Citizen Tacoma

Conor McCarthy, Tacoma's deputy mayor, is running for re-election to the City Council.He's pointing to his ability to secure funding for opioid treatment, public safety, homelessness, and environmental testing as he tries to win a second four-year term.But he's facing a new kind of challenger: Courtney Love, an outspoken progressive attacking him for his positions on the liquefied natural gas plant under construction on Tacoma's Tideflats, campaign financing, and other issues.KNKX Public Radio reporter Will James filled in as host for this episode. McCarthy talked about how he was influenced by his parents, both seasoned politicians, what he learned from trying to help someone out of homelessness, and many other topics. Links Public Disclosure Commission: McCarthy Conor E Conor McCarthy campaign website We endorse: Returning McCarthy to Tacoma City Council is easy call Channel 253 membership

In Citizen Tacoma's continuing series of 2019 candidate interviews, we bring you a conversation with Courtney Love.No, not the Courtney Love who's a fixture of 90's alternative rock and so, so many supermarket tabloids.This is Tacoma's Courtney Love. She's challenging City Council Member Conor McCarthy in the race for the Position 7 at-large seat, and she's a breed of candidate Tacoma has rarely, if ever, seen before. Love is carving out a unapologetically progressive political profile more in line with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders or Seattle City Council Member Kshama Sawant than anyone currently holding office in Pierce County. KNKX Public Radio reporter Will James guests hosts. He talked with Love about her route from activist to candidate, her weird calmness during the closest of primary elections (a 12-vote lead secured her a spot in the general election), and what it says about this moment in Tacoma history that a candidate like her has made it this far.  Links Hand recount in Tacoma City Council primary sets stage for November election Battle between Love and Johnson headed to recount Public Disclosure Commission: Courtney Love Channel 253 membership

In our latest candidate episode, we chatted with Nathe Lawver, who's running for Tacoma City Council District 1 (the North and West End). We hit on all the usual Tacoma hot topics (affordable housing! Potholes!), but we also talked about mental health. It was maybe the first time anyone has talked openly about their own mental health on the pod, but hopefully not the last. Also, stay tuned for our next episode, which features KNKX reporter Will James in the hosting chair. Will is an actual professional radio reporter who doesn't say "um soooo" every other sentence. Enjoy! Links Public Disclosure Commission: Lawver Nathe Lawver adds name to City Council race Tacoma is for Lawver website Channel 253 membership

We're deep in our election interviews, y'all. In this episode we sat down with John Hines, who's running for District 1 (the North and West End) for the second time. John is a longtime educator and Tacoma native who serves on the Tacoma Public Library board. We talked about affordable housing, public safety, and why John thinks the Tacoma City Council needs to get "back to the basics." Links John Hines for Tacoma City Council website Public Disclosure Commission: Hines John Housing, housing, housing. Tacoma City Council candidates address T-Town's hottest topic Hines announces switch in bid for Tacoma City Council (2015) Channel 253 membership

Welcome to Episode IV of our candidate interview series. We sat down with Kristina Walker, who's running for At-Large Position 8 on the City Council (that seat is currently occupied by Ryan Mello, who terms out at the end of the year). Kristina is the executive director of Downtown: On The Go! and a policy wonk. She probably knows more about transit, transit-oriented development, and parking than you. We talked about that, how good public transit can promote and support housing affordability, and some things she'd like to see happen on Tacoma's Tideflats. *Note: This episode was recorded in late August Links Kristina Walker candidate website Public Disclosure Commission: Walker Kristina First-time candidate raises second-most cash in Tacoma council raises. Incumbent leads way Channel 253 membership

It's September! That means Election Day is only two months away. We sat down with Deanna Keller, candidate for Port of Tacoma commission, for our third candidate interview to talk about why she says her private and public sector experience (as the president of a company and a longtime educator) make her the right person for the job. We recorded this interview the same day Channel 253 released original reporting by Sean Robinson that revealed Keller's company did business with ICE (yes, that ICE) in 2014 and 2017. We asked her about that, and about her views on the environment and what the port's role should be in protecting it. Also: We're going to include candidate Public Disclosure Commission pages in the show notes so you can all check out their election contributions and expenditures. Just some light, nerdy reading before bedtime. Links Port of Tacoma candidate has done business with ICE; contracts include covert surveillance equipment Elect Deanna Keller website Public Disclosure Commission: Keller, Deanna M Channel 253 membership

