City of Tacoma

Like many cities around Puget Sound, Tacoma faces issues such as housing and a sluggish downtown recovery. Mayor Anders Ibsen told KNKX how he plans to address them.

The city recently published a web page dedicated to providing links to everything from free legal aid to how to connect with other immigrants from different countries.

The Tacoma City Council voted last week to curtail cold-weather and school-year evictions established in the Landlord Fairness Code for certain low-income housing providers.

Anders Ibsen ran against Tacoma City Councilmember John Hines to be the community's next mayor. On Thursday Ibsen led Hines by over 6,000 votes, with roughly 1,500 ballots left to count.

As of Wednesday Anders Ibsen had more than 54% of the tallied votes. Tacoma Council Member John Hines had about 45%, but so far has not conceded the election.

Voters in Washington will cast ballots for state and local offices and ballot measures in this off-year election.

Voters will decide next week who they want to see step up as mayor to help make important decisions such as hiring a new city manager and police chief.

The Tacoma City Council has expanded the city's camping ban, adding more areas where homeless encampments are prohibited. The proposal passed by a 5-4 vote.

Tacoma District 1 Councilmember John Hines and former Councilmember Anders Ibsen are running to help lead Tacoma. The next mayor will take part in important decisions, such as choosing the new city manager.

The city's challenge is the latest in the battle over letting voters decide on a higher minimum wage and new workplace protections in Tacoma.