Good afternoon, everyone.

I'd like to call to order this the City Council study session of January 6th, 2026.

Clerk, will you please call the roll?

Councilmember Bushnell.

Councilmember Diaz.

Absent.

Councilmember Heinz.

Councilmember Palmer.

Councilmember Rumba.

Here.

Councilmember Sidalgay.

Here.

Councilmember Scott.

Absent.

Councilmember Walker.

Mayor Ibsen.

Here.

The study session materials sent to you at 11.

Our first agenda item is the public safety sales tax.

I'd like to call on Finance Director Andy Cherulo to begin the presentation.

Welcome, Andy.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor, members of the council.

I'm Andy Cherulo.

I'm the finance director for the city.

Today I am here to present on the public safety criminal justice sales tax.

This was presented in December, December 9th.

I'm here today to provide a refresher prior to the reading, second reading tonight of ordinance 29087.

So as you may know, House Bill 2015 passed this past legislative session and it created two different programs related to public safety.

One is a grant program that was appropriated 100 million dollars to provide grants to local jurisdictions to hire law enforcement officers, peer counselors, behavior health professionals, and other public safety related personnel.

The grants cover 75% of salaries, up to 125,000.

The other program they created was the criminal justice sales and use tax.

This allows uh cities and counties to council manically appropriate a one-tenth of one percent sales tax.

Um the requirements are a uh voters can't have rejected a similar message, uh similar measure in the jurisdiction in the past two years.

Uh to impose the sales and use tax, you have to meet all the criteria for the grant program, and that's quite extensive.

Things like policies consistent with the attorney general's uh keep Washington Working Act, training for officers on the use of force and de escalation, extensive data requirements for data collection, training on firearm relinquishment related to court orders, and a whole long list of other requirements.

Um the the requirements for both programs are the same.

If uh city or county doesn't pass this council manically prior to June 30th of 2028, um, it is still available.

However, after that point it will require a vote of the public to be passed.

This one-tenth of one percent here in Tacoma is estimated to raise approximately seven to seven and a half million dollars per year.

These uh money should the sales tax pass, must be used on public safety and criminal justice uses, and there's a long list in the legislation.

It includes law enforcement activities, uh alternative response, public defenders, domestic violence services, mental health and crisis response, and community placements for juvenile offenders.

That uh second to last bullet on this page talks about homelessness and if any of these funds are to be used related to homelessness, they have to have a reasonable relationship to reducing interaction with the criminal justice system.

Um this page again, as I've done in the prior presentations.

I want to give a huge shout out to our government relations staff.

While this bill was in the legislature, they worked really hard to get an expansive definition of public safety and criminal justice to allow a much broader use of these funds should this pass.

Uh this slide covers some timing issues.

The Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission is the body uh that was uh given the approval authority over both the grant program and the one-tenth of one percent sales tax applications.

Uh the timing follows this rough pattern of after an application is submitted to the CJCT, they have 45 days to review it and provide feedback.

If they do provide feedback, a local jurisdiction has 30 days uh to respond and up to 180 days to get into compliance after the 180-day period.

If uh local jurisdiction is still not in compliance, uh the state treasurer can start withholding 100,000 per month from the sales tax collected.

Um all this goes in to say is that the legislation contemplates that applications may need some corrections, and there's a process and a time period to work uh those things out, and then there is a penalty which gives local jurisdiction incentive to get in alignment.

And then there is a penalty which gives local jurisdiction incentive to get in alignment.

The other timing that is important here is the Department of Revenue that is responsible in the state for collecting sales tax, only changes sales tax rates three times a year, January 1st, April 1st, and July 1st.

Advance notice of a change in sales tax prior to any of those dates.

So if ordinance uh 29087 were to pass tonight, we would need to notify DOR by uh January 15th to make this effective April 1st and begin to collect the sales tax this year.

So there's um layers of timing on both of these things.

Uh this is a list pulled uh I pulled it yesterday from the CJTC's website.

There are 25 jurisdictions on here that have already applied for the sales and use tax uh in December.

When I showed this list, there were only 18 on here, so seven more cities and counties have applied in that interim few weeks.

Um again, the thing to note on this one this is available to both cities and counties, and this is unique in the sales tax is stackable in the sense that if a city were to pass a one-tenth and a county that the city was in past it, um they would see a two-tenth uh percent increase.

One tenth for the city and one-tenth for the county.

Uh so that is a unique aspect to this particular sales tax ability.

This slide shows some comparison tax rates, sale tax rates with other jurisdictions.

Uh, we took a list from DOR's website.

