Letters to the Editor
Letter to the Editor | Support Mike Solan for county council
With this election, Pierce County voters have a vital opportunity to balance our Pierce County Council by electing Mike Solan to Council District 7. Doing so will give the council a body of members that is truly representative of all Pierce County residents and that will enact common-sense statutes and laws which benefit all of us and don’t waste valuable taxpayer dollars.
Mike, a 27 year Seattle police officer, was twice elected as the President of the Seattle Police Officers Guild and worked under three different Seattle mayors and four different police chiefs. He played a critical role in keeping his officers safe during the Summer of 2020 CHAZ (Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone)/CHOP (Capitol Hill Occupied Protest) violent riots. The riots were led by armed anarchists who took over a large swath of Capitol Hill and barricaded the city for three weeks, not allowing any first responders to enter the occupied zone. Businesses were ruined and two teenagers were shot and killed, for which the city of Seattle was sued and forced to pay $40 million to the teenagers’ parents and local businesses. “Antifa” thugs harassed Mike by surrounding his house while his children were inside, but he persevered in his duty to the public and the surrounding neighborhood and businesses. During Seattle’s most tumultuous time in history and despite negative media coverage, Mike held strong and negotiated two fair labor contracts with the city.
The Pierce County Council needs to reprioritize its duties and responsibilities to unincorporated Pierce County. Mike’s goals for the Council are 1) Public Safety, 2) Fiscal Integrity and 3) Infrastructure Oversight in the form of better transportation and reasonable growth and development.
Public safety
Mike champions “Recovery First” instead of the current Council majority’s talking point of “Housing First.” Housing First has led to more death, societal decay and a drain of precious financial resources. Recovery First includes mandatory substance abuse and mental health treatment in partnership with the criminal justice system. An individual who does not participate in the mandatory counseling would be subject to incarceration with a drug treatment program; once in the treatment program, they can be offered housing options. Juvenile crime in particular is exploding in our county, a direct result of the recent overhaul of the juvenile criminal justice system, which is having detrimental effects on public safety. When juveniles commit murder, they are placed in jail or long-time juvenile detention center Remann Hall, which is unsafe, undergoing renovation, experiencing staff shortages and able to hold only a limited number of individuals. Unincorporated Pierce County residents in District 7 currently experience an average 45-minute first-responder response time, which is unacceptable. Mike will work hard to improve that metric as the county builds back the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, which remains down by 40 patrol officers and 45 jail officers.
Fiscal integrity
The county spends $3.47 billion and is taking in only $3.1 billion, so we have a $400 million dollar budget deficit. If elected, Mike will push for an immediate 90-day audit, directing countywide department heads to highlight 3-4 areas where programs are not mandatory but are ineffective and could easily be cut. Nonprofit organizations that receive a lot of County Council contract dollars that don’t yield measurable results, like addressing homelessness, need to be reexamined, and measurable goals and boundaries need to be established.
Infrastructure/reasonable growth
Mike’s pledge to District 7 residents is “infrastructure before rooftops.” He plans to work with the state to improve SR 16 on/off ramps, which are chronically clogged, secure a timeline and promised budget for SR 302 improvements and get Purdy back into the designated Urban Growth Area after his opponent Brenda Lykins, as Gig Harbor Mayor Pro Tem, advised the County Council to remove Purdy from the UGA, making it difficult for Purdy residents to develop their land. The County council needs to stand up for the middle class and prioritize affordable homes by lowering the onerous costs of building accessible, affordable housing and neighborhoods.
Mike is endorsed by the Tacoma Police Union, Pierce County Deputy Sheriffs’ Guild, former WA State Attorney General Rob McKenna, former Gig Harbor Mayor Tracie Markley, former Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier, former Pierce County Council Chair Doug Richardson and the Tacoma Business Council, among other local officials and organizations. Mike has detailed his goals and objectives, with measurable outcomes, to bring important reforms to unincorporated Pierce County, District 7, which his opponent Brenda Lykins did not address in her time on the Gig Harbor City Council and which the current County Council is not confronting. To read more about his goals, go to solanforpierce.com.
Linda Siegel
Fox Island