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Record of Proceedings

City of Tacoma Budget and Operational Excellence Study Session | November 3, 2026

City Council Study Session — Tuesday, November 3, 2026
BodyTacoma, Washington
SessionCity Council Study Session
DateTuesday, November 3, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 3:21:51

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

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Unassigned speaker

0:02

Good

Speaker 1

0:02

afternoon.

0:02

I'd like to call to order the City Council study session of November 3rd, 2026.

0:07

Clerk please call a roll.

Speaker 2

0:08

Deputy Mayor Bushnell.

0:10

Absent Councilmember Diaz.

Unassigned speaker

0:14

I believe

Speaker 2

0:15

Councilmember Diaz may be online.

Speaker 1

0:19

Yes, she is.

0:20

Okay.

0:20

Present.

Speaker 2

0:21

Councilmember Heinz?

Unassigned speaker

0:22

Here.

Speaker 2

0:23

Councilmember Palmer.

0:25

Councilmember Rumba.

0:26

Here.

0:27

Councilmember Sidalga?

0:28

Here.

0:28

Councilmember Scott.

0:30

Absent Councilmember Walker, absent Mayor Ibsen.

Speaker 1

0:33

Present.

0:34

Our first agenda item is a budget workshop presentation on operational excellence, for which I'd like to call on Finance Director Andy Chirulo, Information Technology Director Daniel Key, City Attorney Chris Boucha, and Human Resources Director Linia Jablonski to begin their joint presentations.

0:48

Welcome.

Speaker 3

0:50

Thank you, Mayor, members of council.

0:51

My name is Andy Chirulo.

0:53

I'm the Finance Director.

0:54

I'm going to let my fellow directors introduce themselves.

Unassigned speaker

0:58

Hi,

Speaker 4

0:58

I'm Linnea Jablonski.

1:00

I am the human resources director.

1:01

Good to see everyone.

Speaker 5

1:03

And Daniel Key, IT Director.

Unassigned speaker

1:05

And

Speaker 6

1:05

Chris Bott.

1:07

Chris Bachus, City Attorney.

Unassigned speaker

1:11

So

Speaker 3

1:12

we are here this afternoon to present to you all in the 20 cities 2035 goal area of operational excellence.

1:21

So what is operational excellence?

1:26

We believe it's the foundation for how all departments deliver the services that are provided to community members every day.

1:32

As you can see on the slide, there are some great keywords reliable, financially prudent, innovative, well managed, and well care for.

2:15

Once they're here, it's our responsibility to provide the training and development opportunities to keep those employees engaged.

2:22

The second objective is about giving those employees the tools they need to do their jobs.

2:27

Having the right tools to provide the best service possible is important for how we as a city function and serve our community.

2:34

The third objective is all about trust.

2:37

Our community provides the resources that makes our city run.

2:41

Protecting and deploying these scarce resources in a prudent manner is critical in building that trust.

2:47

The fourth objective completes the circle.

2:49

Our community holds us accountable for providing clear direction, modeling the values we share with our community members, and with us being able to accept the feedback so we can improve our employment and performance continuously.

Unassigned speaker

3:04

There

Speaker 3

3:04

are four department directors sitting up here with you today, but every department director in the city strives to meet the operational excellence goals.

3:11

You can see that in this graphic.

3:13

Every department is represented as a slice of this pie chart.

3:17

Some examples of the programs contained within operational excellence include in our environment and public works department, uh the um fleet, we have over 1,500 vehicles in our fleet, facilities maintenance, real property services, in police, it's the administration, the three divisions that they have that uh run, grant administration, the quartermaster, police support staff, and Tacoma venues and events, it's uh our city-owned theaters.

3:44

It is the dome, the convention center, and Cheney Stadium.

3:47

In fire, it's the fire administration folks.

3:50

It's training and certification, IT projects.

3:53

So from these examples, you can see that even in departments that are normally considered as providing direct services to the community, there are many employees that work behind the scenes to provide the tools and support necessary to our frontline staff so they can function and do their jobs.

4:10

Our jobs are to work in partnership with all departments in the city to help serve our community by letting us take the administrative burdens, our frontline folks can focus on the jobs that of serving the community.

4:22

For our presentation today, we will focus on three examples of how we support other departments.

4:27

The first one being the life cycle of a fire engine, the second on filling potholes, the third on hiring a police officer.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Safety███████████████████████████27%
Homelessness███████████████15%
Procedural█████████9%
Affordable Housing███████7%
Budget Equity Analysis██████6%
Public Health█████5%
Engineering And Infrastructure████4%
Code Enforcement████4%
Fiscal Sustainability████4%
Summary of Proceedings

City of Tacoma Budget and Operational Excellence Study Session | November 3, 2026

The Tacoma City Council held a study session on November 3, 2026, at 12:00 PM to review the Department Budget Workshop on Operational Excellence and deliberate on City Council Budget Amendments totaling $4.28 million. City Manager Hyun Kim facilitated the amendment discussion. No formal votes were taken; action is scheduled for the November 10th business meeting.

