Jonathan Phillips - City Council Position 8 Candidate (19. June 2007, 11:52 by Derek Young) ~ Too Close To Call

This article was written by Todd Matthews and originally appeared in the Tacoma Daily Index on February 21, 2007. Reprinted here with permission.

Jonathan Phillips’s City Council candidacy has an interesting wrinkle: it’s his first City Council run; yet, if he’s elected, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s served on council.
In 2005, Phillips was appointed to a six-month term as a councilmember representing District 2 when former City Councilmember Kevin Phelps resigned before the end of his term.

“It was a surprise when I was sort of asked to apply for the seat that I ultimately held,” said Phillips, 56, during an interview earlier this month. “Most people like to think of themselves as a candidate before they get the job. Oddly enough, I had the job before I considered myself a candidate.”

Today, Phillips is chair of the North End Neighborhood Council (he joined the council in 1998). He also serves on the Tacoma Landmarks Preservation Commission, as well as the board of Broadway Center for the Performing Arts. A real estate professional in Pierce County since 1984, Phillips is running for an at-large seat that will be vacated by Councilmember Bill Evans due to term-limit rules. Phillips and downtown merchant Marty Campbell have formally declared their candidacy. However, rumors exist that others will soon join the race for this at-large seat.

TACOMA DAILY INDEX: Why run for City Council?

JONATHAN PHILLIPS: I’m no stranger to civic involvement in the community. I’ve been involved in the neighborhood council program for nine years. It’s an excellent vehicle for citizens to get involved and at least have an advisory voice. Tacoma has reached what I think of as a tipping point. Anybody that has gone up and down Pacific Avenue for more than 15 minutes is probably aware a lot of growth and changes have occurred. We have the opportunity to [see change] done right. Part of that is managing growth so that it benefits the community, as well as the developer, as well as potential owners of that property. I think we should take steps to manage that growth. I would like to help do that. Also, my involvement in things has gotten progressively more intense. City Council seems to be a logical step. I’m no stranger to activism and civic involvement. But I’ve never been part of any political campaign other than supporting other people: voting, doorbelling, putting up signs, and things like that.

INDEX: Do you think the fact you spent time on City Council gives you an advantage or insight into what it would be like if you were elected?

PHILLIPS: I think it definitely gives me insight. Absolutely. I can say without fear of contradiction that I know exactly what it takes to get the job done on a functional level. Most people see — and what I saw until I really got involved — was the way this worked in Tacoma was that at five o’clock on Tuesday, you turn on the TV or come down to [City Hall] and you see the City Council meeting that goes on for an hour or however long it goes, and then you’re done. But that’s actually the end of a very long day, which can start early in the morning. And that day is not the only day you are involved. I had three committee assignments. One of them met 9:00 a.m. following the council meetings. It was very interesting, but your gears are still grinding from the day before. It’s a very demanding job. So, absolutely, I have insight into the job.

INDEX: When your term was up, was it the instigator for you to run? Would you have run had you not served that term?

PHILLIPS: That’s a very good question. I’m not sure I can answer that for you. It’s kind of like trying to imagine what hadn’t happened. I’ll tell you, it was a very good apprenticeship in a way. I got the chance to apprentice, and then I was done. Everybody that I talked to that had been on City Council before would walk up to me and say, ‘Are you going through post-council withdrawal yet?’ You really do. You have such momentum. I went back to neighborhood council meetings, landmarks commission meetings, the Broadway Center board. I had four or five meetings a month. But it wasn’t that sort of everyday there’s a meeting and there’s a real rhythm you get into — and suddenly that rhythm is gone. It’s like stepping off a moving train. I had the advantage of knowing the feeling of what that job was like, and fully experiencing it, and then not having it for a year. I got to think about it for a year. I had a long time to think about running. I talked to a lot of people, family members, other councilmembers.

INDEX: Most people would recognize you as being closely associated with local real estate, landmarks preservation, and the North End in particular. This is an at-large seat. How do you connect with other areas of the city?

PHILLIPS: Well, problems are everywhere. [On the North End neighborhood Council], we supported other neighborhood councils. When I was on City Council, I tried to make it to all the neighborhood councils. So many meetings happened at the same time. My work in Tacoma, I’ve been a real estate broker for over 20 years. My first office was at about 48th and South M Street. I still have contacts on the East Side. I know people there. My work takes me all over the city. I drive all over Tacoma because that’s just the nature of the business. My involvement is throughout the city. What I learned just in the neighborhood council program, going to community council meetings, is that the problems, successes, wants, and needs are pretty much the same: schools, streets, sidewalks, a safe environment, and public services. The only thing that differs is the degree by which you have successes and problems.

