Election Preview 2024: Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer

With the 2024 General Election coming this Nov. 5, the Tacoma Weekly will be featuring interviews with candidates now until election day. These interviews are not intended to take sides or advocate for any individual candidates but rather to incite a sense of involvement among voters and help encourage participation in our country’s democratic process on election day. 

In the race for Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer, Marty Campbell and Kent Keel will face off in the General Election.

MARTY CAMPBELL

Among the three candidates for assessor-treasurer on the Primary ballot, Campbell received the greatest number of votes at 41 percent. 

“I think that people really looked at all our qualifications and experience and used that for how they decided,” Campbell said. “At the end of the day, I think everyone, with it being a non-partisan race, weighed each of the candidates on their merit. I was happy to come out in first place with 41 percent.”

As why he is running for assessor-treasurer, “It’s because we need good leadership in this office and the way it falls right now, I have the opportunity to take on that role,” Campbell said, emphasizing that customer service will be his top priority. 

“Number one is building communication and trust across the entire county, making people know that we are giving fair and transparent assessments and making sure that we’re running top-notch customer service. When people come into our office, I want them to feel that government is serving them.”

Campbell’s first election to public office came in 2009 when he won a seat on the Tacoma City Council. There, he served until 2017, and with a term as deputy mayor, then was elected to the Pierce County Council in 2019 where he currently serves as council vice chair. 

“I’m the only candidate in the race that has experience with balancing county budgets and working on a county-wide level,” he said. “It does prepare you well for a position like this, getting to understand how county government works – not just our human resources systems and general policies but the how and the why of the assessor-treasurer’s office,” he said.

Campbell has served on neighborhood councils and numerous boards and commissions including the Crystal Judson Family Center, Pierce County Commission Against Domestic Violence, Tacoma Arts Live and WorkForce Central, among others. 

He says that these experiences, coupled with being a former small business owner of Buzzards Discs and Stadium Video for just under two decades, gave him the opportunity to learn and grow as an elected representative for the people of Pierce County. 

Supporting first-time homebuyers is important to Campbell, as he explained that new homeowners must be provided with opportunities to get educated on their investment from purchase to longevity in homeownership that includes paying property taxes on time. 

“Supporting first-time homebuyers is making sure that they have this understanding…to stay in their homes and making sure our assessments are fair and accurate. Homeownership is a clear path to generational wealth and opportunities. I want to help people as much as possible to stay in their house.” 

He noted that renters as well are impacted by county taxing. “For many people, particularly with a small independent landlord, the increases in rent may be what the increases in taxes and utilities are,” Campbell said. “Our assessments trickle down to the renter so those who rent in our community should pay close attention to who’s in the office.”

As assessor-treasurer, Campbell pledges to have an open door to people from all walks of life.

“I have a strong background of having a front door that isn’t just open to everyone but that feels open to everyone,” he said. “I am the only candidate in this race who has looked at local taxing systems and actually proposed and adopted tax cuts. I think our campaign resonates with voters and I have a proven track record that people see.”

Learn more at electmartycampbell.com.

Marty Campbell

KENT KEEL

Kent Keel’s elected experience in Pierce County spans 22 years. He served on the University Place School Board from 2002-2011, including as school board president, and on the University Place City Council from 2012-2023, two of those years as mayor. He also served for seven years on the board of Sound Transit, three years as board chair.

Now, he said he is running for assessor-treasurer to be part of the solution to “the pandemic of not enough housing, homelessness, of all kinds of things around the cost of living. I feel that I have the background and experience to make a positive difference for folks.”

Keel points out that the assessor-treasurer is an executive position and that he is the only candidate in this race with senior executive level experience. 

“I have been a real life executive in a Fortune 100 company, a large retailer in Seattle, and I have supervised hundreds of people on very large projects,” he said. “I had my own international business where I had work in 99 different countries supervising hundreds of people there and in my own company as well. I can bring that real executive knowledge to the work.”

Keel says his 30 years of leadership in the field of technology makes him the only candidate with experience delivering leading edge technology that improved customer service and employee productivity in large organizations. As assessor-treasurer, his first priority will be to provide data and information to taxpayers to bring understanding of how their property is assessed and how it’s being taxed. 

“I’m a technology guy and…I want to bring that to the assessor’s office and allow people at their kitchen table or home office or wherever they happen to be to get access to information about their property tax, whatever they need.”

He sees himself as an advocate for the taxpayer, but not in the “no taxes, we hate taxes” sense as he put it.

“What I’m talking about is from the standpoint of making sure that when a city, Sound Transit or the state legislature offer legislation that is going to impact property tax, that we have a good understanding of what all the implications are of that piece of legislation,” Keel said. “Oftentimes, folks won’t know. Something will get passed and people will say, ‘Hey, they just raised the price of homes by $2,000!’ There has been a series of those that have happened.”

Further emphasizing his experience, Keel noted that he is past president of the Association of Washington Cities and was on the National League of Cities board where he chaired the Information Technology and Communications Committee. He was also co-chair of the 2015 U.S. Open Task Force. 

When voters are casting their ballot in the General Election, Keel hopes that they consider the resumes of candidates “as opposed to the name or party affiliation or the picture they see,” he said. 

“It’s not the eighth county council position as some people think of it, that if you have county council experience then you automatically can be the assessor-treasurer. It’s a different set of skills. On the county council, you’re making laws. As assessor-treasurer, as an executive, you are implementing the laws that people have passed. That’s what I can bring to the table.”

Learn more at kentkeel.com.

Kent Keel