City Council - Regular Meeting

I'd like to call the order of the City Council meeting of August 4th, 2026. Clerk, please call the roll.

Deputy Mayor Bushnell. Present. Council Member Diaz.

Here.

Council Member Hines. Here. Council Member Palmer. Here. Council Member Rumba. Here. Council Member Sedalge.

Here.

Council Member Scott. Here. Council Member Walker. Here. Mayor Ibsen.

Here. Please join me in listening to the land acknowledgement and flag salute led by Council Member Rumba, followed by a moment of silence.

We gratefully honor and acknowledge that we rest on the traditional lands of the Puyallup people, where they make their home and speak the Lushootse language. Please stand for the flag salute and remain standing for a moment of silence. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Are there any modifications to the agenda this evening? Seeing none, we'll move on to the consent agenda. There are no consent agenda items. There are no proclamations, recognitions, presentations, or announcements. Moving on to public comment. Clerk, please read.

This is a time set aside for public comment. Speakers are asked to identify the specific legislation they wish to address.

All right, and this is your opportunity to speak on any items on tonight's agenda. This forum is intended to give speakers the opportunity to share their viewpoints and feedback with the City Council to aid in our decision-making. It is not meant to be a back-and-forth dialogue. Your remarks should be directed to the City Council and not individual members of the Council or staff members. And if you wish to speak virtually, then you can either press the raise hand button or star 9. So with that, we have a few speakers, starting with Parks Commissioner Andrea Smith. speaking to resolution 41979.

It's both me and Commissioner Bronwyn Clark.

We won't be mad about that. Go ahead.

Awesome. Thank you all so much for giving us this time to speak. We are both really excited to speak for resolution 41979, providing wayfinding signage for Eastside Community Center. Since its opening in 2018, Eastside Community Center has been a hub for community just as intended. It serves thousands of people of all ages and abilities through programs, open gym, open swim, fitness, senior gatherings, classes, community events, and private rentals. But looking from the street, you would never know it. Because as a resident of District 4, I can attest that I, if you haven't specifically been to an event at the Eastside, you might not know that it's there because it is hidden by a beautiful grove of trees. I actually lived in the east side since 2020. And I think the first time I found the community center was when I went to a planning commission meeting there and was like, oh, this exists. This is amazing. So we really think that the current way that the building is hidden just makes it a challenge for folks to find, since you can't see it from Portland Avenue. And we really appreciate Councilmember Sedalge's initiative for council contingency funds for wayfinding signage, because that will just improve access and visibility for the Eastside Community Center. And we really appreciate Council Member Sadalge for sponsoring this request. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, both commissioners. Kit Burns.

And which item are you speaking tonight, sir? I'm speaking on item 41974. This is on changing the items on the consent agenda. And I'm recommending that I support that amendment that basically removes the multifamily tax exemption from the consent agenda. I believe that's the only thing I'm speaking of. And the reason I speak about that, because I've looked at these a lot, and I found the city council, in my view, doing some math has not been fair. I don't totally oppose multifamily tax exemption, but I don't like it when it's totally upside down. lopsided, to give you an example. The Proctor Station came before the City Council, I think in 2016, for a $20 million project. They received $2.7 million worth of tax credits, and then, I think it was last year or the year before, they were given another $9 million tax break. Or no, sorry, I take that back. That was $6.7 million. So, The credits for affordable housing are not ever properly addressed. There's not an economic rationale for that. Again, I don't oppose them, but I think it should be discussed. And I would like the city council to discuss those in a robust manner. The state and way project, I don't like to single them out because it's a gorgeous place, a good asset to the city. But they actually received an additional $12 million tax break over 12 years. So I'd like to discuss that. Thanks.

Thank you, Kit. With that, we have no further speakers signed in. We have no attendees who are logged in to speak. So I'm going to declare public comment closed. We're going to move on to the regular agenda, starting with item number four, resolutions. Please read.

Resolution four one nine seven three this is the second reading of a resolution of ending rule eight of the rules of procedure to provide opportunities for organizations to make public requests for presentations at regular meetings of the council and Change the process to make a new review and review presentation requests and directing the city manager to create and post an application The first reading this item is held last week.

Are there any additional council questions or comments? Council member Rumbaugh

Thank you, Mayor. I'm excited to bring forward this proposal to update Rule 8 of the council rules and procedures as it pertains to public requests for presentations. This idea stems from our conversations about community forum. Our community forum is not set up for groups to share issues, concerns, or asks of the community. I heard from community that there is a need for this type of interaction. And at the time, I proposed embedding community presentations into the structure of community forum. While this wasn't incorporated into the changes council adopted, I believed strongly that the idea continued to have merit. The proposal before us today addresses this in a new way. It directly responds to the request I've heard from more formal ways for groups and organizations to present to council. This will provide a new tool for council to create space for those in the community who say their voices are underrepresented in council meetings. This policy directs the city manager to create an open and transparent application process for these presentations. Applying to present would be open to the entire community and presentation requests will have to be approved by the city council. And I appreciate everyone on the city council for being open to this continued dialogue on how we can continue to build trust and connection with community. I encourage you to vote yes on this resolution. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Rumbaugh. Deputy Mayor, do you have a question?

