When people are interviewed to serve on the various committees for our city, each applicant is asked what they like most about living in Tualatin. One of the most frequent answers is the great sense of community throughout our city. Councilor Reyes, Councilor Sacco, and I conduct the interviews and are continually amazed at the wealth of applicants who are willing to give their time, creativity, and knowledge to help improve our community.
Involvement by the Tualatin community with the city extends beyond direct committees including: serving on the board of one of the neighborhood Community Involvement Organizations (CIOs), participating in community surveys, sending emails to council or the city about an issue of concern, and speaking at council meetings. The multitude of individuals that belong to various local non-profit, private, and faith-based community organizations are also essential to preserving our active and inviting community.
Local organizations and individuals improve our community by providing vital input for the Council decision-making process, helping to inform others on local issues, and strengthening our local advocacy to other governmental entities with jurisdiction over our city.
As Washington County goes through the process to reduce and reallocate the Washington County Cooperative Library Service (WCCLS) funds that provide approximately 45% of the funds for libraries throughout the county, ongoing advocacy from Friends of the Tualatin Library, the Tualatin Library Advisory Committee, and many others, have provided invaluable support that boosts the request by city staff and Council that the high usage of our library as a community center is included as a factor in Washington County’s allocation formula for funds. These supporters are also actively exploring options to replace lost funding for library hours and services.
Tualatin’s newly adopted Transportation System Plan (TSP) was completed after well over a year of input from a citizen advisory committee and extensive community outreach. The new TSP includes a focus on safety and prioritization of upgrades to the local signal system. Council approved the TSP with recommended changes received from the Riverpark CIO to further enhance safety by changing the classification of Tualatin Road and Leveton Road, and removing the signal at 115th and Tualatin Road from the list of potentially-funded projects.
Along with the Riverpark CIO, members of the Ibach CIO and the Byrom CIO have recently played a significant role in local land-use changes. Much like Tualatin’s Architectural Review Board and Planning Commission, some CIO board members have put in endless hours learning about land-use processes, including local codes and state mandates. They have also taken the time to share this knowledge to help inform their neighborhood.
The Ibach CIO has reached out to one of our state representatives to discuss a neighborhood development that is a real-life example of the potential negative effects caused by state laws removing Tualatin’s local control over parking requirements and development design.
Save the Trees on Norwood’s advocacy is a strong reminder of community support for the many benefits of trees. This highlights the urgency for Tualatin to move forward implementing steps in its Climate Action Plan that update city codes to prioritize the preservation and addition of trees and greenspaces throughout our community.
As the city moves forward over the next couple of years, there will be multiple opportunities for community members to provide input on our Downtown Revitalization Project for the Lake of the Commons Area, the larger surrounding Core Opportunity and Reinvestment Area, and the development of the recently acquired riverfront property adjacent to Tualatin Community Park.
A sincere thank you to everyone who participates in our community! Your combined efforts create the valued sense of community that defines Tualatin.
Councilor Valerie Pratt
vpratt@tualatin.gov
