Amazon is proud to support the Crosscut Festival power and policy track, Amazon strives to be Earth's most customer centric company, Earth's best employer and Earth's safest place to work.

Learn more about what we do at about Amazon.com Thank you for joining us for intersecting cities with Bruce Harrell, Lynne Robinson and Victoria Woodards.

Moderated by Larry Hubbell before we begin, we'd like to thank our power and policy Track sponsor Amazon Amazon is proud to support the Crosscut Festival power and policy track.

Amazon strives to be Earth's most customer centric company, Earth's best employer and Earth's safest place to work.

Learn more about what we do and about Amazon.com We'd also like to thank our founding sponsor, the Kerry and Linda Killinger Foundation Hello, and welcome to the Crosscut Festival.

I'm Larry Hubbell Professor of Public Administration and the Institute of Public Service at Seattle University.

Now today we're very pleased to host three people who each face one of the toughest jobs in America that being the mayor of a large city specific Lee, we'll be discussing how their cities compliment each other now and in the future.

Mayors welcome Thank you I think I'll start off the questions with Mayor Harrell , a mayor with regards to regional cooperation What do you think is working well and what needs to be improved Well, let me say, Larry, thanks for Crosscut for organizing such a rich and next and exciting form.

I'm giddy.

This is my excited look, and she looks like my serious goal.

Just to answer your question, I think that from Seattle's perspective, that I think was the Biden administration and with the national mood going in a better way.

It's been my experience through regional organizations such as the Puget Sound Regional Council or the Sound Transit Board and some of our regional parts of the ecosystem, even our regional homelessness authority.

The conversations are going well.

The people are not just looking at their own silos, they're realizing that our problems are common.

Whether it's homelessness or income inequality or climate change, whatever the transportation and infrastructure that I'm enjoying, the relationships that are being developed in, and we have to be very intentional We have to not take them for granted.

And so I'm very, very pleased for the last four months and work with all of my colleagues and I've been told that they've been somewhat contentious or somewhat adversarial in years past But I've been very pleased with how it's been evolving and I want attribute the colleagues around the region for and give them credit for what I think is that is just sort of a new way of communicating Now they may say something, it may say something differently, but well, OK, let's move on to a Mayor Woodards What do you think is the biggest problem you face and how might it affect the other mayors in this stage?

Views as well?

I'll just ditto everything.

My good friend Mayor Harrell already said to Crosscut for putting this together, but you know, the reality is is there is nothing special happening in Tacoma that isn't happening in Bellevue, that isn't happening in Seattle, that isn't happening in cities across this country.

I'm very active with the National League of Cities in the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

And as we talk to mayors, the issues are the same.

Whether that's affordable housing, homelessness or this rising uptick in crime in our communities.

The issues , a lot of the issues really are the same homelessness A lot of the issues are the same.

And they do they do cross city boundaries, they cross county boundaries And and as we find not just not just regional or local solutions, but really statewide solutions, that really that really allows us , allows all of us as mayors to better serve our communities So if you take just the issue of homelessness, and affordable housing, just the work that was done in the last legislative session on behalf of cities working with our state legislature and with our governor to get more funding for these issues, that that's the way our especially our advocacy together as we face these issues are so incredibly important.

If we're really going to have an opportunity to change the issues because they can move as quickly from Seattle to Tacoma or to Bellevue, if we're not working closely together to make sure we're getting at the root cause of a lot of our issues.

And that actually leads me to another question Mayor Robinson.

It Different cities have had different approaches to dealing with homelessness Edmunds City council recently considered but did not pass legislation that would find first time violators for their homelessness policy up to $1000 or face up to 90 days in jail.

The City Council approved a an ordinance that prohibits people from sitting or lying on 10 block stretch and your city banned overnight camping in non designated areas.

Do you think there needs to be more coordination between the cities regarding how you deal with the homeless population?

Well, I think there needs to be more coordination between the cities and their police departments on that because the city of Bellevue sat down with their police chief and said, You know what?

Kind of laws can we put in place that's going to enable you to get people off the streets and into the services that they need to get out of being homeless?

And so we decided that the two things that we put in that so unique to Bellevue is what you said that no overnight camping on public property and also you cannot have your motor home in the same place for more than 48 hours.

But at the same time, we have an outreach homeless coordinator who comes out and talks to the people who are illegally camping, and we ask them if we can direct them to a shelter , if we can get them the services that they need.