Just a comment. Please. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to really appreciate Council Member Rumbaugh and her leadership on this. I think it's really important that we provide options for community to engage with the council. I also think this is really good because it helps the council also be able to ask additional questions about folks that are doing presentations about different topic areas. And so it helps a bit more with the kind of back and forth dialogue that I think some folks are looking for that we don't currently have exist in the current community forum format. And so I'm really looking forward to community groups and organizations utilizing this tool, and I'm excited to see how that looks. Thank you, Councilmember.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Rumbaugh, for bringing it forward. Seeing no further Council questions or comments, all those in favor of adopting Resolution No. 41973, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed say no. Resolution is declared adopted. Item No. 5, clerk, please read.

Resolution 41974. This is a second reading of a resolution amending various rules of the Council Rules of Procedure to clarify language and expectations, remove outdated citations, and revise the agenda order of business as reviewed by the Operational Strategy and Administrative Committee.

First reading of this item was held last week. Are there any additional council questions or comments? Council Member Palmer.

I move to amend resolution number 41974 by striking the proposed language on Rule 4, Section 8, regarding items on the consent agenda as follows. Number 6, multifamily housing limited property tax exemption agreements.

Move in second. I'd like to call on Council Member Palmer.

Thank you, Mayor. I'm bringing forward an amendment tonight to one of the proposed changes of the council rules, and I want to take a moment to explain why I'm bringing this forward. Another moment. There is a proposed change to move the NFTE projects to the consent agenda, and my amendment is to strike that language. The disagreement that I have is about whether the council's role in approving or denying projects is administrative or discretionary. believe that the city and state codes are not clear and that they can be interpreted as given the council discretionary authority for example the TMC says a proposed project must meet the following requirements for consideration for a property tax exemption it also uses language like to propose a project rather than saying apply for an exemption in addition the code says the project must be designed to comply with the city's comprehensive plan building housing and zoning codes and and any other applicable regulations in effect at the time of the application is approved, I think that compliance with the comprehensive plan is subjective and could be challenged. There are other parts that I believe are also subjective. For example, there is a section that reads the director may certify as eligible an application which is determined to comply with the requirements of this chapter. Again, this could be interpreted as a discretionary duty for the council, not an administrative decision. I respect and appreciate our legal department's perspective on the code, but I have a different interpretation. Ultimately, I think there are vital opportunities to improve the MFTE program so that it better serves the dual purposes of incentivizing development and creating affordable housing. I'm looking forward to being engaged in the next policy discussion on this topic to advocate for policy changes, particularly around affordability. In the meantime, I continue to stand by my perspective Council does have the ability to deny a project and that we are being being too risk-averse my Amendment would keep the NFTE projects on the regular council agenda although I do not believe we need a presentation from city staff on each project I understand that I can move items off the consent agenda for a vote at any meeting and I'm happy to do so if that is needed Thank you Thank You councilmember Palmer any questions or comments from the council I

