Deputy
Mayor
Marty Campbell

 Marilyn Strickland was sworn in as Mayor of Tacoma in January 2010, and previously served as a city council member. Born in Seoul, Strickland is a graduate of the University of Washington and holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Clark-Atlanta University. She and her husband Patrick Erwin live in the downtown.

Mayor Strickland has professional experience in both the private and public sectors. She served as Development Officer for the Tacoma Public Library and has held management positions with the American Cancer Society, Starbucks Coffee Company and JayRay Communications where she worked with Tacoma Public Utilities to help launch Click!Network, America’s first municipally owned telecommunications network.

During her first term as mayor, Mayor Strickland has worked with business, neighborhoods and the education community to lead efforts including:

• Raising the city’s business and occupation tax threshold from $75,000 to $250,000 – providing tax relief for 5000 small businesses.
• Creating the City of Destiny Scholarship with the College Success Foundation.
• Launching a Community Gardens Initiative with a donation of city-owned property in seven neighborhoods, to achieve the goal of having the highest number of community gardens per capita in the United States.
• Promoting Free Trade Agreements to increase exports.
• Making a $28 million public investment in infrastructure to attract private investment on Tacoma’s waterfront. 
• Completion of a $30 million renovation of Cheney Stadium and securing a 30-year lease with the Tacoma Rainiers to keep minor league baseball in Tacoma.
• Creating the Mayor’s Education Task Force to promote innovation, civic engagement and improved outcomes for student achievement.

Mayor Strickland also serves on local, regional and national boards including:

• Chair, Tacoma Employees Retirement System Board of Directors
• Chair, Pierce Transit Board of Commissioners 
• Advisory Board, University of Washington Tacoma
• Chair, Law Enforcement Support Agency
• Executive Committee, Tacoma Pierce County Economic Development Board
• Capital Committee, Sound Transit Board of Commissioners
• Executive Committee, Puget Sound Regional Council
• U.S. Conference of Mayors Public Education Task Force 
• U.S. Conference of Mayors Workforce Development Council
• U.S. Small Business Administration Advisory Council for Underserved Communities

Term Expiration:  Dec. 31, 2013

Term Expiration:  December 31, 2013

Lauren Walker was elected to the Tacoma City Council in 2007 and she represents Council District 3. She was elected to serve as Deputy Mayor for the year of 2011.

Lauren has a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Oregon in Community Service and Public Affairs and a Master's Certificate from Boston College in Women in Politics and Government.  She returned to the beloved northwest 18 years ago and settled in the Hilltop neighborhood, where she has been active in block-by-block organizing and homeownership initiatives to strengthen the community.  Lauren and her husband Marcus have two children.

Lauren currently serves as the executive director of the Fair Housing Center of Washington and was President of the Hilltop Action Coalition, served on the Homeownership Center of Tacoma and Tacoma Pierce County Affordable Housing Consortium boards of directors and is currently Secretary of the National Fair Housing Alliance.  She is Vice Chair of the City's Environment and Public Works Committee and is chair of the Neighborhoods and Housing Committee. 

Term Expiration:  December 31, 2015

Marty Campbell was elected to the Tacoma City Council in 2009 and represents Council District 4.

Marty was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He attended the University of Nebraska before coming to Tacoma to open two small businesses. Through his involvement in Tacoma, Marty became more involved in neighborhood and community issues. Marty has served in a leadership role of several community organizations, including the Cross District Association, New Tacoma Neighborhood Council, The Grand Cinema, First Creek Neighbors, Dometop Neighborhood Alliance, TEAM, Downtown Merchant’s Group, City Club of Tacoma  and many others.
 
Marty currently serves on the Government Performance and Finance Committee, Public Safety, Human Services and Education Committee, Crystal Judson Family Justice Center Board and the Joint Municipal Action Committee.

Term Expiration: December 31, 2013

Joe Lonergan was elected to the Tacoma City Council in 2009 and represents Council District 5.

Joe and his wife Beth own a nice old house on 72nd Street, and they've been gradually fixing it up for the past seven years. They are raising two sons, Michael, age three and Carl, age one.

Joe worked as an advertising account executive in Tacoma and has been with the same employer for nine years. He graduated from Eastern Washington University, with a degree in Business Administration. He grew up in Tacoma and is a graduate of Tacoma Baptist High School in South Tacoma.

For the past six years, Joe has served on the South End Neighborhood Council, working on crime reduction, traffic safety and neighborhood beautification. He's also on the Wapato Park advisory committee and volunteers for the Blueberry Park Restoration.

Joe played baseball for his high school team and still loves seeing the Rainiers play at Cheney Stadium. He and Beth are active members of the Foursquare Church.

Term Expiration:  December 31, 2013

David Boe was elected to the Tacoma City Council in 2011 and represents the At-large position 7.

David was born and raised in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minn., obtaining an Associate of Arts degree from hometown Normandale College and a Bachelor of Arts/Architecture from Iowa State University. His post-graduate work took place at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London where he received his first professional certification. While living in London, David worked on the Canary Wharf Development and was assigned the Docklands Light-Railway Coordinator for the project during his tenure.

David and his wife Sandra returned to Sandra’s hometown of Tacoma in 1989, where he worked as an architect for a number of firms before starting his own practice in Downtown Tacoma in 1996. David served on the Tacoma Arts Commission, the Cultural Plan Steering Committee, and from 2005-2009 served on the Planning Commission (the last three years as Vice-Chair). In 2009, his column ‘imagine tacoma’ on the Exit133 community blog received the AIA Southwest Washington Chapter’s Merit Award.

David and Sandra’s first home was in Tacoma’s Southend, where they remodeled a 1928 two-bedroom bungalow where they lived until the arrival of their son Ben required larger accommodations.  They currently reside in an ongoing remodeling project of a 1948 home, along with ward Alia, two dogs, and miscellaneous small mammal and birds, in the Kandle Park Neighborhood in the North End of Tacoma.

Term Expiration: December 31, 2015

Ryan Mello was elected to the Tacoma City Council in 2011 and represents the At-large position 8.

Previously, Ryan was elected citywide to the Metropolitan Park Board of Commissioners in 2005. 

Born in Kailua, Hawaii, Ryan came to Tacoma in 1997 to attend the University of Puget Sound where he earned a degree in politics and government. 

Ryan has also served as a senior aide to State Representative Hans Dunshee and, before that, as an AmeriCorps volunteer implementing the Youth United program at the United Way of Pierce County producing the first-ever letter-in-community service program where high school students earn their varsity letter for exceptional community service. He has been active in the community serving on the Boards of local non-profits such as Equal Rights Washington and Transportation Choices Coalition. In 2008 – 2009, he served as co-chair of the City’s Green Ribbon Task Force on Climate Change, producing the City’s plan for addressing global climate change. 

Ryan currently works as the executive director for the Pierce Conservation District.  He and his partner Jerry have two dogs and one cat, and live in Central Tacoma within walking distance of the 6th Avenue Business District.  He chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee and serves on the Economic Development Committee, Government Performance and Finance Committee, and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency Board.  He is most interested in ensuring basic services are delivered effectively, economic development is thriving and everyone in Tacoma who wants a job has a good paying job, that we have efficient transportation solutions, and that our environment is healthy for everyone to enjoy. 

Ryan enjoys hiking, kayaking, walking the dogs at local parks and in the neighborhood, home improvement projects and community service. 

Term Expiration: December 31, 2015