The message you sent came across loud and clear, Tigard: As a community, even when we don’t agree on everything, we’re united to move forward and to make progress – building a better Tigard!
That was what you said overwhelmingly with your votes in the May 21 election.
As of this writing, over 70 percent of Tigard voters in this election said yes to updating our City Charter for the first time since we became a city to make our city government more responsive and modern.
And nearly 80 percent of Tigard voters in this election said yes to continuing our investments in public safety by voting to renew our Tigard Public Safety Levy.
So my message to you is: Thank you so much, Tigard!
That’s because both steps were vital to meeting the needs of our growing community. As the saying goes, it’s a big deal.
With your strong approval, our Public Safety Levy will renew on July 1, 2025 – keeping the current tax rate for property owners in place and renewing what’s already on the books for an additional five years. It will allow us to continue de-escalation and crisis intervention training for every single officer in our community; keep eight patrol officers on the job; and maintain one School Resource Officer.
The changes to the Tigard Charter you approved will take effect on July 1, 2024. We will keep our current form of government, officials will be elected in the same way, and we’ll pass laws in the same way. But we’ll increase the number of City Councilors from five to seven, and we’ll update our terms limits to be more clear and direct.
We are already looking ahead and working to turn your votes into action through the trust you showed us. Our focus will continue to be on being responsible stewards of our resources, and implementing the investments and changes Tigard voters embraced with their vote. We have a responsibility to you to deliver on the investments and changes we promised you.
And I know there is more we can do together. That’s why we’ll continue our important community discussion about how we can best address our aging, overcrowded, and unsafe city facilities. We’ve acquired a new City-owned property on Wall Street so that we can have new, modern, and seismically safe facilities for the people who will be the first responders in the event of a major emergency, like a serious earthquake: Our Public Works and Tigard Police Department teams. Over the coming months, I’ll be sharing more about our plan for how we can sustain this investment in the future of Tigard – and how it would benefit all of us.
No matter how you voted in this election, we are grateful to every single one of you who made your voice heard and chose to be a voter in this election – especially for the next generation of voters who cast a ballot for the very first time.
Thank you again, Tigard! I’m excited about what else is ahead for our community.
I also want to officially welcome you to the summer in Tigard. We have many events planned through our Recreation Team. We have everything going on, from the Farmer’s Market to Movies in the Park, the Tigard Festival of Balloons, and everything in between.
Some highlighted events include:
- Farmer’s Market – Sundays 9 – 1:30
- Freedom Celebration Day – Juneteenth Celebration – June 15, 3 – 6 p.m.
- Festival of Balloons – June 21 – 23
- Fun Run 5K – June 22, 8:30 – 10 a.m.
- Festivals – Pride Festival and Parade – June 29, 2 – 5 p.m.
- Food and fabulous finds at Empresarios Night Market – July 26, 5 – 10 p.m.
You can find details and more events at www.tigard-or.gov/explore-tigard/community-events
I hope to see you at our events this summer!
You can always reach me at 971-435-0964 or heidil@tigard-or.gov, or you can connect to the whole City Council at CouncilMail@tigard-or.gov.