Council Member Hines. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And thank you, Council Member Palmer, for bringing forward the amendment and explaining your thought process about how to bring it forward. As the person who made this proposal as part of the council rules process about a year ago, I just want to talk about my thinking behind it and understand why I think this is more appropriate for the consent agenda versus having individual votes each session. I first want to just talk a little bit about the past, which is why is this even not on the agenda in the first place? And from my understanding is the council 10, 15, 20 years ago was so excited that projects were coming out of the ground that they wanted to vote on every single one of these. They wanted to celebrate the fact that we had development happening. And so it was not so much of a compliance tool, but more of a celebration tool, a chance for the community to kind of get an idea of like, hey, look, this vacant lot is turning into new housing. So that was kind of the initial impetus of why this landed on the regular agenda versus the consent agenda, was this kind of more of a celebration process. But in my time on the council, we have these come forward all the time. and there's a presentation, there's discussion, and then more likely than not, it's a 9-0 vote to confirm the MFTE. And why is that? Because we write a policy that says if you are a development and you do this list of things, you are given an MFTE. So the question I come back to is if we want to have a more robust conversation about the MFTE, it probably shouldn't happen only when these items come up on the agenda. and should be happening all the time. And we should be having a further conversation about the policy itself. And I just want to be really clear, we have, since I've been on the council. Councilman Walker and I led a change in 2021 to the MFT that expanded to new areas, that reduced the affordability requirement, and eliminated the eight-year MFT in multiple parts of the city. And in part of that, we also included a three-year revision period. So after three years, we come back and look at it again. So in 2024 and then into 2025, we looked at the policy again. We eliminated the eight-year MFT in certain parts of the city. We made some other changes and required a certain number of units to be built as part of the MFT. So we have shown as a council, number one, that we listen to the public. Number two, that we're doing this work outside of the votes on the consent agenda. Number three, we are flexible and we're making changes. And then number four, for the most part, the votes aren't controversial. And when you read our rules around the consent agenda, items that are not controversial, are more ministerial or more kind of application of code processes, make more sense to land on the consent agenda. And so that is why I propose to move the MFT on the consent agenda, because it just makes more sense. It is an item that fits for what the consent agenda is used for. I will just say, though, that whether or not we choose to vote no on these, I think, is beside the point. I think the question is, how do we write a policy that we all could support versus how do we pick and choose which ones we want to vote against and whether we actually can vote against these or not. Because I think it's really more important that we have a focus and conversation about the policy versus the individual votes. And to be completely honest, I really think it's more transparent for the community to be clear that these are going to be approved and that the focus should be on the policy update and not on the individual votes in the future. I think that's just much more transparent and clear to the community. And so I think that is why I proposed to move this over to the consent agenda. And I thank the OSAC committee for reviewing this and kind of how we got to here. And I appreciate all the effort so far. And I look forward to working with Council Member Palmer and my colleagues as we move forward to make changes to the MFT policy to make sure it's the right fit for the city of Tacoma. But that's something done outside of any one vote on any one project. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Hines. Council Member Palmer.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Hines, for voicing your ideas around this change. I want to thank you for all the work that you've done with MFTEs over the years. I know that they've come a long way. I am aware that it's about every three years that there's kind of a review process around. We chatted about that. I'm happy to bring... changes forward before the three years, if that's what folks are wanting to do. I was going with kind of what was established with that three-year mark in order to bring forward changes to the policy that I would like to see. And I guess I have to agree to disagree that, you know, yes, it was a 9-0 vote, I guess, before I was here, and that it is not contentious because it is contentious because I am voting no I have voted no since I have come to question the fact that it is a discretionary decision for council. And so I haven't picked apart one versus the other. I've consistently voted no. And so happy to, again, bring forward recommendations for changing the policy and happy to have that conversation. But this is... Not necessarily, this is a fact that it is contentious, so I do not believe it should be on the consent agenda. Thanks.

Thank you. Council Member Sedalge. Thank you. it helped me during study session um to understand the answer from city attorney on the questions that deputy mayor and you mayor had asked so uh just for the sake of of those listening in um city attorney can you kind of maybe summarize some of the the the questions and kind of answers that we had at study session because that that helped me come to a conclusion

I think I can remember back that far. The question that was asked was whether, and part of the dialogue was whether the council's decision to approve or not approve a multifamily tax exemption is discretionary. And the answer that I gave at the study session was that the criteria themselves and the policies that surround whether or not the council would grant A multi-family tax exemption are expressed in the municipal code, and that's based upon state law And the way that it's set up in our code and in state law there are criteria that the council considers Those criteria are actually considered by the director of CED in the application process, but ultimately The council has reserved to itself, because the state law allows it to, to make the decision as to whether or not to grant or not grant, based on those criteria. And the council has the discretion to change them, but not from the dais, because it's an ordinance. You'd have to change them by legislation. And if the council... under the state statute, if the council chooses to deny an application, the council must also set forth its reasons in writing as to why it has denied the application. And the last thing that I explained was that because the council has chosen to adopt this exemption that's provided under state law, the council has developed a process for applying and criteria for applying Arguably that creates and I would agree with this that that creates a property interest in the process for applying and if the council denies the applicant application Without setting forth the criteria that are based upon what's in the code and that would be arguably an arbitrary and capricious decision and in violation of both the state and federal constitutions and subject the city to a challenge to its decision. Does that cover?

Yeah, no, that helped me. And what helped me when I was listening to this is the votes are on very specific applications that have already been vetted and confirmed to fit the criteria that we as a council have already agreed on policy, correct?

That is the process that the council set up in the code so that the director of CED or a delegate reviews the applications administratively to determine if they're in compliance with the criteria. And they will reject the application if it doesn't meet the procedural requirements so that it doesn't come before the council.

So I'm sure there have been applications that have been submitted that have been rejected before they get here because they don't meet the requirements to qualify, correct?

Our office doesn't process the applications, so I don't have personal knowledge as to whether any have been rejected, but I would assume that some have.

