Man chosen as new Pierce County medical examiner withdraws, dealing another blow to office
The man chosen to be Pierce County’s new medical examiner has decided not to take the job.
The County Council was expected Tuesday to schedule a vote confirming the hiring of Dr. Mark Fajardo but removed the vote from the afternoon’s agenda. Chairman Doug Richardson said it didn’t make sense to schedule the vote.
“He has withdrawn his acceptance letter,” Richardson said during the council meeting.
Fajardo, 55, was due to replace Dr. Thomas Clark as head of the Medical Examiner’s Office.
County Executive Bruce Dammeier announced in December plans to hire Fajardo, who is currently the chief forensic pathologist for the Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner in California.
His starting salary was expected to be $65,000 more than the current medical examiner at $325,000. A County Council committee also discussed increasing the amount of moving expenses offered to Fajardo, Council member Pam Roach told The News Tribune.
Asked Tuesday why Fajardo withdrew, Roach said, “That wasn’t discussed.”
Council member Derek Young told The News Tribune he found out about Fajardo’s decision just hours before.
“I was surprised as well, because it seemed like such a positive fit,” Young said. “I’m not sure what happened.”
A Pierce County spokeswoman did not immediately return calls seeking comment..
The Medical Examiner’s Office has been marred with controversy over the past year, from workplace harassment complaints to claims of mismanaged death investigations.
The county and state Department of Health opened investigations.
A 2016 report filed after a complaint on inappropriate comments made by Clark stated “evidence overwhelmingly supports the allegation that Dr. Clark’s actions in the workplace are perceived as arrogantly vindictive, and in some cases deliberately cruel.”
Clark announced his retirement, after almost a decade in the position. County spokeswoman Libby Catalinich told The News Tribune Clark will serve as the medical examiner until his replacement is hired and then remain “on-call” until Dec 2020.
This story was originally published February 4, 2020 at 4:21 PM.