And we also have a CAIR's program through our first responders that provides that is staffed with social workers that will go out and meet with these people.

We find it takes on average thirteen point seventy before somebody agrees to go into a shelter.

So as long as we have shelter space, we're making it hard for somebody to want to be homeless and Bellevue.

We want to give them the support services that they need to get permanent housing OK, I have a question for all the mayors.

The Washington Legislature recently appropriated $800 million to tackle homelessness in the state.

How do you plan to use your share?

Start with the Mayor Harrell Well, you know, we are the obvious answer, at least from our perspective, is is housing and whether it's transitional housing or tiny homes on a transitional basis, permanent supportive housing and then a goodly share toward resources, whether it's drug and alcohol or mental illness counseling, the soft services that are needed.

I think what we're also trying to do and I've said this repeatedly in the last several months that, you know, I am thinking about the five and 10 and 15 year picture that when we are looking at decades of underfunding and mental illness or drug and alcohol issues, that they expect mayors like myself perhaps to to fix it immediately.

And there aren't immediate fixes.

So we will use a goodly portion of that money for immediate fixes such as housing, recognizing that the long term fixes are going to take some time, we have to make sure we have the right bench strength of of social workers and mental health counselors as well.

Lack of housing is a decades long issue and so that's a brick and mortar approach.

We will do that immediately because we don't want anyone living unhoused in tents without warm water and heat.

So our strategy is sort of multifaceted to it.

But again, I want to reiterate the point that we're also looking at the long term solutions and looking at the triggers, whether in high school or or coming out of high school or middle school.

What are the triggers?

What's the behavior that can lend itself to someone being homeless when they're in their 20s or 30s?

And this is this the science , the data that we're we want to evaluate.

So sure, we could save our cities and save our country Mayor Woodards.

And interestingly enough, I think if you hear from all three of us, the needs in our community are very much the same.

The ultimate needs, i.e.

housing, having permanent supportive housing and affordable housing that is truly affordable.

I think the only thing that I would add kind of on top of what Mayor Harrell said is the other piece of that for us here in Tacoma is making sure that people don't become homeless.

So we several years ago passed our affordable housing, affordable Housing Action Strategy.

And part of that strategy is to keep people in their homes.

So whether that is keeping their homes in good repair so they don't become homeless, whether that is working with local nonprofits, especially with some of our senior population as they get older and retire and and their paycheck shrinks.

But but there, but there , expenses do not.

We have great programs of Tacoma that that that does kind of that matchmaking between senior members of our of our of our community who want to stay in their homes and matching them either with millennials or college students to be roommates together so that they can maintain their housing.

But also that becomes affordable for for students and for young professionals.

in our community.

So in addition to all those other things like permanent, supportive housing, more affordable housing, making sure that we have not just shelter but the right kind of shelter, and then all of those supports around it that will actually move people from being houseless to being housed and being able to to successfully stay housed and begin to take care of themselves and their families.

We know that the cost of housing and what people make do not keep up with one another.

So , you know, the revenue does not keep up with the expense.

And so the ability to be able to have housing that is truly affordable for someone that gets that $700 social Security check every month.

We know that that is one of the biggest barriers.

So I think a big focus for us is also building a lot of permanent, supportive housing so that people don't end up homeless Mayor Robinson.

Yeah, I really appreciate what Mayor Woodard and Harrell have said on this, and I'll just underscore I agree with everything that they're saying.

And also, you know, we and Bellevue have at least 300 kids in our Bellevue school district who are unstable, unhoused or homeless.

And so , you know, the the biggest impediment to reaching your academic milestones is stress and the biggest stress you can put on a child is to have unstable housing.

So it really is starts as children.

And so we're working very hard to get those Bellevue School District families and their children stable to be housed.

We just welcome Mary's Place to our silver cloud in , and we have 80 families from all over the region in there right now, and we just admitted thirty two new kids to our Bellevue school district.

So various places are very excellent track record of getting these families into stable and permanent housing within three months.

So I think , you know, we're putting a lot of effort into trying to identify who needs assistance, getting stable, rehoused and making sure that they have it so those kids can get a good education and a good job and have a fresh start in life.

Great.

OK, well, I'd also like to direct this question to all the mayors The whole Puget Sound region has seen a really tremendous population growth, particularly since 2010 Bellevue in Seattle have been up by more than 30 percent.

