Happy New Year, Tacoma! 

I hope everyone had a lovely end to 2024 and that your new year is off to a great start! I am excited to share some of the highlights of my work on the City Council last year with you. I also wanted to share my appreciation for everyone who reached out to me last year to share your perspective and participate in City events and surveys. Your input and feedback are vital to my decisions, and I am so grateful that you take the time to share your concerns, as well as your hopes and dreams, for our City. Together, I have no doubt that Tacoma will thrive in the new year and beyond! 

As a City Council, we faced hard choices this past year regarding our biennial budget for 2025-2026, and we will need to continue making some tough decisions in 2025 to ensure that we are navigating the City's structural deficit in a responsible way. However, I am pleased that we passed a robust budget that supports many great programs and partnerships for Tacoma, without compromising public safety resources. Looking back, 2024 was also full of great celebrations, new legislative work, and community engagement, from participating in Student Government Day to recognizing Transgender Day of Remembrance, Small Business Saturday, International Migrant Day, Therapeutic Court Month, and so much more!

We have a lot more to do in 2025 and I am eager to get started. But first, here is a look back at 2024! 

This past year, I was very pleased to be able to support many of the wonderful non-profit organizations that help serve our community. I value the hard work that our local community groups undertake every day and everyone who volunteers their time in service. Tacoma knows how to come together for change! 

I was especially proud that we were able to provide $1.5 million to help with the construction of a new facility for the Multicultural Child and Family Hope Center that will increase critical childcare services in Tacoma. Childcare is so important in our community. It is often a cornerstone of economic stability for families and economic development and growth for our City. I can't wait to help break ground later this month! 

Along with supporting the Multicultural Child and Family Hope Center, I helped fund other non-profit organizations that provide critical support for our community and meet Tacoma's unique needs. This included supporting the Alchemy Skateboarding expansion project and youth access fund; 500 Raising Girls winter care bags with personal hygiene and menstrual products, as well as warm winter items, for low-income students; and the upcoming Special Olympics Washington statewide competition taking place here in Tacoma. 

I am also grateful for opportunities to give back in service and had a wonderful time helping to prepare meals with the Tacoma Rescue Mission. There are many great ways to get involved in helping our community and I invite everyone to take some time in 2025 to give back if you can. If you have any service events that you would like to share with me, please let me know! 

In my time on City Council, I have come to believe strongly that nurturing partnerships is vital for our ability to bring about meaningful and durable change, and I continued to commit myself to advancing collaboration across government agencies last year.

I am especially proud of the work that Mayor Victoria Woodards and I did with the Tideflats Subarea Steering Committee. After seven years of hard work and collaboration between the City of Tacoma, Puyallup Tribe of Indians, Port of Tacoma, Pierce County, and the City of Fife, I am so excited to share that the Tideflats Subarea Plan reached a critical milestone with a unanimous recommendation for adoption from the Tideflats Steering Committee. I hope you will check out the incredible plan we have developed: Tideflats Subarea Plan - City of Tacoma. 

I was also thrilled to serve as the Chair of the Joint Municipal Action Committee (JMAC), which seeks innovative solutions that create a resilient, anti-racist community by bringing together the City of Tacoma, Parks Tacoma (formerly known as Metro Parks Tacoma), Tacoma Public Schools, Pierce County, Port of Tacoma, Puyallup Tribe of Indians, Pierce Transit, and Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.

Thanks to all the JMAC members for a fantastic year, including great work supporting the Summer Teen Late Nights program with Parks Tacoma, Tacoma Public Schools, and other partners! 

One of the most important items on the City Council's agenda this past year was ensuring our public safety departments were well funded in our biennial budget. Not only did we provide robust funding for our Police and Fire Departments, but I was also proud to pass a resolution authorizing the execution of agreements with the Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma to purchase 2.27 acres to facilitate the future construction of a new Fire Station 7. This critical step will help enhance emergency response capabilities and the location complements existing park infrastructure, making one of the potential uses of the proposed Fire Station 7 a crisis command site in the event of natural disasters or other catastrophic incidents.

I spent time last year engaging on our state and federal legislative priorities and communicating with our state and federal delegations to ensure that Tacoma's voice is heard in Olympia and Washington, D.C. 

