The Decennialists

Recently the city of Tacoma embarked on the every-ten-year review of its charter. Four members of the UW Tacoma community served on the Charter Review Committee, a group of fifteen citizens that made recommendations for changes to the document and the city’s governance.

The four are Dr. Katie Baird, professor of economics; Nicholas Carr, ’12, ’19; André Jimenez, ’22; and Lok Yin Wu, ’24, who was a student majoring in political science during the time the committee met.

Tacoma has had a charter since it was first incorporated in the late 19th century (the exact date is open to interpretation), but the modern charter establishing a mayor-city manager form of government was first adopted in 1952. The document sets the organization of the city’s governance according to standards established by Washington state law. In 2004, a citizens’ initiative established a requirement for the charter to be reviewed every ten years by the city council and a committee of 15 community members who are nominated or selected by the council.

Katie Baird said she “threw her hat in the ring” in response to an open call for committee members, and then discussed the opportunity with Wu, who had taken classes with Baird. “After I was selected, I was very happily surprised to see [both Carr and Jimenez] on the committee,” said Baird.

Baird participated previously in a Pierce County charter review, but this was her first time on the city’s charter review. “We brought forward proposals for some significant changes to the charter,” she said. “The most well-known is this issue of whether you have a council/manager form of government, or the alternative of what is sometimes called a ‘strong mayor’ form of government.” Baird said the current form of Tacoma’s government is a council/manager form, in which an unelected city manager runs the day to day business of the city and answers to the city council. “The alternative is you elect the mayor to be your executive, and the mayor will hire someone to be their executive manager.”

André Jimenez graduated from UW Tacoma with a bachelor’s degree in law and policy. He has now finished a master’s degree in public policy at Princeton University and plans to go to law school after that. Jimenez, who served as ASUWT President while a student, attended the charter review meetings via Zoom from New Jersey. He served on the Police Accountability subcommittee, and the Power of the People sub-committee. “The Power of the People sub-committee takes into account how to get more civic engagement from the community,” Jimenez said. “I was born and raised in Tacoma. With the exception of these years in grad school, I’ve spent my whole life there, started a family there and I think that makes me a good policy maker in this space. I know the people and the community, and can listen to them and pick up on the heartbeat of what they need and want,” he said.

The work could be exhausting, Jimenez said. At its start, the committee met as a whole two days each week, and then ramped up to three nights per week for three hours each meeting as the committee approached its May 7 deadline. “It’s balancing what is the time needed to spend on the charter and give the issues the attention they deserve, and recognizing that these are volunteers,” he said.

Nicholas Carr, a government liaison with the Tacoma Housing Authority, got his B.A. in politics, philosophy and economics, and his M.A. in community planning at UW Tacoma. “I’d always been interested in politics, and the first class that I took on public policy was Katie Baird’s class,” he said. “UW Tacoma had just started the politics, philosophy and economics degree then, and so I’ve known her since then, around 2008.” After getting his undergrad degree, Carr worked for Derek Kilmer, a U.S. Congressional representative for the district that includes Tacoma and the Olympic peninsula. After he left Washington, D.C., Carr came back to UW Tacoma for his graduate degree.

Carr served on the Administrative and the Public Utility sub-committees. “What we’re trying to do is create a level of transparency and accountability,” he said. “There’s a lot of work that we do behind the scenes, but what’s so important is that we received and listened to public input and we gave the council something that’s truly worth thinking about and acting on.”

For Lok Yin Wu, her work with the charter committee was part of an internship she did during her senior year majoring in economics and policy analysis and minoring in business. Wu said she still hasn’t decided whether she wants to work in public service or in private business after graduating. “It’s challenging for me, and a pretty new experience,” she said. “I force myself to speak more, because I’m naturally afraid of public speaking, but the experience has made it better, and it’s turned out pretty well.” Wu moved to the U.S. four years ago, and has spent the past two years here in Tacoma.

Serving on the Form of Government sub-committee, Wu said that she feels her voice was heard. “During our meetings, our chair asked if any of us who didn’t comment would like to add anything, and there was always time to say things and be heard.” Balancing classes with the numerous meetings was difficult, but Wu said she is committed to that kind of civic work. “It’s a unique experience and the committee is committed to making positive changes. I feel like residents are very involved in this, and it feels like everyone in the city is doing a group project to make life better,” she said.

Most importantly, Wu said the practical experience was worthwhile. “It’s not just textbooks and theory that I learned, and these experiences aren’t easy to get in school. Learning about how a city works and how a government functions is not as easy to see in the classroom, so the practical lessons are important.”

Wu is the youngest person on the committee. Her appointment reflects an effort by the City Council and Mayor Victoria Woodards to involve young adults in city governance. “These conversations will set Tacoma’s course for the next decade,” said Baird. “It’s a great way for Gen Z-ers to experience civic engagement and have a voice in decisions that will affect them directly.”

The charter review committee submitted its final report on May 6. The City Council’s calendar between May and August is filled with special meetings and study sessions during which they are discussing the suggestions, questioning committee members about possible changes, and making decisions about what or what not to propose for adoption. The choices that arise from those discussions will appear on the November ballot allowing Tacoma citizens to vote on possible changes to the city's charter.