Citizen Tacoma

For this episode, we’re joined by two organizers of Safe Homes for All, Zev Cook and Kiss’Shonna Curtis. Zev and Kiss’Shonna talk about their goals for Measure 1, including enforcement, recognition of tenants’ unions, and more. This is a companion episode to our conversation with affordable housing providers who shared some of their concerns about the measure on a previous episode. Consider listening to both episodes as you’re working on your ballot! Links Safe Homes for All Channel 253 membership  

This episode’s guest on Citizen Tacoma is Martha Lantz, former Vice Chair of the Pierce County Charter Review Commission. She’s on the podcast to walk listeners through the questions the commission has put to the voters as citizens consider how to amend the Pierce County Charter. The hot topic is, of course, whether we should elect or appoint our sheriff. But there are many other amendments on the ballot that have some interesting nuance. Listen in! Links Channel 253 membership  

This episode of Citizen Tacoma features Amanda DeShazo and Jason Scales. Amanda is the executive director of the Affordable Housing Consortium. And Jason is the executive director of LASA. These two leaders of nonprofit affordable housing providers in Tacoma and Pierce County join the podcast to share their perspective on the ongoing affordable housing crisis in our community, as well as their specific perspective on Initiative 1 and how it might affect affordable housing providers. This is a companion episode to our conversation with the organizers of Safe Homes for All. Consider listening to both episodes as you’re working on your ballot! Links Affordable Housing Coalition statement on Initiative 1 LASA Channel 253 membership

So…. what’s happening with our ballots in the 2026 election? Normally, we say that Washington is a state where we “mail in” in our ballots. But, what do we do if we don’t trust the post office to deliver our ballots? We dig into these questions with Pierce County’s top election official, Linda Farmer. (Her answer: drop it off.) After the break, she also discusses a scary fraud in which people try to literally steal a house out from someone, and how the Auditor’s office offers a service to help notify you if this is happening to you. Links Pierce County Auditor Pierce County Owner Alert Services Channel 253 membership

This episode, Citizen Tacoma is joined by two community leaders—Joe LeRoy of Hope Sparks, and Dr. Mary Ann Woodruff of Pediatrics Northwest. We discuss the overall state of children’s mental health in Tacoma and Pierce County, and we also dig deep on an innovative model between Hope Sparks and Pediatrics Northwest that attends to children’s mental health as part of regular pediatric visits. This collaboration could be a template for more services to youth in the region and beyond. Links A Team Approach for Behavioral Health Care at Pediatrics Northwest (.pdf) Hope Sparks Pediatrics Northwest Channel 253 membership