Pierce County Council streamlines public records requests

At its Sept. 14 meeting, the Pierce County Council amended the Pierce County Code to streamline public records requests.
“What this ordinance would do is amend…to remove that list entirely (of county public records officers) and replace it with a website that has all the public records offices contact information, not just the physical address, but the phone number and fax number to simplify the request process,” said Susan Long, chief counsel, before the council voted to unanimously approve Proposal No. R2021-74.

The resolution also permits people seeking a copy of the public records officer contact list to request one from the public records ombudsperson and codifies a website reference for said office.

The council also passed a resolution authorizing the Pierce County executive to enter into a co-sponsorship between county surface water management and Forterra on an existing Recreation and Conservation Office grant from the Salmon Recovery Funding Board to purchase floodplain property. Forterra is a Seattle-based land conservation, stewardship and community-building organization.

As required by the county charter, which mandates at least one in-district meeting per year for each of the council districts that make up the Pierce County Council, the council passed a resolution setting the meeting date, time and location for the District 5 meeting: 6 p.m. Oct. 6 in Midland at Harvard Elementary School, 1709 85th St. E.

Two proclamations were passed by the council, including a resolution celebrating Pierce County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Arend’s 22 years of service and commitment to the county, and a resolution celebrating the 234th anniversary of the adopting of the Constitution and designating Sept. 17-23 as “Constitution Week” in Pierce County.