Tacoma more than 10 percent.

And my question for you is , should we?

It's should we at some point would you suggest at some point discouraging in some way a future population growth or at least moderating it a bit and there's unlimited growth, in fact, endanger our our citizens quality of life?

Let me start with Mayor Woodards A.

Excuse me, it's Mayor Woodards Woodard , you know?

Thank you, Lynn.

I just I just answer to it.

If it starts with the look at me about that , that that is that is that is that is fine.

Thank you live for that correction.

You know, I I wish it were that easy, Larry.

I don't know how we how we keep the best kept secrets under wraps so that more people don't want to live here.

But our region is going to grow and I don't know how we how we stop people from moving here, but I do think we have an obligation to prepare our cities for those who will move here.

And so here in Tacoma, we passed one of the most progressive you know, we're working on some of the most progressive land use policies as it relates to growth.

And so I think as opposed to thinking about how we limit growth, the question is how do we accept growth?

But how do we do it responsibly so that it does not change the character of our cities and the character of our neighborhoods?

So when I think about home and Tacoma, which is which is how we are trying to do infill housing in the city, we're being very , very careful to make sure that we're putting growth where growth makes sense that that we're building that density in places where density makes sense so that we can can we can accept the density that comes, but we can also keep the quietness of of our neighborhood and our business districts.

And so I think if we're intentional about how we're looking at growth in our region, and we're putting growth where it makes sense, I think that's how we're going to have have a better chance at really tackling this issue.

and making sure that as we're growing, we're growing responsibly a Mayor Robinson.

I think, Larry, that's such a good question.

If you look at the amount of influx of people moving into our region, it looks like one of those flight maps on the back of the airline magazine with all the arrows pointing to the Pacific Northwest.

It's a regional challenge and we're dealing with it where all the cities are dealing with that regionally through the growth management policy plans and we've all committed to not only a certain amount of growth in our cities, but to, you know, a housing job growth ratio.

So Bellevue is committed to a one to two housing job growth ratio.

Thirty five thousand new homes to seventy thousand new jobs by 2040. four.

So with that comes all the challenges of how do you house all these people?

How do you transport all these people have you educate them?

How do you make sure that they are all have a high quality of life like me?

Or what are those referring to?

So it is a big challenge , but it's a regional challenge, and it's frankly, it's one that I'm happy to be having near Mayor Harrell Yeah.

Once again, I agree with my colleagues.

My short answer is no, that I don't think stifling or intentional policies to erode population growth is the answer, and again, I try to catch a lot of major cities issues in the context of our country.

and our country's birth rate is incredibly low as around two two point one.

When you look at other countries who have through policy and just culture, they have higher population rates such as China or India that we are competing on a world market.

And that I think what we have to do, of course, is embrace growth.

We look at countries like Japan that had growth issues and how it affected their ability to still be a vibrant country.

So I don't think stifling the population growth is the answer.

I think careful planning is , as my preceding mayors described, is the answer.

And so we use our tools in Seattle.

Of course, we are preparing for our comp plan and we're preparing for our transportation plans.

SD three expansion as a tool and as we look at both climate emissions and our climate policies, we we we planned for growth.

You know, the challenge we have is with dealing with issues like homelessness and an income inequality is that as we grow, you know, the country has changed.

And I always talk about looking at couching these issues as an American problem.

The big cities are facing the fact of the matter is, is the numbers have gone up.

And so in terms of the disparities of income and the disparities in house inventory.

And so.

So no, I don't think stifling the growth is the answer with our careful planning tools that we have will be how we will use it actually as an advantage, as an opportunity Hey, do you see a way of perhaps moderating the growth a bit by uses changing zoning policy So there are fewer single farm family or perhaps a more , you know, whatever would you use just zoning policy as a as a way of trying to moderate that?

Absolutely.

I think people may disagree on what that policy looks like, but that is one of your most effective tools.

You know, in Seattle, we continue to have hundreds of thousands of units that we can still develop around transit oriented development in certain areas that are absolutely ripe for growth.

And again, our regional cooperation with our surrounding cities or unincorporated King County become critical areas where we can smartly grow our climate change policies, which suggest that kind of smarter growth.

People may disagree about, you know what a reasonable latch should still be and whether some of the larger largest will be part of the city.

And that's a healthy conversation.

I love having neighborhood conversations, but certainly zoning is the tool that's what I would consider a thoughtful planning process.

