our alternative response programs are predicated on one-time funds.

Um, and it's remarkable what the city of Tacoma's been able to do and leverage.

Um I've heard that that is a uh uh another area focus for the city council on how to protect programs that do not have funding dedicated to.

Um so in earnest, I think in spring, I would say uh we probably start uh you will start with your city manager and your finance director in earnest, um, right at the beginning of the year, um talking about parameters upon which this pro forma is based on uh director Trillo's um very uh concise prospective is that this will generate potentially seven to seven and a half million dollars that first year.

We will offset that by a quarter of receipts that we will not see, and we'll move towards that.

So we'll be building that out for 27 starting in in the beginning part of next year by the spring summer, early summer.

Um, a lot of this should be buttoned up for the budget.

So um unfortunately, fortunately, I'd say fortunately, not unfortunately, you will be in budget for pretty much the totality of uh the summer uh on this topic, along with uh solving also what needs to be stated today, our structural deficit as well.

And this goes a long way too.

Not to say that it should not be new programming, and we've heard between domestic violence programming uh to um uh direct response, getting better response, alternative response, all of these things will be coming up.

I hope that answers your question.

I started getting it.

I have a quick follow-up.

Yes, sir.

Um just and I know it's not gonna be one-to-one.

Uh we had a presentation that uh forecasted what our potential deficits gonna be next year.

Um can you just tell me what that number was?

So we ended uh mid-mod with a projected uh structural deficit in the general fund of 15 plus million dollars.

Okay, so 15 million dollars structural deficit per year or for the biennium.

Uh for for the biennium, uh, prospectively, it's growing based on escalation.

Sure, that number is gonna change any.

That number is gonna change, but if you take a look at the pro forma for this, um I I would state this for the record that if we were able to um righteously take care of existing programs as much as we can, that will be a recommendation from um, I believe from staff.

So that was gonna be my question.

So technically, this has the ability to um address the majority of that deficit as long as the dollars are then kept within existing programs rather than new programs.

This is just something for all of us to be aware of as we think about this uh into next year.

Okay.

Thank you.

And that's a portion I need to emphasize of the one-tenth of one percent sales tax.

There is the competitive grant process as well, that is for uh new response uh co-responders and law enforcement response to um obviously that's something that is even more emphasized.

But you don't need to do the tax to do the not necessarily you can but you still have to take a certifying action sure that we are predicating here with first rating tonight.

Okay.

Uh I know I think you you clarified things, this has the ability to address a large portion of our structural deficit as long as we stay within the programs that we currently have.

Okay, thank you.

I um I I before I call on on others, um obviously I won't be here for the vote, but I do I do want to uh I know this is a tough tax, right?

I mean, we unfortunately we have very few tools.

And um and and I would I would hope that staff would look at where we can where we could have some impact on the structural deficit.

But I I I would hope as a resident that you don't put it all towards the structural deficit because we have so many other needs, especially around alt response youth violence, that um we have nowhere to get money from, and it's the last thing that we actually fund.

And if we think about it, um being very thoughtful on how we invest this money could also help reduce expenses in other ways if we invest the money correctly.

So I I just I just uh uh as as a as a future just resident, um I just feel the need to say that I I hope that this council will be um that this council will be thoughtful as to not just supplant the money to take care of basic needs to relieve the general fund, but to also make sure that we're taking care of basic needs of our community that we have not yet be been able to take care of in a way that has meaningful impact.

And when I say that, I'm talking about CSO's community safety officers and our hope team, um, which I think has the capacity to be to be so much greater and provide so much more relief to fire and police that we just don't have them set up in the perfect way that makes them as successful as they could be.

But I hope that we don't abandon abandon that.

But so I hope that staff will come with a recommendation that addresses some of the structural deficit, but also make sure that things that we couldn't fund, like the hope team is funded.

If I were taking the vote, that's what I would demand.

Um let me turn to council member Rambah.

And let me second that too.

Um to the soon-to-be only resident.

