In Pierce County, an attempted public health coup demands answers and explanations
Just come out and say it.
Is this about schools? Masks? Disagreements with Dr. Anthony Chen?
Or simply about politics and power?
In the aftermath of Tuesday’s surprise decision by the Pierce County Council to consider taking over the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, these are just a few of the questions that remain unanswered from those orchestrating the move.
Some have described the ordinance — which is supported by conservative County Council members Pam Roach and Doug Richardson — as a brazen “power grab” on behalf of Republican Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier.
Others have simply been blindsided, unsure what to make of it.
At this stage, here’s what can be said for certain:
Without warning or adequate explanation, Pierce County suddenly finds itself in a crisis of the council’s making.
Are we really going to initiate the demolition of a long-standing health board, on what feels like the whim of two lame-duck council members just as the elected body’s conservative majority is about to flip for the first time in 17 years?
Are we actually going to throw leadership of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department into chaos while mired in what the numbers and experts suggest will be the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Are we seriously going to rush to pull the trigger on this madness in less than two weeks, right before Roach and Richardson ride into the sunset?
That’s how it looks.
As for how it feels and smells, I’ll leave that to Buckley Mayor Pat Johnson.
On Wednesday evening, during an emotional and exasperated meeting of the health board, Johnson eloquently described the situation, saying that — without more information from the county — the council’s move hits like a “hostile takeover.”
“I don’t know why it has to be rushed in, right at the end of the year,” a visibly perturbed Johnson told her fellow health board members and anyone streaming at home.
“I mean, that just speaks volumes, and reeks.”
Yes, it certainly does, and the stench is wafting from a particular direction.
When pressed by The News Tribune’s Josephine Peterson, Richardson — who has 27 days and counting left in power — offered an unconvincing defense of the plan.
The current council leader from Lakewood — who all but acknowledged the terrible optics when he announced his intention to introduce a largely hollow amendment to push back the effective date of the haphazard ordinance until December 2022 — argued that county control of the health department would allow for services to be “streamlined.”
Like a middle manager who’s lost sight of the big picture, Richardson suggested that eliminating administrative redundancies — like the current need for two HR departments and legal teams — somehow justified the half-baked, last-minute maneuver.
Meanwhile, Dammeier has sought to keep the issue at arm’s length, despite the fact that his position as County Executive gives him significant say in the matter, and — ultimately — his power would increase exponentially under the plan.
On Wednesday, Dammeier’s office told The News Tribune that the executive would be withholding comment until the council has finished considering the proposed ordinance.
Later that evening, indirectly confronted by 12 rounds of valid criticism from his counterparts on the health board, Dammeier urged residents and anyone concerned to engage with the council’s “public process.”
Correctly describing the issue as one of “critical importance,” Dammeier said that people should “reach out to their County Council people and talk to them about it, ask them the questions and pay attention to this.”
“There’s every opportunity to testify and get more information, it just started,” Dammeier said
To his credit, Dammeier is right to note that we’re at the beginning of the legislative process.
What his stance conveniently omits — or ignores altogether — is that we’re also at the tail end, which is precisely the problem.
With a final vote on the ordinance currently scheduled for Dec. 15, even if the idea of a county-run health department has merit, there’s no way it will have been properly vetted by then.
It’s almost enough to make a person pine for a time when Dammeier was known to vocally advocate for firm plans of action before making big decisions.
It’s almost like any discussion of public process is purely performative.
Then there’s Roach, who we can at least count on to be consistent.
Unlike most of her Republican colleagues, Roach has left little mystery about where she stands.
In her customarily brash fashion, Roach has spent months sharply criticizing Chen’s leadership, while suggesting that paying for things like county contact tracers (who can literally save lives and are a key component to an effective pandemic response) is like “pouring money down a rathole.”
Are Roach’s views erratic and dangerous?
Of course they are.
Is there any way Pierce County’s public health response to COVID-19 would have benefited from giving her and the likes of Jim McCune more say, while disbanding the eight-member board of elected leaders and health professionals, as she seems to believe?
Of course not.
Still, at least Roach is transparent — which is exactly what we should demand and expect from all parties involved.
To make it easy, here are the basic questions that anyone who supports this attempted public health coup should be able to answer:
How will this make Pierce County safer?
Why the sudden rush?
And why should elected officials on their way out of office get to jam a decision of this magnitude down our throats?
Just come out and say it.
Unless, of course, you’re ashamed.
This story was originally published December 4, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
