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Sun. August 20, 2006, 09:21am PDT
Mayor Baarsma misses the point in plaza renaming debate
This week has been an exciting one for me on the local involvement front. I've brought up the issue of renaming Pacific Plaza to readers here and went forward to writing an op ed, conducting a poll, and having an email conversation with current Mayor Baarsma including his piece in the Trib today. [ link | pdf ] Unfortunately, everyone but the Mayor gets the point: Postpone renaming the plaza until more feedback is gathered. The significance of former Mayor Tollefson's achievements is not and was never in question. It's simply the process of gathering public comment itself I'm concerned about.
Read how you can get involved below.
In the end I have no problem with the Mayor and City Council making the final call I just don't think they have truly gone out of their way to learn what the people who are suppose to identify with and use the plaza really think. For the Landmarks Commission to have one month for "written public comment" is not enough. First, the general public doesn't pay attention to request for written public comment by the commission and second, why shouldn't that sort of feedback be gathered in a shorter form something like the poll I conducted here on the site? How about having someone in the plaza during a couple lunch hours to ask people their opinion? It encourages involvement without the time it can take a person with a busy life to write a letter or email.
There are better ways to get the word out and gather comments and the city didn't do it. Sure, they're busy. But if a relatively light issue like renaming Pacific Plaza can't seek such simple feedback then what confidence should we have when issues of housing, employment, schools, etc. come up? How will we be heard then?
There's no reason for a decision to occur this Tuesday versus a month from now. My simple request is to postpone a decision until further public comment can be gathered. It's simple and it could mean a whole lot for the city to try different ways to ask more people "What do you think?"
Two last shots
Join me at Tuesday's City Council meeting if you want to speak out on this issue. The council meets at 5pm at the Tacoma Municipal Building. [ map ] Anyone attending can sign up to make comments on any item on the agenda (this one's #36948) and has up to 5 minutes to speak. Your support and involvement in this meeting could help turn the tables on this naming decision toward one that more of the public can get behind and identify with. Here's a couple points you might address if you decide to join me at the meeting:
- the city should seek more public input before renaming a public place
- there's no hurry to rename it now or a month from now especially since events have already been advertised and held under current name
- conduct online polls or have volunteers on street ask people's opinion
- is more public comments points to different name, honor Tollefson with dedication
- tell the council what name you'd prefer
- let them know why you might prefer a name other than that of Tollefson's (e.g. it's not a square, tells nothing about place, etc.)
If you plan to attend, let me know in the comments below.
You can also send Mayor Baarsma and the City Council an email. If you click the following link a brief statement I've written will pop up in your email program that you need only sign your name and address and hit the send button. Feel free to add in your own comments and insight as well.
Thanks again for your involvement and support!
Comments (8) | To Top
8/20/2006 @ 9:57am
The Mayor's piece in the paper today sounded more like an effort to claim that a public process took place, when in fact the only thing that could be said is that they went through the motions. The Council needs to be reminded that the Project for Public Spaces report (see http://www.tacomabia.org/documents/Final%20Report.pdf), which involved considerable input from numerous citizens and organizations, already recommended that "the community should be invited either to submit names or to vote on proposed submissions." If the certain Councilmembers were genuinely serious about honoring Tollefson, they and the supporters of this idea would come up with some money for a statue, fountain, public art work or some other element to place in the space. Oh. Maybe they didn't have it in mind to honor him THAT much.
by Michael
8/20/2006 @ 10:17am
Kevin, I plan to attend. I haven't decided on whether to speak or not. I know the mayor and each councilmember. I do feel that the public has not been given enough opportunity for CHOICE !! When giving Tacoma a "name", TNT ran a contest for all to enter, The Wired City won. If memory serves, the public participation was very large.
Ronnie
by Ronnie
8/20/2006 @ 10:20am
PS Peter Callaghan, writer at TNT, could be a very good person to talk to about this prior to Tuesday.
Ronnie
by Ronnie
8/20/2006 @ 10:27am
I admire you for being so involved. Someone wrote a letter to the editor to the TNT supporting the Tollefson name - and although I disagree, it still shows that people are interested in naming their public places. I plan to send that e-mail you've provided a link to.
by Roxy
8/20/2006 @ 10:33am
Roxy, here's a link to another letter to the editor on this topic.
by Michael
8/20/2006 @ 10:50am
I'm excited to hear opinion pro and con for renaming Pacific Plaza. The point of my effort is primarily to engage people with their ideas and set new precedents for doing so in this town. Secondary to me is the final name decided upon. Although I think something like Pacific Plaza would resonate better with people the chance for everyone to better voice their opinion is what I'm all about.
by KevinFreitas
8/20/2006 @ 11:08am
Mayor Baarsma is right about Mayor Tollefson's achievements.
However, this still begs the question of what the appropriate name for Pacific Plaza should be.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is "the designated review board to approve or deny proposed changes to designated historic buildings and districts."
The LPC is designed to review historical issues usually concerning buildings. An important task.
However, I do not see that they have made any outreach effort other than the normal public comment period that they have.
Presently, the Pacific Plaza sits empty almost all of the time.
Tacomans have been urged to accept and make Pacific Plaza a center of activities in Tacoma. If this is to occur, I would think it would be useful in involving the public in a greater degree in the naming the of the Plaza.
by Erik
8/22/2006 @ 4:33pm
Who are the Tollefson family members that are pushing the naming of the plaza after Harold? The first I learned of this has been what I have read in the paper. I am wondering if a single member of the family is pushing for this as a way to get his name out in the public for political reasons.
by Barbara Tollefson