It's cheaper to rent a pretty much any room smaller than a suite in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Manhattan's Times Square for a night than to rent Tacoma's Tollefson Plaza for five hours.

And that's at the lowest rate for nonprofits and community groups hoping to put on events that are open to the public and that aren't accepting donations, making sales or offering concessions.

The fee schedule was presented to the City Council's economic development subcommittee Tuesday afternoon by the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce, which is responsible for booking events for the space.

The Council had asked for more information about how events were being booked at the plaza -- "the pinkish concrete triangle bounded loosely by the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, the Link light-rail line and Pacific Avenue," in the words of TNT reporter C.R. Roberts. They also wanted to know whether the fee levels were preventing community groups from renting the space.

Joanne Buselmeier, finance and administrative manager at the chamber, told the committee that they had cut deals for groups who said the prices were too high, like the Tacoma City Marathon. The fee structure was based on, but lower than, Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square.

Councilwoman Marilyn Strickland questioned whether the fee structure given the differences in size and population density between Portland and Tacoma.

"The outcome here is to get people there," she said. The sentiment was echoed by the other council members.

The city licenses the space to the chamber at no charge. They chamber uses the fees it collects to cover the cost of managing the place. The idea, Buselmeier said, is to get it up and running and solvent enough to turn into a self-sustaining nonprofit corporation.

There's more ground to cover with this issue, of course. If I wasn't leaving the paper next week it would already be up on my white board. I know the paper has been contacted by concerned parties that expressed frustration about the rental rates and also questioned why the chamber was given the license instead of a local group whith lots of experience booking venues.

Not just disappointed. But tremendously disappointed. Oh yes.

The Pierce County legislative delegation sent a letter to Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels to express their collective "tremendous disappointment" over those tax breaks that Seattle if offering Tacoma's anchor tenant.

I'll bet Nickels won't get a wink of sleep after he reads the letter. (Yes, that was sarcasm. The problem with the Pierce County delegation is that Nickels already knows, from his days presiding over the Sound Transit board, that Pierce County officials are just so doggone happy to be sitting at the same table as the Seattle-King County big boys. Just look how little Pierce County got out of the 2nd round of Sound Transit projects.)

Here's the letter. It will make you tremble in your boots.

The city of Tacoma paid the wages of an as yet undetermined number of police officers while they participated in a charity basketball tournament in late May, city officials said Tuesday.

The investigation, which was based on a “whistleblower” complaint filed with the city manger’s office June 1, is continuing. It was still unclear how many officers participated, how were on duty or whether, as the complaint alleges, additional officers had to cover their shifts on overtime. The anonymous complaint also claims officers were paid for a full 10-hour shift, even through the game lasted only a couple of hours and that they were paid for practice sessions in the weeks leading up to the tournament.

One of the reasons there are so many unknowns is that one of the key individuals has been on vacation, city spokesman Rob McNair-Huff said.

“What we have been able to determine is that there were some police department staff who apparently were compensated while playing in the basketball game,” he said.

The May 29 event was the fifth annual contest between Tacoma’s police and fire departments to benefit the Hilltop Action Coalition.

The “Hilltop Challenge” raised about $7,000 this year, said Jeanie Peterson, the non-profit’s director of community initiatives.

She said she hoped the investigation didn’t overshadow the good the event does. Proceeds from ticket sales and ads placed in the brochure help fund the group’s efforts to clean up the Hilltop neighborhood.

“We’ve reduced crime with by 80 percent on the Hilltop through the partnership that we’ve built over the years with community policing,” Peterson said. “It’s a way for community to give back to our agency.”

She said the event is not only a good way to build camaraderie between the two agencies, but promoted physical fitness among the officers.

This year, the firefighters won 80-68, bringing their total victories to four, the agency said in a news release on its Web site. The Tacoma Police have claimed a single victory.

There were no photos showing the number of police players; 13 people are featured in the firefighters’ victory shot.

KOMO-TV, which reported on the allegations Monday, reported that one firefighter was also on duty during the event. Fire Department spokeswoman Jolene Davis said that upon further review, the firefighter had actually been using a vacation day.

Nor did the fire team get together and practice while on duty, she said. Firefighters are, however, allowed and encouraged to use one hour of their 24-hour shifts for physical fitness.

It was also unclear Tuesday whether city employees have been paid during past years while participating in the game.

Police Chief Don Ramsdell issued a memo to all personnel on June 17 stating that “effective immediately, all events requesting department participation for fundraising purposes will be done on a volunteer basis and not on paid duty time. This will include preparation and/or practicing for the event.”

(Photo from a news item on Hilltop Action Coalition's Web site.)

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