Sure. And so I think to me, ultimately, that's the real reason why I would reject this or I would vote no on this specific motion is I think there is a forum to talk about the policy overall, but this is largely an administrative type process. And if there is a application that we feel has a you know a fault of some sort sure we can pull it off the consent agenda and discuss that portion of it potentially at our level but it is not a forum to necessarily discuss the the the policy the overall umbrella kind of policy I think we have forums kind of for that and and I correct me if I'm wrong there's also case law on how we have to interpret this and practice over time I'm assuming

With respect to modified family tax exemption?

No, to this whole idea of having, does it really go into due process and right to appeal and how to interpret whether directors are interpreting statutes correctly or not correctly.

There is. There's no case law with respect directly to multifamily tax exemptions, but there's lots of case law that discusses the due process, substantive and procedural due process rights, and the constitutional requirement that all actions by the city must be reasonable, meaning they cannot be arbitrary and capricious. So there must always be a reason for a decision. It doesn't have to be a right or wrong decision, but there has to be a reason. A reason given. And in this case, it has to follow the process that's been set up in our code that follows state law.

And that reason has to be embedded in the requirements set forth in the policy, the overall policy that we've created, and to kind of talk about why it doesn't fit the criteria.

Correct.

Okay. All right. Thank you. That was helpful to me. All right. Thank you. Council Member Palmer.

Thank you for allowing me to speak again, Mayor. I don't know if this is a question for city manager. What is the purpose of the consent agenda?

Council Member Palmer, the consent agenda is for routine matters before the council for decisions, payment vouchers, as well as pursuant to changes to your rules that would allow for items such as, in this case, you would be setting out these items to be on the consent agenda. Those are typical things, vouchers, payments. Some agreements that are placed on the consent agenda are items that are routine, so long as it's not excluded. It's something that's in the packet. It's customary.

Is there criteria for what can be on the consent agenda and what cannot be on the consent agenda in our council rules and procedures?

So as the city attorney is researching right now, he may have an answer for this one. It's pursuant to the council's discretion as far as you set rules and modify rules pursuant to your rules and procedures. Your question, Council Member Palmer, is more subjective to probably for the council to answer. Does that make sense, Council Member Palmer?

I guess I'm asking for the wording and the rules and procedures.

Give us a moment. Yeah. Yeah. I saw that your hand was up. Did you still want to comment?

Yeah, no. Yeah, consent agenda, the line number seven, approval consent agenda consists generally of one or more of the following items, and then it gives a list. But I thought there was something here that said it was of items that were of not just kind of run-of-the-mill items, but this one just has a list. Approval of minutes, first reading of ordinance, accepting gifts, donations, adopt resolutions that are Fixing the dates of hearings of appeals, approval of final plots, authorizing community development block grant program agreements with approved agencies, approving or accepting grants only when council approval is required by the grantor or when the grant includes a match from expenditure of funds that otherwise require council approval, approving requests relating to quieting the title or clearing issues on real property and other similar actions. Communications to the council, ordinances of communications and hearing exam, or interlocal agreements accepting those pertaining to cooperative purchasing, approval of payments per RCW 42.24.180, and approval of new purchase resolutions or amendments to prior approve purchase resolutions in the amount of not exceeding $2 million. Amounts exceeding $2 million will be placed on the regular agenda. So that is what is listed under the consent agenda in our council rules. Am I missing something other than that?

Thank you for this, Council Member Hines. That is your criteria. That's set in your rules and procedures.

I had one other comment, but I see Councillor Palmer, I think, is in the middle of her comments. Mr. Mayor, so I'll cede my time back to her. Okay. Councillor Palmer.

Thank you. I believe the clerk reads. Maybe it's not in the council rules and procedures. It wasn't read tonight because I don't think there was anything on the consent agenda. But I believe there is a line in there that says that it shouldn't be anything of contentious nature. We can double check that. I'm not going to go back and forth, but I just wanted to reiterate that this is something that I went line by line in this code in order to read through it. And again, I appreciate the attorney's opinion on this and their advice on this. I think we should always consider that. But ultimately, again, it's something that I disagree with. So there we go. I guess we can vote.

