Top 10 stories of 2009

Photo by rocky ross

TRIBUTE. The four fallen Lakewood police officers were honored during a somber ceremony at Tacoma Dome on Dec. 8.

Economic woes were a prevailing theme this year, as local governments and businesses dealt with the impact of the recession that has gripped the nation. This had a direct impact on several stories that made our list of the most important news stories of the year. One old building downtown will be saved by developers with bold plans. Another was demolished after plans faltered in the shaky economy. Some stories were fairly routine, like the election of a new mayor. Others were unique, such as the opening of an innovative high school at Point Defiance. The massive outpouring of support in the aftermath of a recent tragedy that received nationwide attention topped the list.

Police memorial at Tacoma Dome

A mass of dark blue was visible as far as the eye could see before the memorial began on Dec. 8 at the Tacoma Dome for four fallen Lakewood police officers. Although the officers’ uniforms looked similar, the crest attached to the arms told the stories of the communities they served.

Milton. Tacoma. Gig Harbor. Oakland, Calif.

Then the others came. Canadian Mounties wearing jackets in bold red. Washington State Patrol in light blues. Even Ft. Lewis soldiers in sandy browns. Thousands of police officers from around the nation, plus about 1,000 members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, came to Tacoma to pay their respects to four members of the Lakewood Police Department – Sergeant Mark Renninger and officers Ronald Owens, Tina Griswold and Greg Richards. They were fatally shot in a Parkland coffee shop on the morning of Nov. 29 as they were preparing to head out on patrol.

The man who shot them was Maurice Clemmons, a Parkland resident with a long criminal history both here and in his home state of Arkansas. A massive manhunt for him ensued. Two days after the shooting he was fatally shot by a police officer who encountered him in Seattle.

Russell Investments leaves for Seattle

The largest employer in downtown Tacoma ended more than a year of speculation with its decision to relocate to Seattle. Russell Investments announced on Sept. 9 it will move its headquarters to the former Washington Mutual Center in Seattle.

The company’s roots in Tacoma are deep. It was founded as Frank Russell Company by its namesake in 1936. A small brokerage firm, it grew to become a worldwide leader in the financial services field.

It moved into its current headquarters on ‘A’ Street in 1988. As it grew, the company leased out space in other buildings, including two floors of Wells Fargo Plaza.

When Russell first announced its intention to consider relocating, a group of business and political leaders came together under the name of Tacoma Partnership to encourage company officials to stay here. Despite being offered numerous incentives, Russell opted to move.

Farrell steps down at port

Port of Tacoma Commission announced on Oct. 19 that Executive Director Tim Farrell would officially end his employment with the port on May 31, 2010. Deputy Director John Wolfe was selected to serve as interim director.

Farrell joined the port in 2000 as deputy director and became the executive director in 2004. Before coming to Tacoma, the native of Massachusetts worked for Port of Seattle and Massachusetts Port Authority.

While obtaining a master’s degree in port and marine transportation management at the University of Washington, Farrell visited the port on numerous occasions.

“This port really stood out to me, among all the ports I got to know, as a thoroughbred,” he said. “It was focused on the business and knew its customer base. The community and the port worked well together and it showed.”

During his time as an executive, Ferrell is most proud of the port’s increased container volumes and the addition of new shipping customers, such as YANGMING, Mitsui O.S.K Lines, and NYK. He is also proud of the relationship built between the port and Puyallup Tribe of Indians.

“The leadership on both sides are going to come up with some brilliant ideas that are going to be great successes for both of our organizations,” he noted.

He stepped down amidst controversy about building a new terminal for the NYK shipping line, a project that drastically exceeded its initial estimated cost. The company opted to use an existing terminal and plans for the new one were shelved.

Farrell said his biggest disappointment has been the port’s 2006 purchase of the Maytown property in Thurston County. He explained when that occurred, port volume was up, the real estate market was strong and the rail system needed to expand for growth.

He plans to spend more time with his wife and young daughter. “I have a young family and I take great joy in them,” he said. “If you have a job like this, if you really do it right you have to throw yourself into it.”

Luzon Building demolished

The historic Luzon Building in downtown Tacoma was demolished on Sept. 26. The city ordered the demolition for public safety reasons after local contractor Serpanok Construction withdrew its proposal to purchase the 119-year-old structure from its owner the Gintz Group.

Charlie Solverson, the city’s building official, had determined the building’s condition made it an imminent danger.

The city paid the $600,000 cost of demolition. If the Gintz Group is unable to repay this to the city, a lien will be placed on the vacant parcel. Because the parcel has a value of about $300,000, the city could end up losing money.

Strickland defeats Merritt in mayor’s race

In a close race, Tacoma City Councilmember Marilyn Strickland defeated architect Jim Merritt in November to become Tacoma’s next mayor. She replaces Bill Baarsma, who will leave office due to term limits.

