Submitted by Julie Andrzejewski.
Pierce County Council needs more than a change of personalities. Under Republican leadership in the Executive office (4 years) and the majority on the Council for 16 years, Pierce County has dismally failed important leadership opportunities. Homelessness and lack of affordable housing have increased. People with mental and behavioral health problems have fewer resources for recovery. Traffic has become an everyday nightmare in too many areas. Inclusion, diversity, and equity have been an afterthought, ignored altogether, or in some areas blatant discrimination has been allowed to continue unabated. The care and concern for clean air, water, and conservation of forests and farmlands have been non-existent.
The continued Republican rejection of the tiny tax for mental health support is only the beginning of the list of problems left unsolved, unaddressed, and neglected. Instead, power, politics, and ridiculous personality clashes took up all the space. Pierce County should make support for our residents the priority, and use our location, growth, and resources well. To do this, we need a new vision with transparency and community input, collaborative working relationships, and a commitment to diversity, equity, and respect among leaders, working partners and businesses, committees, and employees. We need a Council and Executive taking actions to making our lives better, not allowing our county to fall further into despair and disrepair.
We need to elect people who are vetted and supported by environmental organizations, unions, grassroots community advocates, and businesses who care about community safety, clean energy and jobs. We want strong advocates who will work for healthcare and basic life supports for people in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic which will not be over soon. We need a new majority on the Council and a new Executive who will not hold meetings at times when the public is unavailable but who will encourage and listen to the concerns of the public and move to action on our behalf.
Jani Hitchen, Sarah Rumbaugh, Ryan Mello, and Larry Seaquist, each with strong commitments to the public good and environmental protection (not private profits or their own power and petty peeves) will bring this new vision and action to fruition! Compare the endorsements of these dedicated public servants with those of their Republican opponents. In an age when climate change is upon us and fires, smoke, and pollution are right here in Pierce County, which of these candidates will safeguard our homes and environment? Which express the clearest concern over deep listening and response to the needs of various communities, not just the needs of the elites? We’ve given the Republicans a chance – now we need a different path. Vote for Democrats for Pierce County!
Cindy says
Thank you!
KM Hills says
Having worked in community mental health for 20 years I can share with you that the state of mental health treatment services in Pierce County gets significant funding and continues to build new facilities in addition to what has been in place for years. The Recovery Response Center has been in Fife for a number of years and Telecare, which used to be on the Western State Campus, moved to Milton. In addition a Greater Lakes (now under Multicare) 16 bed facility is located in Parkland. New to the treatment continuum is the Wellfound Behavioral Health Hospital and soon to open, late 2020, is the new Crisis Recovery Center in Spanaway, which this administration has signoficantly supported.
www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article236996304.html
And lets not forget the half million dollar investment this administration made in the MCIRT program
open.piercecountywa.gov/stat/goals/single/
AND a new behavioral health facilty is being considered for Lakewood, as reported her in the Suburban Times.
thesubtimes.com/2020/10/02/new-behavioral-health-facility-in-lakewood-subject-of-oct-21-community-meeting/
One thing that is frustrating . . . is misrepresentation of the truth for political purposes.
Cleo says
Anytime someone flaunts the words “supported by environmental organizations, unions, grassroots community advocates, (aka Organized Crime Organizations) I hear the words “Communism-Socialists”.
Thanks, but no thanks, our votes are already in and taken to Pierce County Elections office in person along with all of our neighbors in car caravans who voted RED to save our County, State & Country.
Cleo
Justin Teerlinck says
Well said, Julie. The bottom line is that we pay the “mental health tax” whether we want to or not, in the form of emergency department visits by indigent persons without insurance or proper preventative care, through the inappropriate and inhumane use of the criminal justice system to deal with the untreated mental health needs of our most vulnerable community members, and in other ways. Sadly, places like the City of Lakewood and Tacoma have dug in their heels, with city leaders openly promoting policies of discrimination, fear-mongering and other forms of passing the buck. Ironically, these sorry attempts to abrogate our civic duty lead to an increased burden on the taxpayer (for instance, Lakewood’s failed attempt to discriminate against group homes in the city limits). The economics of the issue are what policymakers hide behind in order to mask their fears and prejudices with the cloak of “saving money.” I do think that there are progressive Republicans out there who finally understand that doing the right thing is actually cheaper in the long run. The truth is, the money is just smoke. City leaders have stepped up to stymie privately funded enterprises that have been knocking at our doors for years in an attempt to provide–and bankroll–much needed services for our mentally ill citizens. While there are Republicans out there willing to do the right thing, there are also so-called progressives who are wolves in sheeps’ clothing. The aptly-named Keith Blocker has used his power at the City of Tacoma to prevent another much-needed psychiatric hospital from being built on the most spurious grounds and like the City of Lakewood’s failed attempt at discrimination, it too is being challenged in court–on the taxpayers’ dime. My point though is that Blocker appears to style himself a champion of progressive causes, but when the rubber meets the road, he has proven otherwise. Your mention of the mental health tax is a great ice breaker in a much-needed, larger discussion we must have as a society. Unfortunately, it’s more than simply our leaders’ minds that need to be changed. Some of the very nasty, paranoid and gleefully bigoted comments I’ve seen people post in the Suburban Times are ample proof that the unethical and immoral stance of some of our government leaders are widely tolerated and cheered on by the community. The State of WA as a whole is extremely regressive in many areas, including mental health policy. But any democratic government represents the culture that elected it. I have literally seen posts here where people describe their fantasies of “rounding up” homeless people to put them in concentration camps. Although I loathe confrontation, just like we have a duty to confront racist attitudes when we encounter them, I think we also have a duty to vigorously, vocally oppose people who demonstrate by word or deed that their values include the denigration of our most vulnerable citizens. Otherwise, society can never change. Thanks again for doing that by speaking openly and directly on this issue. While I obviously sound angry (I am angry) about the way this issue has been (mis)handled, I do see positive change and cause for hope on all sides. People are speaking out more and forming coalitions to demand change and accountability. Better late than never.