OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Tigard City Council Workshop - May 19, 2026

City Council Workshop — Tuesday, May 19, 2026
BodyTigard, Oregon
SessionCity Council Workshop
DateTuesday, May 19, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 43:58

Transcript — Verbatim
0:06

It's 6 30.

0:07

So good evening, everyone.

0:08

I will call the Tiger City Council Workshop to meeting.

0:11

Uh meeting to order.

0:13

And before we begin, I just want to remind everyone that today is the election day.

0:17

And if you have not voted, ballots maybe the drop off in an official ballot drop box by 8 p.m.

0:23

And there's a drop box conveniently located here at City Hall.

0:26

So please come over and vote.

0:28

All right.

0:29

So uh City Recorder Craiger, please come back a roll call.

0:33

Councillor Anderson.

0:37

Is here.

0:38

Counselor Gerdesi.

0:40

Present.

0:41

You, Councillor Halleck is uh absent.

0:44

Mayor who?

0:45

Here.

0:45

Council Robbins is is absent.

0:48

Uh councillor Schlack.

0:50

Here.

0:51

Counselor Shaw is absent.

0:53

Council President Wolf.

0:55

Here.

0:57

All right, thank you.

0:58

Uh well, everybody please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

1:03

Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands.

1:11

One nation.

1:19

All right, City Team and Council.

1:21

Do you have any non-agenda items?

1:23

There are no uh non-agenda items from staff.

1:26

All right.

1:27

No, all right.

1:27

See now let's move on to public comments.

1:30

The public comment period provides an opportunity for members of the public to address the city council.

1:36

While it is not a dialogue, either I or staff will follow up to address the issues brought forward in these comments.

1:43

The calling number is 503-966-4101.

1:48

And those wishing to comment shall call now to get into the queue.

1:51

Anyone present wanting to comment should sign up on the public comment form at the front of the room.

1:58

Uh first uh we'll go to the written comment.

2:00

And there we receive two written comments uh by Monday noon deadline.

2:05

And in person, um I don't do we have anybody sign off for in person?

2:12

No, I'm not sure.

2:14

All right, so nobody signed off to speak.

2:16

Let's move on to video phone.

2:18

Uh Mr.

2:18

Water, are there any callers in the queue for phone or video testimony?

2:24

There are no callers in the queue.

2:26

Thank you, Mr.

2:27

Water.

2:27

And uh so uh next item uh community update.

2:32

Uh Tiger High School envoy uh unfortunately could not be with us uh this evening, so we'll skip to item number four, which is uh TV FNR stay of the district.

2:42

And uh I will w like to welcome Chief Alex Heaven to present the TBNFR stay of the district report.

2:49

And there may be some TB and FR teammates present.

2:55

Good evening, Chief.

2:56

Welcome to Good evening, Mr.

3:01

Mayor, uh members of the council and city staff.

3:04

Thanks for having me.

3:04

My name is Alex Haven, uh Deputy Chief of Operations with 12th Alley Fire and Rescue, and I've got with me Public Affairs Officer Jacob Fuhrer, and I know that we may have a crew or two that drops in in the next 15 minutes, depending on what they're doing with calls.

3:19

So I'm happy to give you our state of the district uh for 2025.

3:24

Um we'll start with that next slide, please.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Safety█████████████████████████████████████████████50%
Procedural██████████████16%
Mental Health Awareness███████8%
Engineering And Infrastructure██████7%
Personnel Matters█████5%
Homelessness█████5%
Environmental Protection████4%
Technology and Innovation███3%
Healthcare Services██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Tigard City Council Workshop - May 19, 2026

The Tigard City Council Workshop was called to order at 6:30 PM on May 19, 2026, with Mayor presiding. Roll call: Councillors Anderson, Gerdesi, Schlack, and Council President Wolf were present; Councillors Halleck, Robbins, and Shaw were absent. The meeting included presentations from Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue (TVF&R) and the Tigard Police Department, as well as council liaison reports.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Two written comments were received by the Monday noon deadline, but no in-person or phone callers signed up to speak. The comments were not read aloud.
  • The Mayor reminded attendees that May 19, 2026, was election day and encouraged voting at the drop box at City Hall by 8 PM.

Discussion Items

  • TVF&R State of the District Report (Deputy Chief Alex Haven, Public Affairs Officer Jacob Fuhrer):

