It happened in and around Tacoma this week. ...

Woodards Kicks of Re-Election Campaign

Tacoma's campaign season continued to take shape this week as yet another incumbent city official, Tacoma City Councilmember Victoria Woodards, kicked-off her campaign with a gathering of supporters at the Landmark Convention Center.

During her relatively brief remarks Woodards touted her work protecting public services and community programs during budget cutbacks, emphasized the value of small businesses and shared about her work addressing Tacoma's gang activity.

Woodards is currently unopposed and is not expected to field a serious opponent.

Van Dyk to Challenge Lonergan

Justin Van Dyk filed to challengeTacomaCity Councilmember Joe Lonergan for his District 5 seat. It's no secret that Lonergan is the only (moderate) Republican on the Council and in a city as blue as Tacoma it's not a big surprise that he drew a candidate who will look to unseat him by way of turning the race partisan - which is why it comes as a surprise Van Dyk is already using a trademark Republican tactic, lambasting Lonergan's salary in an interview this week with The Trib.

That noted, it's always exciting to see young people run for office. I'm looking forward to hearing what Van Dyk has to say over the next few months about what he would do differently for South Tacoma.

Link Debate Continues

This week the Tacoma City Council held a public study session with Sound Transit staff as they continue to consider which proposed route they will recommend to the Sound Transit Board.

There continues to be uncertainty regarding Councilmember Boe's plan, which was summed up well in this piece by The Trib.

The best link-related read came this week, as usual, from Chris Karnes of Tacoma Tomorrow and Town Hall Tourist who created his own charts further dissecting the five potential routes.

TAM Proposal Draws the Ire of Density Activists

The Tacoma Art Museum released plans for a large addition far less attractive than their current facility. Many downtown Tacoma activists are frustrated with the design for a variety of reasons. 

I-502 Implementation Timeline Announced

Just in time for 4.20 the Washington Liquor Control Board announced this week that it has established an official timeline for implementation of I-502. After Dec. 1 these sorts of escapades won't be necessary. 

South Downtown Subarea Plan Public Hearing

The City of Tacoma Planning and Development Services Department staff will conduct a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 25 in the Carwein Auditorium on the University of Washington Tacoma campus (1900 Commerce St.) to receive comments on the draft South Downtown Subarea Plan and Environmental Impact Statement.

Zach Powers has managed multiple legislative campaigns in greater Tacoma and previously served as a Legislative aide in the Washington State Senate.

Sound Transit Open House

Members of Sound Transit's staff including CEO Joni Earl met Pierce County residents in our neck of the woods Thursday evening, holding an open house at The Tacoma Dome Station. ST staff answered questions, navigated attendees through an impressive array of presentation materials, and encouraged attendees to share their feedback through conversation and written comment. Town Hall Tourist and Tacoma Tomorrow blogger Chris Karnes will post a more detailed account of the open house later today.

Campaign Ads Already?

It seems unbelievably early for it to be campaign season in Tacoma, yet every time I logged onto Facebook this week I was met by paid advertisements from recently appointed City Councilmember Robert Thoms' campaign.

A quick trip over to the Public Discloser Committee's website revealed that Thoms, a lobbyist by trade, certainly has got the campaign cash to spend as he has already raised over 25 thousand dollars. His opponent, small-business owner and Go Local Board President Patricia Lecy-Davis has raised about 6 thousand.

Read more...

Oh what a difference a week can make.

Last week city civics was all mud and details as pro-transit progressives formed debate teams and held a meet over light rail extension plans and the future of public transit.

While the light rail extension debate and review will (rightfully) continue, this week was defined by jubilance and stability.

Jubilance over reports State Farm has all but confirmed that they will be moving 2,000 jobs to Tacoma and occupying the vacant Russell Building (and a few floors of the Columbia Bank Center). While I could write five pages about why this is such monumental news I'll resist as the The Trib has done a great job breaking this story, reporting on details and offering commentary.

Stability as the town's political movers and shakers turned out in droves Wednesday evening to celebrate the kick-off of Mayor Marilyn Strickland's reelection campaign.

I've been to a lot of local campaign kick offs and this one struck me as noticeably different. Different because the event felt like less like a pep rally and more like a halftime check-in. Of course those who spoke before and after Mayor Strickland hyped and hollered, but when it was her turn to address her supporters she was calm, poised and focused while speaking about goals that have been met and work still to do.

That same calm, collected confidence and focus has served her well throughout the past four years - four years that haven't been without their fair share of municipal drama and polarizing debates - budget deficits, billboard decisions, the hiring of a new City Manager, etc.

Read more...

Everyone in Tacoma Has a Link Opinion

Who can remember the last time this town had such a big debate about public transit? Pierce Transit has been dealing with devastating budget cuts for years now and I don't recall a two week period where activists and elected officials alike have been, at the same time, as riled up about transit as they've been these last two weeks over possible link extension plans.

The basic two week, 5-point plot has been this:

1. Sound Transit announces that based on their research they'd like to receive community input about three potential Link extension routs what would connect the current downtown link to the Hilltop, Sixth Avenue or the Eastside.
2. Debates erupt all over town (actually mostly on Facebook, but also on exit133) about which plan is "best for Tacoma." (In quotations because nine out of 10 activists and electeds have just been advocating for the plan closest to where they live).
3. Tacoma City Councilmember David Boe introduces his own "hybrid plan" that attempts to reach all three of the communities targeted by the three proposed plans. (The Trib ed-board summed up the pros and cons of Boe's proposal nicely in this editorial)
4. Local transit advocates criticize Boe's proposal for being far too expensive and for its potential to delay the extensions approval.
5. The city of Tacoma formally asks Sound Transit to consider Boe's proposal (at which point I'd like to imagine Boe ripped the sketch out of his pad and handed it over to Sound Transit CEO Joni Earl).

Read more...