Uh we uh filtered it down to uh cities that have rates over 10.2 percent and we're in western Washington and we're relatively larger cities to get kind of a peer comparison of how Tacoma's current rate of 10.3 percent compares to uh some neighboring jurisdictions.

You can see we're in about a middle of a pack.

Um just for your information, there are 61 cities that have a rate over 10 percent.

Of course, not all 61 are on this list.

Um, and you may be wondering about cities like Fife and Furcrest and UP and Lakewood, they're all at 10.1 percent.

So again, we were trying to get something to fit on the slide, but uh they're in the ballpark of Tacoma's uh 10.3 percent rate that we currently have.

And I think that is the last slide in this presentation.

So I'm happy to answer any questions you all might have.

Thank you, Director Chirulo.

Are there any council questions?

Councilmember Walker.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, just wanted to say thank you for um presenting this to us many times.

I think it has been incredibly important because it is complex and we don't take um sales tax lightly.

Um thing I just wanted to clarify because I think I heard it differently last time or absorbed it differently with the the stacking.

So in if Pierce County does it and we do it, people are charged two tenths of one percent.

So the benefits are for all the jurisdictions, not just unincorporated peers, I guess, because sometimes that's where they apply the funding.

I just want to make sure that I really great question, Councilmember Walker.

So I'm I'm gonna take a step back.

If the city alone did it, our rate would go from 10.3 to 10.4, and it would be just within the jurisdiction of the city of Tacoma, and we would raise that sales tax and collect it and use it for our purposes.

If the county alone did it, the city sales tax rate would go from 10.3% to 10.4.

It would be a countywide tax, and the county would control of how that money is spent countywide with all other jurisdictions and unincorporated areas within the county.

If we both do it, the city of Tacoma's tax rate would go from 10.3 to 10.5.

We would still collect all the money within the jurisdiction of the city of Tacoma.

The county would collect all countywide, including a one-tenth within the city that they would control.

So I hope that clarifies.

Yeah, thank you.

Just want to be really clear about that because I think that I was not clear about it before.

So I appreciate that.

Um, I am supportive of this.

I think mostly, and we've talked about this many times, but just to reiterate publicly, um, because this has flexibility, because we're able to invest in the programs that need it most, because we're able to apply for those grants, because we're able to do different things.

You mentioned government relations working really hard on the language.

I just want to give them a shout out again.

Um I think that's really really an important piece of this, and like I said, we don't take this lightly, but I think it is an important um important body of work, obviously, and uh so it's valuable to um do the sales tax.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Councilmember Walker.

Are there any further council questions?

Councilmember Romall.

Thank you.

Um, Andy, thank you for this update.

I appreciate this.

And um, I've asked this question every single time, so I'm gonna ask it again because there's a there's people here, and I want um my council to hear this.

But um it does say that it can go through domestic vi for to domestic violence dollars.

How are we gonna decide how much is going to each bucket of things that we think are important and integral in our city as we move forward?

That's a really good question.

Thank you, Councilmember Rumba.

Uh so our plan would be to program uh these monies into the 27-28 budget process.

So that process has begun behind the scenes with us up in our budget of our uh office of management and budget.

Um it will be coming to you guys, and so you will have again a say during the budget process of how these monies are programmed and which way they go.

And so, can we can we reach out to talk to you before you do this?

Is that a possible clearly reach out to the city manager with your priorities on how you would like to see this money programmed?

Okay, I appreciate that.

Thank you.

Councilmember Bushnell.

Thank you, Mayor.

And thank you, Andy.

I kind of dovetailing off of Councilmember Walker's question around the county level.

Um, if they are going to be um taxing Tacoma residents with the sales tax, um I personally would expect that any kind of public safety measures that the county does would incorporate feedback from the city of Tacoma.

Um do we know if I I know we can't control what the county does, but do we know if they're they're looking at their programming in a much more holistic approach, or is it mostly or are they just gonna be very targeted in their unincorporated areas?

It's a really good question, and I think it it's it's we have not and the finance level contacted our peers over in Pierce County besides to ask them are they doing it?

And again, they appear on the list from the criminal justice training council.

We have not talked extensively about again how they plan to program their dollars.

I do think that would involve some involvement from you all with your peers at the county level to say, hey, how do we coordinate?

I know some of those conversations are already occurring on alternative response kind of things like you know, heel teams and stuff.

How do we work better together?

And I think this would be a great opportunity to talk about how how we get better coordinated and use those resources.

Yeah, not too long ago, we did a joint session with uh the county council in regards to our approach to homelessness.

Um I think that maybe this might be an opportunity for us to do something similar because of how extensive it can be and how impactful it can be for the county and the city as well.