That's pretty funny.

Um so thank you so much for bringing this forward.

And um I know that you you know I care a lot about domestic violence, and I think that like um when staff comes forward with recommendations, you know, I look at this as a way that we can free up money from our general fund that's been um that we are using for domestic violence to help like to support Crystal Judson Family Justice Center.

But I really want us to think about like outside of the box about things that we know can work and help um with like the cost of the police by doing a better job of um supporting survivors of domestic violence and victims of domestic violence.

I think that there's like what the mayor is saying makes lots of sense.

There are things to do that actually are preventative that will save money um in these different places.

I also want to say I think supporting um community liaison officers in larger numbers in our business districts is really important around um in the different um sectors that we have.

I think that that will do a lot to alleviate the um need of the Tacoma police department um of the fire department to show up for things that they were sending the most expensive thing out when we send a fire truck.

So I'm hoping that we'll really work on these other alternative responses.

But um I have data that really shows um from my work at Crystal Jetson that it does make sense to invest in these these systems, um, providing advocates does help um down the road.

Um save on first off fatalities and death of women in general from domestic violence, but also um the need for a TPD to show up to a call if we can take care of that in another way through the court system.

So thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Rumbach.

Councilmember Walker.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, and I think along the lines of both Councilmember Rumba and the mayor, um, and we've had many conversations about that.

I appreciate bringing this forward.

Um with Andy, this the nuts in bold specifics.

I think it's now very clear what we can and can't do, or as clear as we can understand from the state.

And I think it's really clear from this council that we're really want to make sure we're investing in um preventative care for our community in terms of um criminal justice, uh violence prevention, those kind of things, in addition to our um sort of the traditional law enforcement model.

So um eager to have that conversation.

I will add my name to the list of folks that's we don't want this to um just slot right in to fix the budget, but really to invest in that those other programs and the preventative care that we know makes a difference and will on the budget in the long run.

So um glad that we're bringing it forward, glad that we're getting it done.

Um as my colleagues have said, this is one of the few tools we have, so I think it's important we take advantage of it because there's a lot of need in the community, but I think I I'm encouraged by the conversation around this table that we're gonna use the money wisely and creatively.

So um appreciate you both bringing it forward and looking forward to I guess voting after the holidays.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Walker, Councilmember Hines.

Uh thank you, Madam Mayor.

Uh and so I'm not missing something, the fact that if we authorize this, we're gonna have a budget conversation about how we're gonna allocate these dollars in the next budget cycle.

Okay.

I I mean, I just I think we obviously have a clear need.

I agree with Council Stallgate that we continually find a way to um increase our tax burden on our residents um in ways that often are not you know most productive, but we do have limited options by which we can do so, absent the state giving us more tools by which to try to address this and or the state deciding they want to give more money to the cities because we're addressing frontline issues, which I think is part of our legislative agenda that we were talking with our legislators with yesterday.

Um but I I think uh I'm eager for the process going forward to think about how we best kind of you know meet the needs of our residents.

Um and thank you for the kind of ongoing conversation around this.

Thank you, Councilmember Hines, Deputy Mayor Daniels.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I guess I would just echo some of the things that have been said here and just also um just thank us for uh taking this up.

I know new taxes are hard.

Um, and I just want to recognize the state that we live in and that we have there have been people advocating for years over years over years about our unbalanced tax code and what that looks like for community, and so I just want to make sure that the owner is not on us for trying our to use every tool that the legislature gives us to uh support our our um our neighbors and um uh fix this the social safety net.

Um and there's so many uh programs that we started and really great programs that our community continues to advocate for that are now um basic needs in our community, and I want to see them not be um on the chopping block every time because I think that our community does consider them to be basic needs, um, particularly as it relates to public safety.

Um and so uh this is the uh a really great way for us to be able to um say yes, this is important, yes, this is basic, um, meaning that we can do this over and over again.

Um, and it is we don't have to consider it every single time.

