TNT endorsements: Pierce County Council races from Sumner and Puyallup to Eatonville | Opinion

The big offices — and big-time officeholders, from statewide elected officials to county executives and metropolitan mayors — get all the attention. That’s just the way it goes.

But when it comes to how the government sausage is made — including the development and implementation of policies and programs that have the most immediate impact on your family’s quality of life?

The real action is hyper-local, hashed out in sparsely attended committee meetings and half-empty council chambers, decided between local elected leaders who probably aren’t in it for the glamour or ego boost.

Pierce County has provided plenty of examples, particularly as the flow of federal dollars doled out in response to COVID-19 has slowly run dry. From public safety to the strength of our social safety net and the urgency of our response to homelessness, the work of the Pierce County Council has shaped all of our lives in recent years, for better or worse, more than most realize.

This year, voters across Pierce County will be tasked with filling four of the council’s seven positions. All but one race features a well-known incumbent.

Below you’ll find The News Tribune Editorial Board’s 2024 endorsements in the battles to represent Pierce County’s two most sprawling and rural jurisdictions: District 2 and District 3.

Pierce County Council District 2

In many ways, the unexpected resignation of Republican Hans Zeiger from the Pierce County Council in 2022 continues to loom large in District 2. The departure created a lasting ripple effect that impacts residents from Milton and Edgewood to Sumner, Puyallup and South Hill to this day.

After a decade in the state Legislature, Zeiger arrived on the Pierce County Council in 2020 as a prominent local Republican with a long history of working with County Executive Bruce Dammeier, who was elected two years prior after a similar stint as a state lawmaker in Olympia.

It was set up nicely for a one-two GOP power play, even as Democrats seized a council majority for the first time in years. Dammeier could lead the charge with a strong mandate from voters from the executive’s office while Zeiger was positioned to play his part rallying votes and shaping debates in council chambers.

Then, only two years in, Zeiger got a job with a civics and American history nonprofit few people had ever heard of and rode into the sunset.

Ten days after he left, Republican Paul Herrera was appointed to fill the vacant District 2 seat — a position he still holds today.

In 2024, Herrera, a Puyallup Tribal police officer and military veteran formerly stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, is vying for his first full four-year term. Last year, he fended off a challenge from Democrat Jamie Smith for the right to finish the remainder of Zeiger’s original term.

In the view of The News Tribune Editorial Board, Herrera has been a capable but pedestrian lawmaker during his time on the Pierce County Council. He’s provided a steady and consistent conservative voice on most matters, sure, but residents of District 2 deserve more.

In a primary field of three candidates, Herrera earns the TNT Ed Board’s endorsement this year — but, with it, we’re issuing a firm challenge:

We think Herrera’s politics best reflect the district he serves. We think his background in law enforcement and the military gives him insight and experience no other candidate — or current County Council member — can match. All of it is important.

If elected to a full term, however, we hope Herrera steps up and provides more than that — striving to be the kind of leader Zeiger could have been for residents of District 2.

For more progressive voters, Puyallup Democrat Davida Haygood offers an intriguing and capable alternative.

After recent runs for Puyallup City Council in 2021 and Puyallup School Board in 2023, her name should be more than familiar.

Haygood, who would bring much-needed diversity to the council, has a history working in education, the nonprofit world and speaking out about issues of racism and diversity in Puyallup, including important community organizing efforts. In our estimation, her heart is in the right place and many of her ideas are sound. We also believe she would benefit from more time serving at a lower level of government, much like Herrera would have before he was appointed. At this point, experience is what separates the two candidates.

Nate Lowry, a former Edgewood City Council member and licensed landscape architect, is running as an independent in District 2

We admire Lowry’s desire to shake up two-party politics as usual at the local level — and share many of his underlying frustrations with the status quo — but serving on the County Council is a jump we’re not convinced he’s ready to make.

Pierce County Council District 3

The TNT Ed Board faced a dilemma in Pierce County Council District 3, which stretches from Spanaway and Frederickson out to Roy and through Eatonville, all the way to Mount Rainier.

At least it’s a familiar one.

Throughout his time on the Pierce County Council, former District 3 representative Jim McCune made a habit out of stiff-arming pesky TNT reporters and the TNT Ed Board, including during its annual election endorsement process.

Amy Cruver, who was elected by District 3 voters in 2020 and is up for reelection this year, served as McCune’s long-time assistant.

Guess what?

Cruver has taken her old boss’s approach.

The TNT Ed Board does not endorse candidates who decline to meet with us. Among other things, ducking local journalists covering the news and editorial boards working to provide valuable information and context to voters shows a brazen and troubling disregard for transparency and people’s right to know how their elected leaders are serving in office, at least in our humble opinion.

In this year’s District 3 race, Marcus Young, the current president of the Bethel School Board, earns the TNT Ed Board’s endorsement.

Make no mistake: The pick is not by default.

Young’s history in District 3 and his unique, firsthand experience with many of the challenges facing families in the area make him an attractive and well-suited candidate for the job.

In addition to Young’s service on the Bethel School Board, which dates back to his appointment in 2018, he has a background as a pastor, youth mentor and foster parent.

Young is also running without a political party affiliation in the District 3 race, which is unusual but intriguing in these hyper-partisan times.

If elected, Young told the TNT Ed Board he’ll go beyond the labels and political stereotypes and get to work for the people of District 3, no matter who they are or what they believe.

In our view, that’s as it should be.

John Linboe, a commissioner with South Pierce Fire and Rescue, is running as a Democrat.

While the longtime Pierce County Fair volunteer, who works as a tooling inspector for an area composites manufacturing company, lacks the type of standard experience the TNT Ed Board believes is necessary for the job, he has at least one thing going for him.

Linboe had the integrity and political conviction to meet with us.

The News Tribune Editorial Board is: Matt Driscoll, opinion editor; Stephanie Pedersen, TNT president and editor; Jim Walton, community representative; Amanda Figueroa, community representative; Justin Evans, community representative; J. Manny Santiago, community representative; Bart Hayes, community representative.

This story was originally published July 20, 2024 at 7:00 AM.