City of Tacoma Washington sent this bulletin at 04/29/2022 10:41 AM PDT
Introduction
Good morning,
As we move from April (snow?!?) showers to the flowers of May, my family and I have been enjoying the change in seasons with soccer, swimming, and serving our city! This past month, we were excited to join many of you for Litter Free 253. It was another great Saturday spent keeping Tacoma beautiful - one bag of litter at a time (or in this case, a lot of bags).
This year, I was happy to sponsor a Council Contingency Fund request, to provide $2,500 for approximately 350 litter grabbers that were very popular and put to good use. Remember, when you see a piece of litter, pick it up and keep the 253 litter free all year long!
This past month, the City Council received the results of the 2022 Community Survey (which can be found here). The issues of public safety, the condition of our roads, affordable housing and homelessness were clear priorities and reflect what I have heard in my frequent conversations with members of our community. These are the issues I have been focusing on since I joined the Council and will continue to be a priority for me in the year ahead.
As always, please feel free to reach out to me to share your thoughts and concerns. I invite you to also tune in to City Council’s noon Study Sessions or 5 PM Council Meetings on Tuesdays via TV Tacoma, Facebook LIVE, or ZOOM. Access details are available at cityoftacoma.org/councilmeetings.
Also, if you enjoy getting this newsletter and regular updates from me, please feel free to share it with others who you think might find it valuable and encourage them to subscribe.
Catching Up With Council Member Hines
Public Safety
On April 19, the City Council received and update from Police Chief Avery Moore on his plan to address crime in Tacoma (which I encourage you to read here). Over the next few months, the Tacoma Police Department will be working with experienced criminologists to assist in developing and evaluating City startegies to reduce violent crime. This will include a short term, data driven focus on violent crime hot spots and chronic offenders. It will also contain longer term measures that address deterrence of criminal activity, and blight and nuisance abatement strategies.
As Chief Moore pointed out in his presentation, violent crime is not random or evenly distributed in our community. In fact, violent crime is disproportionately committed by a small number of people. By focusing on the areas most impacted by violent crime, we help those most impacted and reduce rates of other crimes (like property crime).
As I said during the presentation, I trust the plan being developed by Chief Moore, and I also recognize the need for the Council to do more to support neighborhoods impacted by violent crime. From addressing graffiti and blight, to fixing streetlights, to supporting local community groups, I look forward to better understanding how we can invest in communities to keep crime rates low and ensure everyone in our city has a safe place to call home.
There will be more updates and information about the crime plan in the months ahead and I will continue to provide information here each month. I know how high of a priority safety is in our community.
On a separate but related note, like many of you, I have been concerned with the increasing number of street intersection take-overs in our city. Often, these take-overs are motivated by the crowds that attend and encourage the events. For this reason, I was proud to co-sponsor, along with District 2 Council Member Sarah Rumbaugh, an update to the Unlawful Exhibition of Speed ordinance that was passed on April 19. The hope is that this ordinance, discouraging spectator attendance, removes the motivation for performing for an audience, and will lead to fewer intersection take-overs in the months ahead.
Homelessness
The April 19 Study Session was a busy one. We received an update on homelessness from our Neighborhood and Community Services Department. Since 2017, the City has set up more than 500 beds to shelter people experiencing homelessness with more opening up in the next few months. At the same time, as many of you have pointed out, with all of the work we have done, we still have many living unsheltered on our streets.
With that in mind, during the meeting, I asked about the ability to set up more shelter sites in the near future and, at the same time, not allowing camping on public property around those sites. As I said back on April 5 when we heard the update from the Community Vitality and Safety Committee, one thing I said we cannot forget is that encampments set up in front of someone’s property have an impact. While I am committed to the long-term goals of housing everyone on our streets, in the short term we need to address the safety issues that encampments pose for our community.
Looking ahead, I think that as we set up safe places for people experiencing homelessness – whether a tiny home village (like the one by my house), or a hotel, or a safe camp site – we do our best to ensure that the negative impacts of encampments don’t follow these individuals. In the weeks ahead, I look forward to working with my colleagues to partner new shelter with the removal of encampments near those sites, and helping facilitate next steps for Tacoma’s most vulnerable residents.
Association of Washington (AWC) Cities Appointment
This past month, I was appointed to serve as a member of the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) Large City Advisory Committee. As one of 11 committee members, I will help inform the AWC legislative priorities-setting process. I have been involved with AWC since I joined the City Council and was awarded a Certificate in Municipal Leadership last year.
I look forward to serving and sharing the issues we are addressing in Tacoma with other city and state leaders.
Scenes From the City of Destiny
Tacoma Fire Department Ride-Along
This month I was excited to ride along with the men and women of Tacoma Fire Engine 1 and Medic 2. I spent the day with them responding to calls and learning more, first-hand, about the valuable service they provide our community.
I look forward in the years ahead, as we work with our fire and police departments, to making sure they have the necessary resources to continue keeping our residents safe.
Another Intersection Celebration
As many of you know, I hate potholes. For that reason, I have been very proud of all of the work that our Public Works Department has done in the past few months to get us out of the Winter Pothole-palooza we had.
Along with the intersection at North 26th and North Orchard Street, North 21st and Orchard was one of the worst intersections in our city and in need of repair. This past month, like many of you, I was excited to see that it was repaired. While we still have many more intersections and roads in need of support across the city, it was great to see another one taken care of.
As always, whenever you see (or feel) a pothole, I would encourage you to report it to Tacoma FIRST 311. The City has many miles of roads to maintain, and Tacoma FIRST 311 reports ensure your potholes are addressed in a timely manner. Again, thank you to everyone that reached out to me, and thank you for your patience.
Resources for COVID-19
Although COVID-19 has exacerbated many of the challenges we face in Tacoma, I want to let you know that we are taking important steps to address them. 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.
