Here’s what happened to move to change county sheriff, auditor to appointed positions
Pierce County sheriff and auditor positions will remain elected after the County Council failed Tuesday to pass one ballot measure and then pulled another.
The council voted along party lines on Tuesday against adding two measures to the November ballot. The initiatives would have given voters a choice on whether to elect the Pierce County auditor and Pierce County sheriff or let the County Executive appoint someone to the positions.
The County Council would have to confirm the appointments, and the appointees would have been limited to two four-year terms, according to the proposed legislation.
The council failed to attain the required two-thirds support for a charter amendment on the sheriff seat after the measure received approval from four Democrats and rejection from three Republicans. The vote for the potential auditor change was pulled and council did not hold a hearing on Tuesday.
Chairman Derek Young, a Democrat from Gig Harbor, explained in a blog post his support for the measures.
“Since some have questioned my motives, I’ll note that my final term also expires in 2022. Regardless of the outcome, I would have no role in either appointment,” Young wrote. “For me, this is about good government and giving Pierce County residents the best odds of having capable department-level officials.”
Council member Ryan Mello (D-Tacoma) supported the bill, saying it was a move for accountability, pointing out that heads of public works and police chiefs in cities like Tacoma and Puyallup are not elected.
Council member Hans Zeiger (R-Puyallup) said the voters just decided in 2008 to return the sheriff seat to an elected position. He responded after Mello, saying Pierce County voters decide judges, which are specialized positions.
Council member Jani Hitchen (D-Parkland) said she was worried about unqualified candidates running for the top position in a department.
Council member Amy Cruver (R-Eatonville) wanted the charter commission to review the position, rather than council making a determination.
Young and Hitchen, two sponsors of the sheriff charter change bill, said the first open sheriff race in decades made them concerned about how a sheriff is selected. In 2020, voters chose Sheriff Ed Troyer, the former spokesperson for the department, to run the law enforcement branch of Pierce County. He replaced Paul Pastor, who was in office for more than 20 years after being appointed and then elected.
Sheriff was an elected position in Pierce County until former Sheriff George Janovich was convicted of racketeering in 1979. The next year, county voters decided to change the sheriff’s position to an appointment.
The position was reverted to an elected one in 2006, according to The News Tribune archives. Voters elected then-Sheriff Pastor in 2008, and he remained sheriff until he retired last year.
Current Sheriff Ed Troyer said elected sheriffs across Washington have promised to work for the people of the county. Troyer has been at the center of state and county investigations regarding an incident with a Black newspaper carrier.
Troyer called 911 on Jan. 27 saying a Black man delivering newspapers threatened to kill him. The newspaper carrier denied making threats.
The sheriff told The News Tribune on Tuesday the vote about the position of the office, not him.
“I have not lobbied the council members either way,” Troyer told The News Tribune. “It’s up to the voters. I don’t think the voters want to hear their vote taken away from them. It has nothing to do with me — it has to do with the future of this office. I’m here for this term. It’s got nothing to do with my personal goal or agenda for the future of the sheriff’s office.”
He added in a email that the vast majority of sheriffs are elected, and the voters should retain their rights.
“This issue is not about my future as Sheriff of Pierce County,” he said. ”This is about the future abilities of our department to meet the public safety needs in our community without being dictated by political agendas or influenced by special interest groups.”
Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson suggested in an editorial that the council make the auditor position an appointed one. Pierce County voted to change the county auditor to a nonpartisan position in 2009.
“But even so designated, the 2022 election for a new auditor will attract partisan candidates that could leave voters without uniquely qualified, nonpartisan candidates to choose from,” her June editorial said.
The council voted to postpone the vote regarding the auditor indefinitely.
The measures would not have removed the elected officials from the sheriff and auditor seats. The auditor’s term expires in 2022, so the executive would have recruited to fill it in 2023. Troyer started his term last year, and it would not be open until 2025.
This story was originally published July 28, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
