‘He doesn’t care’: Guild president slams Pierce County Executive over stalled contract for deputies

The president of the Pierce County Deputy Sheriff’s Guild told members that if they want better pay, they must look for work elsewhere—a blunt message delivered after 14 months of stalled contract negotiations with county leaders over wages deputies say still lag behind other local law enforcement agencies.

Pierce County Sheriff’s Department Sergeant Shaun Darby, the guild president, told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH that the department feels unsupported.

“[Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello] spoke to the membership at a monthly guild meeting in the spring of last year, and he absolutely stood on a platform speaking about how he was going to support us, how he was going to get us better wages and benefits, how he was a champion and advocate for law enforcement,” Darby said. “Clearly, now that he has settled into his role as the executive, that is not the case.”

“My message to my membership wasn’t necessarily to gain attention in the media and in the county executive’s office, but it’s to just put my membership on notice,” Darby continued. “If you’re waiting for a competitive wage and benefit package that compares to your surrounding law enforcement agencies, because you want to start a family, buy a house, settle down here in Pierce County, it is just falling on deaf ears with the county executive’s office and the county council.”

Pierce County sergeant: County executive is putting extra strain on 911 calls

When asked if Darby or the members believe Mellow sold them out, Darby responded: “What the membership thinks is that he simply doesn’t care. He is putting millions and millions of dollars into affordable housing, into the homeless issue that we are all facing. A lot of that affordable housing is coming down here to unincorporated Pierce County. I’m in Spanaway right now. Who does he think are going to respond to the 911 calls for these hundreds of affordable housing homes that he’s putting in? That is going to strain our membership even more.”

“We don’t even have the ability to handle the 911 calls now. [Mello is] putting himself in a position where he’s going to create more calls for service and take our bodies away from us so we don’t have the ability to do our job. It’s just mind-boggling to me,” he continued.

Darby said earlier attempts at reform were met with silence.

Listen to the full conversation below.

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