City Council Meeting - Sept. 16 2008
Last night, while praising the recent success of the Convention Center in attracting new visitors, Mayor Baarsma quipped that Tacoma was becoming “The City of Destination,” a clever twist on our old nickname, “The City of Destiny.” We like the new one because it makes Tacoma sound less like a place people go to die. As for the meeting itself:
CONSENT AGENDA
The council passed resolutions authorizing a grant agreement with the Department of Homeland Security for fire department funding; established hearings on several matters relating to streets and landmarks; and authorized a joint-staffing agreement between the Tacoma Fire Department and Pierce County Fire Department that will place 5 Pierce Country Firefighters in Tacoma stations.
PROCLAMATION
Mayor Baarsma proclaimed Sept. 27th “Walk from Obesity” day, in support of an obesity-prevention event to be held that day. A gastric bypass patient then made a dramatic comment, revealing that the surgery dropped him from 435 to 225 lbs. This happens on TV all the time, but to see a living example was still a bit shocking.
REGULAR AGENDA
Resolution 37592 Appoints Dr. Anthony Chen as Director of Health of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health department, starting Oct. 20. The council became quite animated about this appointment, and seemingly for good reason. Chen teaches at Harvard, where he also earned his Master’s of Public Health. We hope he excels in his new position.
Resolution 37593 Appoints Don Meyer to the Greater Tacoma Regional Convention Center Public Facilities District Board of Directors(whew!). He fills a vacancy left by several unexpected resignations from that board.
Resolution 37594 Appoints Council Member Ladenburg to serve on the Law and Justice Community Oversight Subcommittee, despite an objection during the public comment.
Purchase Resolution 37595 Awards contracts to Pacific Plants Inc. to plant street trees; to Northwest Abatement Services to renovate the exterior of Fire Station No. 9; to MidMountain Contractors to work on the Tacoma Chinese Garden, Reconciliation Park, and the East D Street Grade Separation project; to Olson Brothers Excavating for revisions to the arterial street improvement project on East 48th St.; and to Clean Harbors Environmental Services to process and dispose of household hazardous waste.
Resolution 37596 Authorizes the establishment of a loan pool with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development for economic development lending. A representative from the Tacoma Economic Department stated that this pool would speed up the authorization of loans like those that helped fund the downtown Sheraton and the conversion of the Carlton Hotel into office space.
FINAL READING OF ORDINANCES
Ordinance 27704 Vacates the remaining portion of S. Puget Sound Ave. between S. 37th and 38th Streets, to amend mistakes in the precious vacation of that area.
Ordinance 27745 Appropriates $930,000 from the Public Works Right of Way Street Vacation Fund for use on transportation projects, unimproved right-of-ways, and maintenance of city-owned lands.
Ordinance 27746 Authorizes a $75,460 grant agreement with the Washington State Historical Society to continue development on the Chinese Reconciliation Park Project. The money will be appropriated from the Capital Projects Fund.
Ordinance 27747 Authorizes a $200,000 grant agreement with the EPA for the Brownfields Job Training and Development Project between August ’08 and May ’10. The money will be appropriated from the Local Employment and Apprenticeship Program Special Revenue Fund.
That’s all she wrote. Well, besides Mayor Baarsma’s long anecdote about a logging group called the ‘Hoo-Hoos.’ You can’t make this stuff up.
Filed under: City-Council, City-Council
9 comments
M MonkeyBob September 17, 2008
I keep shaking my head at what this city is tossing money at. Their priorities are wacked!! $75k for the Chinese Reconciliation Park when our roads are falling apart!! I am sorry but that is like a person that does not know how to manage money going to Mexico on vacation when their roof leaks…
A altered chords September 17, 2008
It is time for us to take matters into our own hands.
Instead of taking your junk to a landfill, just throw it in a big local pothole. Then cover it up with some pebbles.
M MonkeyBob September 17, 2008
Altered Cords:
That made me laugh – out loud for that matter.
I wish it were that easy. I just don’t understand why our elected officials feel as though there are extracurricular activities they can spend money on when the basics are not met. This is just basic logic. Take care of House, Family, and nest eggs before you go out and donate money for a park, concert, etc…
You can not go out and play before you clean you room!!
R RR Anderson September 17, 2008
fundamentally our streets are sound.
we don’t need more pot hole regulation…. we need less!
R RR Anderson September 17, 2008
… so I said to the city, Thanks but NO THANKS on fixing the pot holes. If we wanted our pot holes fixed… we’d fix them ourselves.
T Tacoma Taxpayer September 18, 2008
We should change the slogan to: City of Potholes! We can start with the Sound Transit Locomotive named “City of Destiny”
In regards to 75K being only .003%. Well, start taking 75K here, 75K there, 500K there and it adds up!
So you don’t want good streets Rick? OK, hope you can cross the street safely to the parks you like to frequent, since no crosswalks are available cause the City “doesn’t have the money” and hope you or your kid don’t step into a pothole while crossing illegally on street. Just don’t sue the City, OK?
A altered chords September 18, 2008
Why don’t the parks have potholes?
Speicial interst group.
C crenshaw sepulveda September 18, 2008
Maybe if we find that one of our pot holes are bottomless we can have a tourist attraction like they have in Ellensburg with “Mel’s Hole”.
J John Sherman September 18, 2008
@6 Concerned about parks; naturally call your government provider of parks. Since different governances have different public responsibilities results; for example, a quote from within a City document:
“The Metropolitan Park District [(MPD)] is a separate government, with its own taxing authority and its own elected officials. While the City [of Tacoma] has provided financial assistance to the MPD in the past, it is increasingly difficult to do so and is not appropriate as a long-term funding mechanism.” (alteration in original) (citation omitted).
So, it-just-follows, parks and street maintenance are to separate governments specific issues for oversight, funding sources, and providing publics benefit results. Enjoy your MPD parks and well maintained street within the City of Tacoma.