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Record of Proceedings

Joint Council-TPU Study Session on Bond Compliance and Participatory Budgeting (June 2, 2026)

City Council Study Session — Tuesday, June 2, 2026
BodyTacoma, Washington
SessionCity Council Study Session
DateTuesday, June 2, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:57:40

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it
0:06

I'd like to call the order the joint study uh joint city council Tacoma Public Utility Board study session of June 2nd, 2026.

0:12

Clerk, will you please call the roll?

0:14

Board Member Bridges.

0:15

Board Member Gallagher.

0:17

Board Member Hampton.

0:20

Vice Chair Klaus McGann.

0:22

Here.

0:23

Chair Lochlin.

0:24

Here.

0:24

Councilmember, Deputy Mayor Bushnell.

0:27

Present.

0:28

Councilmember Diaz.

0:30

Councilmember Heinz.

0:31

Here.

0:31

Councilmember Palmer.

0:32

Here.

0:32

Councilmember Rumba.

0:34

Here.

0:34

Councilmember Sidalgay?

0:35

Here.

0:36

Councilmember Scott.

0:37

Here.

0:38

Councilmember Walker?

0:40

Here.

0:40

Mayor Ibsen, absent.

0:44

All right.

0:45

Thank you so much.

0:47

I would like to call on Tacoma Public Utility Board Chair, John O'Lawkin, and give him the opportunity to introduce his other board members who are present.

0:56

Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

0:59

It's a lovely day to be inside and covering this important topic.

1:03

And I'm sure my colleagues on the board.

1:06

Devin Hampton, Anita Gallagher, Ellie Klaus McGann, and William Bridges, and we're pleased to be here.

1:13

Thank you.

1:14

Really glad to have you guys here.

1:16

We love doing these joint sessions.

1:18

All right.

1:28

Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

1:29

Thank you, board members and council members.

1:32

We are here to do our training for continuing disclosure and bond issuance.

1:38

We come in front of you as the joint study session.

1:42

We try to do it annually as close as possible.

1:45

And uh here to kind of go over some things that you all need to be aware of so that as you are speaking on behalf of the city, you are doing it in the right manners and making sure that the information that you're providing is is accurate, and we have some guests to do that for us today.

2:00

We have Deanna Gregory and we have Alice and Benge, both from Pacifica Law, and they are here to do the presentation for you.

2:07

So I will turn it over to Deanna.

2:11

Great, thank you.

2:12

Ooh, that worked.

2:13

I'm live.

2:14

All right.

2:14

Well, thank you so much for the invitation to be back here today.

2:18

Um, I was here last year for a very similar training.

2:21

I'm very happy to be joined by my colleague Alison Bench, who's our um tax lawyer.

2:26

So Alison is going to tackle the tax portion of this presentation, and I am going to kind of go through the introduction and then the securities law session.

2:36

Um I do appreciate that we're in a windowless room and it's uh beautiful outside, and we're starting off with bond training.

2:43

So I don't know what things can get any better, but let's let's get let's dive right in.

2:49

Uh so um we are going to talk about just debt in general and then dive into federal tax and federal securities laws and really the goal for today is really to give an overview of the requirements that apply to the city's various bond issues, whether there's public utilities debt or environmental services or general government, there are rules that apply across the board and um as bond council to the city and its various departments.

3:21

Um we uh want to make sure that um everyone is in the loop and we just spent this morning talking with um a large group in this very room of staff members talking about and doing a bit of a deeper dive into these various issues.

3:36

So um uh we had a really great conversation this morning and are happy um and thrilled to be here to give you an overview today.

3:45

Um so just the big picture here.

3:48

Um we are just two members of your bond council team.

3:51

Um I have been working with the city since day one of my career as a bond lawyer, so 24-ish years ago.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Community Engagement█████████████████████████████████████37%
Fiscal Sustainability████████████████████████████████████36%
Procedural██████████████14%
Workforce Development████4%
Public Engagement████4%
Environmental Protection███3%
Budget Equity Analysis█1%
Economic Development█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Joint Council-TPU Study Session on Bond Compliance and Participatory Budgeting (June 2, 2026)

The Tacoma City Council and Tacoma Public Utility (TPU) Board held a joint study session on June 2, 2026, starting at 9:15 AM. The session included two major presentations: a bond compliance and disclosure training by bond counsel Pacifica Law, and an update on participatory budgeting for Council District 5 funded by a $1.6 million Washington State Department of Commerce grant. Council also discussed two sponsorship proposals: a sports executive internship pilot program and Ride Transit Month. No formal votes were taken beyond adjournment.