And so um I'd love to see us uh continuing those um alternative service programs as you all make that decision in the future um and whatever else uh comes to mind that is outside of the the box um yeah those things are equally as important.

So um really happy to support this and the legislature has let us know um vehemently that this is the way that we save ourselves.

No one is coming to save small cities and and we've got to do sometimes hard things.

So thank you.

Council, thank you, Deputy Mayor, Councilmember Bushnell.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

I appreciate the second by the apple.

I just um just want to acknowledge the regressive nature of sales taxes um as has been mentioned before, and as also has been mentioned, you know, we're limited in the tools that are available to us for revenue uh based on the state um legislature and um and while I appreciate their um seeing that public safety.

Uh I'm sure they've heard it just as much as we have that public safety is a prime concern uh from residents and constituents across the board.

Um, you know, I think uh more sustainable and equitable revenue options uh would be fantastic uh to hear from the legislature also.

Um I also want to mention that I think it's uh I appreciate that we're gonna be looking at programming through the budgeting process.

I think one of the one of the good things about our budgeting process is gives us an opportunity to re-examine programming and making sure that we are uh most effective with our uh taxpayer dollars.

Um while this does provide some more stability to those programmings, I still think an evaluation of effectiveness is really important to be built into those programs and systems because uh you know, times change needs change of the community as well, and sometimes doing things year after year because it's we have a sustainable funding source doesn't always mean it's the most effective use of those dollars.

And so I think it's just really important that we are always going back and re-examining our programming to make sure is it is it meeting the intent of the community, is it meeting the intent of the programming?

Is there opportunities for two weeks enhancements?

Does it need to be plussed up in order to meet those needs or does it need to be drawn down?

Um and so I think it's really important that we're flexible in meeting those needs.

And you know, I'm really passionate about uh reducing recidivism rates.

I think uh trying to help those that are coming out of the system to be most successful is one of those cost-saving measures and best ways to um not have to use up city resources, right?

Um, because they are able to uh meet their own personal needs, the needs of their families, uh, and uh have great jobs, which is also uh revenue generating for the city because of the taxes they pay.

So um, you know, I I I think uh that's kind of how I think about it.

So I don't want to I don't want us to fall static into our programming uh as it exists or as it could exist in the future, um, but even it with a more sustainable source, not the most sustainable, but a more sustainable source of funding, we should always be re-examining and making sure our programming is most effective for the needs of the community.

So I just wanted to throw that out there.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Councilmember Bushnell, City Manager, go right ahead.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Just um just in in tandem with all the commentary and and uh some of the direction and an allowance for this potentially to move forward tonight.

Um I do want to for the record um acknowledge that this council uh led by you uh Madam Mayor and Deputy Mayor through the development of the uh and conclusion of the adopted uh biannual budget for 2526.

You made a reduction in the general fund of 8.9 million dollars.

Uh through mid mod, we were considering reductions in scope of three million dollars.

Um and so I want to make sure that we're communicating with our community too that this is not something you're considering that is a regressive nature, that is the easy thing to do.

We've already done those things, and now and I'm I I'm taking away in my uh my notes here of what you shared with us, uh Madam Mayor, from an investment standpoint too.

And I know that through your leadership, this council has had conversations with your counterparts at the county as we talk about uh regionalization for services outside of just uh law enforcement, public safety, alternative response, will need some dollars to to invest.

So I'm very cognizant of that as well.

So I just want to leave that as a parting remark uh for the public record, Madam Mayor.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

If there are no other questions, as city manager said, first reading is tonight, and the reason we're doing it this way is because we wanted to make sure that this council had an opportunity to um vote on it before the 15th of January.

Um so that if if you all pass it, then you can start to collect it as soon as possible.

But again, obviously you're gonna have a much more robust discussion about how the dollars will actually be spent.

But thank you, um city manager, thank you, Andy, um, for the presentation of the conversation.

Look forward to this evening.

All right, moving on to other items of interest.

