Tacoma Council Scorecard for 2Q2013

For the last two years the Chamber has been working to hold our elected officials accountable.  Over this time, we have opened up a more continuous dialogue with electeds while also creating tools to better highlight their stances to our members.  The scorecard does this as straightforwardly as possible – by reporting the actual votes taken.  However, it can be challenging to keep up with all of the last minute changes made with little or no notice.

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For example, the Tacoma City Council’s recently passed legislation creating a Transportation Commission to help guide infrastructure improvements.  This proposal was circulated in advance and the Chamber expressed support for a comprehensive perspective on transportation. However, the Chamber also recommended that the legislation needed to recognize the significant role freight mobility plays by including a freight representative on the Commission.

With no advance notice to the public, Council made an amendment to the legislation which asked for commissioners to be in all of those categories representing moving people.  There was no mention of commissioners for any categories representing the movement of goods. Since new language did not include a freight-oriented commissioner, the Council failed to recognize the reality of our economy – we are dependent on goods delivered to stores, to the Port of Tacoma and to customers around the world.

While the Chamber initially supported this legislation, we could not support something that so readily ignored a crucial part of our economy.  This could have been rectified if the amendment had a transparent and public vetting. There may be times when Council feels speed trumps transparency, but currently this happens too frequently.  If the Council truly values an engaged business community we encourage them to be more transparent in their actions.

4Q12 Tacoma Council Scorecard Issued and 2012 Scorecard Review

To better represent business interests with government, the Chamber is communicating to our members the voting records of elected and/or appointed officials on issues relevant to our mission.  Following is the fourth Scorecard of votes by the City of Tacoma Council.

The following scorecard presents actual votes – rather than leadership, testimony, rhetoric or behind-the-scenes work.  Votes selected for inclusion in the voting record are those issues that impact the success of new and existing businesses in our community.

The Chamber recognizes that votes are only one part of the picture of an engaged, business-friendly city, but they do illustrate consistencies or inconsistencies between Chamber membership and civic leaders. The Chamber encourages businesses to get involved with leaders and issues beyond this scorecard.

If you have any questions about the specific votes or seek a greater understanding of the issues, please contact Gary Brackett, garyb@tacomachamber.org or David Schroedel, davids@tacomachamber.org

3Q12 Tacoma Council Scorecard Issued

To better represent business interests with government, the Chamber is communicating to our members the voting records of elected and/or appointed officials on issues relevant to our mission.  Following is the third Scorecard of votes by the City of Tacoma Council.

The following scorecard presents actual votes – rather than leadership, testimony, rhetoric or behind-the-scenes work.  Votes selected for inclusion in the voting record are those issues that impact the success of new and existing businesses in our community.

The Chamber recognizes that votes are only one part of the picture of an engaged, business-friendly city, but they do illustrate consistencies or inconsistencies between Chamber membership and civic leaders. The Chamber encourages businesses to get involved with leaders and issues beyond this scorecard.

If you have any questions about the specific votes or seek a greater understanding of the issues, please contact Gary Brackett, garyb@tacomachamber.org or David Schroedel, davids@tacomachamber.org

(Click on image for a larger view)

2Q Tacoma Council Scorecard

You are likely one of the hundreds that took a look at our first ever elected official scorecard.  As you know that only covered issues brought up in the first quarter of 2012.

Now that the second quarter has wrapped up, we are pleased to present an updated scorecard.  The issues this quarter revolved around streamlining regulations and planning for future growth.  We were pleased to see the Council work together to open more doors for more businesses.

To ensure that past voting history is not lost, the scorecard has been expanded to include votes from not only the past quarter, but also the beginning of the year.  For a full page version of the scorecard and commentary, please download it from the Chamber website here:

http://cloud.chambermaster.com/userfiles/UserFiles/chambers/1361/File/q2TCCScorecard.pdf

Council Scorecard Proves Popular

Live Wire Blog Pageviews

Last week the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber released its first quarterly scorecard for the Tacoma City Council.  Since then, the Chamber has received an overwhelming response from businesses who appreciate the opportunity to better understand how their Council is voting without attending every meeting the City holds.  As one Chamber member said, "This is an outstanding execution of accountability and transparency to the public."

The popularity of the scorecard has clearly gone beyond the Chamber membership as evidenced by the article more than doubling visits to the Chamber's Live Wire blog at the time of posting.  A number of people have referenced how difficult it is to track business issues that move through City Council between staff recommendations, committee meetings, Council meetings, and last minute amendments.

While the Chamber will do its best to keep its members informed in advance of changes proposed by Council, we will always continue to encourage transparency and accountability with government.

1st Scorecard of Tacoma Council

The Chamber is exercising its voice for business.

Displayed is the first ever SCORECARD (click here for best image) of the votes local officials have made consistent with support of businesses in our community.  The Chamber seeks business and government cooperation for economic and quality of life issues.

Although Scorecards will eventually be reported for local and state elected and appointed officials, the first Scorecard is of votes by the Tacoma City Councilmembers for the First Quarter 2012.

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“Families flock to successful communities where job opportunities are abundant and there is a high quality of life. The purpose of our scorecard is to inform and educate people about how well our elected officials are representing their views,” said Chamber President and CEO Tom Pierson. “As an active Chamber with many vocal members, we look forward to issuing regular evaluations so our entire community - including employers, employees and customers - understands where their civil leaders stand on matters affecting all of us.”

Everything we do - from working collaboratively with public or private organizations to identifying and expressing the priorities of companies and small businesses in the Puget Sound area - ties back to our overall mission.

Let us know what you think of the Scorecard as an accountability tool for local officials.