It's the second installment (of many) of our 2019 election season candidate interviews! This time we sat down with David Combs, a Hilltop businessman and political newcomer who's vying for the District 3 position on City Council. Hear him talk about his vision for the council and his ideas for more support for small business owners in Tacoma. A note: Your host was really sick the day this was recorded. You can probably hear it. Sorry. Another note: These interviews are not fact-checked. But you can do some fact-checking yourself: All listeners (and everyone who votes) should check out the the Public Disclosure Commission's website to see who contributes to the political campaigns of candidates. Links Public Disclosure Commission: Browse current candidates by name Public Disclosure Commission: Browse candidates by year Combs for Tacoma website Public Disclosure Commission: Combs, David F Channel 253 membership

Welcome to the first candidate interview of the 2019 election season! We talked with Councilman Keith Blocker, who's running for his second term representing District 3 in Tacoma, which includes the Hilltop, Central Tacoma and parts of South Tacoma. Keith grew up in Philadelphia but has lived in Tacoma since he was 25. We talked about the biggest issues facing his district and the city, a few of which we expect to come up a lot this cycle: namely, homelessness and affordable housing. Keith has one challenger for his seat: political newcomer David Combs. His interview will be posted next. Stay tuned! Links Keith Blocker - City Council District 3 Elect Keith Blocker website Keith Blocker announces bid for re-election Public Disclosure Commission: Blocker, Keith T Channel 253 membership

We were lucky enough to get an hour with Rep. Laurie Jinkins, the speaker-designate of the Washington state House of Representatives a week after she was elected to her new role. She'll be the first woman speaker, she's from Tacoma, and she knows how to get stuff done in the Capitol. Goes without saying that Grit City — and the Democratic party in Washington — are pretty excited. We talked about what the new gig means, how she might differ from her predecessor (current House speaker Frank Chopp), how her sense of humor has helped her build relationships across the aisle, and the direction a few key issues might take in the next year. Links WA's first female House speaker loves a good joke Washington's first woman speaker of the House tells The News Tribune about her life Capitol Happy Hour: Welcome to special session. (What is that?) Channel 253 membership

Tech companies and startups are that elusive unicorn from the north that the city of Tacoma is always chasing. But positive momentum seems to be building: We sat down with the co-founder of a tech company (Bill Herling of Humming) that recently moved to Tacoma from Seattle, and he had really good things to say. We also spoke with city of Tacoma Business Development Manager Pat Beard and Kristine Grace, an investor from the RAIN biotech incubator to talk about the current state of tech and start-ups in Tacoma. Herling shared insights on his three chief concerns about moving south to Tacoma. The good news: Since moving here in June, only one of those concerns has borne out. Check out the episode to learn which one, and hear how Tacoma's educators and economic developers are joining foces to problem-solve. Links RAIN Incubator website Calling Tacoma a 'tech town' is far-fetched. The city could make some in-roads, though RAIN, RAIN, come our way Humming, Inc. Channel 253

On this second and very special joint episode of Citizen Tacoma and Crossing Division, we were thrilled to sit down with Puyallup Tribal Council Chairman David Bean and Councilmember Anna Bean (yep, they're cousins). We learned the story of the Puyallup Tribe and about tribal government, the meaning of sovereignty, how the tribe has grown in numbers and local influence since the mid-1900s, and what exciting projects and events are on the horizon (hint: That beautiful, shiny new casino is opening sooner than you think!) We also talked about how the tribe's relationships with other local governments has changed over the years, and what made that possible. Links Puyallup Tribe website Channel 253 membership

In the 15th installment of #ACHH253 at Pacific Brewing, we spoke with current elected officials and Channel 253 podcast hosts about the state of Tacoma, from the public school and Metro Parks board to the Port of Tacoma commission and the City Council. And yes, there was shade. Lots of shade. It was also the last Adult Civics Happy Hour with Nerd Farmer Podcast host Nate Bowling and Interchangeable White Ladies host Hope Teague-Bowling at the mic. They're off to the United Arab Emirates this summer to teach for two years. Best of luck, Nate and Hope! You will be seriously missed.

