Inside the editorial page

What's on the minds of TNT editorial writers

Sunday, May 4th, 2008

Posted by David Seago @ 05:19:22 am

Mike Lonergan is making Pierce County political history by forming the "Executive Excellence Party" to back his bid for county executive in November. His strategy is to tout himself as the only executive candidate with experience as a chief executive.

Not a bad idea. Among his rivals, neither County Councilman Shawn Bunney, R-Lake Tapps, or County Councilman Calvin Goings, D-Puyallup, has experience managing a large organization.

Lonergan cites his experience as a director of the local Salvation Army and later the Tacoma Rescue Mission. But what about Democrat Pat McCarthy, who has run the county auditor's office for six years. I don't have the auditor's budget at hand, but I'd wager it has a staff and budget comparable to the Rescue Mission.

From themission website:

The Mission’s current annual operating budget is 3.775 million with 67 full and part-time staff

I think McCarthy could legitimately claim chief executive experience. While her budget is determined by the executive and the council, she alone manages the county's licensing functions and its elections. Oh, yes, she oversees the county's animal control service now, too.

So you could say McCarthy is absolutely qualified to run for dogcatcher.

Categories: Taking notice • 1 comment

Inside the editorial page

Inside the editorial page

This blog is designed to give readers a glimpse of our editorial-page operation and how we make our decisions. We’ll let you know who we’re meeting with, what they’re telling us, what events and issues we’re looking at. We’ll also pass on information and observations that may not make our print editions. In addition to the editorial board members who post on this blog, the board includes Executive Editor David Zeeck.

Contributing bloggers

Chief editorial writer Patrick O’Callahan oversees the online and printed opinion sections of The News Tribune. He came to The News Tribune in 1987 and has worked at Washington newspapers since 1979. E-mail him at patrick.ocallahan@thenewstribune.com

Editorial writer Cheryl Tucker, in addition to writing commentary, manages the daily production of the editorial and op-ed pages and edits letters to the editor. She began her journalism career in 1974 at a Virginia newspaper and came to The News Tribune in 1978. E-mail her at cheryl.tucker@thenewstribune.com.

Editorial writer Kim Bradford manages the online opinion section of The News Tribune and writes commentary. She joined The News Tribune in 2005 after working 11 years at newspapers in Washington and Maryland. E-mail her at kim.bradford@thenewstribune.com.

Editor emeritus David Seago retired from The News Tribune in July after 41 years at The News Tribune. E-mail him at sds99@harbornet.com.