TCT MINUTES: February 3, 2013

PRESENT: John, Blaine, Lisa, Neal, Patricia, Alan (note taker), Vince (facilitator).

AGENDA:

1. Report from John.
2. Tent report from Michael Cobern given by Vince
3. Fundraising and Tasks
4. Real Change.
5. Report on Planning Commission.
6. Announcement of next meeting.

REPORT FROM JOHN: Bethlehem did not vote at annual meeting and felt they needed some more information. The vote not was rescheduled until they had more information about fundraising. Also, Bethlehem Church wanted to know if Planning Commission required us to have lined up a year’s worth of sites before getting approval under the new guidelines.

Neal explained that this was not a planning commission requirement but was a goal we had set for ourselves. Nevertheless, the commissioners strongly recommend that we line up a year’s worth of sites before opening our first camp.

Patricia urged John to discuss with church that we do not expect the church to incur any financial obligations unless the church itself decides to take on such obligations.

Vince asks if it would be helpful to have a step-by-step time-line. Such a list may help John in his discussions with Bethlehem congregation.

TENT REPORT: Mike has some Occupy Tacoma tents at his residence in Port Orchard. He says he can load them up onto a vehicle, but he would need to have someone down here in Tacoma to help offload them. Neal says he can help unload. John says he can ask Bethlehem Church members to donate tents. Neal and Patricia said that they expect many will donate tents, because when Occupy Tacoma set up camp, people spontaneously made lots of donations, including tents. We are looking more for 4-person tents and some 2-person tents, as they are the most practical and useful sizes.

FUNDRAISING AND TASKS: We need a button on our website to take us to the YouCaring donation site. Neal will go to Alan’s house, and Neal and Alan will work on the button. They will also discuss administration of this website.

Real Change Newspaper will run an article about Tent City Tacoma and our need for funds. Neal expects that Real Change story will help in fundraising.

We also discussed contacting other press people. Patricia, John, and Vince suggested asking the Associated Ministries newsletter to help publicize fundraising. Vince says we need to get creative ways to raise funding.

PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT: Patricia, Alan, and Leslie showed up at the Planning Commission. Patricia reported that nobody spoke against the resolution. Al Radcliffe spoke and gave a good statement. Patricia, Alan, and Leslie had a chance to talk with Harry and Colin after the meeting, and Alan also spoke with Brian B after the meeting.

It became clearer to us that we need to clearly explain the necessity of not having extraneous regulations in the code, something Alan and Patricia talked about in their statements. Vince says a prepared statement emphasizing minimum requirements would help. We need to work on ambiguities in the proposed regulation. In discussing this with city planners, Vince says that it’s better to ask “why do you want this” instead of just saying “we don’t want it.” That sets up a dialog, an opportunity for both us and them to listen and learn.

In dealing with Planning Commission proposals that do not address public health and safety issues, John suggested we ask commissioners how such proposals are in compliance with state law. Vince suggests we look for vague words in the proposal. We should come up with list of specific itemized changes with a few words discussing why we want them. Our concerns are not with the good will of the present commissioners but with possible future commissioners less friendly to the idea of a TCT. So we want ambiguities in the code sorted out.

NEXT MEETING: Next meeting will be on February 17, 2014. Vince tells us that he has permanently scheduled meetings on the FUMC church calendar for the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month into the indefinite future. We appreciate FUMC’s allowing us to have our meetings at their facility.

Respectfully submitted: Alan OldStudent