It is arguably the most important position in Pierce County. Where do candidates stand?

For the first time in eight years, Pierce County residents will vote in a new Pierce County executive during next month's general election.

As head of the executive branch of county government, with the power to veto policy decisions voted on by the seven-member Pierce County Council, it's arguably one of the most important races to follow this year. The Pierce County executive oversees and implements policy decisions by the council and commissions, in addition to day-to-day administrative work at the county level, and oversees about 1,900 full-time employees. The executive also proposes and approves Pierce County's biennial budget, which totaled $3.2 billion for 2024-2025 . It's a partisan position subject to four-year terms with a limit of two terms.

Currently the role is held by Republican Bruce Dammeier, who was re-elected to his second term in fall 2020. He made a salary of $223,122 in 2023. County Council chair Democrat Ryan Mello and Republican House of Representatives District 25 member Kelly Chambers are competing for executive this year. In the August primary , Mello pulled 52.41% of the vote with Chambers receiving 47.35%.

The makeup of the current County Council gives Democrats a slim majority, but that could change with this election cycle. Dammeier has used vetoes to block council efforts to fund millions in homeless services and housing projects in Pierce County, most recently last month . A number of housing and homelessness projects have narrowly passed or failed along party lines this year.

The News Tribune sat down with Mello and Chambers to talk about their priorities and their perspectives on topics like homelessness, affordable housing, public safety, growth and the economy.

This election cycle Mello has received $432,410 in contributions for his campaign and spent $332,216, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission . Chambers has received $423,796 in contributions and spent $212,040. The News Tribune previously wrote about who contributed the most to their primary campaigns in August, and you can find the most up-to-date details about contributors on the Public Disclosure Commission's website .

Learn more about how to register to vote, who your candidates will be and where your nearest ballot box is online on the Pierce County Elections website .

Why are you the best person to be Pierce County executive?

Mello said he is the best person to be county executive because he is the only candidate with local government experience in this race.

"I know what it takes to lead this county. I also think I'm the best person for the role because my experience, my values and my priorities fit this county," he said.

Mello said he thinks Chambers is "too extreme" in terms of gun control, reproductive freedom, environmental protections and sex education. Mello said he thinks Chambers' voting record shows she is not bipartisan.

"By contrast, I've tackled many major issues that are of high priority to this community, whether it be homelessness, affordable housing, the opioid crisis, climate [and] making our streets safer for all users," he said.

Mello said he has the endorsements of many local Democrats in addition to Republican and Independent mayors. He cited support from elected Democrats like Derek Kilmer, Marilyn Strickland, Kim Schrier, Patty Murray and Laurie Jinkins, in addition to support from Lakewood mayor and Republican Jason Whalen, University Place mayor and Independent Javier Figueroa and Fife mayor and Independent Kim Roscoe.

"I think the support we've been able to garner from across the political spectrum just reinstates how we've led and why we're prepared and why we think we're the best person for the job," he said.

Chambers said her 20 years of business experience as the owner of a local home healthcare business and a vineyard, as well as six years of elected experience in the Washington House of Representatives "is just the right combination" to make her the best candidate for executive.

Serving in the state Legislature, in addition to the House Appropriations Committee, "has been very educational to understand how budgets work and how prioritization works," she told The News Tribune.

Chambers said the state would be served better if more politicians worked in a bipartisan fashion and said she would support "sustainable budgeting" and not increasing taxes.

"Just knowing where Pierce County stands, they are cost-conscious and dealing with the inflation and the cost of living," she said. "We really need to be kind of paying attention to where voters are at."

What are your main priorities?

Chambers said her main priorities would be focused around public safety, homelessness and "creating a vibrant economy."

She said Pierce County needs to attract and retain law enforcement professionals and address issues like vehicle theft and retail theft "that are kind of plaguing the state of Washington," in addition to curbing youth violence.

Chambers said law enforcement professionals "want to work for an administration that they trust and has their back" and ensure they have the tools to do their job, like body cameras. In terms of addressing youth violence, Chambers said she would support "re-engaging with youth in schools with law enforcement, making those connections" and keeping kids busy through sports or jobs to "give them reasons to stay out of trouble."

