For 16 years, Lakewood City Councilwoman Claudia Thomas hasn’t been afraid to speak her mind for the community she loves.
Her words, often delivered with bluntness, have kept local youth on the straight and narrow. They’ve helped preserve funding for the city’s down and out.
She even used her plainspoken tactics to recruit actor-comedian Bill Cosby to give a talk in Lakewood – and later ambushed him in his dressing room in another city to make sure he showed up.
Thomas’ comments at a farewell tribute held in her honor earlier this month were typically straightforward. She described what Lakewood was like before she was elected to the first City Council in the fall of 1995.
Tacoma, she said, “sent us all the trash and the problems and the issues and the kinds of things that never got enforced that we needed to correct.
“And I was determined if we could find a way to unify the city, we’d have a great city.”
She was even more direct in a recent interview. When you start something new, she said, sometimes you “need someone to kick butt and clean the system.”
At the end of December, the 81-year-old Thomas leaves office having made lasting contributions toward that effort. Her straight talk and persistence, combined with her caring for people and passion for community, have made her a beloved community figure.
She has completed a remarkable transformation from a largely unknown, reluctant politician to, in the words of Mayor Doug Richardson, “an iconic figure in Lakewood’s 16-year history.”
She was the first black woman in Washington to hold a mayor’s seat, when she held the gavel in 2006 and 2007. Other accomplishments include:
* Acting as the driving force behind earmarking
* 1 percent of the city general fund for social services.
* Getting agencies to work together to assist the less fortunate in Lakewood.
* Increasing civic involvement of the city’s youth.
* Extending commuter rail to Pierce County’s second-largest city.
“I’m tenacious about what I strongly believe in,” she said.
More than a dozen community leaders praised Thomas during her tribute this month. Becky Huber, president of the Lakewood Historical Society, sobbed as she described Thomas as a mentor who showed “what it takes to be a community member and a community leader.”
BROTHER ILL
Thomas is stepping down to care for her elder brother, who is battling cancer. She also didn’t like the idea of asking for campaign donations for another election when people are struggling financially.
Thomas entered politics after a 42-year career in education, retiring as an assistant superintendent in Bremerton. She had moved to Lakewood with her husband in 1966. Harry Thomas died in 1984.
Youth became a mainstay in her unorthodox election campaign. She visited Lakewood high schools to ask them what they wanted in their new city and recruited students to help her get elected.
Former city Councilwoman Helen McGovern recalled the first time she heard Thomas speak, she was immediately struck by her dynamic personality and clear vision. She turned to Thomas’ opponent and said, “I’m glad I’m not running against this woman.”
After the election, the council appointed Thomas and community activist Andie Gernon to launch an effort so social services agencies would work together to meet the disparate needs of Lakewood residents. Lakewood Community Collaboration is going strong today, with about 200 agencies represented. Thomas said she’s never missed a meeting.
Under Thomas’ leadership, the City Council in the late ’90s dedicated 1 percent of its general fund to contract with agencies that assist needy residents, with a focus on youth. This year, that sum amounts to $366,000. Kim Dodds, the city’s human services coordinator, said Thomas thwarted efforts by some council members to cut it over the years.
“She fought and fought and fought,” Dodds said.
In 1998, Thomas and Gernon founded Lakewood’s Promise, a chapter of the national America’s Promise partnership to improve the lives of youth. This year, America’s Promise named Lakewood one of the 100 best communities for youth for a fifth consecutive year.
Thomas was a leading force in the City Council’s establishing a youth council in 2002. Thomas is the liaison to the group and personally interviews every applicant.
The youth council gives high school juniors and seniors a voice at City Hall, plans the city’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration and organizes service projects, including food drives.
Gernon said while Thomas can be a disciplinarian, she cares deeply for the kids.
“Once they know that she cares, she has a tremendous moral authority with them,” she said.
Thomas’ interests extended to transportation matters as she served 10 years on the Sound Transit board, most recently as co-vice chairwoman. Fred Butler, the board’s co-vice chairman, said Thomas alleviated his concerns about the escalating price tag of extending Sounder commuter rail to Lakewood.
Not all has gone according to plan for Thomas. Commuter rail is scheduled to arrive in Lakewood in the fall of 2012, years behind schedule for a project that’s been on the drawing board since 1994.
One major disappointment for Thomas was a failed proposal to build a public-private theme park in Lakewood in 1999. She saw it as a destination that would draw families from around the region, generate millions in revenue and help keep tax rates low.
Lakewood resident John Arbeeny saw the theme park as an example of Thomas wanting government to do good things for people rather than represent them. Arbeeny strongly opposed the theme park, saying projections were overly optimistic.
He said Thomas had a grandmotherly presence on the City Council but didn’t like the messier aspects of local politics and usually followed the majority.
“She went along to get along,” said Arbeeny, who served on the council from 2004-07 and was part of a minority bloc.
There’s no better example of Thomas’ determination than her efforts to recruit Cosby to speak in Lakewood on youth and family issues. She had met him in a Washington, D.C., hotel lobby.
Later, City Manager Andrew Neiditz told Thomas that city staff members were having a hard time getting Cosby to commit to a date.
By chance, Cosby was appearing at the Little Creek Casino in Shelton in September 2007. Thomas asked her friend Mary Moss if she wanted to go. Moss expected a night of entertainment but got more than she bargained for.
First, Thomas told Cosby’s handlers that she was there “to close the deal” and wasn’t leaving until she saw Cosby. Cosby’s people relented.
Moss won’t forget the look of surprise on Cosby’s face when he saw Thomas standing in the middle of his dressing room.
“You were supposed to call me,” Moss recalled Cosby saying.
“I called,” Thomas shouted. “You didn’t respond.”
Moss, now a Lakewood city councilwoman, couldn’t believe the exchange. “I’m standing up with my mouth open thinking, ‘You’re talking like this to Bill Cosby.’ She didn’t care.”
Thomas did close the deal, and Cosby spoke to more than 400 children and parents at Clover Park Technical College a few months later.
Thomas is not fading from view entirely. One new task she’s picking up is leading the Clover Park School District’s levy campaign.
But last week, she concluded the tale of her unlikely political career at a regular meeting of the Lakewood Community Collaboration.
She urged about 50 people in attendance not to let the group “die if I don’t happen to be here.”
The audience gave her a standing ovation.
“You have passed the torch,” said Barbara Johnson, who manages a local clothing bank, “and you won’t be sorry.”
Christian Hill: 253-274-7390
christian.hill@thenewstribune.com
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