Well, that explains why we weren't called into a special session last weekend. A key player was otherwise engaged, so to speak.

Rep. Zack Hudgins, D-Newlywed, was married to Gabriela Quintana on Saturday.

No other details, although I should know a lot more. The press desk in the House is just beyond arm's length from the front-row seats of Hudgins and Larry Springer, D-Kirkland. I was sitting in front of him for weeks and yet Hudgins didn't mention a thing about his impending nuptials.

Maybe he was afraid we would go directly into special session and didn't want to jinx it.

Somehow local digito-instigator R.R. Anderson obtained this old photo of me for FeedTacoma.

I thought they had all been destroyed.

A public hearing will be held at tomorrow's Tacoma City Council meeting on the $1.8 $1.18 million the city will get from the feds for preventing homelessness.

The money will come from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing (which I'm sure a bureaucrat somewhere refers to as ARRAHPRRH).

The expectation is that the funds will go to people who have become homeless or who are about to become homeless due to the economic downturn.

The money could go toward temporary rent or utility assistance or to help with moving expenses to prevent homelessness. It could also go to re-house people living in shelters.

"None of the funds can be used to help persons facing foreclosure..." a says the memo from John Briehl, director of the Human Rights & Human Services Department to City Manager Eric Anderson.

Update: Follow this link to see a breakdown recommended for the funds -- $723,683 for homelessness prevention, $400,000 for rapid re-housing (and $59,141 in administrative costs).

Update 2: In response to the comments, here's what the money can be used for.

Financial assistance: Short-term rental assistance, security deposit, utility deposit, utility payment, moving costs, motel/hotel voucher.

Housing Relocation and Stabilization Services: Case management, outreach, housing search and placement, legal services, mediation, credit repair.

(Photo: Ed Yourdon)

Also released by the Tacoma City Manager's office this week: a list of "themes" that have come up at recent Neighborhood Council meetings.

The themes were identified by Management Fellows in the City Manager's office who are assigned as liaisons to each of the eight neighborhood groups.

The big ones for April 7 to April 28 were the mixed use center code changes and street repairs.

For concerns specific to each neighborhood, follow the link above.

Tacoma City Manager Eric Anderson has started continued providing council members with a "heads up" on policy issues that will come before them.

In his weekly report last week, he attached this list for May and June.

Some of the highlights include:

*Mixed used centers -- the Planning Commission is scheduled to make its final decision on May 6. At the May 12 Council meeting, the council will vote to set a public hearing for June 9.

*Comprehensive Plan Amendments -- the Council is scheduled to hear the Planning Commission's recommendations at the June 9 study session.

Lots more detail if you follow the link above.

I assume Gov. Chris Gregoire is going to sign House Bill 1517, the labor of love for state Rep. Jeannie Darnielle, D-Tacoma, for the past 9 years.

But you never know. We'll find out at 4:30 today.

HB 1517 would restore the right to vote to offenders who have finished serving their prison sentences and who no longer are under community supervision by the state Department of Corrections. Current law says they also must pay all their fines, court costs and restitution to the victim before they can vote. Darneille's bill says they just have to be making progress on paying off those financial obligations to regain the right to vote.

OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire today will take action on several bills.
4:30 p.m. Gov. Gregoire to take bill action
Governor’s Conference Room
Legislative Building - 2nd floor
Olympia

Gregoire will take action on the following bills:

=> Read more!

David Ammons at Secretary of State Sam Reed's office just sent reporters a brief note, saying the referendum will be filed at noon today.

FYI: We’ve been notified that foes of the new domestic partner legislation will be filing a referendum today, Monday, at noon at the 520 Building, the state Elections headquarters at 520 Union near the Capitol in Oly. They will have until July 25 to gather 120,577 valid voter signatures to secure a place on the November 3 ballot. A yes vote on the referendum would be to sustain the Legislature; a no vote would overturn the law. The filing will temporarily suspend the new legislation, House Bill 5688, which was to take effect July 25, 90 days after adjournment of the Legislature. Governor Gregoire is expected to sign the measure soon.

