Pierce County Councilmembers re-elected Roger Bush as their chairman for a third consecutive year, welcomed three new members and organized their committees for 2011 at the Council’s regular meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 11.
Councilmembers Dan Roach (District 1), Rick Talbert (District 5) and Stan Flemming (District 7) each took the oath of office and formally joined the seven-member body that sets policy for the second-largest county in Washington state.
Together, the councilmembers selected Bush (District 3) to again serve as chair, which ties Harold Moss for the longest tenure as chair since the county shifted to the Home Rule Charter in 1981. In addition, councilmembers chose Joyce McDonald (District 2) as vice chair and Dick Muri (District 6) will return as executive pro tem. The chair presides at all regular council meetings, the vice chair presides in the absence of the chair, and the executive pro tem is a councilmember selected to perform some of the County Executive’s duties in the event of the executive’s absence or temporary disability.
“I am honored to continue serving my fellow councilmembers and the citizens of Pierce County,” Bush said. “We have made a lot of tough but strategic decisions as we re-size county government, and my intent is to stay on a path of sustainable operations that emphasizes core services – mainly public safety.”
Councilmembers also reorganized four committees. Here is a list of the committees, meeting schedules and members:
• Rules and Operations Committee (meets Mondays at 10 a.m.) – Bush (chair), McDonald (vice chair), Muri, Tim Farrell (District 4, alternate)
• Community Development Committee (meets first and third Mondays at 1:30 p.m.) – Talbert (chair), Roach (vice chair), Bush, Farrell, Flemming
• Economic and Infrastructure Development Committee (meets second and fourth Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m.) – McDonald (chair), Bush (vice chair), Muri, Roach, Talbert
• Public Safety and Human Services Committee (meets second Mondays at 1:30 p.m.) – Muri (chair), Farrell (vice chair), Flemming, McDonald, Roach
More information is available online at www.piercecountywa.org/council or by calling 253-798-7777. The full council meets Tuesdays at 3 p.m. in the Council Chambers on the 10th floor of the County-City Building, 930 Tacoma Ave. S., Rm. 1045, Tacoma.
Council meetings are televised live and replayed each week on Pierce County TV (channel 22 in most areas) and streamed live and archived at www.piercecountytv.org.