I would say that, you know, every city is probably unique in how they address and accommodate growth in Bellevue like twenty years ago, the council drew a line around a single family neighborhood and said, Inside this line is going to be our downtown And we have stuck to that vision for this entire time.

And that's why you just have a central downtown and then you have, you know, the kind of protected neighborhoods.

But at the same time, just within the last 10 years, we've designated certain growth areas outside, including the downtown, but also in the Bellevue corridor in the neighborhood of Tune Escape and to factorial to some extent.

And so those land use codes are really important in accommodating the growth that we want to see in those areas and making sure that we have the way we accomplish that.

Jobs, housing ratio that we're committed to Mayor Woodards Do you have any comment about zoning as a tool to perhaps moderate growth?

Yeah.

And I think I just kind of I kind of answered that in our, you know, kind of in the first question, the zoning that we're doing around home in Tacoma and how we're looking at growth in Tacoma But I think I think it's important, especially making sure I think I said this earlier, and I'll just reiterate that there are people still want to live in single family homes.

And certainly we want to have single family homes available.

But again, putting density where density makes sense in in those mixed use corridors, in transit oriented development, right?

It makes sense to put that kind of growth there, but then to also be able to let neighborhoods where single family homes are now existing stay single family, neighborhood communities.

But but but then it may be several blocks away or in the business district within each of those particular neighborhoods where there is room for that density and that growth that doesn't that may change that.

The character of a couple of blocks but doesn't change the character of the entire community As I think about home Tacoma and we think about growth , it also makes sense that we don't put a five storey apartment complex right in the middle of a single family zoned area.

And so making sure that our zoning reflects what makes sense in our city without completely destroying the character of those individual single family neighborhoods.

And Larry, can I just add one thing One thing that I'm really passionate about is homeownership.

for everybody who wants to have it and Bellevue and right now, obviously, I think our average home prices one point six million.

So that's just homeownership, is what it possibility for everybody.

But that zoning that you talk about, we can look at home ownership of attached dwelling units.

We can talk about ownership of detached dwelling units and allowing people to build these smaller units on their properties and sell them an accessible price for people to get into an equity situation and start growing that equity and moving up Larry Larry, I just want to add a thought in the discussion that is in my many , many community discussions on zoning policy I think what also has occurred in the last few years is that the concept of exclusionary zoning has become very transparent and people realize in decades past how zoning was used as a tool in very racist, a very racist tool that they that the concepts of racial covenants and redlining and bank policies, how these were tools used by those in power to exclude certain groups, particularly people of color.

And it had never really had that.

Our country, I don't think, is really had that open conversation.

While many people who were on the negative in of these policies.

It was common talk at our table conversation, and I think particularly the younger generation are seeing how land use policy has been so racist in our country.

And so when we started talking about trying to use these tools now for affordability for climate change policies, it becomes sort of a litmus test.

And I say, well, it's to some extent us and it's an artificial test because it doesn't mean that one is trying to condone racism or exclusionary policies is that many I'll I'll own it, and I'm just trying to have a thoughtful process talking to neighborhoods and doing ending up in a policy , I think makes sense.

But I think the conversation in recent years, and that's a good thing , is change when people will realize how some of these very subtle and quiet tools have been used to the detriment of so many communities.

of color.

For those of you who were watching from home , I encourage you to write a question and inserted in the chat section.

We'll select some of those questions and post them to our guests at the end of this broadcast.

So let me ask a question of all of you again with the what are some of the ways in which your three cities can be better linked, particularly with regards to transportation needs Mia Woodard, would you like to start?

Sure.

Well, well, obviously you've got three three cities here who are very much a part of Sound Transit And I think as we as we think about regional transportation and sound transit is the leader in in that work and and the fact that all of us have an opportunity to be represented and be a part of those conversations and influence those conversations , not just with the taxes that we're paying to sound transit.

But , but but being actually a part of the policymaking portion of Sound Transit.

So I think Sound Transit is our biggest link But obviously, as having just gone through the pandemic and the way that work is changing where people, you know, we have quite a few people who live in Tacoma who work north of Tacoma.

But but choose to live here.

And and that's that's an issue that Tacoma needs to solve.

It's an issue that Seattle and Bellevue need to solve But I think that sound transit is what I would think is our greatest hope of addressing those issues.

But I would also say that the way that work is changing, the fact that we've now learned that people can actually work from home and be productive in some instances, be more productive.