Uh so just putting that thought out in the ether.

Um, and I just uh comments on this.

You know, I I'm not a big fan of sales taxes generally.

Um, I think that they're very regressive in nature and they tend to impact those that um uh any increases in sales taxes impact those that are least able to afford it.

Um with that being said, the legislature gives us certain tools uh in order to um get revenue and public safety is a very high priority for this community and my district specifically.

Um, and so I will be supportive of this, but I also want to recognize how impactful this is on families that are are struggling to get by.

And I'm really looking forward to the legislature uh finding solutions that are much more um equitable when it comes to um taxation.

So and uh I really again I also just want to re-emphasize my appreciation to our GA team and making this as broad as possible so that way we have the public safety is a lot of things.

Police is certainly a part of that, um, but there are a lot of other things that go into public safety to make our community safe, and this this runs the gamut of of uh supporting a lot of those services and support.

So thank you, Eddie.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Councilmember Bushnell.

Councilmember Palmer.

Thank you so much.

Um the the April 1st date of the effective date, does that mean we have if it did pass tonight?

Would we have until then to decide on what we would want the taxes to go towards?

Would it have to be effective April 1st if we didn't decide that?

What's the time frame?

Uh really good question, Councilmember Palmer, and welcome for your first study session.

Um that time frame there is just informational for you all so you know that um if you want to start collecting that sales tax, a if you want to implement it and you want to start collecting it this year, January 15th is a hard deadline for collecting April 1st.

If you decide that you don't want to do it or you need more time, the next available opportunity for us to do it would then move on to July.

Um, and after that, again, it would be into the following year.

Should you want to do it or not do it?

Um, those are uh again just on there just to show you the the the timing of these things.

As far as programming the dollars again, our hope would be that we would have conversations as part of the 27-28 budget process that will be coming to you in a few months to talk about how are we gonna program this money in the budget toward again the myriad of of priorities that it could be addressed within the public safety and criminal justice world.

So as far as the time like there's no set deadline for us to decide how the tax money would be spent.

There is no set deadline, and uh again the the other big deadline looming out there is council manically you have until June of 2028 to do this council manically after that it would require a vote of the people.

So that would be the other thing to keep in mind if there's if there's not a desire to do it soon.

Thank you for your comments.

Uh, Councilmember Hines.

Uh thank you.

Uh Andy, my question for you was um have has the CGATC approved any of these yet?

Not that I've seen.

Um again, it's it's a little hard to get information off their website.

Um I think we'll work through our police chief and see if she has some inside information for us that maybe she can get from other jurisdictions.

But so far I have not seen approvals yet.

Yeah, that's been the I mean the conversation with the Associated Washington City and some of the other cities that have adopted this, is the CJTC hasn't approved any of them yet.

Um so my question would be if long as we take action now, we're still able to communicate DOR and collect on April 1st, or if CJTC continues to sit and not approve any of these, are we at beholden the VAM on where we're able to collect these?

It's a really good question, and there's a little bit of lack of clarity in the actual legislation that passed.

Again, it contemplates uh applying and having a corrective period and having the ability to levy the sales tax while you're still working to correct your application.

Again, since no one's been through this process, we're not quite sure, but again, it contemplates having um a hundred and eighty days to get in compliance while still collecting that sales tax.

And then again, DOR has this ability to penalize uh jurisdictions if they don't get into compliance, which again implies that you can be out of compliance yet still be collecting the sales tax.

So this is two parts, right?

So we do this and we're in compliance, we're not only able to do the one-tenth of one percent sale use tax, we're also qualified for the grant funding, correct?

We could apply for the grants, yes.

But we can't apply for any grants until CJTC approves us to do so, correct?

Correct.

Yeah.

So I mean, I think that's just as context for this conference, and in some of my conversations with other cities who have already enacted this, one of the frustrations they've continued to articulate is CJTC, that criminal justice training center for those not looking at the acronym on the piece of paper in front of me, uh, has yet to approve any of these statewide.

And so I guess maybe that's something to flag for the GR team, like kind of continue.

I know they're already doing it, but continue to push the state to light a fundraiser fire under the CJTC.

Otherwise, um, I do I with my colleagues, um, you know, I think this uh I'm gonna support this, and that I think as part of the budget process we're gonna enter into for this next year, it's a good time for all of us to be thinking about what our priorities are and what we want to see as part of that budget process uh for these dollars.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments, Andy.

Thank you for your presentation.

Oh, sorry.

Sorry.

Councilmember Scott.

Appreciate it, thank you, Mayor.

Um, I just wanted to clarify.

