By Marianne Lincoln

Each new Pierce County Executive brings changes to the County. Although we have a County Charter, the Executive is the chief department head approving job and volunteer appointments and legislation from the Council. Thus, that person has a significant influence on who holds a job almost anywhere in County Government offices. Leadership skills can make a department delightful to work for, or they can also put a chill on anyone working outside that leader’s expressed interests.

The newest elected County Executive is Ryan Mello. His term will begin January 1, 2025. His priorities will be in another article. We all wish the best for this new administration.

Our current and departing County Executive, Bruce Dammeier, is the subject of this article. Bruce is a very affable fellow. He has written some very pleasant articles about the county and county employees during his term. He is kind and friendly when you meet him in person and on County videos. His term ends December 31, 2024.

Dammeier has very strong opinions regarding what he sees as the way the County should operate. Many major changes were brought forward under his administration, enough that all the community associations in the unincorporated areas came together in an attempt to prevent some real tragedies. Those communities even created a convening organization to attempt to push back against many of Dammeier’s policies. This is an article about all those legacies.

Dammeier, elected County Executive November 8, 2016 began January 1, 2017

Prior to being County Executive, Dammeier was a State Senator for the 25^th Legislative District one term and two terms as a State Representative. Before that, he had been a Puyallup School District Board member for 8 years. Previously he was a Corps office in the Navy as a Civil Engineer.

He just posted this summary video of his accomplishments. Following this, are listed other things possibly not mentioned. “Please take a look and let me know what you think. I hope you will take pride and a sense of satisfaction as you recall what we achieved together.
I know I do. https://youtu.be/W02QFcVshcw “

Since many people do not pay a lot of attention to people in government, here is a longer list of things that occurred under Bruce Dammeier’s two terms of office. If Dammeier decides not to stay retired, please refer to this list if he decides to run for another office. At this time, he is 63.

• Combining Planning and Land Services (PALS) and Public Works Departments (PW) into Planning and Public Works (PPW). Initially without realizing the person put in charge of the new combined department did not have the qualifying engineering certifications necessary.
• The Sierra Pacific warehouse development on 208^th Street, where winter creek was completely removed into a surface water pond. The land was formerly dairy farm with an awesome view of Mt. Rainier and a landing zone for Canadian geese, Northern Sshovelers, Snow geese and occasionally some swans.
• Allowing the contractor to block the best mountain view on 208^th with a wetland project permitted to alter a grassland wildlife area to a hill and pond surrounded by tall growing trees
• Development of Brookdale Golf Course to nearly 400 houses (Trail’s End) in a known flood zone. This development was on a known historic site at the end of the Naches Trail. The surface where trail ruts were still visible was graded. The Trail evidence that could have been required to preserve is gone, against the wishes of a large crowd of local citizens at several public meetings.
• No one admits who allowed the beavers to be imported (released by a contractor) from King County near the Brookdale Golf Course, but the water has not flowed properly there since.
• The Centers and Corridors Zoning was testified against vociferously at each of the Community Land Use Commissions. None of the testimony was heeded. Centers and Corridors is high rise (5 story) development allowed along the major roadways of 112^th Street, Pacific Avenue, 176^th Street and Meridian.
• Community Plans were “consolidated” in the name of making the development rules easier across the unincorporated areas. Actually, that consolidation took the styles and personalities out of each of the communities that took years for volunteer community board to plan.
• Attempting to dissolve TPCHD and replace it with a department reporting directly to the Executive. (This also was vociferously opposed in the longest ever Council meeting, and voted down.)
• Niagara Water permitted to site in Frederickson in spite of concerns about water availability in the area. It was promised that the plant would use Tacoma Water from the Green River Watershed for their bottling operation. There are persisting rumors that is not entirely the case.
• Attempting to close 180^th Street in Frederickson – The Hardie Board plant wanted to expand. There was land available to the North, but 180^th Street needed to be cut off in order to make it work. The citizens on that road complained vociferously about their need to be able to walk that route to the stores, not just drive it. Eventually Hardie found a nearby property SW of the plant and was able to build there. The road stayed open. But PPW would have permitted it under Dammeier.
• Paving over the beautiful daffodils that were originally planted in the median of Canyon Road.
• And the crowning glory of his two terms of office, the thrice renamed tiny home village in the wetland watershed Southwest of Spanaway Lake. This ongoing debacle was to make sure the County received the $22 million in Federal funding for homelessness. The need is real, but the location was never zoned for a commercial operation. Worst of all, there is such potential damage to the water and environment in the area. Currently called the Good Neighbor Village, it is basically a penal colony of single, chronically homeless people with drug, alcohol, and mental health issues that make them unable to fit in other housing situations. Many in the business of working with unhoused populations do not think this is the best way to handle this group of individuals. The community of Spanaway has spent nearly $150,000 fighting it. No community deserves this expense to oppose an “Executive Priority,” as this was declared. Unheeded community input, permit violations, expenses, and continuing court appeals are making this a brutal testimony to forced community development, begging the question, is there actually such a thing as “Executive Priority?” Has this really been legal to call it a priority to run over laws and public input this way?
• Bruce Dammeier’s terms in office saw a change to the laws of who get mailed notifications of new developments. The distance of neighbors to be notified was reduced to only 300 feet of the proposed project. People began watching for the posted yellow project signs. There was heavy protest about the signs being illegible, which has been heeded. Yet, it is also notable that accommodations known as mitigations have been few during this administration. For those who read and testify on upcoming projects, it has been as if the public testimony is only a necessary evil, an exercise in futility as optional mitigations were mostly all ignored.
• During this past 8 years, water companies, who are required to issue certificates of water availability to new projects, have been running out of water. The State Department of Ecology stopped issuing permits to drill new wells many years ago in this sole source aquifer. The water company that still had water rights for wells that were not maxed out, Lakewood Water, has, during this time, run water lines to Summit, Firgrove, and Spanaway. At the Spanaway Water Company meeting in November 2024, the company admitted buying 22% of its water supply from Lakewood. This lack of local water for projects in the Centers and Corridors areas makes the continued high volume of housing construction a very questionable enterprise.
• The Blue Zones Project was started because Parkland and Spanaway were left in such an economic mess that their health statistics show an actual 10 year shorter life span than people in other parts of the County.
• Bus Rapid Transit and the Cross Base Highway become taxpayer funded relics. Tax money spent and nothing to show for it.
• Opposition to a Regional airport in the Graham area
• During the pandemic, he led the County to have mass vaccination sites. Depending on who you are, this item is good or bad. Editor gives him credit here for trying to do something.

Do feel free to compane the Dammeier accomplishment video to this list. Monday, December 16, at the special Council meeting in Bonney Lake, the Council will do a Proclamation on Dammeier’s behalf. Granted, he had to lead the County during the pandemic which was not a pleasant task, especially for a Republican.

Ryan Mello, you have a tough act to follow. Literally, Dammeier was tough – on the citizens and community groups defending neighborhoods and quality of life in this County. With your new slogan, Forward Together, we hope you really mean it. Eight years of citizens being thrown “under the bus” has been brutal.