New Pierce County Council majority to prioritize housing, early childhood development
Pierce County Council has selected a new chairperson, and a new Democratic majority plans to champion affordable housing, homelessness and early child development.
The majority hopes for bipartisanship on bills before they reach Republican County Executive Bruce Dammeier’s desk, where bills deemed too left-leaning could be vetoed.
The first Democratic council in 17 years voted in Derek Young (D-Gig Harbor) as council chairman for the next two years before he is term-limited out.
While the chairperson does not dictate which pieces of legislation are brought forward, they could block legislation in the rules committee. Young said he does not want to use that authority.
“I figure my job is to facilitate what the other six members want to get done,” he said. “Anyone who wants bill forwarded to council, they can get that. That’s my commitment. They might not pass, but they will get to vote on it.”
Both parties agree that economic recovery and response to the COVID-19 pandemic are critical priorities this year. Other bipartisan priorities include affordable housing and homelessness.
“COVID isn’t just creating its own problem. It made other issues glaringly obvious,” Young said. “Housing is a huge problem and our safety net is not much of a net at all. There’s huge holes in it. Lots of folks are falling through.”
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development considers a home affordable if total housing costs do not exceed 30% of a household’s gross income.
Last year, the Pierce County Performance Audit Committee commissioned a report on affordable housing that concluded there was a lack of funding available for affordable housing development in the county.
The report said about 14,500 housing units were built in unincorporated Pierce County between 2010 and 2019. A reported 682 units were deemed affordable units, or about 4.7 percent of the total housing production during that period.
Details on legislation for such issues will be discussed later this month in a council retreat.
Young wants to start a conversation surrounding early childhood. He said the county needs to do more for young families. He wants more accessible child care and additional perinatal services for mothers.
“It’s very difficult for anybody that makes less than six figures to find affordable child care in Pierce County,” he said. “In many cases, it’s just connecting them to existing resources, but it’s also maybe finding a way to build additional resources.”
Bi-partisan plans
This is a fresh council. Four of the seven members, council members Hans Zeiger, Jani Hitchen, Ryan Mello, and Amy Cruver, were voted in for their first term in November, two others have two years on the dais under their belt, Vice Chair Dave Morell and Council member Marty Campbell. Young has been on the council for six years.
Campbell (D-Tacoma) was tapped to serve as Executive Pro Tem, meaning he will fulfill the executive’s responsibilities if Dammeier is absent or unavailable. Campbell has been on the council for two years and hopes partisan lines are not harshly defined on the council.
“Getting to four is politics, but getting six is good leadership,” Campbell said. “That means bring forward a good policy and making sure people understand why it’s important to pass and help to support constituents. People expect us to be good stewards of the tax dollars regardless of party.”
Zeiger (R-Puyallup) said he is ready to work with Democrats to craft legislation. He pointed to his decade in the state Legislature as proof of his ability to reach across the aisle. He worked with Democrats on a bill to create a pilot program to hire those experiencing homelessness for city beautification projects. Another looked to create job training for unhoused individuals. Neither passed the state Senate, but his efforts for supportive employment programs for homeless adults became a grant item in 2019.
“There is a desire to be on the same page, and we want to maintain a seat at the table,” he said. “While there are going to be disagreements, we want to make sure to offer good ideas and improve legislation and maybe I couldn’t go as far as they want to, but we can offer thoughtful amendments.”
Morell said Republicans are interested in finding bipartisan answers to affordable housing and homelessness, but he said a affordable housing tax of one-tenth of 1 percent is a line Republicans will not cross. The Legislature gave counties the power to pass this tax increase last year. In the first council meeting of the year, public comment was full of citizens voicing their support for the tax.
“So many small businesses are struggling, and sales tax seems to be on the rise everywhere,” he said. “Coming out of the pandemic, it was heavy enough lift with the behavioral health tax.”
In a third attempt over four years, the council passed a one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax increase for behavioral health services and education.
Republicans have additional goals for the year, like extending transit to rural areas, supporting businesses growth throughout the pandemic and expanding trail systems to link with Thurston and King county trail systems.
Democrat council members support Young’s priorities.
Hitchen (D-Lakewood) said Young has a “wealth of knowledge” and 22 years as an elected official. He spent 16 years on Gig Harbor City Council. She believes he and the Democrats are motivated to get legislation passed that has been in the works for years, like broadband access in rural areas of the county and housing.
“I think he feels, ‘I’ve got two years, what can we get done and what has needed to get done and gotten blocked?’” she said.
Democrats have said they are willing to compromise with their Republican colleagues to pass legislation beyond a simple majority.
“We are making real authentic overtures. We are here to be serious and work together,” Mello (D-Tacoma) said. “We are not going to compromise on values, but we are here to work together.”
Vetoes
Most bills before the council are bipartisan and pass across party lines, like land use, transportation and broadband access. Contentious issues this past year between the parties included the behavioral health tax and plans to terminate the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department to create a county-led health department.
The behavioral health tax passed when Democrats and Republicans co-sponsored a bill after Morell previously refused to approve the tax unless there was a proposal on how the annual $12 million collected would be spent. Morell, who sponsored the most recent tax proposal, joined then-Chairman Doug Richardson and three Democrats to pass the tax. Tax increases require a “supermajority,” or five “yes” votes, per county code.
The health department bill failed when former Republican council member Pam Roach sank her own ordinance. Council Republicans wanted to dissolve the existing health department, claiming that some services like permitting would be streamlined if under the authority of the county. Roach flipped her vote after four hours of public comment largely against the move.
Republicans say they don’t believe that becoming the minority party will change most aspects of the council.
Morell said if the Democrats veer too far left without consulting Republicans, Dammeier’s veto will become the safety net.
In the last four years, Dammeier has used the power of the veto twice with a Republican Council: a bill in 2019 for new fees for public records and a 2017 comprehensive plan that he believed could open the county to litigation.
A veto from the executive takes five votes or a “supermajority” to overrule. Council wrote new legislation in response to Dammeier’s concerns. In both instances, those new bills were signed by Dammeier.
Morell said the Republican minority is in “lock step” on their priorities this year, and he feels encouraged thus far by the members. Morell was named Vice Chair, a position that usually is held by a member of the majority party.
The county executive hopes to work through partisan politics to provide a functional government.
“The people of Pierce County expect us to work through this. You can have petty politics if they are passing legislation without listening to the other side, and that’s not operational,” Dammeier told The News Tribune. “We will be focusing on those priorities and finding areas we agree and move those issues forward.”
He said he hopes his administration is included in the legislative process, so the council is aware of his position. Dammeier said a potential veto should never come as a surprise to council.
“I don’t know how many times in the future I will use the veto, it depends on how they approach things,” he said. “My team will work out the issues so their won’t be any need for vetoes. I’m confident that’s the way it will be.”
Cruver (R-Roy) declined to comment for this story.
This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