Did is this, I feel like maybe it got talked about when we talked about this last time, but these kind of uh things that are not clear, is that something that we think is gonna kind of maybe be corrected during this uh session that's starting out.

Potentially, I know we've talked with our government relations folks and a lot of the other jurisdiction to say there's parts of this that would help to get some clarity on and understand again when are we gonna hear and can we do this, can we do that?

So it's it's on the list as being discussed.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you all for your questions, and thank you for your presentation, Andy.

Thank you.

This will be on tonight's council agenda.

Moving on to item number two, other items of interest.

This pertains to a judicial appointment.

So on tonight's agenda, there's going to be a resolution to appoint an individual to the vacant Tacoma Municipal Court Department 2 position.

On Friday, November 21st, 2025, municipal court judge Drew Henke announced her retirement effective December 31, 2025.

This leaves the department number two seat vacant with an unexpired term ending December 31st, 2026.

Washington state law allows the city to determine what process it wants to use to fill a vacant judicial position and list qualifications, an appointment must have so long as the individual is an attorney and lives in Pierce County on the date of appointment.

For this appointment, former Mayor Woodards asked the council to go through a process in December of last year to be proactive and to have a candidate to consider for the first council meeting following the formal vacancy in the position.

The process asked those interested in the position to submit application materials to the city clerk who compiled candidates and sent them to the government performance and finance committee for interviews and selection of two to three candidates for the mayor's consideration.

Mayor Woodards interviewed two finalists for the appointment, and after reviewing materials and meeting with the candidates, has forwarded Sergio Flores for consideration for this appointment.

And if there are no council questions or comments, this item will be on our agenda this evening.

Are there any council comments or questions?

Seeing that, I'll take a little point of personal privilege.

I've actually known this individual for almost 20 years.

And he is a stand-up guy.

He has worked for the City of Tacoma as a former prosecutor, he has done wonderful work with the City of Auburn helping set up their rehabilitative jail diversion programs, and I think he'd be an excellent addition.

So I'm looking forward to supporting him.

So with that, unless there are any final comments or questions on item two, we'll move on to item number three, which is another council action memorandum, which is 2026 council member appointments.

During tonight's council meeting, we will confirm our appointments to various boards and commissions across the region, including our standing committees.

Thank you to the council for your feedback, which is captured in the draft of our materials.

If changes need to be made, please let me know and staff know so that we can prepare any amendments.

Are there any comments or questions from the council?

Hearing none, this will be on our agenda this evening.

Moving on to item number four.

This pertains to the deputy mayor nomination.

As we do at the first meeting of each year, we will appoint our deputy mayor.

This year I have chosen to select Councilmember Joe Bushnell to serve as a deputy mayor.

Um I've personally known Joe over the years, uh, in his capacity working with um helping local small business.

Um I've worked with him on a number of local community efforts when he first ran for office.

Um I I know him to be an ethical, forthright, hardworking guy.

He's advocated very hard for district number five and will continue to do so.

Uh and is my privilege to uh nominate Joe for this position.

Would you like to say a few words?

Uh sure.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

Um it really is an honor and privilege to um have this nomination and um uh really looking forward to serving in this capacity uh and um helping uh with the transition um as you as you come in as mayor and uh really appreciate my colleagues as well.

Um this is an appointment that um the majority of the uh my colleagues on the body um need to approve.

And so I wouldn't be a deputy mayor or uh be considered for this if I didn't have the support of my colleagues.

I just want to appreciate every single one of you on the council as well.

So thank you.

Thank you.

All right, unless there are any final comments or questions on this topic, moving on to item number five, which is proposed council council canceled council meetings and study sessions.

This resolution at tonight's council meeting will cancel the following Tuesdays January 20th, February 17th, March 17th, May 26th, September 8th, November 24th, December 22nd, and December 29th.

These follow traditional canceled meetings for Tuesdays that follow a holiday each year.

If there are any other dates you would like considered, please share them with myself and staff before today's evening meeting so we can prepare any amendments.

Are there any comments or questions from the council?

Councilmember Hines.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Uh Councilman Diaz and I are going to propose to bring forward two dates to add to the council to the list.

One would be to make sure I'm really the correct April 7th, which would coincide with the spring break for public schools, and a second one for September 1st.

Um, something Council Diaz and I have talked about in the past, and I'm open to have the conversation with colleagues here.

Is a lot of our other cities around our area tend to take a two-week period off in the summertime.

Um so with Labor Day following later this year, it means that that meeting is canceled on September 8th.

So we're at the looking at the idea of adding September 1st as another day off.

We tend to see that our schedule and calendar tends to slow down in those times that time of the year.