I think we're going to see less people getting in their cars and traveling north or traveling south.

So that obviously is, as we've talked earlier, is going to affect affordability and and housing issues in our communities.

But again, I would point back and say that I think sound Transit is the is the linchpin for this work and is and is and is the organization that is holding us all together.

and letting us think regionally about transportation.

And then also the work done through our city.

Puget Sound Regional Council that that most of us are a part of.

And then they also have a focus on transportation as well.

So I think those are the organizations that hold that hold the bulk of the policy work that we need to do regionally.

That's going to continue to keep us connected Mayor Harrell Yes, I agree with Victoria Woodards that Sound Transit is the obvious tool on our biggest transportation project here that what I'm trying to impress upon my regional colleagues in Bellevue and in in south of Seattle, is that, you know, as we build out our link systems to Ballard in West Seattle, there's really, really tough cost savings.

And while I will argue vehemently on the need to make sure we do it right here, that I also, I try to make them keenly aware that not to the detriment of going north, south or east or west.

And so the relationships matter.

We are elected, yes, to serve our cities.

I get that.

But we also are trying to make sure that our cities are, that the transportation system is efficient and effective and and the stations are are great stations.

And so at the end of the day, these relationships really matter and and I think that they do.

The other part, I would say in our homelessness strategies that if we're going to be completely honest and transparent, our cities have different cultures.

And there's just the fact is we come from different places They evolve differently.

Some of them are newer or some of them are older.

And our policies on how we treat those experiencing homelessness may very well be different.

Rooted in history However, I continue to believe that we still have compassion leaders in some of these places.

Notwithstanding the differences in history, and what does sort of bothered me is when I talked to leaders and people in other different jurisdictions, they'll just you know, rag on Seattle.

Seattle is just so freaking liberal and they just want to live everywhere.

And I'm trying to say, Well, we we we have an approach we're trying to do that could be distinctly Seattle , but I need your cooperation as well.

And I think now many of the outlying cities are experiencing the same problems.

They realize this issues are American issues and again, I go back to the part of this linkage that we want to see It stems from the relationship that I have.

I'll just use first name to say, Leonard Victoria, the relationships that we can, we can have protect our jurisdictions but realize we are Americans trying to serve this country, as well as Mayor Robinson Yeah, every city has a homeless problem and it is imperative that we work together to address it because there's there's no boundaries when it comes to to that.

But going back to your transfer station question, the one thing I would be remiss in not mentioning is our pet bike paths that are regional.

So we have this amazing trail that's on the old BNSF railroad line that's going to, when it's complete, extend all the way from Renton up through Bellevue, Kirkland Redman to Snohomish and that path intersects with the mountains to sound greenway that goes all the way from the Puget Sound up through Bellevue through Issaquah.

All the way out to eastern Washington.

So it's, you know, I don't I'm afraid.

I don't know if Victoria about how to ride my bike to Tacoma yet, but there probably is a way.

But you know, those connections are really important as well.

Well, and if I could just add just just one more thing to this conversation, Larry, I think what's important for us to understand and I'm glad we're having this regional conversation is the reality is, is that Seattle is not competing against Tacoma Tacoma is not competing against Bellevue.

We, as a region are competing against other regions in the country.

So we're talking about the Atlanta region, the Dallas Fort Worth region, the Sacramento region , right?

So it behooves us as a region to work together because if, if, if we're going to grow that, grow those how, you know, if we're going to grow more housing, if we're going to grow more jobs as we think about this region growing and we want the best for our region, then we have to work together in forums like this and outside of just this conversation.

And we do about making sure that our region is attractive nationally and internationally so that we can compete globally As you're probably as I know you're well aware of.

The Congress recently passed the infrastructure bill and I wonder what some of your top priorities are Mayor Robinson Do you like this?

Oh gee, Well, with that bill, we are looking, you know, they're looking for shovel ready projects right now.

And of course, I'm going to be pitching the grand connection, which is going to be a pet bike dedicated pass that will reach from the East Trail down through Bellevue all the way to Maine Power Bay , because that will enable us to create a walkable, livable neighborhood all along our transit routes in Bellevue We just got a huge state transportation package that paid for a lot of the road work that we need on four oh five with the best bus rapid transit and also connect, finishing some of the major projects on our Penn bike routes.

But in terms of major infrastructure projects and Bellevue, we're still evaluating what projects will be best for that.

