Council Schedule Highlights Week of June 17th, 2019

June 17, 2019

– Derek Young, Pierce County Council

Monday, June 17th, 2019

10:00 am Rules Committee

Douglas Richardson, Chair
Connie Ladenburg, Vice Chair
Dave Morrell, Executive Pro Tempore

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 №2019–32, Supplemental Budget
Sponsored by: Councilmembers Douglas G. Richardson and Derek Young

Typically the Council will have at least one mid-year supplemental budget. Some of this is because we are conservative in our revenue forecasts and have more available than expected back in November. It’s also to address emerging needs and new priorities. Here are some highlights of the proposal as it stands now.

$45,000 for a Human Trafficking Awareness initiative.
$10,000 for Amara, an organization involved with foster children, additional funding for community engagement on how to best use its property in Midland.
$20,000 to provide flexible transportation services for inmates released from jail to substance abuse treatment providers.
$75,000 to the Blighted Property Maintenance Fund for abatement and clean-up activity.
$106,570 for the Coordinated Water Program Update.
$68,520 PALS Building and Development Fund budget for a new Limited Duration FTE (1.0) in response to increased workload.

One item I have some questions about is the proposal for $115,000 in park impact fees for improvements to the central meadow at Chambers Bay Park. The other $300,000 would come from hotel tax revenue. Park impact fees come from construction in the unincorporated parts of Pierce County and should be spent in those areas, particularly considering the extremely poor level of service for Pierce County parks. We also made that commitment in negotiations with the Master Builders Association with a project agreement where the funds would be spent. Chambers Bay Park was not on that last.

The incorporated cities have their own impact fees and park sales tax dollars that could be tapped to pay for those improvements. If we want to stick with the County footing the whole bill, it seems that the General Fund would be a more appropriate source of revenue.

I’m also offering a few amendments:

$25,000 to the Children’s Home Society to run a summer program for youths on the Key Peninsula.
$50,000 for consultant services for Shoreline Master Program amendments.
$25,000 to Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department for water quality monitoring and public notification services. This is to make up for cuts from the state.
Not yet completed is a proposal to join Tacoma supporting immigration legal services. This was prompted by fears I’ve heard from Vietnamese and Khmer refugee communities.

Fear grips immigrants who fled here to escape genocide – ‘They’re going to try to deport me’
Thuoy Phok expected his meeting with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be brief – so brief that he hadn’t…www.thenewstribune.com

1:30 pm Community Development Committee

Derek Young, Chair
Dave Morell, Vice Chair
Marty Campbell
Jim McCune
Douglas G. Richardson

Proposal №2019–33, Planning and Public Works Department — Establishment of a Division of Sustainability
Sponsored by: Councilmembers Derek Young and Marty Campbell

Our world is changing rapidly and human development is the primary culprit. It’s also true that these changes will pose enormous challenges for local governments.

Two top priorities for me are Puget Sound recovery and climate change. Pierce County can’t solve these issues alone, but as the second largest county in Washington, we have an important role to play.

This is also about our fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers. We are responsible for enormous costs related to issues like flood control and infrastructure. If we’re not thoughtful about climate change adaptation, we could end up wasting millions of dollars.

The bill does have opposition. Some of my colleagues have expressed concern over the use of the term “sustainability” and their doubts about climate change. I believe the time for that debate has long since passed. We need only look to our mountain to see the changes that are happening and increased flooding that comes with it.

The Executive’s office has expressed its view that our response would be better with responsibility distributed among the various departments. While I understand this perspective, my experience has been that if no one is in charge of something, it doesn’t get done.

This is too high of a priority to hope for the best.

You can contact the Council here.

Tuesday, June 18th, 2019

9:30 am Human Services Committee

Connie Ladenburg, Chair
Marty Campbell, Vice Chair
Douglas G. Richardson
Dave Morell
Derek Young

Narcan Update
Presenter: Dr Paul LaKosky, Executive Director, North American Syringe Exchange Network/Point Defiance Aids Project

Narcan is the opioid overdose reversal drug. Our opioid task force, which Dr. LaKosky is part of, wants to get it into as many first responder hands as possible. They’re administering a grant to train and supply law enforcement and fire departments.

211 Call Center
Presenter: Penni Belcher, 211 Call Center Manager, United Way of Pierce County

In this year’s budget, I sponsored an amendment to bridge a funding gap for South Sound 211 operated by United Way (it also serves Lewis and Thurston County). Their grant was running out on July 1 and the service has proven invaluable. 211 is a national system locally implemented to connect people with health and human services. We also wanted them to begin serving substance use disorders on top of mental health. When people are ready for treatment, we need to connect them to services as quickly as possible.

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.