Pierce County Council fills leadership positions

New year, new leadership on the Pierce County Council — kind of.
“This being the first meeting of the year, we need to elect our leadership — or officers is what I guess we call them,” explained council Chair Derek Young.
Young was re-elected council chair for 2022 by his peers at the Jan. 4 meeting.
“We’ll just note this would be my final year on the council, as we have term limits under the [Pierce County] charter,” he said.

Young was elected to the Pierce County Council in 2015, representing District 7. He formerly served as council chair in 2021 and as exec pro tempore in 2020. In 1997, at age 21, Young was elected to the Gig Harbor City Council, winning re-election three more times.

Councilmember Marty Campbell was elected as vice chair, and Councilmember Dave Morell was elected as executive pro tempore.

Campbell was elected to council in 2019 and represents District 5. He previously served as executive pro tempore in 2021 and was on the Tacoma City Council from 2010-2017, holding the deputy mayor position in 2013.

Morell, too, was elected in 2019 and served as council vice chair in 2020 and 2021. He represents District 1. Prior to joining the council, Morell was state representative for the 25^th Legislative District and served as fire commissioner for Central Pierce County Fire and Rescue.

The chair presides at all regular Pierce County Council meetings, while the vice chair presides in the absence of the chair. The executive pro tempore is a councilmember selected to perform some of the county executive's duties in the event of the executive's absence or temporary disability.

The council was expected to vote on its standing committee leadership at its next regular meeting Tuesday.
Beyond electing new leadership, the council passed an emergency ordinance to temporarily allow the Planning and Public Works Department to suspend established timelines and expiration dates regarding development permit applications and approvals as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The council passed a resolution recognizing January as “Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month.”