Q&A/Murder-suicide raises questions in Tacoma
On April 26, 2003, Tacoma, Wash., Police Chief David Brame shot and killed his wife and then committed suicide. The city reeled from the tragic incident that orphaned the couple’s two young children, and city leaders faced questions about whether they could have prevented the murder-suicide.
In the aftermath, the City Council fired City Manager Ray Corpuz Jr., who had served 13 years in the position and, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, had promoted Brame to chief despite previous rape and domestic violence allegations against him. Deputy City Manager James Walton was appointed interim city manager.
Meanwhile, a group of residents circulated a petition seeking support for a ballot proposition to eliminate the city manager’s position and change the city charter to a strong-mayor form of government. Although the petition drive failed to put the measure on the ballot this month, the city appointed 13 residents to a Charter Review Committee to study Tacoma’s charter and to make recommendations for operational changes. Occupying the city manager’s office at a pivotal point in Tacoma’s history, Walton discusses the challenges his office is facing and the steps the city is taking to improve operations.
Q: What have residents said are some problems with Tacoma’s current council-manager form of government?
Walton: The notion that, in this form, the city manager would end up with more power and influence than the council because there are no term limits for the city manager. Over time, the power shifts to the administrative side of the house as opposed to [the council], because there is stability on the administrative side.
Others feel like this form of government is not responsive, whereas people who are elected to office are more responsive because they run for reelection. The public doesn’t elect the city manager, so there’s a certain amount of insulation between the public and the manager.
The people who are supportive of this form say, ‘Look, it’s easier to get rid of a city manager. All you need is five [out of nine council members] to agree [to fire him].’ If you have a strong mayor, and you don’t like that mayor, you’re stuck with that person for four years.
Q: How do you feel about all the scrutiny your office is receiving now?
A: For me, this is the best time to be in this position, which most people don’t understand. In terms of being able to make change and improvement, this is the best time because of that scrutiny. The public expects improvements and change.
As an example, we’re going to be so much better in a very short period of time on the issue of domestic violence. We’re being very collaborative with a large number of people from the public, and we’re bringing in people from other communities that seem to have policies that make some sense.
Q: What is the city doing to improve domestic violence policies?
A: We’re starting with the police and then developing policies that are citywide. Then we will be more linked with the whole not-for-profit community that delivers many of the services that are needed around this whole issue. [The city began training employees in May to recognize and respond to incidences of domestic violence.]
The issue of domestic violence as it relates to police is unique. It starts with recruiting and selecting officers. If we can weed out people that might have some issues in power control, then obviously we are much better off. For the kind of work that police officers are in, you need to be very careful when you are hiring people on the margin. Then all of our policies need to be victim-centered as opposed to what’s best for the perpetrator, which can be a police officer. If we get in front of the problem, we can help salvage our employees who may have issues.