Author: lcatali

While many of you were picking up turkeys and baking pies for Thanksgiving, late into last Tuesday night our Council was approving the 2018 budget that will provide our spending plan for next year. I’m excited for the new year and new initiatives to begin! The final unanimous vote was months in the making and the process actually began only days after the supplemental budget was finalized in June.  While the process was very long, the final product is good for the County and good for our residents. We are making significant investments in key areas such as public safety and behavioral health. In addition, we’ve directed funds to an important compensation study and greater resources for employee training. I want to acknowledge the many County employees and elected officials who…

Lauren and I are hosting our extended family for Thanksgiving.  When 33 of my relatives get together in one home, it will be fun and a little crazy.  I am very excited to have my sister and her family in from Vermont for the first time in a few years. Like many of you, while I will be settling in to enjoy a wonderful meal and getting caught up with my relatives, it’s important to keep in mind that many County employees will be hard at work on Thursday – like every other day of the year. Our road crews will be ensuring county roads are open and safe as we travel.  Sadly, the extended holiday weekend will likely be busy for our jail staff and the Medical Examiner’s team.…

How would you go about trying to raise awareness around the importance of conserving resources and encourage people to change their driving habits?  And, do it without making people feel guilty or annoyed? That’s the challenge Ryan Dicks, our sustainability manager, has every year with the annual Sustainability Survey. This year was my first time taking the survey and I was especially motivated to answer the questions correctly. Ryan capitalized on our competitive spirit and our local football allegiances to pit departments against each other in tournament brackets. I like to rise to a challenge and learn new things so I jumped in with both feet! I pored over the online sustainability report to prep for the survey and must admit I picked up some new tips.  I am now…

I had the privilege of attending my first Employee Recognition event with many of you last night.  Along with Chair Doug Richardson, many elected officials, and members of our executive management team, we cheered, smiled and saluted some inspiring colleagues. Can you imagine working at the same place for 20, 25, 30 or even 40 years?  Neither can I!  But, we are fortunate to have that kind of commitment and dedication from quite a few long-term employees. Clearly, there is something powerful happening that speaks to our culture and the quality of the service we strive to maintain.  We were curious to see what keeps our “veteran” colleagues coming back to the County, day after day, so we turned on a video camera and gave them the microphone.  We also…

It’s not every day that you have the opportunity to compete for one of the largest corporate headquarters in the world.  But, that’s what the partners across Pierce County did this week. You might have heard that Amazon issued an RFP for their second headquarters, called HQ2, and hundreds of North American cities are reportedly delivering their qualifications. (more…)

Community means many things to many people – and it is the heart of why we choose to live where we live.  Community is what binds us together and helps us through the most difficult times.   Our County is big and while we have a common sense of identity, generally the feeling of community is more closely associated with our cities, towns and neighborhoods.  One place where I have found the sense of community to be especially strong isn’t a city, town or neighborhood – it is the Key Peninsula. I have spent some time on the Key Peninsula over the years: visiting the town of Home and Joemma State Park, eating at El Sombrero, and hunting snipe at Camp Seymour. Last week, I attended District 7’s “in-district” Council meeting…

Mt. Rainier towers over the small towns at its base – literally and figuratively. Sitting in the shadow of the majestic mountain are rural communities like Elbe and Ashford. Nearly 2 million people flock to the mountain to hike the Burroughs, trek the Wonderland Trail or climb Disappointment Cleaver. The visitors switch to skis, snowshoes and sleds when snow blankets Paradise and Sunrise. You would think that those 2 million visitors would drive a thriving tourist economy for this part of the county. However, on a recent visit with Councilmember Jim McCune, it was clear that both Mt. Rainier National Park and the local communities need better support for those visitors. (more…)

I have nine months under my belt as the Executive and I am still visiting with departments and learning about some of the important and interesting jobs we do in the County. We have many employees who are called upon to do difficult jobs.  Working to determine a cause of death in the Medical Examiner’s office or clearing winter snow in the middle of the night with the road crew are two jobs that easily come to mind. (more…)

The ink is barely dry on the 2017 supplemental budget, but it is already budget season again! A special thanks to Gary Robinson, Jim Dickman, Julie Demuth, and the rest of the Finance team for their great work and amazing commitment to getting this budget proposal put together. (more…)

This week’s blog is titled “Vox populi.”  For those of you who don’t know Latin, it means “the voice of the people.” Our community and our government depend on the active involvement of “the people” for support and vitality.  They are volunteers, committee members, coaches, mentors and voters. Two gatherings this week were great examples of the importance of actively engaging with the people we serve. The first meeting was held last Sunday night at the Greenwater Fire Department. About 150 local residents gathered to hear the latest information about the Sawmill Creek and Norse Peak fires that threatened their homes. The Incident Command team did a great job explaining the steps the firefighters had taken to protect the region and what they could expect in the hours and days…

  Our Department of Emergency Management (DEM) could not have asked for a better setup for Emergency Preparedness Month.  Flooding in Texas, fires near Crystal Mountain with the ever-present smoke in the air, an 8.0 earthquake in Mexico and now Irma is bearing down on Florida! I was up in Greenwater and at Crystal Mountain this morning checking on the efforts of the more than 400 people fighting that fire in extremely rugged terrain. Incredibly, the Norse Peak Fire has now burned more than 70 square miles of forest. Checking out the fire with Buckley Chief Alan Predmore Getting briefed by fire officials While wildfires, hurricanes and flooding are in the news today, the odds of a serious earthquake hitting our region are high. We are perched on an active…

