Month: January 2019

Hola!  My name is Maia Espinoza and I’m the new Director of Constituent Services in the Executive’s Office. My primary job is to make sure that constituent matters that come directly to our office are routed to the correct department so that issues may be resolved - but keep reading to learn more! As an ambitious, 20-something, aspiring entrepreneur, I was admittedly a little hesitant to come to work for county government. After a few weeks on the job, however, my impression of the County has been rather surprising. We often think of government as bogged down with process and bureaucracy—people not very concerned with the minute matters of the individual constituents. My experience thus far has proved that preconceived notion to be dead wrong. It is evident to me…

What if I told you students in Puyallup can graduate with an RN degree by age 20?!  It’s true! The Puyallup School District has teamed up with Clover Park Technical College to offer a nursing program that begins in high school and finishes in college with a nursing degree. High school students can choose to take the Nursing Assistant Certification, or NAC, class at Emerald Ridge, Puyallup or Rogers high schools.  The classes are offered at their school and their hands-on practical work is done at the Puyallup Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. From high school, students can transfer to Clover Park and complete the curriculum and training needed to swiftly enter the RN degree program and finish the final two years before they can legally drink alcohol or rent a…

I love it when people outside of Pierce County invest in our community and our residents!  I love it even more when people who are already here decide to re-invest! 40 years ago, far-sighted community leaders set aside 500 acres in Frederickson for a planned industrial center. Fast forward to today and thousands of our residents are benefitting from family-wage jobs as existing industrial and manufacturing companies are expanding and new companies are relocating.  And, more are on the way! The link below will take you to a great overview by the Economic Development Board (EDB) about the amazing transformation at Frederickson that has occurred over four decades.  You will note that Pierce County is acknowledged for the investments we’ve made in the area’s road and transportation infrastructure – signals,…

The Sheriff tweeted out his congratulations for the 22 members of the Department who retired in 2018.  Shockingly, the combined service to the people of Pierce County came to a total of 523 years!   If you added that to the retirees from the rest of the County family, I know it would top 1,500 years of service.  Mind-blowing! Sometimes it is hard to think we can survive such a loss of experience.  Fortunately, we have others who are stepping up to start their service with the County as well! On Wednesday, the Council officially welcomed new members Dave Morrell and Marty Campbell.  Thursday afternoon, our new Prosecutor, Mary Robnett, took the oath of office in a packed Court Room 100. [caption id="attachment_1529" align="alignnone" width="640"] District 1 Councilmember Dave Morell…