Pierce County Will Not Dissolve Health Dept After Surprise Vote

PIERCE COUNTY, WA — The battle over the future of the Tacoma - Pierce County Health Department has ended with the department intact after a surprise turn of events late Tuesday evening.

Over the past few weeks, the Pierce County Council has been mulling over a proposal to sever the county's agreement with the City of Tacoma and dissolve the Tacoma - Pierce County Health Department, which would then be replaced by a new health department run solely by the county.

The proposal was first announced earlier this month and passed through Pierce County's Rules and Operations Committee just last week. The county council had been set to vote on the proposal Dec. 15, and it seemed likely to pass until Monday, just one day before the vote, when Gov. Jay Inslee intervened, signing a proclamation putting a pause on all efforts to dissolve or dismantle existing health departments for the remainder of the pandemic.

"This pause is necessary to ensure that we have a continuity and stability of our public health efforts throughout this pandemic," Inslee said at a conference announcing the proclamation.

However, despite the governor's ban, potential legal ramifications for the county, and mass opposition from citizens, the City of Tacoma and the health department itself, the Pierce County Council was poised to vote in favor of Proposed Ordinance No. 2020-136 at the beginning of their Tuesday evening meeting. The vote, it appeared, would largely pass along party lines — Republicans had consistently supported the proposal, and have majority control over the council until the end of the year.

Other signs from early in Tuesday's meeting hinted that the proposal would pass: the council began with a prolonged executive session, which some council members later hinted had included legal advice on how to pass the proposal despite Inslee's order forbidding the dissolution.

Even council members seemed to believe the dissolution would be pushed through. One Democrat, Connie Ladenburg, excused herself from the meeting in advance of the vote, saying she did not want to be involved in the lengthy legal battle likely to follow should the department be terminated.

"I strongly believe I must follow the governor on this matter," Ladenburg said. She also noted that her office had received several thousand emails from constituents opposing the move.

Following Ladenburg's departure, supporters of the proposal unveiled their trump card: an attempt to sidestep the governor's order by adding an amendment postponing the dissolution of the health department until the pandemic has passed. That may have worked, as the governor's proclamation only put a pause on terminating health departments while they are actively working to handle the coronavirus. However, it was not a sure thing, as Councilmember Derek Young noted.

"The intent of the amendment is clearly trying to get around the governor's order," Young said at Tuesday's meeting. "I believe you are about to take action that is in violation of it."

"I think it's an attempt to be clever, and it sets the state for long, protracted legal challenges," added Councilmember Marty Campbell, who also opposed dissolution.

Mike Faulk, a spokesman for the governor, says Inslee's office agrees that the vote still would have been in violation of the proclamation.

"We believe this amendment violates the proclamation," writes Faulk. "The proclamation prohibits taking “any action… to terminate or commence or advance the legal process for termination of any agreement to operate a combined city and county health department…”. At a minimum, this action appears to advance the process for terminating the agreement while the state of emergency is still in effect, contrary to the proclamation. "

Despite the likelihood of a following legal battle, the stage remained set for the proposal to pass on a 4 -2 vote of Republicans versus Democrats. But before the vote could be lodged, council members had to receive public comment, and were inundated with pleas from residents across Pierce County begging the council to reconsider, and talk the issue through with their constituents.

Council members heard several hours of testimony, with the overwhelming majority asking lawmakers to allow the Tacoma - Pierce County Health Department to remain as is. Several callers pointed out that the Republican council members appear to be forcing a partisan vote through the door before they lose the council majority at the end of the year. Others simply said that this was not the time to be adding pressure to health department employees who are already working overtime to contain the pandemic.

"It's like there's a building on fire, and you've decided the grass needs to be mowed," one caller said.

Ultimately, their pleas appeared to have proved effective, and one council member who had previously staunchly defended the health department's dissolution switched their vote: District 2's Pam Roach, the original sponsor of the proposal. With Roach's support, the vote to dissolve the department failed 3 -3, with council members Campbell and Young also casting their votes to oppose the dissolution.

The health department has yet to release a public statement following the vote, but Director of Health Anthony L-T Chen did comment following Inslee's proclamation, thanking the community for their outpouring of support. His statement reads in part:

This article originally appeared on the Puyallup Patch