Mello said the major issues facing Pierce County, like housing affordability, homelessness, community safety and the opioid crisis, "don't know any political bounds" and are issues he hears over and over again.

"These issues are big, and the solutions that we need to bring to bear also need to transcend any artificial political boundary. No one city or town or even the county should be facing these issues alone," he said.

"That's why I'm running to be the next county executive — to bring people together, bring my experience in addressing issues and being bold in addressing issues [as well as] my experience in bringing people together," he said.

What is your plan to address homelessness both in the long-term and short-term?

Mello said he could have chosen to run for re-election on the Pierce County Council but chose to run for executive "because I think the County Council has put in place several really thoughtful, strategic plans [and] it's now time for an executive to actually effectuate and implement these plans."

Mello said he is looking to execute the county's Comprehensive Plan to End Homelessness , adopted in 2022, which includes a unified response to homelessness, intervention and prevention programs, solutions that meet the immediate needs of people experiencing homelessness and expansion of the permanent housing system.

"You need a county executive who's willing to work with the complexities of these major systems. We've got to walk and chew gum at the same time," he said. "I'm not a one-trick pony kind of person, and I won't be a one-trick pony county executive."

Chambers said addressing homelessness is multifaceted and involves addressing addiction, mental health and housing issues.

Having short-term facilities where law enforcement can take people living on the streets and get them connected to mental health and addiction services is important, freeing up both law enforcement's time and emergency room personnel's time, she said.

Chambers said she would be open to exploring whether a portion of the funds generated by document-recording fees could be used to help with rent stabilization.

"It's cheaper in the long run to keep somebody housed than to get somebody into housing that has lost it," she said. "So I think that is worth prioritizing and seeing where the monies are and how we could allocate them to have the most impactful effect."

What are your plans to make housing more affordable?

Chambers said Pierce County needs to build more types of housing, not just low-income housing.

"That would mean upzoning and having more density in cities, but also retaining the rural zoning that we have," she said. "An idea that I think is really interesting and worth exploring is incentivizing 'cluster development.'"

Cluster development refers to a housing model where residential properties are grouped together on a development site, and the remaining land is often used as open space, recreation or agriculture. Chambers said cluster development could be a solution in unincorporated Pierce County to give "clusters of density that have less infrastructure needs," which she argues is not only "a bonus for the developer, but also the payoff is you leave more land undeveloped."

Mello said Pierce County needs to build much more housing of all types.

"We have the mountains on one side of us, and we have the water on the other side of us. So like it or not, we have constraints about our buildable land area," he said. "That means using our land very strategically to build [more] housing."

Mello said the private sector is not going to build affordable housing, so local government plays an important role to help build and subsidize affordable housing.

Mello said he supports strategies to make building permitting more streamlined and said he was proud the council passed the Maureen Howard Affordable Housing Act in 2023 that approved a 0.1% sales-and-use tax to fund housing and related services.

What is the state of public safety and what would you prioritize?

Mello said he's seen monthly reports from the Sheriff's Department that show crime is down in many different areas .

"Are we satisfied? Absolutely not. But it does tell us that we're headed in the right direction with some of the strategies that we've deployed over the past couple of years," he said.

As executive, Mello said he'd work to make sure the Sheriff's Department has the newest technology to assist officers in catching criminals and holding people accountable. He also wants to make sure the department is fully staffed, including patrol, detectives, traffic safety and corrections officers.

"[Hiring] incentives are demonstrated to be working," he said. "Working in the jail is a very tough place. We've made some progress, but we have a lot more progress to make."

Mello said the justice system is complex and connected, meaning he'd also make "smart investments" in the prosecutors, public defense and judiciary systems as well as the therapeutic court system and diversion programs that address the root causes of criminal behavior.

Chambers said the state of public safety in Pierce County "is not good."

She noted Tacoma's homicide rate of 34 in 2023 is the same as it was in 1994 and said vehicle thefts tripled after the state Legislature limited which suspects law enforcement could pursue in 2021. Although an initiative passed in 2024 restoring law enforcement's ability to engage in pursuit when there's a reasonable suspicion a crime was committed, and vehicle thefts have gone down, Chambers said, "it's certainly not at an acceptable rate."