Um, and we're also gonna be moving from a period of our day off, our one council canceled meeting meeting from May 26th all the way to December 8th.

And so the idea of having a two-week period uh kind of a summer recess is something we've talked about in the past and would like to bring forward for all of us for consideration.

Thank you.

We look forward to considering that.

Councilmember Walker.

Um thank you, Mayor.

I just wanted to share my support for that proposal, Councilmember Heinz.

I hadn't thought about that September 1st date, and that makes sense.

And I really appreciate as a parent um the coinciding with the TPS spring break.

And I know that so many of our constituents are affected by that, so that's maybe the most important part, but I do appreciate it on a personal level, adding that one.

Okay.

Are there any final comments or questions from the council?

Council uh Councilmember Diaz.

Thank you.

I was just gonna add, um, particularly around the April 7th date, um, the thought around having a spring break to line up because we have so much staff who have TBS students in CBS.

Now we have two new council members who I assume have students in TPS.

So I think it's um probably helpful for everybody that we align.

And this year the calendar is a little bit anomalous in this um Labor Day is so late in the year, um, Juneteenth of the 4th of July on Friday, so we're not um scheduling days off for accommodating that.

So I just I think it probably makes sense with our calendar this year, and I think we can reevaluate next year if spring break and summer break makes sense, but I think it's a good idea for this term.

Okay, sounds sensible.

Hearing none, uh we'll move on to um this is not printed as uh due to the holiday.

Uh we did not have time, my staff and I to prepare this for the packet, but I've done my best to call all of you about a few ideas that I've been working on myself, along with a couple of just questions about ongoing policy.

So just uh a couple of um policy updates I'd be curious about from the city manager's office.

Um my understanding is uh thanks to the work of Councilmember Rumbaugh and the unified regional approach, there's been some um direction given to staff for the identification of low barrier sites outside the city limits.

And uh, what I also heard is that there's the beginning of conversations potentially between the city and the county uh about finding greater coordination for uh safe parking sites along with sanitation and and attached uh social work.

So uh Mr.

Intram City Manager, wouldn't would you mind providing an update, please?

Absolutely.

Thank you.

Um I believe the question um Mr.

Mayor is in regards to when can I come to you back from a staff perspective to present uh pursuant to uh the resolution authorizing uh regional partnership for identifying sites outside the city of Tacoma as well as uh potentially looking at safe parking spots as well.

Um I can come as soon as even in the next two, three weeks.

I would like to, we've transmitted a letter to all of our neighboring jurisdictions through their city managers, the city administrator offices, to ask for um uh a first volume of a question, which is would you like to work with us on working with this, not just with the URA, not just with the county.

And so I'd like to give that at least two more weeks if that's possible.

Sure.

So in early February, we can bring that back to you in a study session to speak to uh and be responsive to uh Councilmember Rumbaugh's uh resolution uh if that works for you.

Of course.

And about safe parking, is there any progress there?

So right now with the city currently operates uh we we operate one uh safe parking um spot.

We we at the Holy Rosary we have the spot through Catholic Community Services.

Uh we additionally contract with uh Brotherhood Rise uh for an additional, I think 20 stalls that are available on a nightly basis.

Um Mayor, is this something that you'd like to see an expansion for an additional site within the city or outside of the region?

I'm more I just I just heard that there is already some legs uh in particular for a greater coordination between city and county because there are a lot of um faith establishments through a lot of potential locations, and the pain point that I had myself heard from providers and and advocates in in the housing community is that it's very disparate, that there isn't any main coordination.

It's it's just a lot of hurting cats between these you know hundreds of churches, for example, and different providers.

So uh the prize, if that would make sense, would be a single point of contact, whether it's an ILA, some some sort of joint RFP or or something, uh, to just help better coordinate between all the different sites along with sanitation and and human services to help people escape that situation.

Just wrap around services and just have that synergy.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

And it I had heard that there was already some movement, so uh my intent isn't to duplicate something that's already happening.

Uh, if something is, count me in.

I'm happy to support.

If not, I'm happy to explore.

Yeah, staff is currently exploring the possibility of a low barrier site, yeah, um, which could also include a low barrier um um uh a safe car um parking uh facility that are location within the city or in the region.

We can have those conversations in earnest with our partners of the county as well.

Um I I am not aware if that's been the thrust of what we've been doing originally at this point for for parking at this time.

Um but yeah, if that's something that you would all we staff would welcome that discussion.

Thank you.

And uh just to daylight a few of the things that we had uh discussed also offline, thank you, uh Mr.

