Month: June 2018

Earlier this week I read a story in the News Tribune about a teenager who broke into a woman's home in the early hours of Saturday morning.  Her husband was gone on travel, so she was home alone when awakened by her dogs to alert her to a 16-year-old breaking into the house.  The woman grabbed her handgun and shouted a warning down the hallway.  The teen burglar ignored that warning and came down the hall toward her. That’s when she fired a warning shot. I have never had a warning shot fired in my vicinity in a darkened hallway, but it has to be terrifying.  Any remotely rational person would immediately flee to avoid getting shot. But, not this teenage burglar. I was stunned to learn that the first shot…

Can you imagine traveling seventy miles on the water under your own power – no motor or sail? Me, neither! But, earlier this week about 120 teams of intrepid – and maybe a bit crazy – people took on that challenge for the first time in the South Sound. They paddled, pedaled and rowed in all kinds of vessels from the Thea Foss Waterway to the public dock in Pt. Townsend. Called Seventy48, the race was modeled on the popular annual “R2AK” race from Pt. Townsend to Alaska. That race is 750 miles! Our race is “only” 70 miles but you have to complete it in 48 hours. Back in Tacoma, individual stand-up paddlers competed with 4-person sculls and tandem kayaks.  The contestants were outfitted with lights, GPS and every…

Community. You take a collection of people in a geographic area and call that a community. But being a community is a continuous endeavor. It’s that feeling of belonging, that members matter to one another, and everyone is committed to the greater group. It takes everyone, fulfilling small and large roles, to make a place where folks want to live, work, and raise their families. As the new Constituent Services Director, I’ve spent the last few weeks taking tours, meeting employees, and learning about the in-and-outs of various departments. I can say without reservation the Pierce County team is dedicated to building community in big ways! The fervor is widespread! But as we diligently strive day-to-day for a better community, we also need friends, family, and neighbors to guide us.…

We owe the residents of Pierce County as much insight into how their government operates as possible.  That’s why a team of County employees have spent the better part of the last few months designing and developing a suite of online platforms for reporting about Pierce County operations and performance. Under an initiative called “Open Pierce County,” we have made important strides in “opening up” the County to our residents. For example, earlier this year we launched the new portals for requesting public records and reporting nuisance properties. These sites have made interacting with the County and fulfilling requests much easier. Today, we are launching the next phase of Open Pierce County. There are three main components: Open Performance provides employees and the public with data-driven dashboards on strategic measures…