City of Tacoma Washington sent this bulletin at 10/29/2021 09:12 AM PDT
Introduction
Good morning and happy fall!
It has been a busy season for me and my family. Last month, I discussed a return to some of my favorite traditions. I was excited for the return of the University of Puget Sound Homecoming and Logger football games, while at the same time disappointed we have another year without Proctor Treats. As we continue to move into the winter, I am looking forward to safely returning to some of my favorite activities and events around Tacoma, and I hope you are too!
This has been a busy time for City Council, and I am excited to share some of what I have been up to. As always, please feel free to reach out to me to share your thoughts and concerns at john.hines@cityoftacoma.org. I invite you to also tune in to the Council’s Study Session or Tuesday evening meetings via TV Tacoma, Facebook LIVE, or Zoom.
Also, as a reminder, if you haven’t already received a COVID-19 vaccine or your annual flu shot, I encourage you to help raise vaccination rates across our community by getting vaccinated. For the latest information on vaccines, current public health guidance and data, please go to tpchd.org. We got this Tacoma!
Catching Up With Council Member Hines
6th and Orchard TEMS Site
This past month, I was excited to welcome Gov. Jay Inslee and Mayor Victoria Woodards to my neighborhood to tour the 6th and Orchard Tacoma Emergency Micro-Shelter (TEMS) site. It was almost a year ago that I talked to many of you about the site as it was proposed. I am happy that, in the past year, many of the concerns we discussed have not come to pass as we welcomed the village into our neighborhood.
Currently, more than 60 individuals experiencing homelessness are being served at 6th and Orchard. While on the tour with the Governor, we talked to women and mothers with children in our local schools that shared how the tiny home village has changed their lives. Since it opened, the village has served more than 113 individuals and seen 35 transitions into permanent housing. While I look forward to a day when we no longer need tiny home villages in Tacoma, I am proud of the accomplishments we have made this year.
Tidy-Up Tacoma
Tidy-Up Tacoma has been going since mid-September and I am excited that it has come to District 1 in late October. This was one of my biggest priorities coming into the fall, and I am very impressed with all of the work that has been done to clean up parts of our city. The clean-ups have happened in the business districts of the Tacoma Narrows on October 21, Ruston-Point Defiance on October 22, Proctor on October 25, and Old Town on October 27.
Beginning today, along with the work in the business districts, vegetation management, litter pickup, and graffiti removal will take place around Tacoma’s six gateway signs located throughout the city (which means South 19th Street and Jackson Avenue for District 1). In addition, the City is partnering with the Washington State Department of Transportation for assistance with graffiti removal and sweeping the shoulders of I-705, SR-509, and SR-7 between I-5 and South 38th Street.
As I said last month, my Council colleagues and I recognize that keeping our city clean will require an ongoing effort. In looking at our mid-biennium budget modifications (adjustments made to the City’s budget in the middle of our two-year budget cycle), I have been working with staff to find funding to provide a more robust Tidy-Up Tacoma effort in 2022.
I will hopefully have more updates on this in my newsletter next month, but you can listen in to our Council Study Session on November 9 to learn more before then about proposed mid-biennium budget modifications. In the meantime, let’s Keep Tacoma Beautiful!
Home in Tacoma
The City Council’s Infrastructure, Planning and Sustainability (IPS) Committee completed its review of Home in Tacoma this week on October 27. A recording of that IPS Committee meeting is available here. The next step is for the topic to come before the entire Council at the November 9 Committee of the Whole meeting, which can be viewed here. There is a Home in Tacoma discussion outline available to keep track of where it is in the process. I would encourage you to keep following along as this comes back to Council. Be sure to reach out to me if you would like to discuss Home in Tacoma further.
