( 4. February 2008, 09:30 by Whitney Rhodes) ~ On The Beat5 Questions for.... Todd Matthews

Todd Matthews is one of those figures in the life of Exit133 that has been around since the beginning. Somehow we crossed paths at some public meeting. Then, we quickly discovered that we were always at all the same public meetings. Study Session? Check. Economic Development? Check. 6:00 am Winthrop meetings? Check. Obscure other meeting? Check.

We often introduce Todd as one of the best reporters in town – and you probably wouldn’t recognize him. Who does he write for? Todd is THE reporter for the Tacoma Daily Index. In his spare time, he’s a freelance journalist for several Puget Sound area magazines.

Todd is on the streets of Tacoma and keeping an eye on things nearly every day. We’re fans.

1. What story from 2007 are you most proud of?

The most memorable story last year had to do with an old streetcar. In May, I traveled 130 miles north to Rockport, Wash., to check out a 49-foot, 1908 Turtleback streetcar that once operated on Tacoma streets. Morgan Alexander, who has pushed for years to restore a streetcar system, had mentioned to me that this father-and-son team, Tom and Vince Mendenhall, owned a company restoring old streetcars for cities across the United States, and they owned this Tacoma car. From what I gathered, no one from Tacoma had made the trip up there, so I decided to go. The streetcar is in bad shape: roof is gone; floor is gone; windows are gone. And it’s sitting out in a David Lynch-esque field full of carnival equipment, broken down trucks and tractors, and an old trailer home. But it still has a lot of character. And the Mendenhalls say it could still be restored. I wrote a feature that ran over a couple days – a story about the trip up to check out the streetcar; and an interview with the Mendenhalls. There seems to be some growing interest in restoring an old streetcar line in Tacoma. Hopefully the one up in Rockport can be returned to Tacoma.

2. You won a state award in 07 for writing about historic preservation projects in Tacoma. What’s your favorite historic property and why?

The Winthrop Hotel. A couple years ago, when there was heavy talk about restoring it to a four-star hotel, one of the developers at the time called me and said, ‘We’re going up into the Winthrop. If you can get here in five minutes, you can join us.’ From what I gathered, few people had taken a full tour of the building. I grabbed my camera and – being a history dork – literally ran from the Index’s office here at 11th and Pacific to the Winthrop at 9th and Commerce. We were given access the penthouse suite, rooftop deck, even a mid-level deck that you can’t see too well from the street. We even dug around in the basement. It was fun. The Index published one Winthrop photo per day, for a couple weeks. I have a new respect for the building, just because of its sheer size.

3. If you had to spend 24 hours with a City Council member who would you choose?

Wow. Twenty-four hours is a long time. I feel sorry for anyone who has to spend that much time with me. How about a work-day? I think it would be Marilyn Strickland. She’s new to City Council, lives downtown, brings a business background to City Hall, and has always been friendly to me when we run into each other. Actually, I have wanted to do a story about a day-in-the-life of one (or both) of the two new councilmembers (Strickland and Lauren Walker), in terms of learning the ins and outs of City Hall. But I think they would be creeped out by some writer/photographer following them around.

4. What is a headline you’d love to write about Tacoma?

PAC AVE, DOWNTOWN SAVED
Sounder Heading South Re-Routed Through Spanaway

5. How do you stay interested during long City Council study sessions?

It was a little easier with Tom Stenger on City Council, as you were never sure what was going to happen. To be clear, councilmembers do important work during those study sessions. And have you seen the stack of paperwork they haul around every week? They have the short end of the deal. We reporters just sit, listen, and take notes. But being crammed in that little room at City Hall with no windows — it’s not the greatest environment. Sometimes I count the number of times the mayor uses the word ‘robust.’ When Bill Evans was on Council, I used to count the number of times he would squeeze the need for more trees into any discussion. Here’s an idea: Add Citizens Forum to the study session agenda — that would liven things.

BONUS. You seem to spend most of your time in, and writing about, Tacoma, yet rumor has it you live in Seattle. Why’s that?

That’s the big secret. People I meet assume I live in Tacoma, and they are surprised to find I live in Seattle. I sense the Tacoma-Seattle rivalry, but people have been nice to me. It’s complicated. I do a fair amount of freelance feature writing for a few Seattle-based magazines, so work keeps me there. And my girlfriend, Maggie, is a book editor in Seattle, and heavily involved in the small-theater scene. That’s another tie. I really have a love-hate relationship with Seattle. It’s become too expensive and crowded for my tastes. At the same time, I really enjoy running, and Seattle has great parks and trails for that. I must say that coming down to Tacoma to work is a nice escape from Seattle. I get a lot of reading and writing done on the bus commute. I feel like Tacoma is undiscovered, and there are things I enjoy here (lunch at Capers, coffee at Black Water, browsing at King’s Books) that I would probably take for granted if I lived here.

(Todd can be found online at wahmee.com)