Pat McCarthy was sworn in at noon Fri., Jan. 2, as the Pierce County Executive. Washington State Supreme Court Justice Charles Johnson and Superior Court Judge John McCarthy performed the ceremony in Judge McCarthy’s courtroom.
Before offering the oath of office, Justice Johnson extolled Executive McCarthy’s service to the community. McCarthy served 12 years as a Tacoma School Board member and was Pierce County auditor for six years before being elected executive midway through her second term.
McCarthy cited the sharp drop in revenues as the number one challenge facing her new administration.
“We not only want to maintain our level of customer service, we want to improve it,” said McCarthy. “With the budget cuts we’re facing, we’ll have to work harder and smarter than ever before. Knowing the quality of people we have here in Pierce County, I’m entirely confident it will happen.”
McCarthy is the first female county executive in Pierce County. In turn, she succeeds Pierce County Executives Booth Gardner, Joe Stortini, Doug Sutherland and John Ladenburg.
“I’m honored the voters of Pierce County chose me as their executive,” said McCarthy. “They’ll find me open, approachable and a hard worker. I will build on Pierce County’s strengths and deal directly and aggressively with our problems.”
Executive McCarthy is married to Superior Court John McCarthy. They have four grown children, of which three are attorneys.
