This is getting monotonous at best — if not completely repetitive and downright predictable.

Every week I search for angles to fill this space; and every week, or at least it seems that way, what I come up with is this: the economy is in horrendous shape right now.

I know. You’ve heard it before. There’s no escaping our economic woes, and the last thing you need me to do is constantly remind you how crappy things have gotten.

So, I’m not going to do that this week. Instead, I thought I’d take a look at the city of Tacoma’s recent decision to (gasp!) spend a little money — and not on things like Campbell’s Soup and handguns to be used during the coming economic apocalypse.   

Tuesday, Oct. 14 the Tacoma City Council voted to approve two resolutions related to our beloved Chihuly worship temple — better known as the Museum of Glass. The first resolution will grant $100,000 to the MoG to help fund the museum’s Mobile Hot Shop — a bizarre van of sorts, designed to take the magic of glass blowing on tour to area schools and community events. The second resolution will allocate $53,000 to fix the MoG’s Water Forest — which has been broken since 2002.  

 

The $100,000 grant for the Mobile Hot Shop, which is to be matched by the MJ Murdock Charitable Trust, will come out of Tacoma’s contingency fund. The $53,000 for repairing the Water Forest, will come from Tacoma’s general fund. That’s $153,000 out of Tacoma’s pocketbook headed straight toward MoG. (Though it must also be noted that in the game of city government, $153,000 is chump change.)

 

I promised I wouldn’t harp on our current economic hardships, and I plan on keeping that promise, but in a time of such economic uncertainty it’s worth investigating how things like a Mobile Hot Shop and a Water Forest that’s been broken for the last six years become Tacoma spending priorities. 

 

City Councilmember Marilyn Strickland provided answers.

Originally discussed and tabled in August, the resolution to grant MoG $100,000 for a Mobile Hot Shop comes down to Tacoma’s dedication to providing a safe and clean environment for citizens — and a big part of that is education, according to Strickland. The Mobile Hot Shop — in order to persuade the city into forking over the $100,000 grant — agreed to a five-year commitment of visiting at least four Title 1 schools in Tacoma every year. Title 1 schools have a high percentage of low-income children. 

 

“One of our objectives is to provide a safe and clean environment and a diverse economy, which is tied to supporting education and enrichment programs,” says Strickland. “We want to bring arts to the schools and provide opportunities to more kids.”

When it comes to fixing the MoG’s Water Forest, Strickland says it’s something Tacoma has wanted to do for a long time.

“The Museum of Glass is our biggest tourist attraction,” says Strickland. “We want it to look its best and be functioning.”

 

The bottom line, it seems, is even in economically challenging times, the city of Tacoma isn’t afraid to fork over cash for things it believes will better our community … at least for now. 

“Cities always struggle with funding,” says Strickland. “We had the opportunity to fund two good projects last night.”