Shocking reversal sees sponsor vote down own bill to reorganize Tacoma-Pierce County Health Dept.

A stunning reversal took place in Pierce County Tuesday night, after the sponsor of a measure seeking to reorganize the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department voted against her own bill.

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The bill was first drafted by County Councilmember Doug Richardson, who later took his name off of it, leaving fellow Republican Councilmember Pam Roach as the sole remaining sponsor. In its original form, it would have ended the 38-year-old interlocal agreement that forms the backbone of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, and place the it under the control of elected local leaders.

It appeared to be on the fast-track to passing, after garnering the support of the county council’s 4-3 Republican majority. An 11th-hour proclamation from Gov. Jay Inslee hours before the final vote, though, threw a wrench in those plans, with the governor pausing any and all local efforts to terminate a health district or city-county health department partnership.

Shortly after Inslee issued that proclamation, Roach spoke to KTTH’s Jason Rantz, expressing that she still hoped an amendment to the bill could help it get around the governor’s newly-imposed restrictions.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said prior to Tuesday night’s county council vote. “But I think that there is an amendment that’s coming up that would go ahead and try to circumvent the concerns that (Inslee) put out there.”

“I do think that maybe an amendment will help it,” she added.

What happened next came as a surprise to many, including Roach’s fellow councilmembers. With the council’s three other Republicans casting their votes in favor of the bill, Roach stunned the room when she cast her vote against the very same measure she was sponsoring.

“Wait, what… what’s happening?” another councilmember exclaimed after she cast her “no” vote.

The saga ended in a 3-3 tie with one abstention, with Roach’s shocking reversal leaving the council deadlocked, and effectively killing the bill for the foreseeable future.

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Roach has yet to expand on why she voted against the bill, but did indicate prior to Tuesday’s session that there was potentially a “problem of not having given the people an opportunity to see this, vet it, and give their opinions.”

A large majority of public comments on Tuesday night indicated a sizable opposition among the county’s residents to the measure. Leaders within the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department have been outspoken against it as well, with Director of Health Dr. Anthony Chen calling it “an unfortunate distraction” from the county’s pandemic response efforts.

The department also issued a statement Monday, saying that it was “glad the Governor intervened,” saying that it can now “put all of our attention on saving lives.”

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