INDEX: People are quick to categorize you and Marty Campbell as certain types of candidates. Marty is the small-business candidate. You are the candidate with a background in real estate.

PHILLIPS: You could look at me and say, ‘OK, I’m a real estate guy.’ But real estate is how I make my living. It’s not really the foundation on which I’m basing my council campaign. OK, let’s figure out which candidate this is: active locally, has a business downtown, involved in the neighborhood council and other activities, on the boards of several activities. Who is that? It could be me. It could be Marty. I really think the touchpoint of my campaign is that I have the record. It’s not just six months on the City Council.

INDEX: Were there any issues while you were on council that you really latched onto and took up as a cause? And are there any issues that, if you are elected, that you would really go after?

PHILLIPS: I really feel strongly about managed growth. I think that’s critical because it affects everybody. Design standards are a hot button. People involved in development view design standards as impediments that cost money. It’s been proven that it doesn’t have to be an impediment and it generally doesn’t cost you anymore. I think having some standards [is important], and they can be flexible within neighborhoods. I really see design standards not as an impediment. What we need to do is revise those standards. I think that planned growth or smart growth is critical in keeping Tacoma really where we want to be. We’ve been noticed. People are headed this way. The development wave is going to pass through Tacoma in the next five to seven years. It’s going to make what’s going on now look like sort of a remodeling craze in the neighborhood. It’s going to leave the face of Tacoma changed for the next 100 years. I would like to make sure the change benefits and harmonizes with Tacoma. You can still have infill, development, and growth that looks good and people feel good walking through it.

INDEX: Tacoma has been noticed. But recently, it’s been for the wrong reasons. Governor Gregoire visits Salishan, and there’s a shooting nearby. Articles in The Seattle Times recently were fairly critical of the city. How does the city change that?

PHILLIPS: I think it’s residual from generations of dumping. The Department of Corrections can argue all it wants, but it doesn’t place people here by accident. We were cheap. We were warehousing people. The residual fact of that is you have people who were just dropped off on the corner, given 10 bucks, and told, ‘Good luck.’” I think that, hopefully, the residual effects will be alleviated. If you look at Salishan, that turned out better than I even imagined. It’s remarkable. There’s a good example of design standards. Look at it 10 years ago and look at it now. They’re both housing almost the same number of people. But that housing looks better and feels better. There’s a pride in ownership. I think we get noticed because we are in the Rolodex. We’re plugged into the ‘gritty Tacoma’ database. I think we need to get on the ‘turnaround kid’ Tacoma. That’s a tough climb. Every time there’s a shooting, there’s also a corresponding story that is much more positive that doesn’t get any attention.

INDEX: What has the current council done well, and where has it failed?

PHILLIPS: I think it’s done well in dealing with the new budget. I don’t necessarily think they failed on anything. I think they are still working on things. There have been successes, but it’s been more like a number of small things. The one thing I think — not necessarily the council failed on, but that it sort of failed at — was the levy to repair the streets. I don’t think enough information got out about the magnitude of the problem and what it would cost.

INDEX: Why did you get involved in the North End Neighborhood Council and civic issues in general?

PHILLIPS: I got involved because I had quality of life problems in my neighborhood. Things that make your day-to-day living hell. It was either get involved or leave. I came to the City, this was probably back in the early-1990s. It was amazing how many times you could go to the City, walk up to one of the service desks, explain your problem, and they would say they couldn’t do anything about it. You would just have to bash your way through. Now you go up there, and changes that have taken place. At the time, it was just miserable trying to get through that barrier. Somebody took pity on me and said, ‘You know, you should talk to someone on the neighborhood council.’ I said, ‘What’s a neighborhood council?’ This was a land-use issue. There was a forum where I was able to sit down with people, explain the problem, and they would say, ‘Come back next week and we’ll have someone from traffic, someone from building and land use. We’ll call them, and they’ll be here.’ I thought, ‘Yeah, sure.’ If I couldn’t talk to them [at City Hall], what makes them come to Mason Middle School at seven o’clock at night for a neighborhood council meeting? Sure enough, I showed up and there they were. Basically, I was able to rezone a little peninsula of multi-family housing that was being unfortunately developed and turned into apartment housing without permits. We had it rezoned. That really turned it around on me thinking, ‘There’s no point in doing this because it’s like beating your head against a wall.’ After my problem was solved, I would just sit out in the audience and watch things go on. I attended neighborhood council meetings for about a year. Finally, someone came over and asked if I would be interested in a board position. So I ran for a board position and here I am. Most of the people on the neighborhood council get involved at some point because there was a boulder they needed rolled out of the way. Stick around after the boulder is moved, and chances are you’re going to end up on the moving crew.

The other candidates in this race include:

Marty Campbell
David Curry
Marilyn Strickland