Yesterday, Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland and Tacoma City Councilmembers Lauren Walker, Victoria Woodards, Robert Thoms, Anders Ibsen and Ryan Mello created a 6-3 majority over Marty Campbell, Joe Lonergan, and David Boe for a Tacoma Link extension to Hilltop via the Stadium District (E1 corridor).

Eastside Councilmember Campbell led the effort for C1 proponents for a Portland Avenue line. During his 10-minute long speech, he indicated that the Puyallup Tribe would be willing to commit "$12m over five years" for a capital match for a Link expansion to the Eastside of Tacoma. $12m represents about a third of how much it would cost to construct light rail between Tacoma Dome Station and South 29^th and Portland Avenue, but as Campbell asserted, would have brought the project potentially within $2m of being "fully funded." The alleged contribution offer has been disputed since then.

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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.

Like this bet?

The City of Tacoma and Metro Parks are borrowing $6.2 million to rebuild the pool at People's Center.

Consultants, using community input, propose an indoor pool and "leisure features" like a sprayground and water slide. (Teenagers love slides, apparently. It's the thrill.) A huge overhead door would open on sunny days to connect the sprayground to the outside. Admission: $3.50 per person per day. In the lowest-income zip code in Tacoma.

The consultants say the pool will only lose about $200,000 a year. The City agreed to cover the deficit (along with repaying its share of the construction bonds).

A good bet?

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Sound Transit unveiled two new hybrid alternatives yesterday at their Tacoma Link open house at Tacoma Dome Station.

Tacoma City Councilmember David Boe and the Streetcar Stakeholders group respectively proposed the two corridors. Boe's alternative (dubbed H1) combines a portion of the Salishan alternative from 29th and Portland Avenue at the proposed Emerald Queen Casino complex and proceeds up 25th Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Way.  The second hybrid (H2) would link St. Joseph Hospital, Tacoma General and the Stadium District via MLK Way, Division and Stadium Way and along to 29th and Portland Avenue. Costs for Boe's H1 are calculated at roughly $199 million, with H2 coming in at $170 million.  According to engineers on the project, funds to add double tracking along South 25th and on Pacific Avenue is not included in these cost estimates. Ridership on these two corridors is projected to be lower than the Hilltop or Sixth Avenue corridors at 2.5-3.0 million riders per year, but higher than the Salishan corridor.

One panel from Sound Transit indicates that grades along all streets leading East-West up to Tacoma Avenue from Pacific Avenue exceed the grade tolerance for streetcar and would make operations impractical. The H1 alignment, for instance, has grades between 8 percent and 16 percent along South 25th Street. Streetcars are generally able to traverse grades of less than 8 percent.

The tone of public comments for the new hybrid alternatives was harsh.  "The engineering challenges of [the H1] approach seem insurmountable at reasonable cost," one attendee wrote. "I can't believe we held up the process for this," one wrote about the H2 corridor. Another person added, "If the casino wants to pay for it, let them."

Many are hoping that this open house will mark the end of what has been a nine-year stretch of feasibility and corridor studies that began in 2004, shortly after Tacoma Link opened for service.

The Tacoma City Council is scheduled to be briefed on the results of Sound Transit's analysis of the hybrid alternatives at next Tuesday's study session, April 16.  A recommendation to Sound Transit expected in the following weeks.

Tacoma Deputy Mayor Marty Campbell has served on the Tacoma City Council since 2009. The founder of two of the iconic retail stores of Tacoma's recent past, Buzzard's and Stadium Video, Campbell has thoughtfully balanced the sensibilities of small business owner and lover of arts and culture. He recently announced that he would seek re-election to his District 4 council seat, which represents all of East Tacoma and sections of South Tacoma. His candidacy is currently unopposed and he is not expected to field a legitimate opponent. Campbell chatted recently with Town Hall Tourist about his time on the council, his district and more.

TOWN HALL TOURIST: What has been the most gratifying part of serving on the Tacoma City Council?

MARTY CAMPBELL: Being able to empower people to feel that they can have their voices heard by the City. Often times, people will have an issue - minor or major - in their neighborhood without knowing how to resolve it. Being on the City Council has enabled me to bring forward people's concerns in a way that helps the city function better, but which more importantly helps people feel that they have a stake in the City's decisions.

THT: What has been the most difficult?

CAMPBELL: The cuts that we have had to make to services. No one prefers to serve during shortfalls because you have to make tough decisions, but my entire tenure has been during the recession and its aftermath. Because of that, not only have I not been able to secure funding for some of the issues that I think are really important to my district, but most of my efforts have been spent trying to minimize the impact of painful budget cuts throughout Tacoma.

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