City Manager, is uh I'm a very big fan of what the city of Fife has been doing, which I understand um you definitely played a role with in your with your prior hat um with regard to paid employment opportunities for homeless individuals to uh not only receive paid work opportunities but also in doing so to clean up public spaces, uh trash, graffiti, and so forth.

Uh that's been discussed.

Uh my understanding is the county is looking at something similar.

Um definitely something I'd like to explore with different options for staff, and uh once we have a little bit more material, happy to to revisit this with my colleagues in the forum for CCR or whatever works best.

Um I am familiar with the program um much credit to the city of Fife in terms of what they've been doing with with their contract with polio locations.

You know, that idea came from the idea of um looking back um in history of what the civilian conservation corps, you know, a jobs program can entail for folks that are um looking for a fresh start.

Um when this actually I won't speak to what the city of Fife did because that would probably not be uh fair to the city of Fife.

Um one of the funding mechanisms we utilized at the time was CARES, and before that it was our buttons, so after that our funding.

Um Mr.

Mayor, is that something you'd like us to develop through uh a conceptual, maybe even leading up to a discussion, maybe even at your retreat, or is this something that you'd like to talk about in earnest uh for a jobs program for 27, or is this for 26?

That's my question.

Sure.

Well, I I've deferred to my colleagues.

Uh I think at this point, just initial information to see what the broadest possible avenues of options might be, and then I would leave it open to my colleagues to see what their appetite is.

All right.

And with that, just Mayor.

Yes.

Of course, a few follow-up questions over here.

Um I did want to uh uh point out that um the unified regional approach, which I'm part of, so is Councilmember Rumba and you will be as well as mayor.

Uh one of the things we've done is to intentionally um add additional meetings in this first quarter.

Uh there's gonna be one in January because there is some consternation and some uh kind of fear of the unknown from some of our smaller jurisdictions neighboring.

The point of the unified regional approach is to start getting our neighbors to start providing services.

Um some of the first uh uh maps and and data that they were able to put together just shows how concentrated we are in homeless services just in Tacoma.

And um I welcome this intent of trying to get our neighbors to start providing some services, if any.

Um we added those extra meetings uh this year uh with an intentional uh desire to get to a version of an ILA by the end of the year.

Uh I think it should be really useful to in our January meeting start talking about how uh ready we in Tacoma are to partner with our neighboring jurisdictions in in Pierce County to lend them a hand and help them set some of these up.

I I think that's where we're going.

And I'd love to continue those conversations in these meetings we're gonna have on the executive board.

Certainly, very reasonable.

And uh let's let's definitely continue the conversation there as well.

Any further questions?

Councilman Rumbaugh.

Was I next?

I'm not sure.

Okay, thank you so much.

Um I appreciate the opportunity.

Um so the city of Tacoma adopted a homeless strategy in 2022, and it's designed to go through 2028.

Um the landscape has changed since then, and as a city, we need to adapt our strategy for the work we're doing with the unified regional approach, the lessons we've learned over the years and the budget realities we're facing.

We have heard from community members and also council members that there's a need to update our strategy sooner than 2028.

And um, should I continue as the chair of CVS?

I've been working with staff to plan a calendar for 2026 that includes responding to this feedback and reviewing the homeless strategy.

The first conversation on this topic is tenderly scheduled for February 12th.

Um, there is great value in taking the time to holistically review um our homeless strategy and consider all policy ideas comprehensively and for the final product to directly inform the creation of the 2027-28 by annual budget.

Um I'd like to ask council to take the time to thoughtfully compressively, um compassionately review the homeless strategy by having CVS to review updates to the strategy, do community outreach, and bring a proposal to the full council for consideration and approval.

And this is happening at the same time as the unified regional approach.

So which I think should be approved by March.

So can we incorporate a review of this idea in that process?

I think that's very reasonable, yeah.

Okay, I appreciate that.

Thank you.

Yeah, wonderful.

All right, so are there any final questions or comments?

Uh Consumer Walker.

Yeah, just really quickly, thank you, Mayor.

Um thank you, City Manager, uh, for your I'm talking specifically to the FIFA example.

Um, well, great comments about all the other things as well.

But um, I think you're being uh modest about your involvement in that program.

So I'm we're so lucky to have you here as we explore that.

And Mayor, to your question, um I would be supportive of looking into that, and I think um I want to be respectful of how much time it will take staff before we dive into implementation, because I heard you say a number of different dates, and I want to be careful we don't get ahead of some other project.

But I do like the concept, and I think because we have the expert in the room, we can probably answer a lot of questions pretty quickly and maybe have something come forward to council early that early-ish this year.

Yeah, um, for us to consider as part of the budget.

