Tacoma Charter Review Committee sets meeting schedule

Tacoma’s Charter Review Committee will begin holding regularly scheduled meetings next week at City Hall, according to a legal notice published Wednesday in the Tacoma Daily Index.

The 61-year-old charter serves as Tacoma’s governing document and is reviewed every 10 years by a citizens committee. Any proposed changes are then reviewed by councilmembers before they are approved or rejected by Tacoma voters. Ten years ago, the committee recommended nearly two-dozen charter changes. Councilmembers pared that list down to 11 proposed changes, and voters approved all the changes.

Earlier this month, Tacoma City Council appointed 15 people to serve on the committee, which will review the city’s charter and make recommendations for changes this spring. Committee members include Bill Baarsma (Chair), Theresa Baker, Gary Brackett, Mabel Edmonds,Tim Farrell, Eric Hahn, Charles Horne, Justin Leighton, Mark Martinez, James Merritt, John Messina, Kenneth Miller, Patricia Talton, Catherine Ushka, and Justin Van Dyk.

The Charter Review Committee’s next meeting will be held on Mon., Feb. 3, at 7 p.m. in Room 16 of the Tacoma Municipal Building North, located at 733 Market St. The committee has also named Jeanne Harris as its liaison. The committee plans to meet every Monday and Wednesday at the same time and in the same location until it submits its final recommendations to councilmembers by Tues., May 6.

More information is available online at cityoftacoma.org/charterreview.

To read the Tacoma Daily Index‘s complete and comprehensive coverage of Tacoma’s charter review, click on the following links: