Citizen Tacoma

Erik Hanberg slips into the Citizen Tacoma chair to talk to elected officials in Tacoma about policing in our community. His goal is to learn what Tacoma’s elected leaders are thinking about policing in Tacoma and what they want to see happen in this area. Some council members are already booked (and any more council members are welcome to reach out!). Councilmember Kristina Walker, elected...

Janice Bridges is running a write-in campaign for Pierce County Sheriff. What does it mean to launch a “write-in” campaign? Why this office? What does it mean to be an “anti-racist grandma?” Annie Jansen sits down with Janice Bridges to find out. Links Janice Bridges for Sheriff Channel 253 membership

Annie sits down with Beth Doglio, a candidate for the US House of Representatives in Washington’s 10th congressional district. This seat covers parts of Tacoma and much of the South Sound. Links BethDoglio.com Channel 253 membership Off the Record with Producer Doug (new members-only podcast!)

Annie Jansen interviews Cyndie Fajardo, a candidate for Pierce County Sheriff. The County has had the same sheriff for nearly twenty years. Hear how Lieutenant Fajardo would handle the job if elected. Links Fajardo for Sheriff Channel 253 membership

Annie Jansen talks to Hunter George, the Mayor of Fircrest, about what’s happening with Tacoma’s closest neighbor, including an upcoming EMS levy. Links Channel 253 membership

Good news! Annie Jansen and Megan Holyoke are pinch hitting on Citizen Tacoma during this election season. For their first episode, they are joined by Auditor Julie Anderson, who talks about how the work of running elections has changed due to the coronavirus and the ways we can continue to make it easier to “vote from home.” Remember to vote in the August 4 primary! Links Channel 253...

Whether you’ve shopped around for a therapist in a moment of crisis only to find that none in Tacoma are taking new clients, or have struggled to get a family member a bed in a behavioral health hospital, if you’ve bumped up against our mental health care system it’s easy to feel like it’s broken. We spoke to Hope Sparks president Joe LeRoy, Comprehensive Life Resources CEO...

Here it is, our last candidate of 2019! This was a meaty interview, y’all. John O’Loughlin is running for At-Large Position 8 on the City Council, which is being vacated by Ryan Mello as he terms out. O’Loughlin spent 31 years working for the city of Tacoma in environmental services, and oversaw the cleanup of the Foss Waterway. He says that experience brings him a unique perspec...

Kristin Ang was pretty much a total political unknown when she decided on the Friday of filing week in 2017 that she was going to run for Port of Tacoma commission. She was and still is vocally opposed to the liquefied natural gas plant being built on the Tideflats, which immediately set her apart. That year, she came out of nowhere to win about 40 percent of the vote and cause a stir among enviro...

It’s almost time to vote! If you’re a voter in Tacoma, you probably already have your ballot (they’re due Nov. 5, btw). But before you fill it out, listen to our final three candidate episodes of the season! In episode 63, we talk to Enrique Leon, who was appointed to the board of Tacoma Public Schools in 2018 to replace Catherine Ushka when she was elected to the Tacoma City Cou...

Lisa Keating was our first interview this year with a school board candidate this year (and our only one with someone with purple hair!). Keating, who founded and heads an organization that advocates for LGBT youth, is challenging the formidable 30-year incumbent Debbie Winskill for position 1 in November. Keating explains why she decided to run, and we talked at length about equity and inclusion...

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 liquef...

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...

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 f...

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...

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...

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 release...

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 t...

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 fe...

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 ta...

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 G...

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, a...

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 Interchangeabl...

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 Malot...

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 tool...