City Council Meeting - Nov 18, 2008

Last night’s meeting was a doozy: 13 resolutions passed, 6 ordinances read, 3 public hearings held, and a citizen’s forum to tie it all together. Topics covered included the city budget, relations with the Puyallup Tribe, missing-link sidewalks, and clearing junk cars off the streets. Essentially, the Council Chamber yesterday was like a civic pupu platter, offering a tasty sampler of everything that makes Tacoma politics great. Let’s dig in.

PUBLIC HEARINGS
We got a look at an early proposal of the 2009-2010 city budget, which forecasts a 6% growth in revenue despite the recent economic downturn. This gain comes mostly on the back of an 8.5% increase in enterprise funds, so keep an eye on your utilities bill. This is only a rough draft of the budget, so expect more in-depth coverage as it develops.

We also saw presentations on the six-year plans for the Capital Facilities Program and the Transportation Improvement Plan. Both, as usual, paint rosy long-term pictures of potential developments in Tacoma, but these documents do not, by design, take budgetary realities into consideration. We’ll believe a multi-million dollar improvement to the Tacoma Dome when we see it.

REGULAR AGENDA
Resolution 37639 Approves a pay structure concept and compensation philosophy, and authorizes the implementation of the pay structure concept for non-represented City employees. The City aims for the compensation of its employees to fall between the 65th and 75th percentile of their fields, and for their benefits to be “competitive in attracting and retaining our employees.” This philosophy also links pay to performance review. It should be noted that this is a “philosophy,” and does not represent strict guidelines.

Resolution 37653 Authorizes a $35,000 payment to VIA Architecture to complete additional planning and design work on the Sounder Commuter Rail extension through downtown.

Resolution 37656 Declares the City’s intent to work with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians on a stewardship plan for the cleanup of the area now called First Creek. You may know First Creek as the T Street Gulch, which is notorious for being filled with trash and vacant buildings. The area holds great significance for the Puyallup Tribe, as it was the location of their first tribal village. It also matters to the surrounding community since the “gulch” is actually a large watershed, a lush region where several streams converge. Several efforts are already underway to clean up First Creek, and this resolution does not authorize any direct action, but it does formalize the City’s engagement with the area. Hopefully we can count on the city to take more substantive steps in the future.

Well, that’s the best of what became a surprisingly surreal three-hour-plus marathon meeting. Don’t fret if you’re looking for details on the city’s cleanup of nuisance vehicles or the new property tax increases; we’ll bring you more information next week after the final readings of those ordinances.