Okay, thank you. And I'll just briefly say that I definitely appreciate this being brought forward. It's great to just have an honest discussion with something in writing in front of you. Where I myself personally am landing on this is that nothing is sacrosanct. I think it's perfectly reasonable to want to discuss the multifamily tax exemption as a policy. I do think, and the reason why I'm a no in this particular amendment is that This particular place is not the time to do that, because the individual votes themselves are ministerial. I mean, they're not administrative, but it's effectively carrying out what's very strictly controlled by state law processes. This council has previously changed the parameters of the multifamily housing exemption. I mean, a really good example of that would be just, I think, maybe a month or so ago, this council voted on a 12-year affordable exemption for an apartment building proposed in the Proctor neighborhood, for example. Now, previously, under the unmodified multifamily housing exemption, whereas, as you know, those who are interested in this, we have an eight-year, which applies to anything market rate, and we have a 12-year exemption, which has affordability requirements. And one of the policy changes this council previously made was saying that high opportunity neighborhoods, i.e. the North End, Stadium, Proctor, the waterfront, can no longer qualify for market rate types of exemptions. Only affordable types of projects, like the one just approved in the Proctor neighborhood, can move forward in high opportunity neighborhoods. That was a policy decision this council made. So if there are areas of interest for further revising the multifamily housing exemption, that's really the appropriate place to do it, is looking at the policy as a whole rather than individual project moving forward. And as with anything, I'm eternally open-minded. That's my own perspective on that. And we have one comment remaining from Council Member Rumbaugh, after which we'll have the vote on this amendment. Please proceed.

Thank you, Mayor. And I really appreciate what you just said. Because I had a question. So it would be possible for Council Member Palmer to want to open up the conversation about multifamily tax exemptions and talk about policy outside of the three years that we agreed to in GPFC when we did the last vote. Is that possible to change the timeline and come back sooner?

Is that a question?

Yeah, it's a question, yeah.

Yes.

Okay, so that is a possibility that we could do that. Okay, thank you.

All right, thank you. So with that, thank you everyone for your great questions and comments. The vote before us is the amendment on the resolution, resolution 41973. Excuse me, there's a lot of amendments tonight. 41974, thank you. All those in favor of the amendment, please signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed say no. No. The amendment fails. The resolution as unamended, 41974, is now before us. Any final comments? Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting the resolution, please signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed say no. The resolution is declared adopted. Moving on to item number six. This item will have a PowerPoint presentation. Clerk, please read.

Resolution four one nine seven five a resolution authorizing the execution of a loan agreement with the Museum of Glass and the amount of one million two hundred fifty thousand dollars to support non construction costs associated with the museum's renovation and expansion project I move to adopt resolution number four one nine seven five Move in second like to call on interim community economic development director Debbie Bingham Debbie Good evening mayor and council members.

I am Debbie Bingham from the community economic development department I Can get this to work today Resolution 41975 is a request to authorize the execution of a short-term bridge financing loan agreement valued at $1.25 million from our urban action grant dollars with the Museum of Glass for the proposed supporting costs tied to the museum's renovation and expansion project. The UDAG, Urban Development Action Grant Program, shortly called UDAG, was created in the 1970s. UDAG was originally administered by the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, who gave UDAG grants to local communities. They were intended to be a revolving loan fund to assist physically and economically distressed cities and urban counties by leveraging private investment to create jobs and stimulate economic growth. Proceeds of repaid loans were put into a revolving loan fund to be used for more loans to businesses for economic and community development purposes. The original funding was a one-time opportunity from the federal government, and there have been no further investments into this fund. The UDAG account is a strategic fund used to achieve defined economic development objectives included in the One Tacoma plan and the economic development five-year strategy. Previously funded projects include the Murano Hotel, acquisition and redevelopment of Old City Hall, construction of a parking facility on the University of Washington Tacoma's campus, and most recently, the SEBA redevelopment loan for the buildings that surround City Hall. All funding is structured as loans and is to be repaid into the same UDAG account. The Museum of Glass is a Tacoma-based 501c3 nonprofit contemporary art museum located at 1801 Dock Street and was built as part of the Theophos Waterway in downtown revitalization and opened in 2002. This museum operates the West Coast's largest and most active Museum of Glass studio with nearly 100,000 visitors annually. This is the first major capital renovation in the museum's history, with an estimated total projected cost of $22 million. The project will create approximately 4,000 square feet for the Lino Taglia Pietri Legacy Gallery to display 175 gifted works, convert the current theater into additional gallery space for rotating exhibits, modernize existing galleries, lighting, environmental control, security, visitor flow, and collection storage. The financing need. So of the $22 million total project cost, approximately $17 million has been secured in campaign commitments, including state, foundation, and private pledges. The city had an independent underwriting review of this project and the financial feasibility by Grow America that noted the strengths of this project as strong financial and operational history, low existing leverage, stable leadership, and a project ready to get underway. The loan will be repaid in 24 months, and the collateral will be a lien on the museum building itself. The public benefit, which is one thing we really look at when we're looking at UDAG loans, preserves and improves a significant civic and cultural facility on the Theophos Waterway. I mentioned earlier that this was part of the downtown and Theophos revitalization. This museum opened in 2002 before the Tacoma Art Museum opened in three, before any of the projects on the Theophos were built. It really did kick off that redevelopment. It expands access to the exhibits and educational programming and contemporary glass art. It supports Tacoma's visitor economy, cultural sector, downtown employment base, and regional visibility. Staff recommends approval of the resolution authorizing a $1.25 million loan to the Museum of Glass with the loan terms of 24 months and a 9% flat fee, all due at maturity. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, Debbie. Any council questions? All right. Seeing none. Oh, I'm sorry. Council Member Rumbaugh.