I was especially pleased to advocate for additional financial support to help with our transportation goals, including funding for the Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge. I was also proud to sign onto our City Council letter expressing support for a statewide prohibition on the use of hog-tying by police officers, which Governor Jay Inslee signed into law last year! 

In addition, I sponsored a letter from our City Council to Representative Derek Kilmer expressing our concerns regarding the Northwest Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center. It is of great importance that our federal partners continue to advocate for reforms at this federal facility.  

This past year, I had the privilege of representing Tacoma at the National League of Cities conferences, including participating in the Cities of Opportunity Solutions Forum. I moderated the panel, “Mayoral Leadership: Catalyst for Community Health and Racial Equity,” which included mayors from Oregon, New York, West Virginia, and Minnesota.

The Solutions Forum brings together City leaders and their partners who have taken part in the Cities of Opportunity initiative to share tools and highlight the sustainable changes they are making to systems that impact health and racial disparities in their cities. Doing so, they demonstrate to fellow city leaders that change is possible and happening, and that future efforts can be informed by best practices.

I was very pleased to be able to sponsor the creation of Tacoma’s Anti-Displacement Strategy and the resolution affirming and adopting it as a guide for options regarding how the City of Tacoma can address displacement of Tacoma residents from their homes and communities. As our housing needs continue to grow, the Anti-Displacement Strategy will provide important housing-related policy and program options to ensure that those who call Tacoma home can continue to do so. 

Along with the Anti-Displacement Strategy, my City Council colleagues and I voted to approve the Home in Tacoma Phase 2 zoning and standards amendments. This work will help ensure additional housing choice, supply, and affordability in the City.

We also voted to adopt the Proctor Neighborhood Plan, a guiding document outlining community-identified projects, ideas, and actions to enhance and strengthen the neighborhood. The Plan reflects a multi-year and multi-faceted program focused on "on-the-ground" implementation of City policies and community priorities. Thank you to everyone in the community who helped to create this plan.

I am committed to ensuring that Tacoma continues the important work we are doing to create a welcoming city. As many of you know, Tacoma is a member of the Welcoming Cities and Counties Initiative. This initiative encourages communities to create more welcoming, immigrant-friendly environments that maximize opportunities for economic growth and cultural vitality. I am proud that Tacoma values our foreign-born community members and that we have the chance to enjoy their many contributions to our City.

I was very excited to sponsor the Tacoma Refugee Choir’s “From Welcoming to Cooperation” symposium last year, which aimed to bring together important lessons for advancing an inclusive environment. I also helped to support an effort by Advocates for Immigrants in Detention Northwest to provide access to phone services for detainees in the Northwest Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center.

One of the highlights of my year was naming the new trail formerly referred to as the Tacoma to Puyallup Regional Trail to spuyaləpabš Trail. I am so glad we are creating opportunities to work closely with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians and to recognize the tribal language, history, and culture through trail design, public art, and the trail name. 

In addition, I was thrilled to celebrate our queer and questioning community last year. One of the most exciting projects that I advanced was a new mural located at the corner of South 9^th Street and Pacific Avenue and South 9^th and A streets. The beautiful art, created by the City of Tacoma’s Public Works Artist-in-Residence, Natalie Dupille, with support from the Environmental Services Department and the Community and Economic Development Department’s Arts and Cultural Vitality Division, is part of the award-winning “If It Hits the Ground, It Hits the Sound” campaign, which aims to raise awareness about preventing stormwater pollution in Commencement Bay and surrounding waters. The mural also has a Pride theme and is part of the City’s effort to celebrate the diversity of our community.  

Along with these murals, I worked with Council Member Olgy Diaz to secure the City Council's support for funding to create a Pride-themed decorative crosswalk on Broadway in Downtown Tacoma. I can't wait until this new crosswalk is installed and we can all celebrate together! 

As the Chair of the City Council’s Infrastructure, Planning, and Sustainability Committee, Chair of the Pierce Transit Board of Commissioners, and a member of the Sound Transit Board of Directors, I am working hard to ensure that our community is accessible for everyone and safe for all modes of transportation. 

One of our most important transportation goals is to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries in the City of Tacoma by 2035. To ensure we continue to make progress toward this goal, I brought forward an amendment to our 2025-2026 budget to allocate $1,000,000 of the Real Estate Excise Tax 3210 grant match fund to support Vision Zero projects. 

