Tacoma City Council is scheduled to meet Tuesday at City Hall to be briefed on the Washington State Department of Corrections Earned Release Date Housing Program.
According to City of Tacoma staff, a legislative priority at City Hall is to have fair regulation and oversight by both the State of Washington and the City of Tacoma so that local neighborhoods won’t be negatively affected by the actions of state agencies. To that end, the City of Tacoma supports legislation that improves communication between the State and local government concerning the release of offenders and opposes any efforts that would restrict its authority to license and regulate congregate rental housing. In January, Tacoma City Council’s Neighborhoods and Housing Committee was updated on Tacoma’s coordination with the Washington State Department of Corrections for their Earned Release Date Housing Program. During a study session Tuesday at City Hall, staff will present a memorandum of understanding between the City of Tacoma and the Department of Corrections for Tacoma City Council consideration.
Additionally, Interim Planning and Development Services Director Peter Huffman will present the department’s strategic action plan. The Planning and Development Services Department was created in January to improve the delivery of core planning and permitting services. The strategic action plan is intended to guide the new department as it moves forward with improvements to the planning and permitting system of the City of Tacoma. The primary goals of the strategic plan are to improve customer service and cost effectiveness by focusing on pre-application services, electronic permitting, consolidated staffing and streamlined code reviews.
Councilmembers will not take public comment during the study session, which will be held on Tues., April 2 at 12 p.m. in Room 16 of Tacoma Municipal Building North, 733 Market St. Audio from the meeting will be broadcast live on TV Tacoma and online at tvtacoma.com. On-demand audio archives are available on the Web within 24 hours of the meeting online at tvtacoma.com.