That so that would be my um recommendation.

Yeah, and so I'm hearing a couple of different avenues of alignment.

One the budget, the other just being that the policy committee structure and the overarching homelessness master strategy.

So so in that context, uh that that makes a lot of sense, and uh perhaps we can visit about this in C CR format to give appropriate directions to those channels.

That sound good?

Okay, great, thank you.

Uh Councilmember Diaz.

Thank you.

Um I think I wanted to just align a little bit with both of those comments around what um research staff might be doing and the process that's gonna go on in CVS, I believe, in the new schedule.

I'm still the alternate for CVS.

Always an alternate, never remember.

But I um I I guess I just want to iterate perhaps for Councilmember Rumba and for everybody else.

I have a couple of reservations about the FIFE program that I would love to, if we're gonna try to imagine something here in Tacoma to make sure that it is more of an offering of how to connect two jobs as opposed to a requirement that someone hold a job to get housing.

That feels really uncomfortable to me on it from a values perspective to sort of we already have a broad array of housing options in Tacoma, and I think we need more low barrier shelters before we need to expend a lot of time and energy around a shelter with such a high barrier, and particularly a work requirement.

Um while it is helpful to have people be working, um, I also think there's a lot of our unhoused neighbors who are already working and are unhoused, and so I think it it I don't like the underlying rhetoric that comes from the assumption that people aren't working and that that's why they're unhoused.

So just wanted to posit that into the ether in case I'm not in the conversation in CVS.

Thank you.

The availability of something as an option versus a requirement is what I'm hearing is what's pretty important.

Noted, thank you.

Okay, I'm looking for the color red.

I think we are good here.

All right, wonderful.

Thank you for your feedback there.

Just a couple things.

Staff capacity actually was relating to one of my other areas of interest, so it's it's no secret that we are doing the best that we can at the city to look at very ambitious policies but with significant budgetary limits and and also just capacity limits for the amount of staff.

And so something I've been interested in is that periodically our staff from a variety of different departments have had ad hoc solutions to this.

Uh for example, my own office has two very qualified uh grad students from the Kennedy School who are helping me with some of my key issues for this year.

Uh we've had some help with higher education, the city attorney's office used to have rule nine interns helping with things.

So there's a crop of very valuable community partners who can help with some things.

So what I'm interested in is is there a way to actually systematize that?

Is there a way to look at um our community resources like our higher education?

I mean, if we're talking about land use, for example, could there not be like a PhD student or someone from the urban studies um faculty or an or an emeritus professor or someone who who can help staff do a deep dive and empower them in more of that project manager role, so we can frankly just do more stuff so we can look into more things uh within our current budget constraints.

So, whatever that looks like, if that's an OSAC conversation or if that's just something staff can look at internally, um we we need to do the most that we can to tap into those efficiencies, especially some of these big ideas we're looking at.

So I'm just daylighting that.

I I defer to uh to staff about what the best avenue for that is.

Uh and then finally, since we're reviewing C C and Rs in general, we're having our annual review over what the council committee requests and and council action memo process looks like.

Um something I've felt for some time is that the introduction of a defined end state and a defined timeline, so that when we're for everyone's information, uh when we come up with neat new ideas for for um proposing changes to the code or resolutions, it usually takes the form of what's called a C C and R, a council committee request, which uh is proposed by the the member of the council, and then there are a number of co-sponsors who then give direction to the city manager's office to proceed in a certain way.

And um, usually this outlines what the desired policy is, uh, what the impact on the budget might be, are there alternatives?

Uh but something that I feel could be introduced for even greater clarity uh for the purpose of accountability and just general certainty for the community uh would be just defining an end state, like what does that look like?

Is it is it an allocation, an appropriation?

Is it a change to the code?

Is it something?

Uh and also a timeline associated with it end state.

By which date will this thing be completed?

Uh and also if there are steps along the way, when when will this thing when will these constituent parts be realized?

Uh, and what is the the check-in time for those things?

So just basically um attaching project management and just basic timelines to those things.

And again, whether this is OSAC or something that could be internal, uh just something I think would serve us well in the policymaking process.

Any questions on those items?

Uh Councilman Roman.

I have a question for um our our interim um city meeting manager.

Um, can you um tell us why there might not have been timelines on some of these um CCRs?

I mean, is there is it can you just kind of walk us through what it looks like to have staff putting things together and why there might not have been a timeline?

Yeah, I I and I believe um I'll try it from here the standpoint.

Uh I think from a staff perspective, when uh CCRs and um um memos directing um administrative actions, why they may not have an end date or uh an expedital because there's a lot of exploratory.