We have a whole new neighborhood that's going to be growing up called Wilbur 10, which is right by Home Depot.

If anybody or auto rofe anybody knows where that is.

We have an opportunity to put sustainable , equitable infrastructure from the get go there and I think that funding is going to be really helpful for that Mayor Woodards.

What are some of your priorities?

Well, we are.

We are not again, unlike any other city on this call today or across this country, we have failing infrastructure everywhere.

So it I mean, it is it is great to be able to have access to this kind of money.

So a couple of things we would like like , Mayor Robinson said.

We're still evaluating a lot of our projects, but we have several things to work on.

Number one, we've got a number of failing bridges in our community that that we really want to focus on finishing.

We've got about a great quarter of the connects Tacoma to Fife and to the port.

There's a bridge there , the fishing horse memorial bridge that needs to be fixed.

We've got a bridge down in actually down in our port area that's been down for quite some time has been not usable.

That needs that needs some infrastructure help.

We've got got roads, crosswalks, we've got some , some trails that we've been trying to connect from out where I live out here on the South End, all the way into downtown there, just a couple of missing pieces as we finish that trail.

We also are trying to connect downtown all the way out to Rustom, which which lane so when you get down here, lane, by the time we get that, that path from Bellevue to Tacoma , that will be all complete and you can come into Tacoma right all the way out , deploy Reston.

But just a number of projects that we see as necessary.

But what's exciting about the infrastructure is not just the fixing of our infrastructure, but the number of jobs that it will create for our community.

The number of good paying jobs that it's going to bring to our community.

So we're excited about the projects that we'll be submitting and look forward to getting some good funding here, not just in Tacoma but in our region.

to address our issues.

Mayor Harrell Tacoma , as my colleague said, we are evaluating, but I will say bridges, bridges and then some more bridges to start off with that.

When I was in D.C. and I had a great opportunity to talk to Secretary Lew to get on this issue, and I literally explained a lot of people don't realize challenges , city of bridges.

And so and what we just experienced with the West Seattle Bridge just sort of beg the question as to how , with our sense of urgency, as I recently took some So I don't say criticism.

I mean, we get that on a daily basis, but people want to know why.

I chose not to issue about $100 in bonds last month, and the simple answer was simple we didn't have projects shovel ready and we should identify those projects for an April bond sale and December.

And I was in office to December, but neither were the projects I decided.

I did know these infrastructure packages were going to come and we want to make sure we can get as much federal dollars as possible.

Seattle and northwest areas.

Mayor, what I've said is critical to world trade So.

So we want to look at our bridges.

We also in the same breath.

We want to make sure that our city is more climate resilient, particularly during extreme weather , warm weather as well as cold weather.

So as we look at infrastructure investments, we're also looking at how the city can continue to be climate resilient and certainly many of the infrastructure dollars toward that end as well.

OK, we have some questions from our audience.

And let me direct the first one to Mayor Harrell how much to do you, as a mayor, look to cities outside our region for lessons and ideas.

Yes, I , you know, I joke way too much.

You know, I was just going to say one joke that I'm going to six justices in my brain.

Excuse me.

We got we spent a lot of time going down to Portland to see how they're addressing our homelessness issues.

That was a joke.

So having said that, I did just get back from San Francisco and Oakland talking to Mayor Breed and Mayor Libby Shaft staff Thank you, I Seattle University and Libby Chef.

Thank you for saving me her three NBA rings she had gotten you.

If you come back here at the conference , specifically looking at the homelessness issue and how they're dealing with it.

And you know, you learn as well from their mistakes as well as their victories and so critically important, some information that you can glean from websites and doing online research Sometimes you have to go talk to the leaders in place, and I got some really good ideas, and so I do try to rely on my my colleagues.

Again, these are American issues as my colleagues have said, and there's some great my concept of coming up with body cameras here was a result of me going down to Oakland about 12 years ago, and they were just deploying on a beta trial some of that technology.

And I said this could be a really good tool to help the officers and help the public better understand what's happening in the field so that it's a good tool that is served me well over the years.

Larry, if I could jump into that.

I am.

I am a firm believer in you do not have to reinvent the wheel.

I think I said early, I'm active with the National League A city actually will be the incoming first vice president will be the incoming president in November and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

And one of the reasons that I'm a part of those organizations is for the ability , the relationships and the ability to learn from one another.