Our fourth agenda item is a council action memorandum, um, which is designating Kochi uh India as a friendship city of the city of Tacoma.

Um on tonight's agenda, there is a resolution to consider establishing a friendship as friendship city relationship with Kochi India.

Uh a friendship city, just so that you understand serves as an initial step towards a formal sister city partnership, allowing time for engagement and evaluation to ensure the relationship is the right fit.

The proposed connection between Tacoma and Kochi is rooted in shared strengths and complementary priorities.

Both cities are diverse coastal communities with strong port operations, growing creative economies, and deep commitments to sustainability and community-driven development.

Forming this relationship would broaden Tacoma's global engagement, support the sister cities council in strengthening its regional and international networks, and open new opportunities for cultural, educational, and economic exchange.

This resolution includes a planned review in approximately five years to assess whether to advance to assist the city relationship or sunset the friendship city designation.

It could also come before you sooner if in fact the friendship city has progressed enough to be able to become a full sister city sooner rather than later.

And if there are no further questions or comments, this item will appear on tonight's agenda.

Councilmember Sidalgay.

So over 220,000 residents from South Asian descent in the state of Washington, a large number of them are in our region.

Help reinforce the fact that we here in Tacoma are a welcoming city.

So I am so happy to be able to vote on this tonight.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Sidalge.

Are there any other comments or questions?

All right, seeing that we'll move on to our fifth agenda item, which is actually a resign a resolution designating split Croatia as our sister city and removing Havar Croatia.

On tonight's agenda, um we will uh be bringing forward an opportunity to establish a sister city relationship with Split Croatia.

Um we have uh had a sister city in Croatia since 2015.

Um actually, no, before 2015, I believe.

Um, and we had several sister cities, um we've had several sister cities in Croatia, um, but Havar is um where we are ending up and and feels like and feels like this is going to be um I'm sorry.

Split split is the sister city that we're that we're that we're seeking to um be uh be our sister city, and I've had an opportunity to visit Split and to meet with the the mayor county executive is what their similarity is, um, and really excited um to to join them.

Um it is a great partnership, um, and over the years we have had an opportunity to have exchanges, but um leadership um uh led Havar to move away from its sister city relationships and since then Claire Petrich, who's chair of the Tacoma Sister Cities Um and the Havar Sister City Committee has worked with other Croatian communities to identify a better partner, which has been done in split.

So we uh signed a letter of intent in 2023, um, and tonight we will be be bringing them forward as a full-fledged sister city.

And again, I want to thank Claire Petridge and the committee for all their work to keep this that all the work they've done to keep this relationship an active relationship.

So any questions on that one.

All right, seeing none, um, again, uh, you know, getting um uh getting all the the last minute things done um and on the agenda.

But the sixth agenda item is a council action memorandum, which is a resolution directing the city manager to prompt a review of past charter review processes and facilitate a conversation of timelines and process with the city council.

Um the last item I'm bringing forward um is a resolution that will direct the city manager to review the past charter processes and facilitate a conversation on updates and timelines and processes with the city council at least two years ahead of the 2034 charter review.

Um in OSAC, we um we talked about this.

If you all remember of all the charter review amendments that we had, um this was one that got assigned, and we took it to OSAC.

And in our um conversations in OSAC, um we realized that trying to decide now what they'll need in 2035 or 2034 would probably not be the best use of of our time, but as we get closer to see what this what the landscape is and what the charter might need in terms of more time, more support, more whatever, more members, whatever that is.

Um, but so we're asking that that happen um that that happened two years prior to the actual charter review.

Um and so um that will offer future city councils um an opportunity'll offer them to be fully um prepared um to engage in the process and have a planned conversation.

So um with that, um that will be coming um to you this evening and look forward to um uh hoping to have your support.

So if there aren't any questions there.

All right, then our seventh agenda item is a motion to amend ordinance number two nine zero eight six.

I'd like to call on council member Heinz.

Oh thank you, Member.

Before I go forward, can I ask a question about what you the item you brought forward just a second ago?

