Happy Holidays, Tacoma!

I hope you and your loved ones are having a joyful and restful holiday season. As we close out 2025 and look ahead to the new year, I want to take a moment to reflect on all that we’ve accomplished together during the past year. 

This marks my sixth year on the Tacoma City Council, and I continue to be deeply honored to serve the city I’ve always called home. It was a busy and productive 2025, filled with important conversations, meaningful progress, and opportunities to connect with residents across our community. 

I’m especially grateful to everyone who took time this year to attend my town hall, speak at a Council meeting, join a neighborhood event, or reach out to share your thoughts. Your voice matters, and your ongoing engagement has always, and will always, help guide my work. 

It means so much to me to serve in this role and to listen, to lead, and to work alongside you to make Tacoma a stronger, safer, and more resilient city for all. At a time when uncertainty can feel overwhelming, I continue to believe in the power of community service, shared responsibility, and our collective commitment to building a better future, right in the place we call home. 

Now, let’s take a look back at some of the highlights from 2025. 

This year, the City Council adopted Tacoma’s new Community Safety Action Strategy, which will guide our long-term approach to improving safety and perceptions of safety citywide. What makes this strategy especially meaningful is that it was shaped by extensive community input and looks beyond traditional enforcement. It focuses on four key areas: safe places and neighborhoods, making sure people get the right services at the right time, effective and respectful response, and healing and repair. I’m proud of this work and excited to see it guide how we invest, coordinate, and act moving forward. 

Traffic Safety and Vision Zero 

Another major focus for me has been traffic safety. I’ve long supported Vision Zero and lobbied at the state level for expanded automated enforcement in 2022. This year, the City updated Tacoma’s Automated Traffic Safety Camera Program, allowing cameras in more high-risk areas and ensuring that revenue is reinvested directly into traffic safety and street improvements. These tools help slow drivers down now, while we continue making longer-term infrastructure changes, so we can better protect pedestrians, cyclists, and everyone using our streets. 

Community safety is not one single program or department. It’s ongoing work that requires care, balance, and accountability. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made, and I remain committed to continuing this work so more people in Tacoma can feel safe, supported, and confident in the city they call home. 

Homelessness: Compassion, Accountability, and Public Space 

Homelessness remains one of the most difficult challenges facing Tacoma. This year, I led the City Council in updating our camping ordinance to reflect changes in shelter availability and to protect access to public parks, schools, libraries, waterways, and shelter areas. These updates are meant to balance compassion with responsibility, connecting people to services and shelter whenever possible, while also keeping public spaces clean, safe, and usable for everyone in our community. 

MFTE: Supporting Affordable Housing 

I also led work to update Tacoma’s Multi-Family Tax Exemption (MFTE) program, which is one of the most effective tools we have to encourage housing development. The changes we made help increase housing stability for lower-income renters and ensure the program continues to support affordable housing and economic growth. With limited tools available at the city level, it’s important that we use the ones we have wisely and continue improving them. 

ADU Accelerator: Practical Housing Solutions 

I am also proud of the progress we’ve made on Tacoma’s Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Accelerator, including the launch of pre-approved detached ADU plans. These plans help homeowners save time and money by making the permitting process easier and faster. ADUs are a smart way to add housing gradually, support multigenerational families, and help seniors age in place. This work fits well with Home in Tacoma and is another step toward creating more housing options that meet the needs of our community. 

I am proud of the progress we’ve made, but I know there is still much more to do to address homelessness and make sure more of our residents can find a home in Tacoma. I remain committed to continuing this work, listening to our community, focusing on practical solutions, and making steady progress so more people in Tacoma can have stable housing and a better quality of life. 

Transportation and Mobility

How people move around Tacoma matters. Safe, reliable transportation helps residents get to work, school, and daily activities, and it supports local businesses and neighborhoods. Whether someone is walking, biking, driving, or taking transit, I believe our city has a responsibility to make getting around safer, easier, and more accessible for everyone. 

Transportation Benefit District: Investing in Safety 

This year, Tacoma began collecting revenue from the renewed Transportation Benefit District, which I supported because it makes a clear commitment to safety. I also introduced an amendment with Council Member Kristina Walker to ensure that at least 15 percent of this funding is dedicated to improvements like sidewalks, streetlights, and bulb-outs to help protect people walking and rolling through our city. This is an important step toward more equitable and accessible streets and reflects what I hear often from residents who want to move around Tacoma more safely. 

Transportation Impact Fees: Growth Paying for Growth 

We also took an important step by adopting Transportation Impact Fees, which will begin in 2026. As Tacoma grows, these fees ensure that new development helps pay for needed transportation improvements like sidewalks, bike lanes, and safer intersections. While affordability is always a concern, the program includes robust reductions for projects creating affordable housing, childcare facilities, and transit-oriented development. This approach helps us manage growth responsibly while protecting existing residents from carrying the full cost of new infrastructure. 

And because animal welfare should also include a little fun, I was thrilled to partner with the Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County to help launch Tacoma’s first-ever Pet Mayor election.

Congratulations to Nacho (an adorable orange cat) on earning the title! This creative fundraiser helped raise awareness and support for shelter animals while bringing joy to our community.  

Animal welfare is ongoing work, and I look forward to continuing to strengthen policies and partnerships that help Tacoma care for the animals we love in the years ahead. 

Climate, Environment, and Caring for Our City

Taking care of Tacoma’s environment has always been important to me, because what happens on our streets, in our neighborhoods, and along our shoreline directly affects our health and quality of life. From litter and graffiti to climate resilience and long-term planning, I believe environmental work should make a real, visible difference for people today while protecting Tacoma for future generations.

Keeping Tacoma Clean: Tidy-Up Tacoma 

One of the efforts I’m most proud of is the continued success of Tidy-Up Tacoma. This program plays a key role in keeping our city clean by addressing litter, graffiti, trail maintenance, and public trash collection. Tidy-Up Tacoma also supports community cleanups, helps manage waste at encampments, and partners with state agencies to clean major highways. Keeping trash out of our streets and waterways helps protect Puget Sound and creates safer, healthier neighborhoods—and I remain committed to supporting this work moving forward. 

A Major Milestone: The Tideflats Subarea Plan 

Placemaking and Experience

Celebrating Sports and Community 

Sports have always been a big part of my life. As a former high school football coach and now a proud soccer, basketball, and gymnastics parent, athletics continue to shape how my family spends time together and how I connect with our community. In 2025, I was reminded just how important sports are to Tacoma, from cheering on the Rainiers at Cheney Stadium to attending Tacoma Stars games, watching the Seattle Storm and Kraken compete, and traveling with my kids for youth tournaments. I was also proud to support the 76th Annual Golden Gloves Tournament, helping secure funding so more young people, especially low-income and at-risk youth, can access training, mentorship, and positive opportunities through boxing. 

Looking ahead, I’m especially excited about what’s coming next. Tacoma and Pierce County being selected as an official Fan Zone for the 2026 FIFA World Cup is a huge opportunity for our city. With Seattle hosting matches, Tacoma will play a key role in welcoming fans from around the world and creating a space where our community can come together and celebrate the game. Sports have always helped bring people together in Tacoma, and I’m looking forward to staying involved and building on that momentum in 2026 and beyond.