County Council Chair Ryan Mello (D-4th) Ready for the Top Job

Ryan Mello, 45, grew up in Kailua, Oahu, but went to college on the mainland in 1997 and never left. He graduated from the University of Puget Sound in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy and Government and launched into a career of public service.

“I had some time on my hands after graduating from college while I was doing the AmeriCorps program that year,” Mello said. He was a volunteer coordinating the Youth United program at the United Way of Pierce County and created the first-ever program for high school students to earn a varsity letter for community service.

“During that summer, I volunteered for Bill Baarsma’s campaign for mayor. He was a business professor of mine, and he asked if I wanted to help out. I did and that got me hooked on campaigns and elections and the power of politics and policy to make changes for people.”

Mello went on to become executive director of the Pierce Conservation District, working on water quality and habitat, and later was the Pierce County director of the Cascade Land Conservancy, which brought him to the Key Peninsula.

“One of my projects was protecting Devil’s Head. I’ve worked on many other farm conservation projects and open space projects on the Key Pen. I’ve been out there a lot,” he said.

“The people love its rural lifestyle, love how beautiful it is, and they don’t want it overcrowded and overrun with strip malls and inappropriate development that will ruin the rural heritage. They want a deputy to come when they call. They don’t expect a bus running everywhere, with 10-minute frequency, but they do want some transit service so folks can live long, independent lives. Residents also need better broadband access. You can’t run your life without it.”

Mello was elected to the Metropolitan Park Board of Commissioners in 2005, and in 2010 he became the first openly gay man to serve on the Tacoma City Council, where he remained until 2019. He and his long-time partner live in downtown Tacoma and are engaged to be married.

In 2021, he was elected to the Pierce County Council from the fourth district, where his colleagues unanimously voted to make him chair.

Mello said he wants to serve as the county executive because major issues can only be addressed at the regional level.

“Whether the issues are affordable housing, community safety, homelessness, the opioid crisis, no single community can tackle them,” he said. “County government is really well situated, if we lead it right, to bring communities together. I have 17 years of local government experience. My opponent has zero.”

One example is public safety.

“It’s about 75% of our general fund,” Mello said. “That’s deputies, corrections, prosecutors, judges, public defense.” Two years ago there were 65 vacancies in the sheriff’s department; now there are about 11. “That’s attributable to our strategy to deliver cash bonuses for retention and recruitment,” he said.

“We gave them a sizeable raise (18% over three years) after we analyzed where we are in the marketplace.” He noted there are still about 45 vacancies in corrections.

“We paid for all that with American Rescue Plan dollars, but those are one-time dollars from the federal government,” he said.

The total biennial county budget is $3.2 billion. “In the near term, the 2027-28 horizon shows red ink.” Local government does not have many options to increase revenue, largely because of voter-approved measures.

“Our hands are tied in that regard,” he said. “The Legislature really dictates revenue streams. So we have some real difficult decisions ahead of us in the next three or so years.”

But how does a county executive “tackle these issues”?

“I break the role into three major parts,” he said. “First, execute the policies of the council and day-to-day government. Especially for those who live in unincorporated Pierce County, like the Key Peninsula, you get your daily services from county government, sheriff ’s deputies, public works planning.