As they do every year, members of the Youth Legislature are coming to the state capital on Wednesday for the start of a special session of their own. (This guarantees there will be no special session of the grown-up Legislature this week, if for no other reason than the grown-ups dont' want to be up-staged by the kids.)

The YMCA and 475 kids, some of whom are actually reporters who undoubtedly will be making the regular Press Corps look bad, will be here until midday Saturday.

(By the way, Youth Gov. Phil Gardner, who hails from Charlie Wright in University Place, is no relation to former Gov. Booth Gardner. I asked.)

Teens Planning Take Over of Capitol

YMCA Youth & Government Presents the 62nd session of the Youth Legislature,

OLYMPIA, Wa. – After the gavel smashes down in Olympia next week, it will be the state’s teenagers, not elected officials, cutting deals in the halls of the state legislature. The regular session has adjourned and a new generation of leaders is moving in; the YMCA’s 62nd Youth Legislature.

More than 475 youth delegates along with their advisors from 35 schools and youth delegations from across Washington will descend upon the state capitol from May 6th-May 9th proposing bills in House and Senate Chambers, debating current issues, and passing legislation that will become permanent record. Youth Legislature is part of the YMCA’s Youth & Government Program.

=> Read more!

A proposed contract with a husband-and-wife consulting team was cut in half by about 40 percent at the Tacoma City Council's request, according to an April 22 memo from city manager Eric Anderson.

The contract with Orion Partnership, which had been worth up to $321,000, was limited to $180,000. It will also now expire at the end of the year.

Anderson had defended the proposed contract before the council's Government Performance and Finance Committee saying that scaling it back or opening it up to bid could set back efforts to change the culture of city government.

"I'm very concerned we'll lose ground," he said, adding that council members hired him in 2005 to be a "change agent."

Council members said they had been happy with the work, but were concerned about the size of the contract, especially in light of the current economic turmoil.

Under its new scope:

*$55,000 will go for work with the Finance Department. "This will help the department go through changes toward customer service, collaboration and teamwork; it also includes joint work between the Finance and Information Technology departments to help build bridges within those departments," the memo says.

*The remaining $125,000 "will be used to pay for professional services throughout the organization." This will include designing leadership conferences and workshops as the city continues to work toward its goal of reducing crime by 50 percent.

"Working with the Orion Partnership, we will put together the kinds of efforts we need to address the safe goal, to renew the commitment of the organization and community toward that goal, and to bring greater effort to reduce the crime down to our goal," the memo says.

[You can read Jason Hagey's last story about Orion after the jump.]

=> Read more!

I don't quite know how to describe this latest work of Elizabeth Hummel, who entertained us with a Sine Die diddy after the 2008 session.

This one is a bit more stream of consciousness.

If I did this correctly, you'll find a link to Elizabeth's work here.

She is Rep. Zack Hudgins' legislative aide. Her co-conspirators are Brian Castillo and Mathew Jay. And the work is waterwitchcathedral.

As of today, I'm officially your fill-in Tacoma city [hall] reporter. Feel free to stop me if you see me at any of the city meetings. You can reach me by phone at 253-597-8872 or email ian.demsky@thenewstribune.com.

Here's the City Council Agenda for this week.

*There are several fairly standard looking purchasing resolutions.
*A final reading of the ordinance to raise pay for 32 police and fire employees.
*A final reading of a resolution to authorize the Board and director of the Tacoma Employees' Retirement System to execute contracts.
*There will also be a public hearing about amending the 2008-2009 Annual Action Plan of the Consolidated Plan (trying saying that three times fast) to include Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing program funds from the feds.

And, of course, everyone's favorite: Citizen's forum -- where anyone can share a piece of their mind.

As I figure out more of what I'll be looking at/into this week, I'll post updates to Political Buzz. If there are neighborhood issues you'd like us to look into, feel free to contact me.