Discussion Items

  • Bond Training and Disclosure: Deanna Gregory and Alison Bench of Pacifica Law presented an overview of federal tax and securities laws applicable to city and TPU bond issuances. Topics included tax-exempt bond requirements, private business use limitations (10% test), arbitrage and rebate rules, and anti-fraud disclosure obligations under SEC rules 10b-5 and 17(a). They emphasized the importance of accurate and complete communications to investors, both at initial offering and ongoing. Council members asked clarifying questions about private use exceptions, combining utility debt, and arbitrage spending exceptions.
  • Participatory Budgeting for District 5: Assistant Finance Director Teresa Green, along with Myra Wheelock, Liesel Sandkile, and Anna from the Office of Management and Budget, presented a new $1.6 million participatory budgeting (PB) initiative for Council District 5, funded by the Climate Commitment Act through the Washington State Department of Commerce. Funds must be used for a capital project focused on climate resilience or decarbonization. The process will be community-driven, with idea collection through September 2026, proposal development in October-November, and voting from January to mid-March 2027. A community leadership team is being recruited, with the first meeting scheduled for June 3, 2026. Council members expressed strong support, noting past PB successes in Districts 2 and 4 where youth and diverse communities participated at high rates. Some members asked about geographic scope, project scoring, and opportunities for other districts. Department of Commerce partners Rowena Pineda and Aiden Garrity confirmed this is a pilot alongside Spokane and a Yakima Valley CBO.
  • Council Consideration Request: Next Gen GM Sports Executive Internship Pilot Program: Councilmember Walker presented a proposal to sponsor a pilot internship program for youth at Cheney Stadium, exposing them to sports business careers. The program serves 10 students from Silas and Lincoln High Schools, with plans to include the Tacoma Galaxy women's professional team. Funding from the council contingency fund would cover transportation, food, and stipends. The proposal will be brought for a vote on June 9, 2026. Council members expressed enthusiasm and suggested potential visits to the Tacoma Dome.
  • Council Consideration Request: Ride Transit Month Sponsorship: Councilmember Walker presented a proposal to sponsor Ride Transit Month (June 2026), coordinated by Transportation Choices Coalition and Tacoma on the Go. The sponsorship supports events and advocacy for transit. Councilmember Diaz asked about the history of city sponsorship; Walker noted it had not been sponsored in recent years. The proposal will be voted on June 9, 2026.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes were taken during the study session.
  • The joint TPU board and city council study session was adjourned, followed by a recess and then the city council study session.
  • The city council study session was adjourned at the end of the agenda.
  • Two council consideration requests (Next Gen GM sports internship and Ride Transit Month sponsorship) are scheduled for a vote on June 9, 2026.
  • The participatory budgeting team will continue community outreach and leadership team meetings, with updates to council anticipated after idea collection and voting phases.

Meeting Transcript

I'd like to call the order the joint study uh joint city council Tacoma Public Utility Board study session of June 2nd, 2026. Clerk, will you please call the roll? Board Member Bridges. Board Member Gallagher. Board Member Hampton. Vice Chair Klaus McGann. Here. Chair Lochlin. Here. Councilmember, Deputy Mayor Bushnell. Present. Councilmember Diaz. Councilmember Heinz. Here. Councilmember Palmer. Here. Councilmember Rumba. Here. Councilmember Sidalgay? Here. Councilmember Scott. Here. Councilmember Walker? Here. Mayor Ibsen, absent. All right. Thank you so much. I would like to call on Tacoma Public Utility Board Chair, John O'Lawkin, and give him the opportunity to introduce his other board members who are present. Thank you, Deputy Mayor. It's a lovely day to be inside and covering this important topic. And I'm sure my colleagues on the board. Devin Hampton, Anita Gallagher, Ellie Klaus McGann, and William Bridges, and we're pleased to be here. Thank you. Really glad to have you guys here. We love doing these joint sessions. All right. Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Thank you, board members and council members. We are here to do our training for continuing disclosure and bond issuance. We come in front of you as the joint study session. We try to do it annually as close as possible. And uh here to kind of go over some things that you all need to be aware of so that as you are speaking on behalf of the city, you are doing it in the right manners and making sure that the information that you're providing is is accurate, and we have some guests to do that for us today. We have Deanna Gregory and we have Alice and Benge, both from Pacifica Law, and they are here to do the presentation for you. So I will turn it over to Deanna. Great, thank you. Ooh, that worked. I'm live. All right. Well, thank you so much for the invitation to be back here today. Um, I was here last year for a very similar training.

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