Education played an important role in Strickland’s campaign. She looks forward to the development of Tacoma 360. The new entity is assembling its advisory board and searching for an executive director.

Strickland cannot point to one specific reason for her victory. She feels her mailers had an impact. She waited until shortly before the election to buy newspaper advertisements, running them large and in full color. She and her supporters rang 20,000 doorbells across the city. “We went to every single neighborhood. We ran a good campaign from top to bottom.”

Opening of Science and Math Institute at Point Defiance

In September, 138 freshmen pioneers embarked on their high school careers at Tacoma’s newest visionary school.

Science and Math Institute (SAMI) opened Sept. 2 to a group of ninth-grade students who wanted something a little different out of their high school career.

Based out of the 702-acre landscape of Point Defiance Park, SAMI students and nine instructors have begun work in the district’s newest learning setting.

Discussions for the school, modeled after the highly successful Tacoma School of the Arts (SOTA), have been in the works for a couple of years. Tacoma School Board formally approved the creation of SAMI in early 2009.

Administrators began marketing the school around Tacoma middle schools, and mustered up interest among more than 300 eighth-grade students. Students applied, interviewed and then were put into a lottery-like selection process.

Like SOTA, SAMI aims to get students working hands-on in their fields of interest. While SOTA students shuffle between theaters and museums for their arts education, SAMI students are working in the natural setting of Point Defiance Park, with countless opportunities for hands-on exploration.

SAMI also ties into the district’s overarching goal of reducing dropouts and closing the achievement gap. The school is poised to have high success rates like its model school (SOTA graduates 94 percent of its students on time) because of the strong ownership the students are expected to take in their education when they are able to make the choice to attend a specialized, more intimate school like SAMI.

The classes are small and in four years, when the school is full-size, the student body will be a little more than 500.

Plan emerges to save Elks Building

Two developers have a grand plan to save the historic Elks Temple and bring a grocery store to downtown.

In July Tacoma developer Grace Pleasants and her business partner Rick Moses of the Los Angeles area announced plans to purchase the 93-year-old structure, which has sat vacant for about 35 years, and resell it to the McMenamin brothers of Portland.

On the vacant lot just north of the Elks, Pleasants and Moses made a deal to have the city of Tacoma build a five-story parking garage with 300 stalls. On top of that would be a grocery store on one floor, with five stories of apartments with about 70 units total.

Mike and Brian McMenamin are famous for their many hotels, brew pubs and entertainment venues around the Northwest.

They envision a pool/spa area on the Commerce Street level. Another floor would have a performance area that could hold crowds of 600 to 800 people. This could be rented out for wedding receptions and private parties.

The third floor would house a brewpub and restaurant.

The largest room, which was the Elks Lodge main gathering space, would be turned into two floors with a total of 40 hotel rooms.

The developers plan to open the new structure and the renovated Elks on the same day in spring 2012.

Voters reject school levy

A $300 million bond measure to rebuild and restore three of Tacoma’s aging middle schools failed after a special election held March 10. Tacoma School District’s proposal had less than 50 percent approval. Passage would have required 60 percent approval.

A dismal economic climate could account for the lack of support for increasing homeowners’ monthly bills to pay for schools. An approved bond would have meant an additional 75 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation of a home.

Opposition from two influential groups, the Tacoma NAACP and the Tacoma Ministerial Alliance, also played a hand in the measure failing.

Pacific Plaza opens

A city-owned parking garage built in the 1960s and considered by many to be a gloomy eyesore was converted to Pacific Plaza. The downtown structure combines parking, office space for businesses such as PCS Structural Solutions and BLRB Architects and retail space at the street level. It received much praise for its environmentally friendly design.

The project generated some controversy late in the year when the developers involved in the public/private partnership were unsuccessful in leasing some of the space along Pacific Avenue for retail use but found a potential client in the state Attorney General’s Office. Leasing this for office space required approval of Tacoma City Council, which did so on a 5-3 vote. A number of downtown business owners opposed this idea, urging the city to stick to the original plan to have retail on the street level.

Judge Michael Hecht guilty

Michael Hecht was elected as a judge on Pierce County Superior Court in 2008. In February the state filed a felony harassment charge and a misdemeanor charge of patronizing a prostitute. Allegations swirled about Hecht frequenting an area of downtown known for male prostitutions. The felony charge was based on an accusation of one such man that Hecht threatened to kill him shortly after the election.

A jury found him guilty of both charges on Oct. 28. On Nov. 2 Hecht announced his resignation.

That set in motion a power struggle between Pierce County Council and County Executive Pat McCarthy. The council passed an emergency ordinance eliminating this judicial position to save money for a government dealing with severe budget issues. Two weeks later McCarthy vetoed the ordinance, citing the emergency process the council used excluded the public. She stated the council did not have the legal authority to eliminate the position and claimed losing a full-time judge would cost the county more money in the long run as criminal defendants spend more time in jail awaiting trial.

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