The future of heavy industry and fossil fuel businesses on Tacoma's industrial Tideflats has been hotly debated since a proposal to build a methanol plant there made headlines and shocked a lot of folks a few years ago. We talked to two people who have been on opposite sides of this debate: Meredith Neal, director of the Manufacturing Industrial Council for the South Sound, and Melissa Malott, executive director of Citizens for a Healthy Bay. We asked them to go in-depth on their views about what kind of industry should be allowed to grow and expand there in the next five years, and the next 30 years. We even found some common ground. The gravity of this conversation weighed a bit heavily on your hosts, as you can hear in the intro. It's impossible to drill down on this topic without talking about the potential consequences of the liquefied natural gas plant being built on the Tideflats, and without considering the urgency of climate change. ***Click the first link for the answer to a question that popped up late in the episode about whether a TOTE ship in Puerto Rico is solely being run on LNG, or on a mix of LNG and bunker fuel when it gets close to shore. (According to this article Meredith was right, and as of 2015 that ship was solely run on LNG. TOTE was proud of and excited about that, because it was thought to be a cleaner-burning and much more environmentally-friendly fuel -- and it still is thought of that way, by Meredith, Puget Sound Energy and others.) Melissa noted in an email reply that: "PSCAA’s own calculations show that there is no decrease in small particle pollution close to shore if we switch to LNG." She included tables that "are directly from PSCAA’s final Life Cycle Analysis Calculations on the sheets titled 'End use TOTE – LNG Vessel' and 'End use TOTE – MGO Vessel'. "These tables show that PM10 and PM2.5 emissions are the same when burning LNG and Marine Gas-oil, within 200nm (nautical miles) of shore. For public health, this is the area we care about." Links Professional Mariner: American Ship Review 2016: Isla Bella Electric vehicle registrations as of Dec. 31, 2018 The Seattle Times: Governor Inslee was right to pull his support for Tacoma LNG project The News Tribune: LNG site resumes permit process after new report backs findings of earlier review City of Tacoma: Tideflats Interim Regulations The News Tribune: Tacoma methanol project canceled Channel 253 membership

Affordable housing might well be the signature issue of the upcoming City Council elections in Tacoma. And in the words of Citizen Tacoma guest Jason Gauthier, it's hugely complicated and there's no silver bullet. We went in-depth on the issue with Gauthier, the Director of Operations for Tacoma-Pierce County Habitat for Humanity, and City Councilman Anders Ibsen to talk about the tools the city and state are using to create more units of affordable housing, whether they work, and what we really need to make an impact. Tax breaks for developers? Government-funded affordable housing developments? Waiving fees for those who build affordable housing? This may be the closest thing to debate class we've had on Citizen Tacoma. Tune in for a lively discussion about one of the most pressing issues our city faces. Also, we're pretty sure we'll see Jason back on the pod when he runs for some kind of office. Links Multifamily Property Tax Exemption Incentive: City of Tacoma Too many market-rate apartments in Tacoma? It's complicated Developer replacing Pacific Lanes will get tax break for offering affordable apartments New Tacoma landlord to desperate tenants he's evicting: 'Moving will be an improvement' Affordable housing now required in new, large apartment complexes in this Tacoma neighborhood Channel 253 membership

We got City Councilman Ryan Mello and Principal Planner Stephen Atkinson together to talk about the future of land use on Tacoma's Tideflats, where heavy industry and fossil fuel production are being called into question by nearby neighbors and environmentalists. If you've ever heard the terms "interim regulations" or "subarea plan" and had no idea what they meant, this is for you. But don't be scared, it's not TOO technical! We laid out the city's vision for this regionally-designated manufacturing industrial center the current rules that are in place while a permanent road map for the future is sorted out. Stay tuned for the second half: With more than 100,000 new Tacomans expected to move here in the next 20 years, we talked about what the Tideflats' future means in the big picture of HOW Tacoma needs to transform to accommodate all that growth. Links City of Tacoma: Tideflats interim regulations The News Tribune: Tacoma and Tideflats' future take center stage at LNG hearing, council meeting The News Tribune: Gov. Jay Inslee speaks out against LNG plant in Tacoma, methanol facility in Kalama Channel 253 membership