Poor streets aren’t just limited to the southern and eastern sections of Tacoma. The 4200 block of North Verde is showing its age. The asphalt has faded from its original black luster, and numerous patches underscore the years of repair.

“I’ve owned this house since 1972, and it’s been like this forever,” said Ron Prentice, a 65-year-old electrical engineer. “It’s not huge potholes. It’s just falling apart.”

The Tacoma Tall Ships Organization sent out an e-mail to its supporters after today’s story about its deficit. If you’re interested, here it is:

Dear Tall Ships Supporter:

As you have probably seen this morning in the news, the Tall Ships festival this year finished with a deficit of about $500,000.

This deficit is in no way a reflection of your support and dedication to the festival. In our minds, the festival was a success because of the overwhelming community support it received, the positive reception the crews received, and the hundreds of thousands of visitors who attended and had a great time. We provided an extraordinary event for hundreds of thousands of people.

We exceeded our sponsorship fundraising goals and community response was outstanding. It was free for many and provided excellent hosting for visiting ships and new opportunities for youth. This event renewed Tacoma's pride in its maritime heritage. Poor weather, a faltering economy and low ticket sales impacted us and we are investigating what we do differently next time.

We could not have created this wonderful event without you and we greatly appreciate your support.

The Tacoma Tall Ships Organization is committed to this event, our community and our creditors. We are putting together a business plan that will help us pay our creditors and reorganize. We have no intention of declaring bankruptcy.

The next few weeks will be challenging for us as we work through our financial issues but we are confident that a solution can be found. We hope that you will remember the great times you had at this event and share your memories with others. Tall Ships Tacoma is a wonderful community event and we all worked together to make it happen.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. You can reach us at info@tallshipstacoma.com or 253-272-5650.

Fair winds
TTSO Board of Directors

Michelle Fields lives in the 8700 block of South Ainsworth. A block away, between South 86th and South 87 streets, the roadway has a score of 10 out of 100 in the City of Tacoma's database of street condition.

“It’s very annoying,” the 32-year-old said. “They’ve come and filled in some of these potholes, but it’s still pretty bumpy around here.”

South Cushman Avenue from South 39th to South 48th streets is in bad shape. The roadways are bumpy and pockmarked with potholes. With the exception of two blocks that the city recently paved, the entire stretch scored a zero. And that has one resident on the 4500 block, 52-year-old Jodi Newell, frustrated.

“It’s bad. It needs to be paved. Something needs to get done. And it will only get worse this winter,” she said. “And it’s our tax money. Where is it going?”

One block south, Carolyn Greer called the paving of her street “really, really nice.”

“It was pretty bad when they paved it,” the 48-year-old said. “It was about as bad as the rest of Cushman.”

Bernadette Clark lives on the 800 block of South 45th Street. The roadway in front of her house, rough and crumbling as it approaches the curb, scored a zero.

Clark said it used to bother her, but she has since learned to accept it.

“They’re in bad condition,” she said, “but it’s the price you pay for living in the city.”

Our sister paper, The Olympian, reports the Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain will be in the capital week after next.

They'll be at Percival Landing on Aug. 29 to Sept. 1 as part of Olympia Harbor Days.

Click here for more info.

I got sidetracked with neighborhood reaction to the sex offender and Tall Ships funding yesterday, so I head back out today to talk potholes.