Discussion Items

Department Budget Workshop – Operational Excellence

Finance Director Andy Cherullo, IT Director Daniel Key, City Attorney Chris Bacha, and HR Director Linnaea Jablonski presented an overview of internal services supporting frontline operations. The presentation used three examples: the lifecycle of a fire engine, the pothole claims process (covering 857 miles of arterial streets and 688 claims from 2021–2025), and the hiring of a police officer (lateral vs. new hire timelines of 2–3 months vs. a year). Councilmembers thanked staff for their foundational work and asked about accountability measures. Mayor Ibsen inquired about bulk procurement efficiencies and lateral hiring timelines.

Budget Amendment Discussions

City Manager Hyun Kim presented a revised list of council-sponsored amendments, grown from $3.2 million to $4.28 million. Key items discussed included:

  • Workforce Program for Sheltered Individuals (Councilmember Palmer): A one-time investment to connect recently sheltered individuals to existing workforce resources (Workforce Central).
  • Wood Waste Sort Yard Study (Councilmember Hines): Reduced to $100,000 to identify a location and feasibility for a wood waste diversion facility, following a 2024 study and pilot.
  • Community Workforce Agreement Support (Councilmember Diaz): $200,000 for contractor negotiations.
  • St. Anne’s Expansion Project (Councilmembers Heinz, Rumbaugh): $1.5 million for 100 new permanent supportive beds. The debate focused on funding sources (General Fund vs. 1590 Affordable Housing Funds). Councilmember Palmer expressed frustration over discovering the 1590 fund late in the process. True Bay Health reported 57% of current residents are from Tacoma. The city manager acknowledged the trade-offs, noting the fund is highly subscribed.
  • Emergency Rental Assistance (Mayor Ibsen, Councilmember Palmer): $100,000 structured as second money in, matching private philanthropy within two years.
  • Civil Immigration Enforcement Signs (Councilmember Diaz): $500 to finish installations. Braille was not included due to cost and placement constraints.
  • Code Compliance Start-Up (Deputy Mayor Bushnell): Funds for public education on new property maintenance standards, separate from future mid-budget staffing requests.
  • Tippy House Nurse Program (Councilmember Rumba): $50,000 for low-barrier healthcare to reduce 911 calls, with questions raised about long-term sustainability.
  • Crisis Response Study (Councilmember Palmer): $100,000 to update the 2021 plan. Councilmembers stressed a regional approach, partnering with the county and health department.
  • Crisis Response Staffing (Councilmembers Palmer, Scott): $450,000 for two FTEs in high investment corridors. The city manager requested flexibility on the use of funds. Councilmembers Heinz and Diaz called it prescriptive and questioned the timing and use of opioid settlement funds without a formal spending plan.
  • Community Service Officer (CSO) Expansion (Councilmembers Sidalga, Diaz, Scott): $1.75 million for 5 FTEs over two years, from the Public Safety Sales Tax balance ($3.4 million). Councilmember Hines questioned the need given lower crime rates and high officer staffing. Councilmember Sidalga argued for improving the program to address its 17% response rate to eligible calls.

Key Outcomes

  • The council completed its daylighting of all budget amendments. Action is scheduled for the November 10, 2026 business meeting.
  • City Manager Kim will work with the Mayor to group non-controversial amendments and present the proposed groupings at the November 10 study session.
  • Council directed staff to provide further data on CSO utilization, scope, and potential policy changes to improve the program before formal adoption.

Meeting Transcript

Good afternoon. I'd like to call to order the City Council study session of November 3rd, 2026. Clerk please call a roll. Deputy Mayor Bushnell. Absent Councilmember Diaz. I believe Councilmember Diaz may be online. Yes, she is. Okay. Present. Councilmember Heinz? Here. Councilmember Palmer. Councilmember Rumba. Here. Councilmember Sidalga? Here. Councilmember Scott. Absent Councilmember Walker, absent Mayor Ibsen. Present. Our first agenda item is a budget workshop presentation on operational excellence, for which I'd like to call on Finance Director Andy Chirulo, Information Technology Director Daniel Key, City Attorney Chris Boucha, and Human Resources Director Linia Jablonski to begin their joint presentations. Welcome. Thank you, Mayor, members of council. My name is Andy Chirulo. I'm the Finance Director. I'm going to let my fellow directors introduce themselves. Hi, I'm Linnea Jablonski. I am the human resources director. Good to see everyone. And Daniel Key, IT Director. And Chris Bott. Chris Bachus, City Attorney. So we are here this afternoon to present to you all in the 20 cities 2035 goal area of operational excellence. So what is operational excellence? We believe it's the foundation for how all departments deliver the services that are provided to community members every day. As you can see on the slide, there are some great keywords reliable, financially prudent, innovative, well managed, and well care for. Once they're here, it's our responsibility to provide the training and development opportunities to keep those employees engaged. The second objective is about giving those employees the tools they need to do their jobs. Having the right tools to provide the best service possible is important for how we as a city function and serve our community. The third objective is all about trust. Our community provides the resources that makes our city run. Protecting and deploying these scarce resources in a prudent manner is critical in building that trust. The fourth objective completes the circle. Our community holds us accountable for providing clear direction, modeling the values we share with our community members, and with us being able to accept the feedback so we can improve our employment and performance continuously. There are four department directors sitting up here with you today, but every department director in the city strives to meet the operational excellence goals.

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