I also kicked off discussions on the City's efforts regarding transportation electrification policies and programs, as well as how to develop a comprehensive and unified approach to electrification in the City. This work will advance our Climate Action Plan goals, and I am excited to continue this work in the new year.

This past year, I have focused on gaining federal and state funding to help reopen the Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge in the future. Ramiro Chavez, our Public Works Director, and I took Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland out to see the bridge to help ensure that our representatives in Washington D.C. are aware of our need for support to repair this vital piece of infrastructure for Tacoma. 

Making sure that all of our transportation infrastructure is safe is central to our Vision Zero approach to building and maintaining our transportation system. My work on multimodal transportation also remains a top priority for 2025! I am especially committed to continue putting pedestrian safety first by establishing and maintaining an accessible sidewalk network for our residents. 

I was very pleased to lead with Council Member John Hines on an amendment that mandates at least fifteen percent of the revenue garnered through the Transportation Benefit District be invested in safety improvements for our roadways. This is a transformative investment in safety and the work will include enhancing sidewalks, street lighting, and traffic calming measures that we know are vital for advancing our Vision Zero and multimodal transportation goals.

I am also excited to share that Tacoma will receive $1.3 million in new federal funds from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities Pilot and Neighborhood Access and Equity discretionary grant programs for increased safety and mobility options along I-5 in Tacoma. With these federal funds, the City will hire a consultant to help conduct an 18-month engagement, planning, and design process that will begin in early 2025 and have an estimated completion date in 2026.

The Tacoma I-5 Crossings Study will focus on the 6.5-mile corridor of I-5 built in 1959 that bisects Tacoma and includes 14 crossings. The study will develop community-supported solutions that, when implemented, will address the significant safety and accessibility challenges for people walking, biking, and rolling that are created by I-5.

For more information about capital projects to add to or improve infrastructure in Tacoma, please visit Capital Projects - City of Tacoma.

Hope everyone also has had a chance to see our adorable new bike lane sweeper (pictured above)! Having separated bike lanes is amazing (I love biking along E 64th) but the street sweeper doesn’t fit, so this is a great new way to keep our bike facilities clean and safe. Thanks to the Public Works team that took me out to see it in action! 

I am excited to share that the City Council also voted to approve an ordinance adopting the 2025-2030 Capital Facilities Program of the Comprehensive Plan and adopting the 2025-2026 Capital Budget. You can learn more here: Capital Facilities Programming - City of Tacoma

As the Chair of the Infrastructure, Planning, and Sustainability Committee, I was excited to advance an ordinance last year establishing the Climate and Sustainability Commission. I am excited about this opportunity to enshrine the Sustainable Tacoma Commission in our code with a new name, ensure they have members from across the City, and nurture greater youth participation on the commission. Please consider volunteering with any of our City's Commissions, Boards, and Committee if you are interested! 

I was also proud to co-sponsor our support for the important work of the Pierce County Climate Conversations and to sponsor a resolution expressing opposition for the passage of Initiative 2117 concerning carbon tax credit trading. In addition, I was excited to work on an ordinance to implement a new tiered recycling tax deduction for solid waste businesses. This ordinance aims to help incentivize solid waste businesses to recycle greater amounts of the materials they haul, helping to advance our Climate Action Plan goals. 

Another great project that I enjoyed advancing last year was a Council contingency fund request to support the development of an urban wood reuse program assessment and action strategy. This work will help enable the City's Urban Forestry Team to set up the first formal urban wood reuse program in Tacoma. This exciting step will help ensure that the City is well-positioned to design a program that diverts wood from the landfill for its highest and best use, as well as integrating wood reuse into a holistic urban forestry management strategy.

Following on extensive work for the past several years, I am excited to share that my efforts to advance deconstruction and salvage for our construction industry continues. I am especially pleased to announce that our biennial budget provides new funding for Planning and Development Services to advance this work, following many community discussions to ensure the City is being proactive in taking steps toward decreasing construction waste in our landfill and enhancing our local circular economy.

You can find more City updates and resources on our website at cityoftacoma.org.

I also invite you to tune in to the City Council’s Study Session or City Council meetings every week on Tuesdays via TV Tacoma, Facebook Live, or Zoom. Access information is available at cityoftacoma.org/councilmeetings.

I hope you will reach out to me with any questions. I can be reached at: kwalker@cityoftacoma.org.

Looking forward to a great 2025 in our amazing city!