Year: 2018

Last weekend I had the honor of co-hosting the Volunteer Recognition Brunch with Council Chair Doug Richardson. It’s amazing and inspiring to meet the hundreds of people who volunteer on behalf of programs they are passionate about. I told those in attendance that they would be asking themselves four questions by the end of our celebration: What do “biochar” and “cavy” mean? (biochar= a soil amendment made of charcoal; cavy = a South American rodent) I didn’t know we had a club that did that! (Meat Goat) I wonder how many lives that person has impacted? (Rev. Ogburn, our Volunteer of the Year, has donated 7,000 hours helping a countless number of elderly residents) What would happen to Pierce County if our community didn’t have these people as volunteers? (We…

One of my favorite quotes is from the renowned physicist, Albert Einstein: “Once you stop learning, you start dying.”  I could not agree more and work hard to reflect this in my life.  I am naturally curious, which is why my visits with County employees often take much longer than scheduled.  I like to learn what our people do and how they do it! However, I am always intentionally trying to learn new things and challenge my current perspectives – basically to grow personally.  It shows up in the books I read (currently “The Fleet at Flood Tide: America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945”), the classes I take (completed the Coast Guard Captain’s Course last December), and podcasts I listen to daily (“The Bible in One Year” and yesterday…

Have you ever watched one of those “house flipping” shows on TV?  You know, the ones where over the course of 30 minutes stars like Chip and Joanna Gaines renovate an old decrepit house and a disaster of a yard and turn it into a beautiful country home with gazebo and garden swing! Well, it takes them more than 30 minutes but our Code Enforcement team has some pretty impressive “before” and “after” successes of its own. (more…)

For thousands of years, quilting has brought people together.  Spanning centuries and cultures, groups of people have gathered to make quilts to stay warm, to preserve their history and to decorate their homes.  It is an important part of our American heritage.  My grandmother saved empty, brightly colored feed sacks, as did her friends, and they gathered together on a regular basis to turn those used feed sacks into quilts.  But what, you might wonder, does quilting have to do with the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office? Jan is a long-time resident of Puyallup and a quilter.  She has had poor eyesight since childhood, but, as an adult, she was facing progressive vision loss that would eventually lead to blindness.  She found herself unable to drive or read, and was…

Executive Dammeier asked me to reminisce over my last 30 years at Pierce County as I’m preparing to retire.  I’ve been doing a lot of that as I clean out files and turn projects over to various folks.  I’ll start at the beginning . . . One of the reasons I was hired was because Daisy Stallworth, then Director of the Department of Community and Economic Development, was impressed by my “apparent computer prowess.”  I prepared my resume using Lotus 123 on a dot matrix printer and she was impressed with my use of technology.  Daisy thought I would bring some process improvements to the loan program (which, by the way, was operated from a hand-written checkbook register). Back then, Frederickson was a big field at the end of 2-lane…

I recently helped facilitate a new agreement between the City of Ruston, City of Tacoma and the Point Ruston developers. My goal was to find a solution that would get the huge waterfront project moving forward for the benefit of our residents. If you’ve had a chance to visit the restaurants, movie theater, shops or play spaces, you can appreciate the fantastic jewel that has emerged from the former Asarco Superfund site. When Point Ruston and the transformational work at Point Defiance are both done, it will be an amazing spot for locals and visitors alike! However, disputes over permitting had slowed the largest development in Pierce County history down to a halt. Fortunately, after some marathon negotiations, we were all able to come together and find a path to…

My core values as a leader include being transparent and open.  That’s why it’s important to me that you are aware of an important new study that will begin later this spring. When I joined the County last year, I was surprised to learn we have not looked at how we classify and pay most of our employees since 2002. (To put that in historical perspective, in 2002 we were still reeling from the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center and the second movie in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy was released.  Both the iPhone and the Great Recession were still 5 years in our future.) Given how much has changed since 2002, it is time to evaluate how we place people in job classifications and compare our…

Have you ever faced an obstacle that seemed impossible to overcome?  Maybe it’s those last 10 stubborn pounds to lose (I am working on that!). Or quitting smoking. Perhaps your garage needs a complete cleaning so you can get your car back inside. The experts say that the key to tackling a big, seemingly overwhelming goal is breaking it down into smaller, more manageable tasks.  The small victories give you encouragement and hope as you take on the next step.  Furthermore, every task is easier if you are working alongside someone – many hands make light work! At this point you may be asking what this has to do with Pierce County.  Fair enough. Right now we are facing one of the largest and most challenging issues I’ve ever seen…

I’ve spent a good part of this week going over the responses many of you provided to last week’s blog survey. I was surprised and pleased at how seriously you took the invitation to comment! There were several common themes.  You shared your concerns about homelessness, opioids and public safety.  You also talked about the lack of resources for behavioral health support – both mental health care and substance abuse treatment. “I believe that there are two interconnected problems: homelessness and the opioid epidemic. Together these things are causing blight, overtaxing our mental health and law enforcement systems and diminishing the quality of life for all they touch.” Well said! To that end, you had suggestions for how to address the devastating opioid crisis. To get a personal look at…

In the picture below you can see some of the members of our Executive team in a discussion about our plans for 2018. (more…)

This week, Pierce County lost an amazing father, husband, friend and protector, Deputy Daniel A. McCartney. To his family, friends, and co-workers, I am deeply saddened by your loss. You are in my prayers. This loss reaches out and impacts everyone in our community – and beyond. Deputy Daniel A. McCartney lost his life responding to a home invasion call. We now know that the call was to a well-known drug house often visited by sheriff’s deputies. We have also learned that two young children were living in the home in deplorable conditions. I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that in the past month our county has been faced with two significant tragedies; the Amtrak Train #501 derailment and now the horrible death of Deputy McCartney, both events…

I have had way too many close calls with drunk drivers and have experienced the havoc they inflict on our community.  I have been hit twice previously by drunk/drugged drivers.  Both occurred in the morning, neither had a valid license, and both were driving borrowed cars.  Most shockingly, one had been driving under the influence the night before and decided to use PCP while on the way to get the car out of the impound lot.  However, in both cases, I was not seriously hurt.  I have also spent time with local families who have been devastated by the loss of a loved one to the scourge of DUI.  On Christmas night, my family nearly joined their ranks. (more…)