Lakewood mayor decides to step down after nearly a decade
Lakewood Mayor Don Anderson has announced he will not seek re-election after nearly a decade of leading the second-largest city in Pierce County.
Anderson joined the City Council in 2008, and the council promptly chose him as deputy mayor. Anderson was selected by the seven-body council as mayor in January 2013.
Anderson announced at Lakewood’s Tuesday City Council meeting that he would not run for mayor in January. He will complete the rest of his two-year term as a council member.
“It’s been my privilege to serve the community, and for a few years, the nation, in a variety of roles over those 50 years,” he said. “I’ve truly received more than I could possibly give.”
Anderson, 68, told The News Tribune he felt it was time to let someone else take the reins. He would like to see younger people get involved in Lakewood government.
“As a council, we are aging. We are stable, but we are getting older,” he said.
Anderson will leave the post after decades of local service.
Anderson grew up in Oregon and moved in 8th grade to Puyallup. At the age of 18, he ran and won a Puyallup School Board seat, eventually becoming the board’s president.
He received both a bachelor’s and a law degree from the University of Puget Sound. He served overseas as a U.S. Navy JAG officer from 1978 to 1981.
He left his role as an attorney with Eisenhower & Carlson after 35 years at the Tacoma firm for his current position as senior counsel to Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier.
Anderson hired his deputy mayor, Jason Whalen, at the firm more than 30 years ago, and the pair became partners before Whalen started his own practice in downtown Tacoma.
Whalen has been deputy mayor during Anderson’s entire mayoral tenure. Anderson recommended Whalen as his successor in the City Council meeting.
Whalen told The News Tribune he is proud of the work Lakewood has done under Anderson’s direction, like improving roads, sidewalks and lighting across the city, building a strong relationship with neighboring Joint Base Lewis-McChord and paving the way for multi-use development projects like Lakewood Landing.
“[Anderson] and I don’t always agree on everything, and that’s healthy. But he is calming presence on the council and a very pragmatic policymaker,” Whalen said. “ He always tries to do the right thing first and that sort of servant leadership is what I will miss.”
Anderson said local government should focus on roads, housing and parks. Getting a bathroom in the Fort Steilacoom Park was a big reason Anderson initially ran, he said.
“It’s the simple things,” he said. “It makes it more rewarding if you can change something in someone’s life in a big way.”
This story was originally published December 9, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