Thank you, Mayor. I don't really have any questions. I just had some comments because I just want to say thank you so much to the Community Economic Development Department for all of your work on this. I also just want to recognize how important, as you say, the Glass Museum is. I see the director here right now and want to say that this is a gem in our city. It creates so much economic vitality. They are an anchor down on the Thea Foss. If you don't go there and don't have a membership, it is one of the best places to be on a rainy day, which we have a lot of those, in the hot shop watching them create art and glass. They help so many young artists get on their feet and find a place to create. They also provide a place for kids to create their own kinds of art. And just I'm so excited for this because I think that this is our investment as a city, our capital investment, that this is what we're giving to their capital campaign is this opportunity to borrow this money, pay it back to us. And I so support what the glass museum means to our city, and I am going to vote in support of this. Thank you.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to say I think this is a great use of UDAG funds, a phenomenal use for a great organization and community asset, and I love to see that we're doing this. I'm a really big fan of the UDAG funds. I think they're a great revolving loan that we can support organizations like the Glass Museum, and so I'm just really looking forward to supporting this. Thank you.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Definitely a worthwhile project. So with no further comments, all those in favor of adopting Resolution No. 41975, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Supposed to say no. Resolution is declared adopted. Moving on to item seven. Clerk, please read.

Resolution 41976, resolution authorizing execution of the letter of agreement with local 483 customer and field services unit regarding job placement options and impacts of Tacoma Fire Department ambulance billing subcontracting.

I move to adopt resolution number 41976. Second.

Moved and seconded. I'd like to call on Dylan Carlson. Good evening, Mayor Ibsen and members of the City Council. I am Dylan Carlson, Labor Relations Division Manager for the City of Tacoma. Resolution 41976 authorizes execution of a letter of agreement as negotiated with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, IBEW Local 483, Customer and Field Services Bargaining Unit. The agreement was adopted by Public Utility Board as a resolution on July 22nd, 2026. The Tacoma Fire Department has determined to subcontract work performed by their ambulance billing unit. This subcontracting will cause a reduction in force affecting several Tacoma Fire Department employees and the Local 43 customer and field services bargaining unit. The letter of agreement will provide for a voluntary demotion option for TFD employees in the customer service representative classification series. Tacoma Public Utilities Customer Service Division anticipates it will have four customer service representative positions available in September of 2026. These positions will be offered to the employees in the TFD Ambulance Billing Unit in order of seniority to voluntarily demote in lieu of layoff. Employees who accept this voluntary demotion option will forfeit any formal layoff or reemployment rights in their prior classification and department. An employee must successfully complete the TPU customer service new hire training program lasting approximately 12 weeks and serve a trial period of nine months. An employee who is separated during the trial service period shall have no rights to appeal their separation through the contractual grievance procedure or civil service board. An employee may appeal such decision within 14 calendar days to the director of utilities, whose decision shall be final and binding. The separated employee will be eligible for placement on a customer service representative re-employment list, but shall not be eligible for recall to a position at TPU customer service. Seniority within the TPU customer service workgroup for purposes such as vacation and shift bidding shall be in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement. I would be happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, Dylan. Any questions? All right. Seeing none, all those in favor of adopting Resolution No. 41976, please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say no. Resolution is declared adopted. Thank you, Dylan. Item No. 8, this item will also cover Item 9. Clerk, please read.

Resolution 41977, a resolution authorizing the one-time use of council contingency funds in the amount of $15,000 to support St. Leo's Food Connection pilot partnership with the Tacoma Public Library.

I move to adopt resolution number 41977. Second.

Moved and seconded. I'd like to call on Council Member Rumbaugh.

Hi, Mayor. I'm sorry I'm talking so much tonight, but I won't be here in a little while, so... I've shared with all of you this year how invested I've been in increasing food access to youth and children, and it's no secret that Tacoma has seen an increasing need for accessible food resources for children and families. My priority this year has been to expand food access for children in places where they spend time and feel safe. I've been meeting with stakeholders across Tacoma to learn about all the great work happening to enhance food access for youth. I am so deeply thankful to the amazing people who dedicate themselves to this cause. It's essential. I also know that we can always do more. One key problem I have heard and seen has been in our libraries. We have such outstanding libraries, one that young people often find to be safe places to stay and spend time. We recently celebrated investments in the downtown library that enhances teen services. It's a fantastic place. However, kids in these locations aren't able to access food there. I want to thank Amitha, our library director, for engaging in this conversation and exploring options for how we can address this issue. I also want to thank St. Leo Food Connection for leaning in and bringing creative solutions to the table. Together, they've launched a pilot partnership that includes serving summer meals at the main library, providing healthy snacks at three library branches, and exploring the feasibility of a pop-up pantry at the main library to increase access to nutritious food for children and families. This contingency funding request invests in this work and helps address unanticipated costs of setting up a new pilot. Funding will be used to purchase food and snacks for distribution through the library-based programs, expanding access to food for children and families while evaluating the effectiveness of this community-based service model. Thank you all for considering this request.

