City Club’s Community Studies
I referenced it below, and should probably clarify. City Club of Tacoma publishes regular community studies about issues that are broadly affecting the community. They're all online on our website, so if there's a topic that strikes your interest check it out. As part of my role as the new ED, I've been trying to read some of the "greatest hits" and studies that interest me personally. I carry a few of them with me and read them at odd moments. The Image of Tacoma study from 2004 is an interesting look at the self-image of Tacoma. I found good Read more…
On a farm in Orting looking at a conservation easement. They have llamas! (or alpacas. I don’t know the difference.)
UPDATE: From Facebook I learned that “Alpacas are smaller and not as mean” and also that “Llamas are twice as big and have banana shaped ears.” Therefore, I saw alpacas. And, I must say, alpacas are surprisingly cute.
If we had a “strong mayor” form of City government, would the Luzon have fallen?
So while the Luzon discussion was happening this past week, I happened to be reading City Club's 2003 Community Study that evaluates the council-manager government system, and I have to say … it got me thinking. And it got me to my question: if we had a strong mayor form of City government, would the Luzon have fallen? In a mayoral form of government, where the Mayor is truly running the city, the mayor has to think about the politics of his/her decisions. I know politics gets thrown around as a dirty word, but think back to this last week. Read more…
“The Insanely Rapid Growth of Target”
That puts it pretty well. But the video kind of looks like America being nuked in World War III.Check it out. via Mary M.
Laptop in the shop
Had to take my great laptop into the Apple Store tonight. Diagnosis: bad hard drive and it needs to be replaced. With luck, SugarSync–the web product I use to sync my files on the web–will be able to restore everything to the computer. (Here’s hoping.) But it does mean I may not have a laptop with me on my upcoming trip. That’s right, another trip! Mary and I are taking a long road trip to Lake Tahoe to have a reunion with some high school friends. We’ll be on the road all day Thursday and a few hours on Friday Read more…
Bob Evans passed away
According to the Tribune, Former City Councilmember Bob Evans passed today. Bob sat on the board of the Grand when I was there. He had a passion for movies and for expanding the theater (as the Grand is currently doing now). He was a very nice guy.
From the Onion – Pepsi stops advertising
“Look, Coca-Cola is a terrific product,” Nooyi continued. “Millions of people choose it over Pepsi every day. Are those people wrong? Of course not. Concepts like ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ shouldn’t even apply. It’s a soft drink.” Nooyi told reporters the company’s $1.3 billion annual advertising budget would be put into Pepsi’s savings account, spread among various charitable organizations, and divvied up into generous bonuses for the company’s minimum-wage factory employees. Claiming that “taste is subjective,” Nooyi further stated that those who hadn’t already heard of Pepsi were unlikely to begin drinking it now, and that the company was perfectly content Read more…
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