Multi-Family Property Tax Exemptions
The Government Performance and Finance Committee (GPFC) continued its work on Tacoma’s Multi-Family Property Tax Exemption (MFTE) program on September 21. At our meeting on October 5, we had two members of the development community come in and answer questions about developing multi-family housing in Tacoma. At our October 19 meeting, we had a guest from the lending community discuss the impacts of the MFTE on lending for multi-family development. This was then followed by a discussion of potential changes to the MFTE (which you can find here).
At our next GPFC meeting on November 2, we will finalize the proposal from our Committee for the entire Council’s consideration. We are on track to return our proposed package of changes to the Council by November 9. Through this process, I am eager to begin working on our MFTE policy and align it to policies proposed in our Affordable Housing Action Strategy (AHAS). As many of you know, housing is one of my biggest priorities and I am eager to see policies in place to make sure we not only get more housing, but more housing that is available to everyone in our community.
Scenes From the City of Destiny
Police Department Ride Along
This past month, I was able to join Officer Chad Lawless on a ride-along in Sector 2 (Police Sector 2 is the sector District 1 is located in). It was great to spend an evening learning more about his work and what a shift in the life of one of our patrol officers looks like. Again, we have amazing men and women serving our community. I appreciated the opportunity to experience that work firsthand.
As many of you know, violent crime has been a topic of concern for many in our community. The Council has had multiple discussions about this topic and how our City can respond (you can listen to that discussion here). Council also recently released a joint statement re-affirming our commitment to public safety and addressing these concerns.
As I have said before, safety is one of the paramount responsibilities of our municipal government. As part of our mid-biennium budget modifications, I have been working with staff on ways we can make sure our police department has the necessary resources and officers needed to maintain safety while also putting in place policies for accountability, de-escalation and community engagement.
Resources for Rental and Utility Assistance
Pierce County Human Services and the City of Tacoma received funding for rental and utility assistance for tenants impacted by COVID-19 and behind on rent or utilities. These funds apply to both past-due rent and past-due utilities. Customers can apply online here or call 2-1-1.
Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU) offers several residential options for payment assistance and will work with you to develop payment arrangements. In addition, they’ve extended their due date from 15 days to 12 weeks and can waive late fees. TPU customers who are having trouble paying their bills should contact Customer Service at (253) 502-8600 or (800) 752-6745 and ask about extended payment plans. TPU is open Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 5:30 PM. If you do not qualify for TPU’s programs or would like to explore other options, visit WashingtonConnection.org.
We know this has also been a tough time for our small business community. Business customers can qualify for extended payment plans and waived late fees. Here are more resources available to help.
Two New Grant Programs
In an ongoing effort to ease the negative economic impacts of COVID-19 throughout Tacoma, the City of Tacoma's Community and Economic Development Department has established two new grant programs with $3.25 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. The two new grant programs are designed to cover allowable expenses not covered by other COVID-19 funding sources:
Small Business Recovery Grantsof $15,000 each will be available to micro-businesses of 15 or fewer full time equivalent employees, including the owner(s). Eligible businesses will have owner(s) with a household income that does not exceed 80 percent of the area median income.
Nonprofit Recovery Grantsof $10,000-$75,000 each will be available to federally registered 501(c)(3) organizations impacted by the pandemic that focus on supporting Tacoma in the retention/creation of livable wage jobs. In support of the City’s anti-racist systems transformation efforts, this grant has a funding bonus for BIPOC organizations.
Grant applications will be accepted October 25, 2021 through November 15, 2021, and grant recipients will be notified by December 6, 2021. Grant application details are available on MakeItTacoma.com. Questions regarding the Small Business Recovery Grant program may be directed to SB-RecoveryGrant@cityoftacoma.org or (253) 591-5621. Questions regarding the Nonprofit Recovery Grant program may be directed to NP-RecoveryGrant@cityoftacoma.org or (253) 591-5208. As the situation evolves, general information about the City’s response to COVID-19 will be posted on the “What’s Going On” section of the City’s website. Information about COVID-19 is available at TPCHD.org/coronavirus.
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.
