Interim Pierce County sheriff appointed to replace retiring Paul Pastor
The Pierce County Council unanimously appointed the undersheriff on Thursday to take command of the Sheriff’s Department until voters choose a new sheriff in the November election.
Brent Bomkamp will run the 800-person department until at least mid-November. He steps in for Paul Pastor, who retired recently.
Bomkamp was the highest non-elected staff in the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. As undersheriff, he oversaw all internal operations of the department for more than three years.
Bomkamp, who has been with the department since 1989, has led the Administrative Services Bureau and the Criminal Investigations Division, his department bio said.
Bomkamp will serve as sheriff until November election results are certified, naming either Lt. Cyndie Fajardo or sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer as sheriff-elect. Both Fajardo and Troyer have worked at the department for more than 32 years.
In accordance with Pierce County code, the council can fill a vacant sheriff position. They interviewed two candidates on Thursday in a special council meeting.
The council created a committee of council members, the Ad Hoc Committee, to consider the applications. The committee met hours before the appointee meeting and recommended two of the 11 applicants.
Bomkamp and Mark Langford, a former Milton police chief and retired captain with the Tacoma Police Department, were interviewed by council members on Thursday in a public meeting.
The candidates were asked about their intentions on filling the seat, leadership style and vision for the month and a half they would serve.
Most of the council expressed support for Bomkamp to be the appointee in an effort to keep the department steady during a tumultuous time between communities and policing.
“I’m most interested in keeping the ship upright,” Council member Derek Young said.
“I think that continuity is important right now,” Council member Connie Ladenburg said.
“At this time, I will be supporting Undersheriff Bomkamp,” Vice Chair council member Dave Morell said.
Council member Jim McCune agreed with the others, saying that Bomkamp would be consistent.
The seven-body council had two options to replace Pastor. The seat could remain open until after the November election results are certified. Or, they could name an interim from applications sent into the county to remain until election results are certified.
Council member Marty Campbell said if the council left the seat vacant, Bomkamp would be running the department anyway, so it makes sense to have him serve as sheriff.
In his resignation letter, Pastor recommended Bomkamp to serve as interim sheriff.
“There is a great calming in an organization when all standing orders remain in effect, and that’s what will happen if Undersheriff Bomkamp is appointed,” Council Chairman Doug Richardson said.
Council member Pam Roach was not present for the vote.
“I appreciate your confidence in me,” Bomkamp told the council after he was appointed. “All standing orders will remain in effect.”
Pastor ran the county’s largest law enforcement agency for nearly two decades. He stepped down at the end of September, after rescinding his initial resignation to help respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
He left with three months left in his term.
This story was originally published October 1, 2020 at 1:30 PM.
