County Council to vote on taking over joint health agency. Motives, timing questioned
The Pierce County Council will vote later this month on whether to take over the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, which is currently funded partially by the city and overseen by a board of elected leaders and community leaders.
Action at Tuesday’s council meeting started the ordinance on the legislative process.
Council member Pam Roach told The News Tribune she sponsored the bill because residents would have more direct representation if the health department was overseen by the Pierce County Council.
“This is a power struggle over a more balanced oversight,” Roach said. “The people would have much more control and influence if the health department board is the elected members of Pierce County.”
Before being voted on in full council, the ordinance must go through the Rules Committee, which includes Chairman Doug Richardson (R-Lakewood), Vice Chair Dave Morell (R-Lake Tapps), and Council member Derek Young (D-Gig Harbor).
Efforts to reach Morell for comment were not successful.
Young and Roach said the current 4-3 Republican majority on the full council has the votes to pass the proposal.
“Pulling this stunt is a pretty clear power grab by the executive,” Young said. “It sends all the wrong signals.”
Executive Bruce Dammeier’s office is withholding comment until the legislative body has finished considering the proposed ordinance.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department was created in 1972 by an interlocal agreement between the city and the county. The health department receives its funding from the state, the county and the city as well as fees from services provided. The interlocal agreement requires either the city or the county to give a year notice of their intent to terminate the health department.
The health department oversees local response to the coronavirus pandemic, investigates and works to limit disease outbreak, conducts food inspections and provides substance abuse programs.
While the objectives of the health department would remain the same under Roach’s proposal, the health director would report directly to the executive and County Council rather than a eight-member board of elected leaders from both Tacoma and the County Council and other community leaders.
If passed, the ordinance would abolish the health department by December 2021. Richardson has said he intends to introduce an amendment to push back the effective date until December 2022.
Richardson said he disagrees with the viewpoint that the legislation would abolish the health department. Under the county, the health department would use the county’s human resources and legal team rather than their own staff.
“There is some real opportunity to streamline services in the county,” he told The News Tribune. “I know we need to deal with the pandemic, but we need to think beyond the pandemic.”
The proposal would mean the health department would lose the City of Tacoma $1.1 million contribution to the health department’s $40 million annual budget. Pierce County contributes nearly $5 million.
Young worries about where that funding would come from if the county is expected to cover the difference.
To questions about a power grab, Richardson said this has been in discussion for a long time.
The city and the health department said they were blindsided by the proposal.
Tacoma’s Mayor Victoria Woodards said Wednesday she was surprised to hear the news for the first time on Tuesday afternoon. Woodards said she is disappointed the ordinance was proposed during a crucial time and wants the county to take time to include the cities and medical community in the discussion.
“During a public health and economic crisis of this magnitude and scale, a decision like this should not be rushed,” she said in a statement. “Lives are at stake.”
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department’s Director of Health, Dr. Anthony Chen said the proposal surprised him and that the health department works quickly as a independent agency.
“In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic our focus needs to remain on bringing the disease under control, and now, distributing vaccine to the community,” he said in a statement. “As a small government agency, we are nimble and agile. We are a neutral convener, and, especially during COVID-19, we have worked quickly with many partners throughout the county to serve all residents of Pierce County.”
The executive director of the Washington State Public Health Association, Jefferson Ketchel, said the proposal is troubling.
“Our public health system was already in deep decline with twenty years of funding cuts,” he said in an email. “The sharp increase of politically driven rhetoric and schemes, such as this proposal, along with the resource gaps puts everyone’s health at greater risk.”
Asked why make this change during a global health crisis, Roach said, “It has no bearing. This is something that should have been done a long time ago. Every person in Pierce County should have an equal ability to have their opinions on the board on health.”
Roach believes that the TPCHD Board of Health, a board of community leaders and elected officials in Pierce County, does not directly represent all of Pierce County. There are eight members, half of which are Pierce County elected officials, two from Tacoma City Council, one from The Pierce County Cities and Towns Association and one from The Pierce County Medical Society.
Young said if this ordinance was considered at another time and with more public comment, he could see the merits of a county-run health department. He believes that there could be more “buy-in” from other cities in Pierce County as a county department.
This is the last month of a Republican-held council, before the legislative body flips blue for the first time in 17 years. While there is a possibility that Democrats could then reverse the proposal if passed before next December, Young worries that Dammeier would veto the reversal. The council would need a “supermajority,” or five of seven votes to override a veto.
“We are concerned that once we start this, can we stop this?” Young said.
The final vote on the ordinance is scheduled for Dec. 15.
This story was originally published December 2, 2020 at 12:15 PM.