How will that be memorialized?

I mean, how will that be part of the process?

Because 2034 no one is here will be here.

If we're lucky, whoever the city manager is at the point was maybe might still be here, but is there how is that gonna be memorialized or or yeah?

Well, number one, it'll stay on the agenda of OSAC.

Okay, um as well.

So OSAC will monitor it.

Um and I and I think that once we direct the city manager, then that is a way to keep it on the radar.

Um and so and and it'll also be I I think we can also make sure that it gets memorialized into the clerk's files so that when they pull out the past um the past charter review and people asking questions about all of that, it will be in there as well as the next step.

So I think there are several ways to do that um in hopes that it won't get lost.

Right um and will and will be brought forward when appropriate.

Okay, great.

All right, I'll turn it back over to you, Councilmember Hines.

Uh thank you very much, Madam Mayor.

Uh so since I discussed a motion at the council meeting last Tuesday and it brought it up a little bit at study session, I thought it would be a prudent upon myself just to bring the actual motion I'm considering forward today at study session for discussion, answer any questions before it goes live tonight at the council meeting.

Um this one is very straightforward.

Um of the subsections around relocation assistance had very clearly said that if uh tenant did not move out of the unit or and stayed in the unit that they must repay relocation assistance, but with no timeline of at which point that would be returned.

So as a reminder, upon getting a net a no a rent increase above a certain threshold, whether above five percent or ten percent, um, within 30 days of the getting that notice, the tenant is entitled to be given the requ requ the requisite amount of relocation assistance.

So use example, if it's more than five percent of a rental increase within 30 days of getting that notice, the tenant is entitled to getting two months worth of relocation assistance.

Uh what was not included in the text before was any timeline on by which point if the tenant decides to a sign the lease at the rent increase or B remains in the unit past the expiration of the lease, what is the timeline by which they would return the relocation assistance?

And so this was something that I had noticed way back in 2023 when this was brought forward as part of the initiative process.

It was something that was part of the discussion that we had when we looked at kind of what we were gonna do around the rental housing code, and so I thought it was a good opportunity to kind of just be very clear about if a tenant does not move out of the unit or signs the lease, that there's a timeline by which you must return the relocation assistance, just to avoid clear up any ambiguity.

And I want to thank uh council Diaz for signing on, and I'm open for any questions.

Thank you very much, Councilmember Heinz, Councilmember Bushnell.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

Um, and thank you, uh Councilmember Heinz for bringing this forward.

Um that makes a lot of sense.

One of my questions is um what is the remedy to get the relocation assistance back if if the tenant doesn't give it back?

Uh I mean I imagine that you would it would be included in either uh any kind of small claims court conversation to get the money back or any part of any eviction process by which if the person failed to pay rent over a period of time.

Um I guess if they re-sign the lease, there'd be you would go through, I imagine, some kind of legal process by which to get it back.

Okay, would that I I'm just also curious, like if if it's an extended period of time, would that include interest potentially, or is that kind of more reserved on the judgment side of the case?

No, um great question, Council Snow.

I you know, in order to, you know, keep this as a uh considering we're having multiple very kind of more high-stakes conversations around the rental housing code, I thought to maybe keep this as lower stakes as possible is just to put a date in there, but not to include anything about interest or the process by which someone would legally reacquire the money from the person they gave the relocation assistance to.

So those are all items that we people could talk about further, and I imagine it could be part of Councilmember Rumbaugh or the council's further conversations with the landlord tenant code, but not something I felt like bringing forward at this time.

Right, thank you.

Councilmember Scott.

Um I had the same question, but I think it was answered.

I this doesn't, I guess.

So you said like you assume that it would just go to like a small claims thing, or kind of like in the if they're kind of like with eviction, that's a court thing.

I know that we're not the ones as a city who do that enforcement, but does this it would just be kind of like a civil thing?

It's not we're not classifying it as any sort of like crime items.

Okay, just yeah, clarifying.

Thank you.

Yeah.

