Month: September 2018

College students fill the campus square. And voter registration is in the air! It’s no accident that National Voter Registration Day was September 26th, 2018, as we prepare for the November General Election. The Auditor’s Office had a blast at Rock the Vote at PLU and at civic events across Pierce County. Washington State’s voter registration rate is quite healthy, regularly in the top quartile of the nation.  We’ve registered roughly 83% of the eligible population! That leaves just 17% eligible adults to register. The low hanging fruit has been harvested.  We’re going to need a ladder to reach the rest! To that end, the 2018 Washington State legislature passed several registration laws that will take effect in 2019. Your Pierce County Elections Division is busily getting ready for implementation.…

One of my favorite days of the year happened this week. No, it wasn’t my birthday or anniversary. It was the day we recognize our Standing Ovation Award winners! There were many deserving nominations received this year and I’m confident the selection committee had a difficult task in selecting the winners. I’m delighted to introduce the accomplishments of our outstanding colleagues to you: (more…)

This past Monday, I finished an excellent book – “Indianapolis: the True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the 50 Year Fight to Exonerate and Innocent Man” by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic.                             Some of you may only know of the USS Indianapolis from the memorable scene in the movie “Jaws,” with the character Quint (played by Robert Shaw) [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEx2nU74_Wo[/embedyt] The story starts much earlier.  The USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was a cruiser that served exceptionally well in the Pacific during World War II.  She fought in most of the major battles and served as the flagship for the Fifth Fleet.  She was struck by a kamikaze off Okinawa, returned to…

We’ve seen a big increase in code enforcement complaints over the past few years. As I write this, seven code enforcement officers are working on about 1200 active cases. We are expecting twice as many complaints in 2018 as the year before. [caption id="attachment_1301" align="aligncenter" width="691"] A portion of the clean up needed at one property[/caption] Online portal A big part of our ability to handle the increased workload is the development of our online portal. This amazing tool, which launched at the end of 2017, allows residents to submit complaints online. But it is much more than that. The portal shows you the status of a case and everything related to the parcel. You can see a photograph of the suspected violation, if any permits have been issued on…