There are some who equate being professional with dispassionate detachment. Furthermore, there are more who characterize government as uncaring and without regard for individuals. On Wednesday, I witnessed two occasions where our employees’ actions countered both of these assertions. In fact, they demonstrated this highest professionalism, with respect and compassion for our citizens – both living and dead. Have you ever met Deputy Ed Roberts? If you have, you would not soon forget him. First, he is huge (he barely fits into our Ford Explorer patrol vehicles) – and speaks with a distinct Boston accent. He served in the Marine Corps and then with the Special Forces in the Army, before joining the Sheriff’s Department 14 years ago. Ed is well respected by his fellow deputies and officers alike. Needless…

Where were you when the sky turned dark?  Okay, let’s be honest.  Around here, the sky didn’t look dramatically different but the eclipse was still a cool rarity to witness. I was at the STOP facility filming a video on emergency preparedness for DEM when the eclipse occurred.  It was fun to step outside with the staff and look to the sky.  I borrowed a pair of official glasses and was amazed at the sight – also by the strange shadows from the trees. In contrast to some of the issues from last week’s blog, the eclipse seemed to transcend our differences and allow our country to share a moment of unity.   Nice! As part of the DEM video I was also over at the Spanaway/Parkland precinct this week. I…

I’ve been offended and disgusted by the racist language and horrible imagery on display in Virginia.  When you add to it North Korea developing nuclear missile capability and another horrific vehicle attack in Europe, it’s no wonder that folks on social media are asking to see cat videos and photos of babies.  It is easy to get depressed and discouraged. As I struggled with the ugliness, violence and hatred experienced in Charlottesville, two gatherings this week have given me cause for hope for our future here in Pierce County. On Wednesday I attended a celebration to recognize the 100-Day Challenge to End Youth Homelessness.  If you haven’t heard of it, some of our colleagues in Human Services partnered with a number of service agencies, nonprofits and the City of Tacoma…

I have just returned from vacation, rested from a peaceful few days on the waters of Puget Sound and parts north. Despite the smoke from the B.C. fires, I can assure you that a terrorist attack was not in the forefront of my mind as we anchored at some pristine inlets.  That is, until I walked into a counterterrorism exercise last Tuesday morning. I had been asked to welcome the Joint Counterterrorism Awareness Workshop this week.  As I prepared for the remarks and reviewed the agenda, exercise pre-reads and attendance list, the importance of the gathering was magnified. Thanks to the leadership and foresight of Lowell Porter and Scott Heinze in DEM, we hosted, along with Tacoma, Puyallup and Lakewood, an amazing assembly of first responders, law enforcement, medical professionals,…

While the Executive is out on vacation, it gives me a chance to step in and share my perspective on Pierce County. When Bruce returns next Monday, he will be devoting much of his time to putting together a budget proposal for 2018. It will be a lot of numbers but behind those numbers are real people. Two personal experiences I’ve had over the last few days illustrate the problems real people face every day and the very real difference people like you make to improve their quality of life. Last week I went grocery shopping at the Safeway store on South Hill. When I got out of the car, I heard a woman screaming. I turned to see an enraged man beating her with his fists. A second man…

To be clear, I am not a fisherman.  My grandfather was a legend out of Horsehead Bay in the late 60’s and early 70’s.  Many folks would see his boat heading out and see it as a sign that fish were running.  I chose this week’s blog title because of the image it conveys to me – time out on the water, away from the cares and pressures of work. While I won’t be fishing while I'm on vacation, I will be joining friends on their boat and cruising the San Juan Islands.  If you have never been there in the summer, I would encourage you to add it to your bucket list.  The San Juan Islands are a very special place of natural beauty, great for boating, biking and…

  Although we’re only seven months through the year with a recently approved Supplemental Budget for 2017, we are already keenly focused on the 2018 budget. For 6 to 8 hours each week, members of our Executive and Finance teams are meeting with department directors to review their budgets, discuss proposed new initiatives and evaluate process improvements.  We’re asking lots of questions and having great conversations about ways to enhance the services we provide our residents.  At the same time, we are looking hard at the resources – prioritizing expenditures so that we can make new investments in key priority areas for our citizens and our employees. These reviews are in the window-less conference room on the 7th Floor, so it keeps us focused on the budget and not distracted…

This week’s blog is warm and sunny – just like the amazing weather we’ve been enjoying recently. It was inspired by the recent baby bonanza we’ve been experiencing on the 7th floor of the County City Building.  I’d swear there is something in the water around here.  We’ve had six babies born in recent months – three in the last week, alone! Baby Blair Although she was born in March, I wouldn’t want to miss an opportunity to talk about my first grandchild, Blair.  She is pictured here (in the stroller) with her new BFF, Evie (in the front pack), as well as our dog, Bosco.  Lauren and I were fortunate enough to draw babysitting duty while all the parents took a break.  We happily took them for a walk…

You can learn a lot from a person, when you spend 7 hours on a Friday night riding in a patrol Tahoe. The lessons I learned from Deputy Fred Wiggins will linger -- long past the time we recently spent together on the swing shift. For those of you who have not met him, Deputy Wiggins is a 4-year veteran of our Pierce County Sheriff’s Department (PCSD).  Previously, he spent 10 years with the Department of Corrections and is a proud WSU grad – are there any other kind of WSU grads? Teamwork The importance of teamwork was made crystal clear when Deputy Wiggins received a call to do a welfare check on a 1-year-old in a home known to have multiple felons connected to it.  Deputy Wiggins knew the…