Thank you, Council Member Rumbaugh, for bringing this forward. Council Member Palmer, do you have a question?

No, I just wanted to say thank you to Council Member Rumbaugh for bringing this forward. I think it really highlights both the importance of our library system and the need that we need to make sure that folks are food secure. And this is a great step to combining those two things. Thank you. Very good. All right. Well, all those in favor of adopting Resolution No. 41977, please say goodbye by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye

The resolution is declared adopted. Moving on to item number nine. Clerk, please read.

Resolution 41978, a resolution authorizing the one-time use of council contingency funds in the amount of $7,000 to support Tacoma Farmers Market Grit City Gala.

I move to adopt resolution number 41978. Second.

Move in seconds. Item was just presented. Are there any additional council questions or comments? Council Member Roth.

Are we doing another one? The different, the other? Yes. Okay, yes, okay. I want to thank Councilmember Diaz and Councilmember Walker for joining me in co-sponsoring this request to sponsor the Tacoma Farmers Market Grit City Gala. And I see someone from University of Washington Tacoma here and somebody from their board. The Grit City Gala supports the work of many who participate in the Broadway Farmers Market each year. From the chef cooking the meal to the different vendors who volunteer their time, this event allows small entrepreneurs, many of whom are underrepresented in our business community, to shine their talent and showcase what they do best. The support of the GRIT City Gala aligns with our 2025 strategic goals through place making and cultivates Tacoma's unique identity and cultural diversity by enhancing public spaces, community experiences and neighborhood character, fostering a sense of belonging and civic pride. As a benefit of this sponsorship, the city will be provided multiple ways to connect with the downtown community in 2026 and 2027. Thank you all for your consideration of this request.

Thank you. All right. With that, the resolution is before us. All those in favor of adopting resolution number 41978, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed say no. The resolution is declared adopted. Thank you again. Moving on to item 10. Clerk, please read.

Resolution 41979, a resolution authorizing the one-time use of council contingency funds in the amount of $1,225 for three wayfinding signs for the Eastside Community Center and directing the city manager to install the signs near East 56th Street and Portland Avenue East.

I move to adopt resolution number 41979. Second. Moving to second.

I'd like to call on council members to delegate.

Thank you, Mayor. start my comments with some gratitude first to my co-sponsors councilmember Diaz and Walker who among the rest of this council have been to the Eastside Community Center quite often I want to thank all of you for all the attending all those events And I also want to show thanks to commissioners Smith Commissioner Clark as well as I've been in contact on the phone with commissioners Lee and Santorno and Maurer who are all supportive of this and the reason why is the Eastside Community Center today is it's more than just a recreation It's become a cornerstone of Tacoma's Eastside community and a point of pride for District 4. It's built, you know, as all of you know, it was built through grassroots advocacy for a shared commitment in creating a safe and welcoming place for youth and families to center on and reflect resilient strength and aspirations for a neighborhood that worked tirelessly to secure greater access to quality public amenities. And today, it is also a place where we also have seniors go regularly to connect and be with community as well. Ensuring that more residents can benefit from this vital public resource is absolutely going to strengthen our neighborhood connections, improve the health outcomes, and continue the vision that brought the center to life. And today, it is hard to see, it is hard to get to, and sometimes your GPS will take you to the wrong parking lot. So speaking from experience, so I think this is a very small investment in leading people to an asset that we really dearly enjoy, love, and are proud of. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Sedalga, for bringing this forward. Seeing no further council questions or comments, all those in favor of adopting resolution number 41979, please signify by saying aye. Aye. All those opposed say no. Resolution is declared adopted. Moving on to unfinished business, I actually have something a little bit off script, but something that's pretty pertinent. We have a lot of fun things to talk about later tonight with National Night Out. It's also a very important evening with the primary election. But there's something not so fun on folks' minds, and that's literally what's in the air right now. I mean, we've been seeing it. We're experiencing it with the smoke-filled skies. And we think we have it bad here with our bad air quality. think how bad the 60,000 displaced folks from Spokane feel and the 600 destroyed residential and business properties. So I myself as mayor have heard from a lot of folks about how can I help, how can I get involved, and I just felt that it'd be really responsible of us as a big-hearted city to do our best to help our neighbor to the east. So for those who are watching or those who just have connections or want to put the word out. There are a lot of great places that you can contribute. Probably the most efficient one, based on my knowledge and based on our city administration's conversations, is actually directly administered through the Spokane city government. It's called Home Starts Here. It's actually their homelessness program, but they've repurposed it for emergency management. 100% of all the money you give them goes directly towards services like short and long-term rent assistance, for example. document recovery fees, furniture, transportation, baby supplies like formula and clothing, back to school supplies for school kids, medical equipment. Very, very efficient and effective program, and it's something you can literally just Google. It's, again, home starts here, and it'll just take you to the Spokane City website. We have a big-hearted community. At the end of the day, these disasters and the human misery doesn't respect geographic or political boundaries. We're all people trying to help each other at the end of the day. So give what you can. Thank you so much for caring. So with that, we're going to move on to the rest of our agenda. City Manager, do you have a report this evening? No report. Thank you, Mayor Erson. Thank you. And again, thank you for your communications with Spokane and for all of your work there, too, and for everyone else. With that, moving on to council and committee reports of the city council, I'd like to call on Chair Diaz from the Economic Development Committee.

