Council Schedule Highlights Week of August 12th, 2019
Monday, August 12th, 2019
1:30 pm Public Safety Committee
Jim McCune, Chair
Pam Roach, Vice Chair
Connie Ladenburg
Dave Morell
Derek Young
This meeting will be broadcast live and replayed on channel 22 (Comcast and Click! Network) and channel 20 (Rainier Connect). Access electronic meeting materials at http://www.piercecountywa.org/councilcommittees. Video archives are available at www.piercecountytv.org.
Superior Court Annual Report
Presenter: Honorable Judge Garold Johnson, Superior Court
Superior Court is where felonies, civil cases over $75,000 in value, and family court are held. Superior Court acts on behalf of the State at the local level. Each year the presiding judge, selected by their peers to handle their administrative needs, reports to the Council.
In recent years these reporters have centered on caseloads which exceed our peer counties by a significant margin. Pierce County has more felony charges than King County but handles it with half the judges, prosecutors, and public defenders. This system of justice by geography is something we’ve discussed with legislators at great length. More here on that subject.
Felony Drug Court/Family Recovery Court
Presenter: Honorable Judge Elizabeth Martin, Superior Court
Substance use disorders are a key driver for criminal behavior as well as child abuse and neglect. Therapeutic courts are a proven way to go after the core problem and offer a path to rebuild a person’s life and reunify families.
We’ve leaned into diversion, where appropriate, as part of our response to the opioid epidemic. Judge Martin and her staff have been a critical component of the work of the Opioid Task Force.
Tuesday, August 13th, 2019
9:30 am Economic and Infrastructure Development Committee
Douglas G. Richardson, Chair
Connie Ladenburg, Vice Chair
Marty Campbell
Dave Morell
Pam Roach
Regularly scheduled meetings are broadcast live and replayed on channel 22 (Comcast and Click! Network) and channel 20 (Rainier Connect). Access meeting materials at www.piercecountywa.org/councilcommittees.
Fish Passage Barrier/Culvert Report
Presenter: Kathleen Berger, Planning and Public Works
While counties weren’t named in the Supreme Court ruling against the State last year, ordering it to remove barriers to salmon habitat, we believe the logic of the case certainly applies to local governments as well. It also doesn’t make much sense to replace culverts on state facilities without addressing the barriers up and downstream.
Our staff has been working with our tribal partners to inventory and prioritize Pierce County’s culverts for replacement. In Olympia, I’ve advocated for a holistic solution and urged legislators to include counties in the solution.
3:00 pm Council Meeting
Regularly scheduled meetings are broadcast live and replayed on channel 22 (Comcast and Click! Network) and channel 20 (Rainier Connect). Access meeting materials at www.piercecountywa.org/councilcommittees.
Proposal №2019–45, Claims and Actions Against Pierce County
Sponsored by: Councilmembers Douglas G. Richardson and Derek Young
This bill is aimed at fixing procedures for handling litigation to ensure transparency. Background here.
The Department of Risk Management immediately corrected its reporting problem and established new procedures to keep the Council and the public up to speed. The bill would also make sure that all settlement offers, no matter the recommendation of the prosecutor, be brought to the Council for discussion.
One amendment I’ll be offering is to reduce the threshold for delegating settlement authority. I believe the $250,000 is too high and that anything past $100,000 should get the Council’s direct attention.
Proposal №2019–57s, Housing Sales Tax Credit
Sponsored by: Councilmember Derek Young
This is our second run at adopting the sales tax credit that will transfer a small portion of the State’s sales tax capacity to the County for affordable housing. Here’s how it works.
Two weeks ago, as Tacoma was about to adopt their version of this bill, we discovered a quirk in the law that would increase the size of the cap for Pierce County if we went first. The last-minute scrambling was unsuccessful.
Currently, Tacoma plans to rescind their bill and allow Pierce County’s to go into effect first. Keep in mind, we will likely spend quite a bit of the County’s share in Tacoma, so this benefits everyone.
We’re still unclear if this was the intention of the Legislature and the additional funds may never materialize, but consensus has grown around my interpretation, and we want to ensure Pierce County gets its fair share. Here’s the relevant section of the bill.
My Weekly Calendar
A couple of years ago we got a request for my forward-looking calendar. Rather than have staff waste their time on public record requests, I decided to publish screenshots. Now I’m adding a link to the calendar as well. If you have questions, feel free to call. Keep in mind, my schedule isn’t static. Things will get added, deleted, changed, etc. There are conflicts that I have to pick between. But if people want to see where I’m at and who I meet with, that’s fine by me.
