LBA Tri-Cities, Washington

10/11/2026

10/07/2026

🚨 BREAKING PASCO NEWS: PUBLIC SAFETY IS WHERE I DRAW THE LINE 🚨

Next Tuesday, the City Council will receive the proposed 2027–2028 budget presentation, and there are some very difficult decisions being put on the table.

The proposed budget includes significant staff reductions across the City, including potential cuts to our Police and Fire Departments.

I want to be clear that I am speaking for myself as one member of the City Council: cutting police officers and firefighters is a non-starter for me.

Public safety is foundational to municipal government. When someone calls 911, they expect a police officer, firefighter, or medic to be there when they need them. I am not willing to jeopardize that.

We have a serious budget problem, and difficult decisions will have to be made. I believe we need to look at every other reasonable place to cut first. We need to scrutinize spending, staffing, programs, and services throughout the organization and determine what is truly necessary.

And if, after doing that work, we have to have a difficult conversation about raising taxes or finding additional revenue to protect public safety, then I am willing to have that conversation.

That doesn’t mean I take raising taxes lightly. I don’t. But my priority is clear: we cut everywhere we reasonably can before we start cutting the men and women who answer the call when our community needs them most.

These are proposals, and the Council has a lot of work ahead of us before a final budget is adopted.

But as we begin that process, I want the community to know where I stand:

We are not going to balance our budget on the back of public safety.