City of Tacoma Washington sent this bulletin at 06/29/2021 10:43 AM PDT
Good morning,
Even after more than 30 years in school as a student and then a teacher, I still get excited about the summer. As vaccination rates increase, and we gradually move toward some semblance of normalcy, this season is special for my family as we begin seeing the people we care about and visiting some of our favorite places (like watching the Rainiers). As summer gets going, I would encourage you to take advantage of local community offerings. Check out the parks, shops and restaurants that make the City of Destiny special. Let’s make it a great summer together!
As you are celebrating your start to summer, I would also like to encourage you to do so without fireworks. Last year, I heard from many of you about illegal fireworks and asking for the City to step up enforcement. This past month, the City Council increased the fine for illegal fireworks from $125 to $250, before additional assessments. With assessments, the fine totals $513 now. With the risk of fires, like the Wapato Hills fire last year, I would encourage you to enjoy your Fourth of July without fireworks this year!
Catching Up With Council Member Hines
Touring the Transfer Center
As a follow-up from last month, Council Member Kristina Walker and I continued our tour of where your waste goes in the City of Tacoma. We took a tour of our Tacoma Recovery and Transfer Center and it was interesting to see how we process not only our trash, but also our recyclables and yard waste. As a kid, I remember going to the dump and just throwing our waste on the ground in the landfill. Things have definitely changed (and thankfully so!)
As I said last month, visiting the Transfer Center was a good reminder to me about the importance of recycling. I would encourage you to check out the recycling page on the City’s website for more information.
Post-COVID Clean-Up
In case you are noticing a theme across my newsletters, I am very interested in how Tacoma deals with its trash and litter. Over the past few weeks, I have been working with my Council colleagues to fund a citywide post-COVID clean-up. After months of takeout food, plastic utensils and disposable cups, city litter has become a growing problem. While I was very excited to be part of Litter Free 253 on Saturday, April 17, I think the City needs to do more.
I am excited to report that currently we have $500,000 set aside as part of our American Rescue Plan funds to address litter and graffiti in Tacoma. City staff is currently working on how we are going to do this, so I look forward to more details in the weeks ahead.
Scenes From the City of Destiny
Getting Back to the Library
My fondest memories from the summer when I was a kid were at the South Tacoma Library branch. I would go there every week to check out books to keep reading over the summer. I am very excited that all of our library branches are back open for this summer!
The hours vary, so please check out the Tacoma Public Library website for more information about when to visit. Also, I hope you will join me in taking the Summer Reading Challenge. Garyn and I are going to see who can read the most books, and I hope you will find someone else to share a joy of reading with this summer!
Proposed Changes to the MFTE
Tonight, City Council will consider the second reading of my proposed change to Tacoma’s Multi-Family Tax Exemption (MFTE). You can read the proposal here. I have talked to many of you about the desperate need of housing in Tacoma and the MFTE is a valuable tool that enables housing to be built that may otherwise not happen. At the same time, we also need affordable housing, something that I have heard repeatedly over the past few weeks.
My hope is that going forward, development in these high opportunity areas will include some affordable housing. In the weeks and months ahead, I plan to continue to work with the rest of the Council to find more opportunities in all parts of Tacoma to accomplish this. We have very special neighborhoods in Tacoma and we must find ways for more people to enjoy them. If you are interested in sharing your thoughts, you can comment at our Council meeting this evening.
Home in Tacoma
At the June 8 Study Session, the City Council received an update on Home in Tacoma. After hearing from many of you that there was a need for further conversation, and a need to further explore the impacts of the current proposal for Home in Tacoma, Council laid out a longer process to further engage our residents. Tacoma is growing, and my Council colleagues and I acknowledged the need to make sure more of our residents understand the proposal and can join the discussion on the future of our community.
If you are interested in listening to our discussion about the proposed project, you can listen to our June 15 Study Session. Looking ahead, there will be opportunities to learn more about the proposal, and the public hearing on Home in Tacoma will be held during the July 13 City Council meeting. Please be sure to share your thoughts, as this is an important community conversation. Information on how to participate can be found here.
Resources for COVID-19
The challenges we are facing in Tacoma with COVID-19 are unprecedented, but I want to let you know that we are taking important steps to address it in our community. We are working hard to support residents, families and businesses as we continue to address this public health crisis.
Rental and Utility Assistance: Pierce County and City of Tacoma residents struggling to pay rent or utilities due to impacts of COVID-19, can apply for assistance PierceCountyWA.gov/housinghelp
Washington State/Governor Jay Inslee COVID-19 Response: coronavirus.wa.gov
Please be sure to check out cityoftacoma.org for City updates and resources and, as always, please email me directly at john.hines@cityoftacoma.org and do not reply to this email. You can also call me at (253) 312-5620 if you have questions.
