OSAC reviews draft city manager work plan, backs staff to refine draft for March 31 study session

The Operational Strategy and Administrative Committee spent the March 27 meeting reviewing a draft city manager work plan and instructed staff to prepare revised versions for the March 31 city council study session.

The presenter walked committee members through clean and redline versions of the draft, saying the preamble ties the manager’s priorities to council direction and that the work plan is intended to be a living document to be updated quarterly or semiannually. Committee members pushed for flexibility in metrics and clearer definitions before the full council sees the plan.

Why it matters: the work plan sets the city manager’s priorities across fiscal sustainability, public safety, homelessness, permitting, communications and economic development. Committee discussion focused on how prescriptive the plan should be — for example whether a 2026 target to generate $5,000,000 in savings should be limited to cuts or allow revenue options — and on measurable, implementable deliverables that staff can own or influence.

The budget and operational section drew the most intensive questions. The presenter said the plan includes cost-containment measures (hiring freezes, contract reviews) intended to generate $5,000,000 in savings in 2026 as part of a multi-year effort to reduce the structural deficit for the 2027–28 budget. Committee members sought clarification about whether the $5,000,000 figure required only cuts and noted allowing revenue-generation options would give staff additional flexibility. “What I mean to say there is cost containment measures…hiring freeze, potential contract reductions,” the presenter said in explanation.

Committee members also moved the employee-survey work higher in the plan. The presenter noted the survey will provide a baseline (the survey contains roughly 71 questions across a dozen areas) and promised an action plan to improve internal communications, management and morale. Members urged that council see survey results before the manager prescribes specific priorities so the work plan can respond to actual findings rather than pre-select topics.

On communications and public engagement, staff proposed shifting the weekly manager report to more dynamic, web-based dashboards and short-form storytelling (including a proposed podcast and a weekly “Top 10” digest). Multiple members cautioned dashboards can simplify point-in-time data and urged staff to ensure residents and analysts can access underlying data. The public commenter, Sally Perkins of District 3, urged co-design of engagement tools and recommended the manager clarify how public comments will be used.

The committee discussed several council-priority metrics in the draft: coordinated staffing with Tacoma Police and Fire to improve response times; targeted cleanliness and anti-graffiti efforts (committee members suggested calling out existing programs by name); expanding urban tree canopy in lower-opportunity areas; and continuing Vision Zero work to reduce killed-or-seriously-injured (KSI) crashes through infrastructure changes and enforcement technologies.

On homelessness the draft directs Neighborhood and Community Services to reduce the proportion of Tacoma residents experiencing chronic homelessness by 2035 as measured by the annual point-in-time count. Several members and staff warned the point-in-time count is an imperfect measure; staff said the plan will include a review of operations and municipal code in the second quarter and explore regional approaches and potential low-barrier sites in coordination with Pierce County and state partners. “Point-in-time count is not perfect,” a public commenter said, calling for clearer definitions and an independent performance audit of homelessness programs.

The work-plan section on jobs and permitting asked the manager to pursue a quality-jobs approach, targeted industry outreach and to pilot a more coordinated permit review to reduce permitting times (a proposed 10% reduction by the end of 2027 for certain permits). Committee members asked staff to clarify the pilot’s scope and to include Tacoma Public Utilities in coordination discussions.

Action and next steps: staff summarized follow-up items including one-on-one meetings between the city manager and council members before the March 31 study session and a three-version track-changes packet (original, staff edits, OSAC edits). The committee voted to direct the city manager to update the draft permanent work plan for continued full-council input and to provide an update on the interim work plan at the March 31 council study session. The motion carried after the committee voted aye.

Public comment: Sally Perkins (District 3) spoke during the public-comment period, urging community co-design of engagement on fiscal proposals, cautioning about dashboards’ analytical limits, requesting police oversight language in the community-safety measures, and calling for defined metrics and an independent audit on homelessness efforts.

The committee adjourned after confirming the staff follow-up items for the March 31 study session.