Um a good example of that is the most recent uh resolution directing, the city manager's office to identify a um repository to identify all the grants that were receiving, those kinds of things.

Um you're giving staff flexibility because in a lot of ways, if you're you're giving me a timeline of 90 days or six months, there's there's things that could come up.

But there is the need to always come back to you.

And the other side of this, I think this is more in line with what perhaps Mayor, can I try basically from the standpoint?

Um perhaps this is something that you'd like to see from a um uh policy maker standpoint of defining those things from like here's the measurable, here's the outcome that you may want.

Is that where you're going with this?

I'm I don't mean to put no, no, you're you're perfectly fine.

I think I appreciate that.

And yes, and I I think that flexibility is this is very much a yes and flexibility for from staff's perspective is really crucial, as is certainty.

Uh just speaking from one of the the major pain points that I've encountered with community members is when will this thing happen?

When is the follow-up?

And even from a policymaking perspective, uh I've heard from current and former staff about you know housing policies like the the AS, for example, that was adopted a number of years ago, and and over the years piecemeal adaptation, right?

So it which can be fine if there's certainty attached to it.

Um I think maybe one way to reconcile those two things, but the need for staff flexibility while also providing certainty to community members and policymakers would be just deferring to the staff on what those timelines are and just having a frank conversation because back to the the previous topic, we already sort of have those with really staff constrained policymaking venues like the planning commission is is a really good example of that.

I mean, it is so zero sum just because of how slammed Brian Boudet and his colleagues are that if we do want to look at a really cool land use idea, that's great.

Uh, council member, at what cost?

What would you like us to move to the bottom of the list, right?

And so that level of candor is really important because we can either have an honest conversation about what gets moved, or okay, I'll we'll bring this up later, or just put this further down the list.

But maybe it could just be as simple as deferring to that really candid staff perspective, and then we can just make an informed decision as a council.

That could be one way.

Thank you for that.

I was just thinking that a good example of something that we don't have control over timeline is um is when we're like working with another partner, like the Department of Health, like Pierce County Department of Health, they have their own timeline, and we can't necessarily promise that something's gonna be done.

Um so I have people are getting a hold of me about things that we've promised, like not promise, but like when is this gonna be done?

And it's like not really in our hands, it's in the health department's hands.

So I think it's more also just how we communicate, and that's really more for my side of it.

It's communication is the issue.

When you feel like you just get a dead space, that's one thing.

But if you know that there's a live body that you can talk to about something, it it that lands differently with with um community.

Thank you.

And perhaps it could be as simple as as an update at a meeting or even in a council packet about just a clear expectation about even if we are dealing with third parties, because that's a very good point.

I mean, we could be dealing with other agencies, uh nonprofits, community partners, and there's no controlling their own timelines, obviously.

Uh, we still can't control our own, and we still can't control our own communications.

So not everything is black and white.

Uh, there's a lot of room for nuance, and this is why this is something that could be discussed, whether in the OSAC committee or um something done internal.

Um council members soon to be deputy mayor of national.

Thank you, Mayor.

And uh, as you're to your point, I think this is a great conversation for OSAC.

Um, I do believe it's on the docket as well, um, because there's gonna be a lot of nuance uh in this, and so we'll definitely when we bring that up.

I think it's something that uh we I think take good feedback from the from the council.

Sounds good.

Any further discussion?

All right, well, council, thank you for indulging me.

Uh like I said, this was more due to staff constraint and the holiday, but uh definitely a big believer putting things in packets, so we have ample time to read.

Uh but thank you again for your flexibility, and thank you, Mr.

Interim City Manager, for the thoughtful responses.

We're gonna move on to committee reports.

Are there any reports from any first standing committees?

Seeing none, agenda review and our weekly report.

What's I call him as Alison Griffith?

Thank you very much, Mayor.

Trying to figure out the buttons over here, I apologize.

Uh there are several ceremonials on tonight's agenda.

So, first uh we'll kick off with swearing in ceremonies for both the elected and re-elected council members and yourself, Mayor.

Uh, then we'll be proclaiming January 26th as national mentoring month and proclaiming also January 26th as whole child month.

Uh as far as we know, no modifications to tonight's agenda.

Um there is one opportunity for public comment this evening.

That opportunity is under regular public comment regarding motions, resolutions, and ordinances on tonight's agenda.

If there are any uh questions related to tonight's agendas or any changes that you need, uh please make sure that we know so that staff can prepare and respond accordingly.

And for your review attached to your study session agenda was the city manager's weekly report to council.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Ms.

Gretha.

Are there any final questions or comments from the council?

Seeing none, we are adjourned.

Thank you.