The City of Tacoma will be swearing in a new Mayor, Anders Ibsen, in January 2026.  Ibsen is the Former Deputy Mayor and a Councilmember for the City of Tacoma, where he served for 8 years. The Tacoma native and father of a 3-year-old is a managing broker with Windermere Real Estate, as well as a Certified Residential Appraiser. A graduate of the Tacoma School of the Arts and Evergreen State College, Ibsen is embedded in our community through his charitable work including the Pierce County Conservation District where he gained valuable insight into the community he lived in.  This insight planted the seed to give back and then to run for office in 2011 at what many considered a young age.

When asked by the EDB why he ran for Mayor, Ibsen said “Tacoma is my hometown. Simply put: I believe in it. I’ve seen the amazing accomplishments we can achieve when we put our minds to it – such as our waterfront – and I’ve heard from many residents about the frustrations in need of better responsiveness and strategy.” He believes that “by working together, the city of Tacoma can ensure greater opportunity, resiliency in the face of today’s unprecedented challenges, and a City of Destiny that works for everyone.”

What goals have you set for your first year in office?

Residents at the door told me in no uncertain terms that public safety and homelessness are their top priorities. Working with my colleagues, I will prioritize confirming our police chief in conjunction with a clear, community-driven plan for enhancing safety in our neighborhoods as we fully staff our department; a focus on community-building and enhancing opportunities for social capital; sustainable funding for infrastructure that can catalyze opportunities for housing, economic development, and neighborhood revitalization; fine-tuning our land-use and building codes – and revamp our permitting processes – to ensure rapid construction and conversion of more housing units to meet demand; and working in closer conjunction with Pierce County and other crucial regional partners to establish a more responsible, evidence-based, and strategic approach to homelessness and affordability. Underlining all of these policy goals, the City Council will confirm an amazing City Manager that can vigorously implement these policies to completion, ensure greater certainty for Tacoma residents and businesses, and institute a wonderful culture of retention and growth for city staff.

What changes do you envision within the city under your leadership?

Above all: Tacoma residents, business owners, and even city employees are hungry for a sense of certainty for what direction the city is heading in. Agree or disagree, under my leadership you will always know my value system, how I arrive at decisions, and the follow-through you can expect from me and the city government in the accomplishment of those decisions. Every organization that has a great culture has 100% clarity on what the theory of action is behind it, and that will underlie every decision I make as Mayor.

What is your vision for economic development in the growth of Tacoma?

In three words: focus, livability, and certainty. One of the reasons Tacoma has historically struggled with economic development is a “say yes to anything” desperation that ends up conferring no long-term advantage to the community, and – in the case of the history of our waterfront, for example – significant costs to future generations. Our city needs a clear understanding of the industrial sectors (and sub-sectors) that it innately has or could have a comparative advantage in, and to align our systems around building clusters in these industries. By focusing on depth rather than breadth, we can achieve better economies of scale; build greater resiliency against market cycles; and wean away our region’s overreliance on the public sector for its employment base.

Besides focusing on innate regional advantages, the other reality is that in today’s economy, it’s the workforce that drives business investment rather than the other way around. Companies often locate where the talent wants to live. So enhancing the quality of life for our downtown, neighborhoods, and public spaces is not only good governance, but a potent tool for economic development. I will ensure that organizations like the EDB are included in such policymaking to ensure we are taking the best advantage we can for growing opportunities.

Finally, the culture of city government itself is a crucial factor. Businesses and investors deserve to have interactions with city staff that feel like partnership rather than an uphill battle. This is fundamentally a product of administrative leadership, and the culture of city administration will be a major factor in my evaluation of the future City Manager.

What is the most important thing you want the readers of our newsletter to know about you?

We may or may not agree on a given particular issue, but you can always count on me to follow through, insist on amazing customer service, and seek to learn. As an entrepreneur myself, I want to infuse the principles of hospitality, personalized treatment, and novelty into the very DNA of city government.

What is something about yourself that most people don’t already know.

During my time at the Tacoma School of the Arts, I was in several heavy metal bands but also sang classical music. While my music career is long over, I’m pretty formidable at karaoke.