Recently I got a chance to sit down with Tacoma City Councilmember Ryan Mello to highlight some of the cities work in 2010 and look forward to 2011. Mello holds position 8 (an at-large seat) on the City Council and is also the Pierce County Director for the Cascade Land Conservancy. 

WEEKLY VOLCANO: It was a busy year for the City of Tacoma and the Council. What are you most proud of that the city was able to accomplish in 2010?

RYAN MELLO: The biggest thing is that we were able to continue to deliver high quality service in challenging economic times. I don't think that can be undervalued. I know it's not sexy, but that we were able to continue to deliver a high quality of service and not have to cut police, firefighters, or our Community Based Service program. We've actually been able to grow the Community Based Services Program and we've advanced it to the Tacoma Mall/South Tacoma area. That we've been able to do that during the worst recession since the Great Depression is really significant.

Launching the Community Gardens program has also been a real highlight of 2010. It's more than just community gardens, it's neighborhood beautification - taking really rundown, eyesore, unattractive lots and making them beautiful and really adding to the quality of life of neighborhoods. It's also been a great mechanism for people to get to know their neighbors and grow the social capital in their neighborhoods, and, of course to produce food - whether it be for themselves or a food bank.

VOLCANO: Spaceworks Tacoma in particular stood out to me as a program that really improved the downtown area and got the community's attention. Why do you think that program was so successful?

MELLO: Yeah, big hats off to Chelsea Levy, Dominick Accetturo, and all the people who put together Spaceworks and implemented it, as well as the land owners who had the vision to say, "OK, this doesn't take away from my bottom line, it actually adds to it, because now maybe people are looking at the space who may not otherwise be doing so." It's added all sorts of vitality to downtown. Everyone is going through really tough economic times, and a portion of it has to do with consumer confidence and people's confidence in the vibrancy of the local market. I think things like Spaceworks Tacoma add to the local consumer confidence and the overall confidence of the local market when people don't see just vacant storefront after vacant storefront. That's incredibly depressing and horrible for local confidence and pride, so things like Spaceworks Tacoma are very important to change that paradigm.

VOLCANO: Speaking of community support of art, I've always been impressed with the City of Tacoma's support and utilization of local art. What art projects were memorable to you in 2010, and how is it Tacoma able to support art so loyally in such tough economic times?

MELLO:  I've also been really impressed with the city's commitment to art and that we're able to make the kind of commitment that we do to the arts. I think it's something we should be really proud of. One new exciting thing that relates to art and the quality of life in Tacoma is the Mural Project. There has been new life breathed into that program this past year and there are new murals all around Tacoma.

In regards to the strategic objectives of the City of Tacoma I often hear people say "Safe and Clean." "Safe and Clean" has become a buzzword around Tacoma and it's a strategic objective, but we often forget to state the whole objective, which is "safe, clean, and attractive," - and we cannot leave out that last statement. So [supporting and sponsoring art] goes into fulfilling the strategic objective. It's not just nice to have, it's a core objective of ours and we've seen that it's really led the renaissance in Tacoma.

VOLCANO: There were some new faces on the City Council this year, you included. How was the council able to work together and prioritize the many needs of Tacoma in 2010, and how will it continue to do so in the future?

MELLO: I think it's about being really clear about our values and priorities well ahead of time. Mayor Strickland led us through a retreat in the beginning of the year when we had a full council in February and we sat down and talked about what our objectives are together as a council. I think it takes lots of conversations - we have nine people who have a lot of similarities, but at the same time we have a lot of individuality and difference in opinions and priorities. So rolling that all together takes lots of conversations and continuing to stay true to our strategic objectives- "safe, clean and attractive," diversity, productive economy, and efficient government. I think it's about continually refining those and having conversations about what's important, what can we do differently, and what's our core business.

VOLCANO: What was Tacoma able to accomplish in 2010 to become more environmentally friendly and how will that continue in 2011?

MELLO: We embedded into the Comprehensive Plan the Mobility Master Plan and the Urban Forestry Plan, which are two really exciting planning documents, and we're also starting to implement those documents. Mobility Master Plan is essentially a fancy term for a comprehensive bicycle and pedestrian network throughout Tacoma. It's completely revamping the bicycle, trail and pedestrian network. It's going to make Tacoma a whole lot more livable and sustainable, so people feel more comfortable walking to work, walking to shop, biking to work, biking to busses, etc.  It's going to change the paradigm that it's unsafe to bike or walk long distances in Tacoma.

We've started to invest in the implementation of the Mobility Master Plan. The Mobility Master Plan says we're not going to do public works projects the old-school way, where we are always funding projects that are single occupancy vehicle dominated. It has an inverted pyramid triangle where, ever since the explosion of the automobile, public works projects have dumped money into "How can we get from point A to point B as fast as we can?" in a very auto-centric way. [The Mobility Master Plan] turns that funding triangle on its head and says were going to be funding improvements for the pedestrian first and the single occupancy vehicle last. So it goes pedestrian, bicycle, transit - so on and so forth. It really changes how our public works department looks at any project they touch.

And the Urban Forestry Project has been really significant. We have a goal in our Comprehensive Plan that we adopted this year that says we are going to have thirty-percent tree canopy cover by the year 2030. So if you look at a satellite map of Tacoma you should see thirty-percent of the city covered by tree canopy (by 2030). That's basically the goal - right now we have about eleven percent, so we have a ways to go.

The implementation of this amazing tree-planting program we're going to embark upon is going to really change the beauty of neighborhoods. Trees can add so much. [Neighborhoods] feel safer, they're more beautiful, and the trees collect storm water. There are really all kinds of benefits with an urban forestry program.