I felt it was important to start this newsletter off by acknowledging the significant damage caused by an individual who broke windows throughout the theater district over the weekend. Widespread property damage like this is tremendously difficult on districts struggling since the pandemic. The theater district is a gem. As a city, we need to find solutions to preserve cultural and business spaces like this that make Tacoma the beautiful city it is. I am elevating all the concerns I heard to the City Manager and have begun discussions about how the City can partner on long-term solutions.  

Sincerely,
Sarah Rumbaugh
District 2 Council Member
City of Tacoma

Topics in this newsletter: 

• Remembering Council Member Catherine Ushka
• Puget Sound Gateway Program and Update on the 167 Project
• Information for District 2 on work along St. Helens Avenue
• Domestic violence information – Crystal Judson Family Justice Center
• Puyallup Avenue Corridor Open House
• Update on addressing litter in Tacoma
• Charter Review
• Participatory Budgeting in District 2
• One Tacoma Comprehensive Plan Update
• Tideflats Subarea Plan Update
• In the Community

Remembering Council Member Catherine Ushka

It is with a heavy heart that I share the passing of a good friend, Council Member Catherine Ushka. I served with her on council since I joined in 2022. Additionally, we were both on our Community, Vitality and Safety (CVS) Committee. I got to know Catherine personally when she found out she had cancer. Our friendship grew into a caring relationship and I will miss her dearly. I hope that I can continue to honor her memory by working on issues I knew she cared about in the CVS Committee. In Judaism we say “May her memory be for a blessing.”

Puget Sound Gateway Program and Update on the 167 Project

The Puget Sound Gateway Program is an upcoming project managed by the Washington State Department of Transportation. This project is composed of two projects: the SR 167 Completion Project in Pierce County and the SR 509 Completion Project in King County. The Puget Sound Gateway Program is essential to creating connections to the ports of Tacoma and Seattle and will ensure people and goods move more reliably through the Puget Sound region. Delivering the projects under one program allows WSDOT to realize efficiencies in planning, environmental review, design, and construction.

I have heard from many in the district who are interested in learning more about the Hwy 167 project. You can learn more details about this project in this video. For those who live in NE Tacoma and work at the Port of Tacoma, please take note of the changes at Alexander Avenue.

Information for District 2 on work along St. Helens Avenue

Have you seen the construction happening along St. Helens Avenue? This is big news for multi-modal enhancements.

The project involves installing ADA ramps, bulbouts, and marked crosswalks at intersections, as well as repaving the road from Division Avenue to 6th Avenue. Revised lane configurations will better accommodate bicyclists in the area, along with a GRIDSMART Camera at St. Helens and Division Avenues that will help to detect bicycles.

Work began in April and crews have installed the concrete ADA ramps and bulbouts. Before paving the roadway, necessary adjustments will be made to utilities. The asphalt overlay of the road is currently anticipated to occur in mid-June.

While we don't foresee the need for street closures, we anticipate some interruptions and delays. Rest assured; emergency service vehicles will maintain access throughout our project.

We're aiming to wrap up this project by late July or early August 2024.

Domestic violence information – Crystal Judson Family Justice Center

I serve as the Chair of the Crystal Judson Family Justice Center (FJC). We had our first retreat where we learned more about how we can support survivors trying to access the court system. We also talked briefly about the building and how the FJC works with both providers and the prosecutor’s office, all in one space. The retreat gave us a chance to meet our new community board member, Jen Pingul who works in healthcare, in person. We look forward to working with her on how we can increase the visibility of the Family Justice Center Foundation.

Puyallup Avenue Corridor Open House

The City of Tacoma’s Public Works Department is moving forward in the development of improvements along the Puyallup Avenue Corridor as part of a multi-year project to enhance safety and access and provide multimodal options. Preliminary visioning began in 2016 with public engagement, which has influenced the current proposed design.

The community is invited to review the proposed improvements at a public open house on Wednesday, May 29, from 5:30 PM to 7 PM at the Tacoma Dome, 2727 East D Street. Subject-matter experts will be available at the event to discuss topics such as community goals and policies, parking and traffic impacts, local and regional active transportation connections, landscaping, urban placemaking, art, and coordination with the planned Sound Transit Tacoma Dome Link Extension.

Update on addressing litter in Tacoma

I serve on the City Council Government Performance and Finance Committee, the Council Committee that has been spending a lot of time this year talking about how we address litter. This has included a presentation from our Environmental Services staff on their Tidy-up Tacoma work.

The Tidy-Up Tacoma program was funded in 2023 through a 6 percent Solid Waste excise tax. The Tidy-Up Tacoma uses that funding to address the issues of litter and debris in public spaces, maintenance and expansion of the public litter can program, trail maintenance, graffiti mitigation, encampment cleanup, and bill payment assistance. In 2023, Tidy-Up Tacoma removed 4.9 million pounds of garbage from public spaces. In the first quarter of 2024, this program already removed 1,094,260 pounds of garbage from public spaces. Long-term goals include public education and strategic initiatives to reduce overall littering in Tacoma. 

