An Unlikely Pairing FOR Tacoma

I intend on being a Mayor for EVERY person living in Tacoma.  Because that is the way that it is supposed to be.  That is the true meaning of Service.  Every opinion and every voice needs to be heard.

Back in 2021, I was on an online Candidates Forum for the South End Neighborhood Council (if memory serves me correctly).  Each candidate was asked to give a brief introduction as to who they were, what position they were running for and why they felt they deserved people’s votes. When it came my turn, I gave my standard introduction. “My name is Steve Haverly and I am running for Mayor of Tacoma. I am a lifelong resident of Tacoma and I am not running against my other two opponents, but rather I am running FOR Tacoma. My campaign is all about Unifying Tacoma by bringing us together after what has been a tumultuous few years.” Unify Tacoma was my tagline throughout my campaign.

A few minutes into the session, I received a notification in the chat section. I am paraphrasing here but it was something to the effect of, “Dude… you stole my line! The one about running FOR Tacoma. I like what you have to say and I would love to get together and see if we could work together!”

The message came from a very enthusiastic Brett Johnson who was running for City Council At-Large Position 6. We exchanged numbers, spoke a few times and found that even though we were on opposing political parties (he, a Republican, myself a Democrat) we had one common goal… making Tacoma a better place to live. I was, after all, running a campaign that revolved around unity. Bridging the gap between parties, breaking down the barriers that divide the community, getting the citizens of Tacoma to stop bickering and find common ground. Surely, if I was trying to turn things around, this was a great place to start.

We talked more and more about so many issues that trouble our city. Met quite often and began a great friendship throughout that time.  We’d attend many of the same campaign functions together and found common ground on many topics. Yes, we had our differences but those were mainly on national topics. When it came to what we wanted to change for Tacoma, we were almost always in lockstep. Of course, there were negative side-effects that came with this unlikely pairing. It was confusing to many people that two candidates from opposing parties were palling around together. For both of us, it was simple. We were (and are) all in for Tacoma.  Where we stand on national issues played little part in what we wanted to do for our hometown. Democrats say he hurt my campaign and Republicans say that I hurt his. Maybe so. Truth be told, most people assumed that I was a Republican because of my relationship with Brett, but that simply was not the case.  Being that Tacoma is a Left-leaning community, there were people who scoffed at our budding friendship. So much so that it actually got uncomfortable at times. Democrats attacked me pretty feverishly with a barrage of attacks on social media, by email and even phone calls. Tacoma’s Rumor Mill is nasty, especially in political circles. BUT each of us stayed our courses and stayed true to who we are as individuals. Neither of us is the type to give in to bullies. Quite frankly, a lot of people should be ashamed of the way that they judged a couple of guys who were fighting the good fight for Tacoma. We were judged more on the association with each other than we were on policies that we were trying to run our campaigns upon. To this day, the attacks keep coming. Tacoma’s Political Machine does not take too kindly to outsiders. It’s a phenomenon that is incredible divisive and counter-productive to moving us all forward as a society. It is also something that I would like to change as Mayor.

As time went by, we had a lot of the same supporters. Our yard signs were commonly placed alongside each other in people’s yards and when placed out on the public thoroughfares. Most notably, the BIG signs. The ones that brought so much controversy to both of our campaigns.  They were purchased and placed by a Republican supporter of both of us. This might come as a surprise to some of you but EVERY one of them was placed legally and followed the specific guidelines set by local campaign and civil codes. There were so many nasty social media posts calling for our heads on a stake. I know that my campaign inbox was blowing up as I am sure Brett’s was, too. I’d answer each of them with an explanation. Here’s some information that you may not know. ANYONE can buy campaign signs. They do not need approval from that campaign to purchase them, place them, distribute them. The campaign does not need to give approval of any kind. What that campaign DOES have to do, is report those purchases to the PDC as an In-Kind Donation. Should someone write a check to the campaign that the campaign wants no association with, they have one week to return that check… but to purchase signs, there is no rejection policy, that I have been made aware of, at least. Sure… you could spend thousands in court costs but you’d be going up against someone’s Constitutional Right To Free Speech. It still must be reported to the PDC as a campaign contribution. Fortunately, the PDC is incredibly responsive and knows all the intricacies of campaign law. They helped me through some very detailed excursions!  While I did appreciate the support, that one In-Kind Donation brought me a lot of grief in the past four years. BUT, that’s another story, for another time.

I know what you might be thinking and to be perfectly clear… the BIG signs will not be back for Team Haverly. If they do make an appearance, I will tear them down myself.

Neither Brett nor myself won those elections. Oddly enough, our numbers were almost identical. I lost 39-59%, Brett lost 38-60% respectively.

Since then, neither of us has stopped fighting for Tacoma. Both of us have very busy professional lives and both of us have families but we still manage to stay the course and involve ourselves in Tacoma’s political realm. We don’t attend many events together that often but have been visible at Council Meetings from time to time. I mostly watch them online, so I can be home with my family.

I still believe in the campaign phrase Unify Tacoma. I still believe that the top priority for Tacoma should be to break down the barriers that divide us. In fact, it’s what we need on the national level as well. But my focus is solely on Tacoma, first and foremost. Another thing that I would like people to understand…the positions of Mayor and that of Council Members are non-partisan roles. They are all supposed to stand up for ALL of Tacoma. I said it before, and I will say it time and time again. I intend on being a Mayor for EVERY person living in Tacoma. Because that is the way that it is supposed to be. That is the true meaning of Service. Every opinion and every voice needs to be heard.

We need Leadership that will put aside political barriers and Special Interests. We need a Mayor and Council who listens to the general public, not groups who stand to profit from the City Of Tacoma or whose goal is to further their own political aspirations.

We need to elect those who run FOR Tacoma.