Thank you. The Economic Development Committee has met twice since our last report out. On July 14th, Vice Chair Bushnell continued discussions on a potential pathway to $20 minimum wage in Tacoma. The committee discussed stakeholder recommendations, timing, enforcement options, and budget impacts. Moving forward, Deputy Mayor Bushnell plans to present the full proposal at a council study session in the fall. At the same meeting, EDC evaluated candidates to serve on the Equity and Contracting Advisory Committee. We recommended four candidates, which council will consider during our meeting next Tuesday, August 11th. Last week, on Tuesday, July 28th, Jennifer English with Spaceworks Tacoma gave an overview of their nationally recognized program aimed at transforming underused spaces into community assets. Her briefing covered major accomplishments of the program, upcoming initiatives, and exciting success stories demonstrating the program's capacity to support creative entrepreneurs. The committee will meet again Tuesday, August 11th to conduct interviews to fill up the six seats on the Tacoma Creates Advisory Board, and we're looking forward to those interviews. Mayor, this concludes my report.

Thank you, Chair Diaz. Council Member Walker.

Thank you, Mayor. I am excited to publicly announce that the city was awarded $2.4 million by the Puget Sound Regional Council through the Transportation Alternatives Program grant process. for South Pine Street pedestrian bike and transit access improvements, Center Street to South 47th Street. The total project cost is approximately $21 million, of which the city was successful in leveraging sound transit dollars to make it happen. The project is part of the South Tacoma Sounder Station Access Improvements, which is a partnership between the City of Tacoma and Sound Transit aimed at increasing active transportation access to regional transit at the South Tacoma Sounder Station. So this part of the project will construct pedestrian, bicycle, and Vision Zero safety improvements on South Pine Street from Center Street to South 47th. linking the people who live, work, and visit the Tacoma Mall Regional Growth Center to regional trails and transit. Some improvements include separated bike lanes, shared use path, transit stop enhancements, missing link sidewalks, ADA-supportive curb ramps and crossing, grind and overlay of impacted areas, trees, and a roadway configuration to slow traffic speeds and improve safety and mobility for all. Additional information, if you can imagine there's anything more of of this project is available on the city's capital project website. And a big thank you to staff for writing a great grant application to make that happen. Very excited about it.

Thank you. And definitely a big kudos for your leadership as well, Council Member Walker.

Deputy Mayor. Thank you, and thank you, Council Member Walker, for bringing that news forward. When we accepted the funds from Sound Transit to do these access improvement projects, one of the big things that I was always talking about was how can we leverage that historic investment, and this is a great example of that. So I'm just really excited to see that we're going off the ground, and thank you to the staff that helped make this happen.

All right, wonderful. So as you're traveling through Tacoma and Pierce County tonight, you may notice some street closures. And that's by design. That's neighbors getting to know neighbors through our National Night Out program. Block parties and gatherings are going to take to the streets tonight to heighten crime and drug prevention awareness. and to aid not just local crime prevention efforts, but building community, one hot dog at a time. I'd also like to remind everyone that today is the primary election, so anyone who hasn't voted, you still have until 8 p.m. tonight. Because of recent changes to USPS, it's advisable to get your ballot not dropped off in a post box, but dropped off at one of the county auditor drop boxes, thank you, Deputy Mayor, throughout the county. You can look it up at the county auditor election website, Can't talk tonight. Web page to find where a location is next to you. Please do so before 8 p.m. so your vote counts. And thank you for voting. However you vote. So with that, do you have a motion to adjourn? Move to adjourn. Second. Moved and seconded. Those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Those opposed say no. We are adjourned.