Tacoma’s Potential Leaders

With City Council seats up for election, now is a good time to begin considering who will be good for the City of Tacoma. I do think the city has come a long way from its troubled past. But, I believe the city is capable of becoming so much more. And I’m not sure that we can or will get there without some new invigorating, creative leaders at the helm. Not that City Council has done a poor job; rather I think Tacoma’s leadership has been good. Whether leadership has been excellent is another question entirely. What bothers me is that we still have recurring issues regarding crime and gangs. Downtown still hasn’t been able to rid itself of reoccurring criminal issues. The Eastside still has gang problems. And there are still too many dead spots downtown. Urban decay is still a very visible problem in Tacoma (anybody see a collapsing building on their way to work today?). Have we been as creative and innovative as possible in providing answers to these issues? I think not. Rather, at times it feels as if we are growing in spite of the city’s inability to solve these problems. Can we get to where we want to be? Possibly, but to get to where we want to be sooner, more efficiently and effectively will take leadership that is willing to do more than what has been done in the past. These issues should become measuring sticks upon which to grade political incumbents and newcomers as we move even closer to election time. Speak up and make your potential leaders accountable to issues that affect us residents of Tacoma.