Sandesh Sadalge was appointed to represent Tacoma’s District 4 after the passing of Catherine Ushka earlier this year. On this episode of Citizen Tacoma, Councilmember Sadalge shares his story: what brought him to Tacoma and what’s happening in District 4 and on the City Council. We dive into grease traps (not literally), Home in Tacoma Phase 2, and Tacoma’s tree canopy. Enjoy this episode with Tacoma’s newest city council member!

Councilmember Sandesh Sadalge

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Today’s guest is Tacoma firefighter and union president Allyson Hinzman. She talks about how she moved from corporate America to firefighting in her hometown and then lays out the challenges she sees with Tacoma’s ability to respond to fires and medical emergencies, specifically in light of next year’s City of Tacoma budget proposals.

On this special edition of Citizen Tacoma, Pierce County Auditor Linda Farmer joins the podcast to talk about election and ballot security with host Erik Hanberg and Sound Producer Doug.

We discuss drop boxes, the security at the election center, voter tabulation, misinformation and much more. Linda also brings some trivia questions!

Enjoy

Links

Pierce County Elections

About Linda Farmer

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We’ve got a pair of candidate interviews for you! We invited the two candidates for Assessor-Treasurer to sit down with Citizen Tacoma and talk about the role. This is an often overlooked race, but it’s just the kind of wonky civic topic we like to tackle at Citizen Tacoma.

This interview is with Marty Campbell.

Tune in to this interview and then check out all the rest of the candidates on CitizenTacoma.com or in your favorite podcast app.

Marty Campbell

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We’ve got a pair of candidate interviews for you! We invited the two candidates for Assessor-Treasurer to sit down with Citizen Tacoma and talk about the role. This is an often overlooked race, but it’s just the kind of wonky civic topic we like to tackle at Citizen Tacoma.

This interview is with Kent Keel.

Tune in to this interview and then check out all the rest of the candidates on CitizenTacoma.com or in your favorite podcast app.

Kent Keel

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Lisa Keating, one of the five Tacoma school board members, joins Citizen Tacoma for a Back-to-School-themed episode. We check in on what’s happening with the district, including graduation rates, online schools, meals, the partnership with the Port, school calendar and holidays, and much more.

Links

Lisa Keating and the school board

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On this episode, we welcome Tacoma City Councilmember Kristina Walker, a Pierce Transit commissioner and a Sound Transit board member. We discuss what’s happening with transit in Tacoma and the wider region.

We focus on the bus driver shortage that is affecting the 590 and 594 routes, light rail, the PT Runner service, the “Stream,” and much more.

Links

Kristina Walker

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Welcome back to another episode of Citizen Tacoma! Michelle Douglas joins the podcast to discuss hunger in Pierce County. She gives an update on some of the ways Emergency Food Network and the food pantries across the county are serving those who need food.

We also check-in about the arts, the economy, downtown Tacoma, and more.

Enjoy!

Links

Emergency Food Network

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Did you know that Tacoma is governed by a “charter?” And that every ten years, a group of citizens gets together to review it and propose new changes. It’s true!

Steve Wamback is the chair of the committee that is tackling this process. With more than 50 meetings planned in six months, they have a big workload ahead of them.

So what are they looking at? How does the process work? And how can you share your input? All that and more on the next episode.

Links

Tacoma’s Charter Review Committee

Flyer for extended public comment session on Monday, February 26 (.pdf file)

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Welcome back to another episode of Citizen Tacoma! Melissa Malott joins the podcast to discuss the health of Commencement Bay and what’s threatening it. She gives an update on some of the industrial uses in the port and the work CHB is doing on that front. We get into the proposed rebuilding of the animal rendering plant and much more.

She also speaks a little bit about the Tacoma Charter Review Committee and what’s happening there.

Enjoy!

Links

Melissa Malott at Communities for a Healthy Bay

Tacoma Charter Review

Channel 253 membership