Good morning neighbors,

I am very excited about getting my second Moderna COVID vaccination this Saturday. I had the opportunity to share with members of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department why I wanted to get vaccinated. You can read about it here on the TPCHD blog.

Roundtables: My takeaways

I recently held two Roundtable community discussions around possible uses of the county’s ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds. Though the priorities and concerns are not the same for all members of our community, we had great conversations. Ideas included:

• Partnering with Pierce Transit to help youth and the community get around.
  
• Fixing our city and county parks so kids and our community can use them and encouraging kids and families to get outside in safe spaces to be active which will help them thrive and be engaged.
• Working on infrastructure along walking paths to make sure they are ADA compliant and improve areas that have seen increased traffic due to population increases.
• Partnering with local and community leaders to help with mental health for youth and adults.
• Providing ways for those experiencing homelessness to shelter safely, provide for sanitation, and possibly ways to store or move belongings, mobile shower and laundry services to get to areas outside of our cities.
• Look into programs that are working well in other jurisdictions and see about bringing them to Pierce County.
• Looking into adding more crisis intervention teams - people that show up for emergency calls that don’t require law enforcement.
• Use or repurpose large and empty facilities across the county.
• Educate the community about Mt. Rainier and the impacts it has on our community.
• Support programs that work with young adults or youth who are disconnected from high school.
  

Though I know we can’t do all these things, they each serve a different part of our community, and require some thought and investigation. Thank you all that attended, I appreciate you sharing your time with me. If you have ideas but were not able to attend, please send me an email and let me know your thoughts or ideas.

Filing Week is May 17-21

People sometimes think odd year elections are not important. I am here to tell you otherwise. The roll of our local municipal governments and organizations directly impact your life in so many ways. In the 6^th District we have city and town council races, school board elections, and several municipal boards like water and fire districts. Check out the Pierce County Auditor site to learn more about this year’s election. You can also check your voter information and update anything that might have changed since November 2020.

Redistricting

You may have heard that the most recent Census data is delayed in getting to the state and county auditor. Because we are a Charter County, we have some very specific timelines around redistricting. Julie Anderson, our Pierce County Auditor, is working with our community groups that will be impacted by this delay and working hard to make sure that all know what is coming, and the timelines. Learn more about redistricting here.

Did you know that we have some great resource people interacting with our courts?

If you live in Pierce County and need support navigating our court system, there are resources available.  The Pierce County Court Resource Center is designed to help support people put their best foot forward when they step in a courtroom, or provide support before something t leads to a courtroom. There are programs including chemical dependency evaluations, a clothing bank to help look your best when you walk through the doors, housing and homelessness support, employment training and more. Learn about them by watching this quick video or visit their homepage on the county website.
 
Stay safe, get vaccinated and remember to wear your mask!