Virtual business town hall Monday to feature Tacoma police chief, focus on crime
Story has been updated with additional comment.
A newly formed business group in Tacoma is hoping its virtual town hall Monday will lead to some solutions amid the crime wave that has swept through the city and hit local businesses particularly hard.
After plans for a Hilltop event fell through, the Tacoma Business Council on Friday moved its meeting to a virtual setting for Monday to discuss issues surrounding property crime with Police Chief Avery Moore.
For council President and chair Kristen Wynne, owner of Historic 1625 Weddings & Events, the group is keeping its focus on rising crime rates and offering representation for more businesses.
“We do have these neighborhood business districts, which are fabulous and the city supports those,” she told The News Tribune in an interview Thursday. “Their focus really is not crime. … And many, many businesses don’t fall within any of those walkable business districts. So there really is no vehicle for lots of businesses in Tacoma to speak directly with the city.”
Though some business owners have attended recent council meetings to speak out about crime in their areas, Wynne notes not everyone can make it to the Tuesday 5 p.m. City Council meetings.
She added: “I think there is a real need for a business group like ours that is attempting to represent everybody, whether you’re in a neighborhood business district or not.”
TBC’s executive committee includes three business owners: Kristina Maritczak, TBC solutions committee chair, attorney and owner of Align Real Estate; Dana Hill, communications chair, marketing and PR consultant and founder of The Black Doll Affair grassroots movement, and Wynne.
Hilltop event canceled
The meeting was originally set to take place at Hilltop’s Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center, but on Friday was rescheduled as a virtual event on TBC’s YouTube channel. TBC said plans for the T.U.P.A.C. event were canceled by the center’s executive director Klair Ethridge.
A notice on the Hilltop center’s website on Friday said: “Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Hilltop Town Hall scheduled for Monday … at T.U.P.A.C. has been canceled and will be rescheduled.”
TBC said in a news release Friday that it had come to Ethridge’s attention that TBC “had no presence on Hilltop until the scheduling of this Town Hall.”
TBC’s release said Ethridge had told them that “she would be happy to host a town hall at T.U.P.A.C. when an established organization with a ‘vested interest’ in Hilltop stepped forward … .”
Ethridge, in an email Saturday to The News Tribune, said in response to TBC’s news release that “The claims made by the Tacoma Business Council are not 100% accurate.”
“Indeed, I made the difficult decision to cancel the Hilltop Town Hall,” she wrote.
“Hilltop is not just a location, destination or neighborhood, Hilltop is a state of mind,” she wrote. “I did not feel the heartbeat of Hilltop in the organization of this Town Hall. How in-touch were the organizers with the needs and wants of the people who have a vested interest in building a relationship with the new Police Chief?”
She added that “... once I realized the Tacoma Business Council was not an active entity in Hilltop other than organizing the Hilltop Town Hall, I felt our facility was being used to lend a blanket of credibility to a start-up entity.”
“Should TBC care to have a round table discussion to further address this issue, I will be more than happy to convene a meeting here with Hilltop Community Stakeholders.”
Before the venue change, Wynne on Thursday explained to The News Tribune why the Hilltop site was chosen.
“We had a couple of people who spoke out and said that Hilltop businesses feel … left out of our conversation about crime,” Wynne said. “We were confused to hear that because we do have a large list of emails for Hilltop businesses and we send them every email that goes out to those businesses. But nonetheless, we said … let’s do our next meeting on Hilltop.”
TBC formed after January’s business summit at the LeMay - America’s Car Museum, organized by another group, Tacoma Safe, of which several of TBC’s founders including Wynne, were part of.
That event perhaps is more remembered for a bystander becoming the victim of a hit-and-run outside the meeting where a protest was happening. The protest was against a potential public camping ban in the city that had been supported by members of the Tacoma Safe group.
No arrests have been made in that case.
A City Council committee recommended earlier this week that no proposed camping ban ordinance be adopted at this time.
“The Tacoma Business Council is really focused on crime,” Wynne said, “and we have taken the position that we are not taking a position one way or the other as an organization on the camping ban. Our focus is on crime.”
“Property crime in Tacoma, currently, we are not feeling like it is being given the importance … ,” she said. “To businesses, property crimes, that’s what we experience, and we want to make sure that the city understands that those are real crimes.
“Businesses will fold their doors and leave if they don’t feel supported by the city,” she added.
Some of the problems TBC has heard about so far from business owners include people not feeling safe at their businesses, dealing with crime incidents unrelated to their own businesses, lack of police response, to broken windows and other property crimes committed.
“A broken window sounds minor, but in the current supply chain problems, getting your windows replaced is actually very difficult. So some things like a broken window can be a real problem for our businesses,” she said.
The city, for its part, this week informed local business recipients of its grants for helping to offset broken window repair costs. The city used $300,000 from American Rescue Plan Act funding to establish the program.
The city received 208 applications, and of those, 166 grant recipients were selected, in figures provided to The News Tribune on Friday.
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“I think it’s nice. I think it’s a gesture, but I think what businesses really want is a police presence,” Wynne said in response to the grants.
TBC, in its release Friday, said: “It was Chief Moore’s decision that we should move forward with our town hall on a virtual basis. We agreed. Our intention to provide a format for businesses and citizens on Hilltop to be heard has not changed. We welcome all interested to tune in for what should be an enlightening conversation.”
How to get involved
The Tacoma Business Council town hall is set for 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday as a live event on Tacoma Business Council’s YouTube page. The event will be interactive via YouTube chat.
An online form is available at this link to ask questions of the chief in advance, which will then be asked at the town hall.
For more information on TBC or to join the group, email info@tacomabusinesscouncil.com.
This story was originally published April 9, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