    • 2025 Incident Snapshot for Tigard: 6,225 total calls. Breakdown: 70% EMS, 2.2% fires (168 fires), including 22 structure fires (16 residential, 6 commercial), 14 cooking fires, 72 vegetation fires, 1,441 critical EMS incidents, and 420 crashes.
    • Call Trends: Calls peak during daytime hours; no day-of-week variation; five-year trend shows slight increase. Top responding stations are within Tigard. Heat map identifies high-demand areas often near care facilities.
    • Wildfire Season Outlook: Warmer, drier conditions predicted; fire behavior increasingly impacts populated areas. TVF&R completed three months of wildfire training; crews were ready for deployment by May 1, 2026.
    • Evolving EMS Landscape: Increased use of 911 for non-emergencies. TVF&R is implementing programs to address this: Advanced Practice Community Paramedic (APCP) program to improve outcomes on critical calls; Community Paramedics working with high utilizers to connect them to healthcare; a Care Facility Outreach Program targeting 70 facilities that generate 13% of call volume; and a Nurse Navigation program launched in 2025 in the dispatch center (telehealth triage), currently diverting about 0.5% of calls (goal 2.5–3%).
    • Capital Projects (Bond): Voter-approved November 2021 GO bond. Station 62 relocation (108 5th & Pheasant) underway with site work; Station 67 (busiest) design phase; Stations 17 & 19 concurrent projects in design; training center administrative building demolition scheduled for June. Designs emphasize seismic security, apparatus fit, decontamination zones, and trauma-informed design.
    • Struggle Well Program: Partnership with Bouldercrest Foundation since 2022 to shift from post-traumatic stress disorder to post-traumatic growth. 40% of staff trained; goal of 60%. State funding request for expansion was not approved in the 2025 legislative session due to budget constraints. Deputy Chief Haven described the program as helping first responders take ownership of their experiences and find balance.
    • Council Questions: Council President Wolf asked about the practical impact of Struggle Well; Deputy Chief Haven explained it provides tools to talk about and process trauma. Councillor Gerdesi asked about Nurse Navigation KPIs; Haven noted it takes 1–2 years for new programs to show full impact, and adjustments are ongoing.

  • Tigard Police Department Report (Commander Bob Rogers, Crime Analyst Gayla Christopher):

    • Key Crime Trends: Residential burglaries are increasing, often committed by non-residents homesteading in vacant homes or apartments. One incident involved an armed subject entering an occupied apartment in daytime; the suspect was arrested. Business burglaries are down. Vandalism/graffiti numbers appear lower due to less proactive policing (officers busy with other calls), but graffiti remains prevalent (e.g., on Pacific Highway). Theft numbers overall appear stable but composition is shifting: shoplifting is down, while fuel siphoning and propane tank thefts are up, attributed to economic pressures.
    • Recruiting Update: 50 applicant interviews scheduled for June; 4 applicants proceeding to backgrounds for property/evidence positions (currently short-staffed after retirements); backgrounds ongoing for 8 officer candidates. Standards are not being lowered.
    • Downtown Concerns (Councillor Anderson): Complaints about homeless trash, loitering, and intimidating behavior. Two community-oriented policing officers are assigned to hotspot issues; they deploy on ATVs, foot, or bicycles and often share personal cell numbers with businesses for direct contact. Commander Rogers noted that as other areas are tamped down, issues flare up downtown, and the team will refocus there.
    • Identifying Non-Residents (Councillor Anderson): Commander Rogers and Analyst Christopher explained that officers often know repeat offenders, and many individuals have ID or are in the system. Data on arrestee residency is collected and shared with the district attorney. They offered to provide deeper analysis on where arrested individuals come from.

  • Council, Board, and Committee Liaison Reports:

    • Councillor Schlack reported no liaison meetings since last update.
    • Council President Wolf attended the quarterly Willamette Intake Facilities Commission meeting. Consultants were identified for watershed protection monitoring/outreach. The commission adopted bylaws, an operations plan, emergency response plan, and recreational immunity protection plan. Acknowledged outgoing advocate Ken Helms.
    • Councillor Gerdesi attended MEC and League Oregon City’s telecom and AI meetings, where declining cable use prompted reevaluation of agreements and fee structures, including streaming services. Also mentioned a PRAB meeting (budget conflict) and upcoming discussion on resiliency hubs.
    • Another councillor (unspecified) attended Washington County Coordinating Committee (WCCC), which approved a $1.5 million match fund expenditure from Tigard’s request for the 72nd Avenue project, contingent on securing the remaining $22.3 million.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes or decisions were taken; all items were informational.
  • TVF&R will continue its capital projects, struggle well training, and EMS diversion programs. The Police Department will proceed with recruiting efforts and refocus community policing on downtown hotspots.
  • The meeting adjourned shortly after 7:00 PM.

Meeting Transcript

It's 6 30. So good evening, everyone. I will call the Tiger City Council Workshop to meeting. Uh meeting to order. And before we begin, I just want to remind everyone that today is the election day. And if you have not voted, ballots maybe the drop off in an official ballot drop box by 8 p.m. And there's a drop box conveniently located here at City Hall. So please come over and vote. All right. So uh City Recorder Craiger, please come back a roll call. Councillor Anderson. Is here. Counselor Gerdesi. Present. You, Councillor Halleck is uh absent. Mayor who? Here. Council Robbins is is absent. Uh councillor Schlack. Here. Counselor Shaw is absent. Council President Wolf. Here. All right, thank you. Uh well, everybody please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands. One nation. All right, City Team and Council. Do you have any non-agenda items? There are no uh non-agenda items from staff. All right. No, all right. See now let's move on to public comments. The public comment period provides an opportunity for members of the public to address the city council. While it is not a dialogue, either I or staff will follow up to address the issues brought forward in these comments. The calling number is 503-966-4101. And those wishing to comment shall call now to get into the queue. Anyone present wanting to comment should sign up on the public comment form at the front of the room. Uh first uh we'll go to the written comment. And there we receive two written comments uh by Monday noon deadline. And in person, um I don't do we have anybody sign off for in person? No, I'm not sure. All right, so nobody signed off to speak. Let's move on to video phone. Uh Mr. Water, are there any callers in the queue for phone or video testimony? There are no callers in the queue. Thank you, Mr. Water. And uh so uh next item uh community update.

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