I am thrilled that the City is investing in removing litter from our community, but I’d like to see us get to a point where less litter is created. To that end, I sponsored a resolution this spring to direct the City Manager to review options for a public education campaign to reduce littering, increase participation in litter cleanup programs, and to share options and a proposal as part of the 2025-2026 biennium budget recommendation. We’ll be going into these budget discussions with a hefty deficit to consider, but I want to make sure litter education is part of our discussions.

No need to wait if you want to help clean up your neighborhood! Learn how to adopt-a-spot or create a neighborhood litter patrol here.

Charter Review

The comprehensive City Charter review required every ten years is currently underway. The Council is currently reviewing 24 proposed amendments to the Tacoma City Charter, sent to us by the Charter Review Committee we assembled at the beginning of the year. In four short months, this group met for over 80 hours to consider our current charter and to determine what changes or revisions to recommend. Our council will be meeting for the next few months to come up with a list of items we believe should be sent to the Tacoma voters to vote on this November 2024.

Participatory Budgeting in District 2

Participatory Budgeting is a democratic process in which a community decides how to spend a portion of their government's budget. The City of Tacoma has set aside $1,000,000 for each of Tacoma's five city council districts to dedicate to improving their communities.

Leaders from all over the district (high school students, business owners, community organizers, nonprofit professionals, and more) worked with City staff to collect over 2,000 ideas from our neighbors on what they would do with $1,000,000 to improve our district. They are working now to put the most popular ideas on a ballot so we can all vote for our favorite proposal. Whatever proposal gets the most votes will be funded $1,000,000. I’ll email you when I have the link for you to vote.

I joined an in-person District 2 Participatory Budgeting meeting with our community leadership team to review the ideas. This group is in charge of narrowing down the list to four that the community can vote on starting in mid-June to become a reality. For more information, visit www.cityoftacoma.org/pbtacoma.

One Tacoma Comprehensive Plan Update

Our council has been in review mode as we get ready for updates to the Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan is basically our road map for where we want to go as a city.

The City is also holding a series of Community Visioning Workshops for the One Tacoma Comprehensive Plan update. Below are a list of workshop dates and locations. For additional information, visit https://www.cityoftacoma.org/onetacomaupdate.

• Thursday, May 23 - Tacoma Armory at 6-7:30 PM
• Thursday, May 30 - Mason Middle School at 6-7:30 PM
• Thursday, June 6 - Virtual Workshop at 6-7:30 PM
• Monday, June 10 - Mt Tahoma High School at 6-7:30 PM
• Saturday, June 15 - Wapato Park Pavilion at 1-3 PM
• Thursday, June 27 - Salishan Family Investment Center at 6-7:30 PM

Tideflats Subarea Plan Update

The Tideflats subarea planning process is intended to create a shared long-term vision and more coordinated approach to development, environmental review, and strategic capital investments in the Tideflats. Completion of the subarea plan will support the ongoing eligibility for and prioritization of transportation funding in the regional manufacturing and industrial center. The Tideflats Subarea Plan Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) (SEPA File #LU22-0124) is available for public review and comment. The Comment Deadline for Public Comment on the Tideflats DEIS is 5:00 pm PST on May 23, 2024. Additional project information can be found at project website at www.cityoftacoma.org/tideflats.

Below are opportunities to provide comment on the DEIS. Written comments may be submitted:

• Online – bit.ly/tideflatsdeiscomment
• Email – planning@cityoftacoma.org
• Mail – Planning, 747 Market Street, Room 345, Tacoma, WA 98402

In the Community

Attending the Associated Ministries Leading the Way Home Breakfast at The LeMay Car Museum.

I had the opportunity to make glass medallions with City of Tacoma logo. Thank you to the Museum of Glass staff for all their assistance.

Every year I walk the Esplanade on Dock Street with a group of community members. This year we stopped to appreciate the new Melanie Dressel Park. And of course I had to go down the 3 story curly slide.

I went down the 3 story slide at the new Melanie Dressel park.

It was a pleasure to attend Rebuilding Hope! Sexual Assault Center’s Annual Soirée. Here I am with the Executive Director Carlyn Sampson.  

An apple pie on Mother’s Day. My first apple pie I have made this year!

A photo of my nametag as a member of the Pierce County Committee on Homelessness.

I attended a meeting of the Downtown Tacoma Partnership at KNKX.

I hosted a meeting with Dome District businesses to discuss upcoming infrastructure projects.

Stella Dawg – who makes life in NE Tacoma so enjoyable as we walk around Browns Point Elementary every day.