Pierce County Councilmembers voted Tuesday to select Joyce McDonald (District 2) as Council Chair for 2012. The Council also selected Rick Talbert (District 5) as vice chair. Dick Muri (District 6) was chosen to serve as executive pro tem for a fourth consecutive year. The leaders were chosen during the seven-member Council’s first meeting of the year. The chair presides at all regular Council meetings, while the vice chair presides in the absence of the chair. The executive pro tem is a councilmember selected to perform some of the County Executive’s duties in the event of the executive’s absence or temporary disability.

Before her election to the County Council in November 2008, McDonald spent five terms in the Washington State House of Representatives. Talbert, who is starting his second year on the Council, previously worked for Pierce County as a performance auditor and served eight years on Tacoma City Council. Muri, serving his ninth and final year on the Council, is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who lives in Steilacoom. He currently serves as chairman of the Tacoma-Pierce County Board of Health.

More information is available online at http://www.piercecountywa.org/council .