Tacoma City Council resignation raises the question: Who would even want this job?
Tacoma City Council member Conor McCarthy is resigning — leaving the elected at-large position he’s held for the last seven years for a new job with Comcast.
When he goes on June 22, he’ll take a wealth of institutional knowledge with him.
For Tacoma, the loss of experience on the council isn’t the only thing that stings.
There’s also the unavoidable questions it raises about our form of government, what we ask of those in public office, and the qualified people who get weeded out along the way.
Simply put: Now more than ever, particularly as the city grapples with crises of homelessness, affordable housing and crime, what reasonable person would want to be on the City Council?
Better, and less-cynically put: Who has the ability to serve — and who doesn’t — with as difficult and thankless as we’ve made the job?
First, some stage setting: This isn’t intended as a woe-is-me column on behalf of elected leaders like McCarthy. The hardships and frustrations that come with the job — like being a constant sounding board for neighborhood concerns and having to make the tough decisions that make people mad – come with the territory.
Rather, this is about more fundamental questions surrounding the system we’ve set up. Unlike being mayor, being a run-of-the-mill City Council member is considered a part-time job, one that pays roughly $47,000 annually, plus benefits. That’s not chump change for a part-time gig, of course, but it’s not much, either — especially when almost anyone who’s done the job will tell you how all-consuming it can be.
So who, then, can serve on the City Council?
Who has the time and the ability to take on what’s often a full-time position for part-time pay?
McCarthy, a former assistant to the city attorney, obviously did — until he didn’t. He also came from an established family with a long history in local politics. That’s not a knock; it’s just the truth.
As Tacoma strives toward better, more equitable representation, isn’t it time to reevaluate the roadblocks we’ve put up that prevent so many others from doing the same?
McCarthy’s fellow at-large council colleague, Kristina Walker, has served for three years, she reminded me Thursday, shortly after news of McCarthy’s resignation broke.
While Walker was quick to acknowledge she’s privileged to serve, and has the ability to serve, she also spoke to the realities the job entails. There’s a reason, she said, why the city’s government performance and finance committee, just this week, entertained what she called a “preliminary discussion,” led by City Council member Joe Bushnell, on the possibility of making the City Council job full time.
For the first year of her tenure, Walker attempted to balance her commitments on the council with part-time work on the side. She quickly found the arrangement to be “way, way too much,” she said.
Even now, Walker said she typically spends 30 to 40 hours a week in City Council-related meetings, and that doesn’t include answering the emails, or the weekly reading or corresponding with constituents.
In order for Walker to “show up for the community in the way I want to show up,” she said, she had to forgo additional income.
That’s not a sacrifice everyone can make, she said.
“You have this interesting dynamic on the council of people who are putting in far more time and people who are still doing a day job and not able to put in as much time — or people who are working a huge amount of hours,” Walker said.
“For me, personally, it has been a very challenging balance.”
On Thursday, Walker said she was as surprised as anyone by word of McCarthy’s resignation. She got the news not long before the rest of us, in the form of an email. Now, in the coming weeks and months, the council will turn its attention toward appointing a replacement.
When asked about the potential benefits of making City Council a full-time position, Walker said it will be important to hear feedback from Tacoma residents first.
Make that one more obligation to put on her calendar.
“We definitely hear from people on a daily basis whose expectation is that we are full time,” Walker said.
For Tacoma to have the diverse and qualified elected leaders it needs to meet today’s challenges, shouldn’t they be?
This story was originally published June 9, 2022 at 3:44 PM.