No, and my my only intention is that this is not uh uh fundamental change of the ordinance or the language at all, other than just to put in a date certain by which you would return the money.

Okay, great.

Councilmember Sidalgay.

Uh thank you, Councilmember uh Hines.

And you know, I generally like the idea that if you don't do the thing that you were given money for, you should return it.

That's um fine.

I do want to point out that there's a perverse incentive with the whole relocation thing that it's gonna end up, in my opinion, leading to an unintended consequences, uh consequence and not much use of this.

And that is really simple.

We've set up now a perverse incentive that has a landlord asking themselves if I believe that I can get five percent or more on a lease, it is easier for me to end the term lease, which is the vast majority of leases.

Most people are not on month-to-month leases, they're on term leases, and find a new tenant than to risk having to pay two months' rent, especially if I can find a new tenant within two months at the end of the lease.

There's nothing that stops a landlord from ending a term lease as part of contract law.

So I think there's a more fundamental structural issue when you have a five percent cap and the state allows you to go higher than that, because the question you have is well, I could try to get more than five percent and risk having to pay two months or sixteen percent back, or I could just simply say I don't want to continue the lease because I think it might take less than two months to find a new tenant.

And when is that true?

That is true in a world in which we don't have enough housing, and we have plenty of people looking for housing.

And so this is the type of of policy that I think exacerbates um displacement.

So and that is why I think we shouldn't do something like this, because these are the unintended consequences through perverse uh incentives that types of price controls have.

Yeah.

No, I mean, yeah, thank you, Madam Mayor.

Thank you, Council Dogg.

I mean, I think you're pointing gesture, you're not gesturing, you're very clearly pointing at one of the broader kind of challenges that is exists here.

Um and I think that is a good further conversation for the council that we get begin as we move into the process later.

Um I just in a world in which we still have relocation assistance as part of the federal housing code.

Um, this ordinance was just or this amendment was just to make sure that people return the money in a timely manner.

Um because I I think that the will be returned.

I mean, that's very subjective.

And if so, yeah, thank you.

Are there any other questions of council member Hines?

All right.

Um, seeing none, item number eight is a gender review and city manager's weekly report, city manager.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um, yeah.

Oh, I'm sorry.

It wasn't I it wasn't a question for councilmember Hines, I just wanted to bring something up.

Oh, okay.

Okay, well then you know what?

Hold off on your report, city manager.

Let me go, let me go over to Councilmember Scott and I'll come back to you.

Um I so just since we were on the topic of of the um landlord fairness code.

Um I just again I wanted to say that I know we've had a lot of conversations about it, and um I'm still having some issues just with where we're at.

We've there's some good amendments and there have been some things kind of changed in the original proposal.

Um I and I am aware that we can you know continue to work on this.

I think um, you know, I've heard folks say, you know, we can always come back to it next year, early next year, things like that.

Um, but I think that if you know part of me feels if we can just start if we can continue to work on this next year, I don't know why we necessarily need to be voting on this now.

I appreciate the the need for our nonprofits and and folks like that who are looking for things that we have more um clear data around.

Um I still feel that most of the data we have is on the anecdotal side, and I don't know that all of the changes we're making are all the changes that need to be made uh at the right measure, uh for at the right pieces of it.

Um and so um I just wanted to, I don't have language right now, but I just wanted to highlight that I plan to bring something for that just holds us to coming back to this conversation sooner rather than later.

Thank you for that.

Um, Councilmember Scott.

All right.

Now it's your turn, city manager.

Thank you very much.

Uh fairly straightforward tonight, uh council.

No ceremonials, no uh um uh modifications to tonight's agenda and two opportunities for the public to comment.

Public comment period as well as community forum.

Fairly straightforward.

Thank you.

All right.

If there aren't any further questions or comments, I will entertain the final motion for today.

I move to adjourn.

Second.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed.

Um then we look forward to seeing everyone this evening, and I will now gavel out my last study session.

We stand adjourned.