Hey Tacoma, get ready for a lesson in collaboration from a zealous nut on a pink motor scooter. It’s called the “Go Local Passport” campaign, and Patricia Lecy-Davis is the invisible thread that runs through this scintillating little fractal of community connections. Celebrate the kickoff May 17 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Pierce Transit’s Theater Square, on Broadway by the giant, shiny salmon.

Just to get an idea of how this kickoff thing will play out — and how Lecy-Davis’ mind works — imagine food; prizes; outdoor performances by Tacoma virtuoso Matt Coughlin and Brazilian hip-hop trio Fato Criminal; a solar power demonstration from Solar Richard; live art demos; kids painting tiles of things they love about Tacoma with folks from the Learning Sprout; a bocce ball exhibition; a re-emergence of the Suitcase Sightings (get it — passports, suitcases…); paper-art activities with community builders L’Arche; a swath of booth-based community connections opportunities; and the unveiling of a walking-poem banner project by Renaissance man Daniel Blue, produced in conjunction with the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber and the Business Improvement Area.

Seriously. That’s actually going to happen.

A short list of the organizations involved includes Tacoma’s Downtown Merchants Group, Pierce Transit, Tacoma Farmer’s Market, Leadership Tacoma-Pierce County, the Tacoma Business Improvement Area, and the Tacoma Regional Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.

Each of those organizations deserves grand credit for its respective contributions, but  Lecy-Davis deserves a bunch of credit for helping to bring them all together. That’s her superpower — she connects people, movements, groups, projects and organizations like a meandering social magnet. Often the results of her work are lost in the blooming events, projects and creations that ensue when she does that thing she does. Listen to her talk for a few minutes about what she’s involved in. If you can keep up, the way her mind works will make you dizzy. Underneath her occasional faux hawk, ideas are constantly bubbling, merging, bridging and blending. And most of the time, she doesn’t deal in dollars. She deals in connections, and what local leader Paul Sparks refers to as “social equity.”

All the dollars generated are kind of incidental.

“The beauty of the collaboration isn’t just about the dollar value of what someone produces or brings to the table,” she says. “The value also exists in the connections made, or space provided, or in cross-promotion, or in new relationships.”

The “Go Local Passport” campaign, for example, creates relationships between 40 of Tacoma’s downtown businesses and thousands of local shoppers. Sure, the dollars will flow. But the beauty of it all rests in the flowering of a grass-roots community spirit, where people from all over the community come together to see how many wins they can rack up. 

“I really hope this helps create a conversation about collaboration and what it means to work together to support and sustain your community,” says Lecy-Davis.

The Passport will offer Tacoma-Pierce County residents three ways to plug in to the campaign. First, the Passport offers free merchandise and discounts from 37 merchants. Participants also can turn their passports in at various locations on October 18 to be eligible for a grand prize drawing. Finally a passport patrol will regularly award special prizes during the summer to locals displaying a special passport-prize patrol ticket on their computer, desk, car, phone, dashboard or forehead.

About 10,000 passports will be available at the May 17 kickoff event, with the remainder available at various locations downtown.

Collaboration 101

The Go Local Passport Campaign started as a project directed by the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber Leadership Group, which helped create the tangible Passport piece, led by Christina Kitchens. The Chamber and its leadership cabal also helped recruit sponsorship, prize donations and business participation.

Originally intended to become an Arts-Walk-based passport program, the project veered a bit during a meeting between Kitchens; Lecy-Davis with her Downtown Merchants Group hat on; Chamber Metropolitan Development Director Paul Ellis; and the Gurus’ David Printz, who later contributed the “Secret Sauce Prize Patrol” concept.

Lecy-Davis suggested expanding the scope of the passport project and using it to kick off a two-year “Go-local” buying campaign driven by the Downtown Merchants Group.

The DMG joined ranks and contributed small business connections, access and connections to the organization’s “Live After 5” event series and a gnarly kickoff party concept. The DMG also helped plug in the Tacoma Farmer’s Market.

The Market lent the power of its grass-roots connections and community brand, a whole lot of feet on the street for the associated Thursday events and a connection to Pierce Transit.

Pierce Transit donated the Theater Square space for the kickoff event, assisted with marketing, created the “Go Local” logo, and brought a connection to advertising contractor Titan Outdoor.

Titan devised a discount advertising campaign for DMG members, with the DMG offering a dollar-for-dollar match on ad dollars spent by members — providing dozens of affiliated small businesses with affordable, bus-board advertising.

Lecy-Davis, meanwhile, is working with John Truman for

Tacoma’s Cross District Business Association to create a series of individual, neighborhood business district passports that will operate in conjunction to generate a cross-neighborhood shopping frenzy.

Go sit down. The dizziness will pass.

Go Local Passport kickoff celebration

• Thursday, May 17, 2-6 p.m., free


• Pierce Transit’s Theater Square, 915 Broadway, downtown Tacoma


• For more information, check out tacomadmg.com/golocal.htm