Amendment 51: Take partisanship out of the Pierce County Prosecutor’s office

We still remember the so-called good old days when county voters cast partisan ballots for an array of purely administrative positions — coroner, clerk, treasurer, assessor, auditor, sheriff and prosecutor. It was hard to figure how partisanship improved conducting autopsies, granting marriage licenses, managing records, depositing funds, appraising property or carrying out state-mandated laws. It doesn’t, of course.

Thankfully, back in 1980, county freeholders created a home rule charter that made some of the administrative positions appointive — based on a person’s qualifications. Later, county voters wisely voted to amend Pierce County’s charter to require a nonpartisan sheriff, assessor-treasurer and auditor. The outlier in all of this remains the partisan prosecutor. We submit that a compelling argument can be made for that administrative position to become nonpartisan as well.

It’s been argued that a party label can give the voter a clue as to a person’s values. Certainly, this argument has merit when deciding between candidates in policy-making positions. This is the case for county executive and county council. Leaders in these positions propose and enact the laws that are then carried out administratively.

There are clear value choices in the positions these candidates take. Policy-makers also provide legislative oversight with the intent of holding administrators accountable. This is the way government should, in fact, function. Administrators should then be judged based on their neutral competence and not their partisan inclinations.

In the last election for prosecutor, the incumbent filed as a Democrat. During the campaign, he sought the endorsement of the Republican Party and listed with pride the support of a former Republican Governor and Secretary of State. During a debate with his opponent, he called out the support of one of the most conservative Republicans on the county council. His endorsement list included a long list of local and statewide Democrats, Republicans and Independents. He was positioning himself as a nonpartisan or bipartisan candidate — as he rightfully should. The administration of justice should not be partisan. His opponent, who actually filed as a nonpartisan, won.

National issues can have an impact on local partisan elections with an adverse result, as we have seen in the past. In 1974, at the height of the Watergate scandals, running for office with the Republican label was a sure loser in Pierce County. In one case, a life-long Republican who had run as a member of that party for county-wide office became a Democrat for the first time on the day he filed for sheriff. He had actually served as a chief deputy for the Republican incumbent prior to his candidacy. There was no record of his ever attending a Democratic Party function or promoting Democratic Party candidates or issues before his filing. He won because of the party label and the support he had from courthouse political bosses. That sheriff was later tried and convicted of committing criminal felonies.

The Republican prosecutor that year had established an anti-corruption office and hired a team of skilled investigators to look into allegations of malfeasance on the part of certain courthouse bosses. He soon found himself running against a smooth-talking, camera-friendly opponent who filed on the Democratic Party ticket. The Democratic Party candidate had no public record of actively supporting party candidates or issues in the past. Because of national issues at the time, the Republican incumbent lost and the anti-corruption unit and the investigations were shut down.

Finally, in 1980, county voters had had enough of the scandals, mismanagement and malfeasance exhibited during the 1970s. They elected freeholders to meet and frame a home-rule charter for the purpose of cleaning up the corruption of the past. The proposed charter was approved by an overwhelming vote.

The charter included a requirement for a civil service system for recruiting and hiring public employees on the basis of merit and an effort was made to separate the policy-making and administrative functions of government. Compromises were made and there were issues that remained — primarily the election of certain administrative positions as partisan. The voters subsequently made all of the elected administrative positions nonpartisan — save one, the prosecutor.

Now is the time to finish that work by approving amendment 51.

Bill Baarsma is a former Tacoma mayor (2002-2009) and City Council member (1992-99). Born and raised in Pierce County, Bruce Dammeier is serving his second term as Pierce County Executive.