I tell people in the private sector, when you get a good idea, you know you try to hide it because you want to monetize it, right?

See, you want to keep it a secret.

And then and then release it.

And then it's your idea.

What I love about the public sector and this work that we do is that the biggest compliment to a city is to take their idea and take it to your city and make it better and make it fit for your city.

So the ability to share I share our ideas and learn from one another that that is that is the greatest part of having these relationships with other mayors.

is that when you get into a situation and a perfect example, while a very tragic situation, Grand Rapids had had had that that that homicide in their city involving one of their police officers.

And I immediately reached out to the mayor of Grand Rapids, and we've been able to have a conversation and support one another because that's happened in Tacoma.

So these relationships are incredibly important and there's so much to learn and and mayors and other cities are willing to share in great detail the things that they're doing so that you can tweak it and take it home and make it your own Mayor Robinson.

Is there a particular project or initiative you'd like to see implemented before before your time in office ends?

Well, the grand connection.

I want to see that on on the road and and fully planned and getting funding and under construction But, you know, I work very hard to create an affordable housing strategy.

Back in 2017, and we have just begun implementing it and I we've got to get that fully implemented this year.

and the staff is currently reviewing everything we came up with in 2017 to see if we can even do better than that and implement it fully.

So I'm very committed to that where I could go on all day with this question.

You know, getting that we've got nine new miles of bike paths , but we have 50 more to go.

So getting all of that done, there's a lot of things that motivate me to want to keep doing this job.

Great.

Mayor Harrell, I'm sure you get this question a lot, but let me ask it anyways.

Can we get the Sonics back?

Well, I was going to say something that Mayor Woodards said she talked about.

We don't compete.

We don't compete.

So I want to make sure that Mayor Robinson and Mayor Woodards realize when we get an NBA team, they're not competing with us to get that team.

I think there was the Bellevue Sonics I will not think Tacoma Tacoma.

I'm fine.

Okay.

so so I'm getting weekly updates.

I'm actually need some new people that want to give me a briefing next week.

Once the labor issues are resolved with the owners and the players in the management, folks that I think some doors are going to open.

I attended the storm game yesterday and it's exciting with what's happening there.

But yes, I think that we're in a position.

This is a great market.

I think the league now, because of the economics of the league, they realize we are a great area to expand into.

So I think the stars are lining up possible.

So I almost want to take Mayor Robinson, she said.

We had the question.

She was asked the lob lobby, the lob she was asked.

We could spend the whole day on, so maybe that will be one of mines to make sure in the next couple of years we get a team here.

So yes, is the short answer.

We're working on it.

And I got commitments from Bellevue and Tacoma that leave it alone and let's, you know, have that team.

So I'm feeling pretty good.

It's all yours.

We can't wait to see a game there I think I have time for a very brief response, and I'm going to address this to mirror Woodard It might be difficult to summarize this shortly, but let me ask you this.

How can we ensure that small businesses and especially businesses owned by minority owners in neighborhoods that are being gentrified , can stay in these neighborhoods and are displaced by new buildings?

that's supposed to have a short answer Larry Hubbell, which you are So there's not a short answer, but I guess what I will say is that cities like all of ours have to continue to focus on those on those businesses and make sure that we're giving them the tools and the opportunities to grow like all of our other business.

So when I think about the Minority Business Development Association, which is for Washington state but actually is in the city of the Tacoma opportunities like that that really focus on growing BIPOC businesses are what's going to what's going to help us be successful.

But we've got to continue to keep our eye on those businesses will continue to support those businesses because Tacoma is not made up of all of these large corporations.

What makes Tacoma successful are those small businesses.

And so we're going to continue to invest in them and work with them to make sure that they're getting what they need to be successful.

Well, thank you.

We'll have to stop here.

Looks like we've run out of time.

Mayor Robinson Woodard and Harrell, thank you very much for taking the time to join us here at the Crosscut Festival.

Thank you and thank you for all our viewing audience for being here today.

I hope you've had a chance to see some of the other sessions at the festival this year.

If you missed any.

They're all available to watch on demand as well , and I'd recommend that you watch Pushing Public Safety , which appears next at 2:30.

Ann Davison Seattle's news City Attorney will discuss how she will implement her approach that places increased emphasis on law and order in the city of Seattle.

You can find all these sessions at Crosscut dot com slash festival Enjoy the rest of your day, everybody.

Thanks for