Tacoma Newsroom: Your Source for Tacoma News and Information

🎖️In honor of Veterans Day, all week we'll be recognizing City of Tacoma employees who have also served in the Armed Forces. Today, we honor Samuel Lewis, the City's Sidewalk Program Manager who previously served 24 years in the United States Air Force. During his time in service, ...Samuel was a Pavement, Maintenance and Heavy Equipment Operator, working on pavement maintenance projects both overseas and in his own community. He completed six deployment rotations, including to Iraq and Afghanistan in 2006, where he led teams that kept airfields operational during wartime and built roads connecting forward operating bases, reducing convoy commute times. He retired in 2022 as a diamond wearing Master Sergeant.
💙 He remembers a strong military leader who, at an important transition point in his career, taught him how to "be the boss that's needed to get a mission accomplished". Samuel learned the value of true mentorship and the power of action and follow through to inspire his team, setting him on a course to take on new challenges.
🦅He brings this valuable lesson to his role with the City where he has served in his role for just over a year. He's working hard to update processes and finding ways to improve efficiencies for the City's sidewalk restoration efforts.

Due to Veterans Day, this week’s City Council meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, at 3 PM. Please note there will be no Community Forum, with the next one scheduled for December 9, 2025. Here's a link to the agenda: https://ow.ly/XX3t50XpE6s. If you’d like to submit a ...comment relating to an item on the agenda, written public comments must be submitted to cityclerk@tacoma.gov at least 24 hours before the meeting, or you can speak during the meeting. This meeting will be hybrid, in-person at the Tacoma Municipal Building Council Chambers and virtual via Zoom. To join via Zoom, use this link: https://ow.ly/NA5k50Xiz1F and passcode: 349099 or dial (253) 215-8782 using Meeting ID: 848 3423 3126. The meeting will also be streamed live at tacoma.gov/councilmeetings, on our YouTube channel, and broadcast on TV Tacoma.

Due to Veterans Day, this week's City Council Study Session will occur on 𝗪𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟮, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱, at noon. It’ll be conducted as a hybrid meeting on Zoom and in-person at the Tacoma Municipal Building (747 Market ...St.), Council Chambers located on the 1st floor. Agenda items include:
🔷Revenue Strategy
🔷Council Consideration Request - Year of Belonging
🔷Council Consideration Request - Centralized grant tracking system and policy
The meeting will be streamed live at tacoma.gov/councilmeetings and on our YouTube channel, and broadcast on TV Tacoma. For more information, visit tacoma.gov/councilmeetings.

Due to a fire that occurred on the 1200 Block of Martin Luther King Jr. Way in the early morning on November 9, 2025, fiber optic connection for several Public, Educational, and Government (PEG) channels appears to be unavailable for Comcast (Xfinity) and LightCurve (Rainier Connect) subscribers. ...Impacted channels include TV Tacoma, CityPost, Tacoma Public Schools, Pierce County TV, University Place TV, and Bates Technical College TV. The City’s CityNet network that connects various government buildings and facilities was also damaged, though the network is still running. We’re assessing the full scope of damage and potential service interruptions. We’ll keep you updated here on our social media channels.

In observance of Veterans Day, our administrative offices will be closed on Tuesday, November 11. All essential services, including emergency services and garbage, recycling and yard/food waste collection, will remain operational. The City Council meeting will occur on Wednesday, November 12, at 3 ...PM, with the Study Session at noon. Thank you to all who have served!