Pierce County Council recognizes women's contributions

Women dominated the opening moments of the March 9 meeting of the Pierce County Council in the form of two proclamations related to March being Women’s History Month.

The first proclamation — highlighting the role women have played throughout American history — was read aloud by the council’s two female members, Amy Cruver and Jani Hitchen. The proclamation also recognized last year being the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing and protecting women’s right to vote.

“... I’m glad that we’re taking some time to remind ourselves of the history and the contributions that may often have gone overlooked,” council Chair Derek Young said.

The second proclamation recognized five Pierce County young women as the inaugural class of female scouts to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest achievement attainable in the Scouts BSA program. They include Allie Smith, Colleen Fanning, Mackenzie Ward, Amy Miseli and Kaitlin Riggan.

In other business:

The council passed Proposal No. 2021-7, adopting new voting precinct maps related to an increase of more than 48,000 registered voters leading up to the 2020 presidential election. Precincts in excess of 1,500 active voters were reviewed and divided according to physical and logical boundaries and census geography.

The council passed Proposal No. 2021-14s, amending the Pierce County Code to amend the Parks and Recreation Citizens Advisory Board to include two new members, as well some minor changes to meetings, rules, records and functions.

The council passed several memorandums of understanding related to collective bargaining agreements, including extending the 2020 collective bargaining agreement with the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorneys' Association to Dec. 31, 2021; extending the 2020 collective bargaining agreement with city employees of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO Local LT Correctional Lieutenants to Dec. 31, 2021; and incorporating two new Superior Court employees into AFSCME, AFL-CIO Local 120.

Finally, the council approved two new members to the Graham Advisory Commission: Joe Zaichkin and Jerry Block.