Chambers said her business's car was stolen recently, as was one of her employee's.

"If your car is stolen and you rely on it to get to work, it can be financially devastating for people that can least afford it," she said. As executive, Chambers said she would support retention and hiring bonuses at the Sheriff's Department as well as maintaining a positive work environment there because, "Officers have felt abandoned by their elected leaders when things were tough."

How would you manage growth in the unincorporated area , given fewer historical resources and infrastructure investments there?

Chambers said, "People want to choose where they want to live, so I support that not everybody wants to live in the city and those that do choose to live in unincorporated areas — I think we are being thoughtful about how we extend infrastructure, sewer and that kind of stuff in a meaningful way that allows for development within the [Urban Growth Area]."

She said there's a finite amount of resources to go around, and Pierce County should be strategic about where development should go.

"I think it's about being fair," Chambers said. "I've seen a lot of development happening in unincorporated Pierce County, and they're not getting their fair share of resources" given what they pay in permitting costs.

Mello said he doesn't support an "anything goes" kind of development strategy in Pierce County that has "traditionally got us into the mess that we're in today."

"Sprawl across the landscape is very expensive to taxpayers," he said. "It is not the answer to affordable housing, it is the answer to higher taxes."

Mello said he would redirect growth to places that can accommodate the growth with sidewalks, schools, playgrounds and parks.

"The [Republican] party has traditionally opposed [having] new developers pay for the new growth [through transportation and impact fees]," he said. "I think that's very wrong. I don't think we should strap existing taxpayers and homeowners with the cost of new development while developers make a quick buck and walk away."

How is Pierce County's economy? How will you strengthen it and spur growth?

Coming out of the pandemic Mello said, the Puget Sound region overall has a stable economy and is growing, both economically and population-wise, "in large part because this is an amazing place to live."

"People choose to live here because it's a very high quality of life," he said. "Protecting our environment and making this a high quality place to live is an economic strategy."

Mello said too many residents travel to King County or Thurston County to work every day, and, when he talks to employers, he hears four common problems he'd work to address as executive: quality of life, lack of a skilled workforce, lack of affordable child care and a better transportation system to get goods to market and employees to work on time.

As executive, Mello said he would be a leader at WorkForce Central to design programs to re-skill and up-skill workers, especially in the trades and construction industry. He also said he would support the creation of more "high quality, affordable child care businesses" with Puget Sound Taxpayer Accountability Act funds, in addition to expanding public transit and investing in existing infrastructure like roads and bridges.

Chambers said she thinks Pierce County's economy "is good, is vibrant, but we're also struggling with inflation and the cost of doing business."

She said Pierce County is well positioned to be part of the state's goals to increase manufacturing and said completing the Canyon Road Regional Connection Project is a priority of hers, something she said Mello would not prioritize.

"I believe in a 'build it and they will come' kind of model where we build good infrastructure that demonstrates this is a place to locate and do business," she said.

Anything else you want voters to know?

Chambers said she supports energy-related state ballot initiative I-2066. As spelled out in the Washington Voters' Pamphlet , I-2066 would repeal or amend certain provisions of the 2024 Decarbonization Act, which requires Puget Sound Energy to forecast customer energy demand, provide proposals for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions from its operations and transition from natural gas to electricity. It does not ban natural gas in Washington but prohibits PSE from offering customers rebates or incentives to buy appliances that use natural gas.

Chambers said the public has the right to petition their government and said voting yes on I-2066 protects energy choice in Washington.

"I don't think we can prematurely force people into a one-size-fits-all energy choice, which drives up the cost for families when they're already struggling with affordability these days," she said.

Mello said an aspect of Pierce County executive's role that doesn't get a lot of attention is the regional leadership aspect, which includes the responsibility of serving on about 20 boards and commissions.

Mello said as Executive he "won't sit on the sidelines."

"Kelly Chambers is Bruce Dammeier's hand-picked successor and will just be more of the same in all regards," Mello said. "I've received eight vetoes by the current county executive. If the county executive has a veto pen, they can be an obstructionist to affordable housing, the opioid crisis and homelessness, like the current county executive is, or they can be a partner in solving problems and proposing ideas and implementing those ideas as the executive."