Dear Neighbors,

I hope this email find you well and, like me, excited for the coming of spring. While I love every season in the City of Destiny, there is something special about daffodils, cherry blossoms, and more sunshine.

It has been a busy time for the Hines Family, and I wanted to share a proud dad moment about my son, Garyn. This past month, along with his fifth-grade classmates at the Grant Center for the Expressive Arts, he put on an amazing production of Newsies (which you can watch here!) at the Tacoma Little Theater. He took on the lead role of Jack Kelly and made his parents and sister very proud! 

I also want to thank all of the family members that made this production possible, including my talented wife and costume designer, Kelsey. It was a fantastic night and created wonderful memories for us, and it is another great example of the many opportunities available to our kids through our Tacoma Public Schools.

Beyond that, since assuming my role as Deputy Mayor, I have been attending many events throughout the city and connecting with even more residents. Hopefully I will see many of you soon at one of the great gatherings to come in the next month.

On the national level, I will continue to serve on the National League of Cities’ Finance, Administration, and Intergovernmental Relations Committee. With my experience as Chair of our City Council’s Government Performance and Finance Committee, on which I will continue serving, this national role aligns with the budget and finance work I am already doing in Tacoma. 

This past year, I was appointed to serve on the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) Board of Directors. I have previously served on the AWC's Large City Committee and the Housing Solutions Group, and I have enjoyed being able to influence the conversations happening in cities across the state with what I am hearing from the residents of Tacoma. This opportunity will be a chance to further lead those conversations. 

On a regional level, I will continue to serve on the board of Pierce Transit and as the Board President for Safe Streets. Additionally, I will continue to represent Tacoma on the Pierce County Regional Council and as the Chair of the Zoo Trek Authority. 

I was also appointed by the City Council to serve, along with Council Member Sarah Rumbaugh, as the City's liaison to the Pierce County Select Committee on Homelessness. As many of you know, I have been deeply involved in issues around homelessness from addressing encampments to supporting the Tacoma Emergency Micro Shelter sites like the one on 6th and Orchard. I am excited to continue to engage in the regional conversation around homelessness and how we move forward together in Pierce County. 

For the City of Tacoma, I will continue to serve on the Infrastructure, Planning and Sustainability Committee and as the Chair of the Government Performance and Finance Committee.

City Action Days 

This past month I joined hundreds of elected officials from cities across the state for the AWC's City Action Days. City Action Days is held during the legislative session and gives elected officials the opportunity to help educate statewide decision-makers about local legislative priorities. As a new member of the Board of Directors, I was involved with welcoming the newly elected leaders from across the state to the AWC's work. 

While there I took advantage of the opportunity to talk to legislators and Governor Jay Inslee about the issues that I hear about from Tacoma residents, including housing and homelessness, crime and public safety, and economic development. Because these challenges do not stop at the city limits, these opportunities to meet with other elected officials are important as we will need to work together to address them effectively.

Meeting with U.S. Senator Patty Murray

I recently joined Senator Murray to discuss local and federal partnerships around mental and behavioral health care. Along with Dee Sonntag, Tacoma Municipal Court Judge; and Drew Ann Henke, Tacoma Municipal Court Presiding Judge; Joseph Le Roy, President and CEO of HopeSparks Family Services; Ashley Mangum, Director of Kids’ Mental Health Pierce; Aleesia Morales, Co-Director of the HOPE program; and Cassie Hallstone, Co-Director of the HOPE program, we discussed how we are trying to ensure more of our residents have access to mental and behavioral health care. 

Throughout my time on City Council, we have been working to help ensure that people impacted by behavioral health, mental health, substance use, and co-occurring disorders are receiving the right services, at the right time, and in the right place. This has involved our work setting up the Holistic Outreach Promoting Engagement (HOPE) program, supporting the efforts of our Therapeutic Courts, and working with our community partners.

I was proud to share our work with Senator Murray and look forward to Tacoma continuing to be a leader in this area. During our time together, one comment that stood out for me is that we should continue to strive to become a community where there is no wrong door in which to access mental and behavioral health care. I think as we continue to collaborate to serve our community, we need to make sure that we are making care accessible. 

Cushman Adams Substation Update

At the February 20 Study Session, the City Council and the Tacoma Public Utilities Board heard an update on the Cushman Adams Substation re-use study. I would encourage you to listen in to our Study Session here and check out the Cushman and Adams Substations webpage for updates and more information.

Like many of you, I have been eagerly awaiting the restart of the project and community engagement. Cushman and Adams Substations are a community asset, and this next phase presents our city with a special opportunity. I am excited to be part of the community conversations to come later this year.

Proctor Neighborhood Plan

At our City Council meeting on February 27, the City Council approved the final draft of the Proctor Neighborhood Plan. As one of the initial sponsors of the award-winning Neighborhood Planning Program, along with Council Members Catherine Ushka and Conor McCarthy, I have been very happy with what we have developed after more than a year of hard work. The Proctor planning process has included multiple events, outreach and engagement, and community feedback opportunities. While I am not surprised, I have been deeply impressed by the level of commitment of the residents, business owners and visitors to Proctor and their willingness to invest in this plan.

The plan includes recommendations for pedestrian safety and comfort, human-scale design, community space, sustainability and climate adaptation, and commercial and residential affordability. These are topics that I have heard from many of you and look forward to working on in the years ahead.

I would encourage you to check out the Proctor Neighborhood Plan website to learn more. You can also review the update on the adoption of the draft of the Proctor Neighborhood Plan that the City Council received at our Study Session on February 13. Also, if you are interested, South Tacoma is kicking off our next Neighborhood Planning Project. Check out Spotlight on South Tacoma to learn more!

Litter Code Update

As many of my regular newsletter readers know, I am deeply passionate about addressing litter and graffiti. It is why I was proud to support Tidy-Up Tacoma and continue to look for new ways to keep Tacoma beautiful. As part of that effort, I have been working on updating the City’s litter code.

I presented my work to my Council colleagues at the February 6 meeting of the Government Performance and Finance Committee (which you can watch here).

Currently, the penalty for littering in Tacoma is a criminal misdemeanor, $50.00 fine, and, in some cases, litter pickup, regardless of how much you litter and what you litter. In other words, if you throw a soda can on the ground or dump a truck load full of debris, you face the exact same penalty. With our residents stepping up and helping support Tidy-Up Tacoma, we need a code that recognizes litter is not all the same and that discourages large-scale illegal dumping. 

Looking ahead, I am also working to establish a city-wide anti-littering campaign that can further our efforts to combat litter. In my mind, there is a three-legged stool for keeping Tacoma beautiful that includes: Tidy-Up Tacoma to keep our city clean, a litter code that discourages waste out of place, and an anti-littering education campaign to tell people to not trash Tacoma!

Also, remember that if you see illegal dumping or garbage on public property, please make a request for clean-up in our Tacoma FIRST 311 Customer Support Center. 

Bald Eagle Released Back into the Wild

I wanted to make sure to share some very good news with everyone. A beautiful bald eagle who collided with electrical lines in Tacoma in December has been rehabilitated and is now back out in the wild!

I have reached out to Tacoma Power to see what could be done to prevent this type of incident in the future and better protect our incredible wildlife. I’m pleased to share that Tacoma Power is now exploring options to deter future, similar issues in the location where the bald eagle struck the electrical lines by installing equipment that would deter bird contact. 

Thanks to the Tacoma Police Department and Animal Control officers for all their work ensuring this animal received the care it needed. We are also grateful for the work of the Raindancer Wild Bird Rescue and the Twin Harbors Wildlife Center for rehabilitating this animal and releasing him back into the wild!