Fall 2018

Greetings! Welcome to my first e-newsletter of 2018. I am gratefully in service to you, the citizens of South Tacoma, Southeast Tacoma and the east side. As your Council Member representing District 5, I serve on committees working on community vitality and safety; infrastructure, planning and sustainability; and economic development issues. Some of the primary issues I am working on are covered below. Creating a safer community for all is my primary goal. I want to know what matters to you in District 5. You can reach me at chris.beale@cityoftacoma.org or (253) 591-5164. If you would like to meet with me in person, please call (253) 591-5470 to schedule an appointment.  Every quarter, you will receive e-newsletter updates from me about my work on the Tacoma City Council and projects taking place throughout District 5. I encourage you to invite others to sign up for this e-newsletter using this online link.

A Community Approach to Public Safety

On August 29, more than 90 community members joined me, Senator Steve Conway, Representative Jake Fey, City of Tacoma staff and staff from the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) for a Public Safety Forum. I organized this forum so members of the community could speak directly with those responsible for keeping Tacoma safe.

The focus was on the 84th and Hosmer area, an area of WSDOT-owned lands that had attracted various nuisances related to public safety and public health. After receiving feedback from community members, WSDOT cleaned up the area.

Thank you for taking the time to join me and for making your voices heard! 

Affordable Housing in Tacoma

One of the most critical issues facing Tacoma today is affordable housing.

Between March 2016 and March 2018, housing prices in Tacoma have increased more than 16 percent. We do not have the rental supply to meet the needs of Tacoma families, and 40 percent of households in Tacoma pay at least 30 percent of their income on housing costs each month. Residents also face barriers to remaining in their home or accessing new homes. 

The City of Tacoma has worked with its community partners to create and present an Affordable Housing Action Strategy to the City Council. Approaches recommended in the strategy include the creation of new housing, keeping existing housing affordable and in good repair, helping community members stay in their current housing, and reducing barriers for those who often encounter them.

Targets and their associated level of investment were broadly estimated for each of these recommended strategic approaches in order to guide public investments in housing activities and enable the City to track and report its progress along three key metrics:

• Number of units produced
• Number of units preserved
• Number of households served

With the strategy’s implementation it is projected that, over the next 10 years, it has the potential to: 

• Produce 6,000 new affordable units
• Preserve 2,300 existing affordable units 
• Serve an additional 2,200 households 

These new or preserved units, and new services or programs, would reach a total of 10,500 Tacoma households.

The strategy contains a series of recommendations that call for a large investment of public, philanthropic and private resources totaling as much as $70 million over the next 10 years. City staff would incorporate budget requests as it brings forward implementation actions over the next several years.

For additional details, please visit cityoftacoma.org/affordablehousingstrategy.

Changes to Address Chronic Nuisances

This September, the City Council passed another huge policy change that is a big win for District 5 residents. At my urging, and in partnership with other City Council Members, City staff reviewed how they respond to chronic nuisance properties. 

We have updated two key ordinances that will give the City of Tacoma the ability to respond more swiftly respond to your concerns. You can learn how these code changes work on this frequently asked questions webpage. 

Prioritizing Public Safety Through Code Enforcement

I partnered with my City Council colleagues, At-Large Council Member Lillian Hunter and District 4 Council Member Catherine Ushka, to champion an effort to improve public health and safety by initiating a new direction for code enforcement in the City.

The Council has made public safety a priority area, and Code Compliance plays an important role in safe and healthy communities. For this reason, we have directed the City Manager to take a more proactive approach to reducing the time it takes to close code complaints, and ultimately reduce the number of code complaints received by the City in Districts 4 and 5.

The effort began in July as a pilot program focused in Districts 4 and 5 to enhance the City’s response to compliance issues by prioritizing cases according to severity, increasing awareness about resources that can help people correct issues, and exploring how to better address repeat violations through new and existing legislation.

More outreach and education about community resources and information about when to file a complaint or help your neighbor will be shared with community members to help increase awareness about services.

The pilot program will generate data that will help the City improve service and response times to code enforcement issues for all residents.

Join me at the upcoming Town Hall about the City’s budget!

Come to my Town Hall on October 27, from 2 – 4 PM at STAR Center (3873 S 66th St.) with At-Large Council Member Lillian Hunter. We both want to hear your thoughts on the City of Tacoma's Proposed 2019 – 2020 Biennial Budget, and how you think the City should prioritize its resources.

The next month will be filled with Study Sessions and other community feedback opportunities to help me understand what has been proposed and whether or not it matches your priorities in District 5.  Go to cityoftacoma.org/budget to learn more.