Steve Worthington Elected New Mayor of University Place

City of University Place announcement.

During its first meeting of 2022, the U.P. City Council voted to elect its member Steve Worthington to serve as the City’s mayor for 2022 and 2023. Council Member Javier Figueroa was elected to serve as Mayor Pro Tem and Council Member Ed Wood was chosen to lead the City’s Finance committee. Pierce County Superior Court Judge Grant Blinn administered the oath of office for Council Members Javier Figueroa, Steve Worthington, Edward Wood and Denise McCluskey, who were elected by voters in November to four-year terms.

After taking the gavel, Mayor Worthington took a few minutes to thank his predecessor, Caroline Belleci, for her leadership amid all the challenges of the pandemic. “It has been 22 months since this Council has sat at a table together in a meeting, but through that period of time, Mayor Belleci has been holding us together and getting the work done of the City,” he said. “We all appreciate your work and offer a heartfelt thank you for being our mayor.”

U.P.’s new mayor then thanked his fellow Council members and reminded them that by working together, “We can just about move mountains.”

Worthington served as Mayor Pro Tem under Caroline Belleci from January 2020 to December 2021. He has represented U.P. City Council Position 3 since 2014. In addition, he has also served as U.P.’s representative to Pierce County Cities and Towns, Pierce County Mayors and Executives, Pierce County Regional Council, the Association of Washington Cities Legislative Committee and the Rainier Communications Commission. He also led U.P.’s Community Vision subcommittee.

Mayor Worthington brings more than 25 years of leadership experience to his new role, having formerly served as City Manager for Fife, Washington. He currently consults for local government in the Northwest. He holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from Eastern Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication from the University of Washington.

He and his wife of 45 years, Jill, have two sons, John and Benjamin. Both graduated from Curtis High School.