As an out Gay man in Pierce County politics, Ryan Mello has broken new ground for Queer people. While LGBTQ officials serving in elected office are common in King County, it's not quite the same there, where Mello was the first out LGBTQ member of the Tacoma City Council (2010—19), the second out member of the county council (elected in 2021), and the latter's first Queer chair, a position he currently holds.

Now Mello is embarking on another first in his campaign for county executive. Winning this race would make him the county's — and Washington state's — first LGBTQ executive and only the second out one in the country.

"Like anyone's lived experience, it matters, and this is why all kinds of diversity and inclusion is so important," he told the SGN. "We need women, we need people of color, we need LGBTQ people, and people with disabilities in decision-making roles, whether it's elected or on boards and commissions. You bring a different lived experience and a different set of questions, thoughts, and ideas."

A positive "climate change"
A staunch Democrat, Mello looks to bring a positive sort of "climate change" to Pierce County. For the past eight years, Republican Bruce Dammeier has held the executive's office and has now reached his term limit. While Dammeier has done his share of good for the county, he has blocked numerous progressive efforts that the council has tried to establish by ordinance.

In fact, since early 2021, Dammeier has vetoed seven proposed ordinances of which council chair Mello was the co-sponsor or prime sponsor. These include: hazard pay for grocery workers during the COVID pandemic; an effort to change county policy to allow the flying of nongovernmental flags on county facilities (like the Pride flag); the creation of the Pierce County Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commission; safe-parking land-use regulations for those experiencing homelessness; and a temporary Housing Community Land Use Code to allow well-managed tiny-home villages in unincorporated Pierce County so as to provide safe options for those currently living unsheltered on the streets.

There are others, but these serve to show the difference between what Mello envisions for a safer and more welcoming Pierce County versus Dammeier's use of his veto authority on ordinances meant to help the very people who live there.

"My opponent is Dammeier's hand-picked successor, so it would be more of the same," Mello said of candidate Kelly Chambers (R). "I can't wait to be the first Pierce County executive to raise the Pride flag on all county facilities next July as a symbol of freedom and inclusion."

Mello's track record illustrates that being a Gay man is not the sum of who he is, either personally or politically. His campaign platform reflects key issues that he has long championed, like the opioid epidemic, the climate crisis, affordable housing and homelessness, reproductive healthcare, protecting servicemembers, and taking care of seniors. He has won the endorsement of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike.

"I'm the only candidate that has Democrats, Republicans, and Independents publicly supporting me because of the work we've done to try to tackle problems in a bipartisan way. My opponent cannot say that," he said.

"I want to bring my leadership and experience of bringing people together to tackle the big challenges facing our region [so as to make] some progress [and] make this region more affordable, healthier, safer, and more prosperous."

From Hawaii to Tacoma
Mello was born and raised in Kailua, Hawaii, and arrived on the mainland right after high school to attend the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. Being away from home and within the university's diverse environment allowed him to flourish and make some important self-discoveries. In Kailua, he felt he had to stay closeted, but in Tacoma, he was free to come out and finally be himself.

"My parents and my family now fully accept me and I'm very grateful," Mello said, "but growing up in the '80s and '90s, my experience is not unlike so many others' experiences of so many signals from society that put you in the closet and keep you in the closet."

After earning his degree in politics and government, Mello went to work for AmeriCorps for two years. Assigned to the United Way of Pierce County, he was charged with designing ways for young people to cultivate a lifelong ethic of giving back to the community through service. After that, he was a staffer in the state legislature, where he was inspired to make his first foray into elected office in 2005, when he ran for and won a seat on the Metro Parks Tacoma Board of Commissioners.

His next professional experience was as the Pierce County director of the Cascade Land Conservancy, now called Forterra. He was there for about six years, working to conserve farms, forests, and open space.

From there, he moved on to become the executive director of the Pierce Conservation District for 10 years, then won a seat on the Tacoma City Council.

He recalls a special moment while on the council, when he stood up for Transgender city employees during collective bargaining over benefits and working conditions.

"I said we're going to make sure that our healthcare package is inclusive of Transgender healthcare issues... like everyone else's healthcare, and we're not going to ask for anything. We're just going to give that benefit in our employee package," Mello said. "Would someone else had brought that up? Probably not, because they didn't come from that community or have that experience at that time. It took someone bringing it to the table and making sure it got followed through on.

"This is a simple example of why it absolutely matters who is at the table and why diversity and inclusion matter."

Facing blatant homophobia
During his time in political circles, Mello has worked with and mingled among people from all walks of life. He has also faced open hostility toward his sexual orientation. An example is when the South Sound's Pride Month comes around, in July (so as not to compete with June events in our area). The Pierce County Council formally recognized Pride Month for the first time in 2021 by issuing an proclamation — but not without pushback from Mello's Republican council colleagues. County Executive Dammeier did not sign onto the proclamation either.

This past July, Councilmember Amy Cruver (R) refused to sit in the council chambers because the Progress Pride flag was included, for the first time, on the dais next to the American flag and those of Pierce County and Washington state. She chose instead to attend council meetings remotely that month. She asserted that this was her plan in a long presentation she gave via Zoom in a July council meeting, during which she painted LGBTQ people as sexually perverted and "anti-family."

All the while, Mello had to sit quietly and endure her open bigotry, remaining calm and collected throughout. Democratic councilmembers supported the flag's presence, but their Republican counterparts did not.

"The past few Julys, I've had to watch my colleagues work against me and organize fellow neighbors in Pierce County to write hateful things about my life and the people I care about — how 'sinful' we are and ... all kinds of ridiculous and disgusting things about me and people like me," Mello told the SGN.

He holds no illusion that Cruver will change her mind about him, and he puts no energy into that. Instead, he said he strives to be an example that she and everyone can see, staying focused and dedicated to the people he is charged with representing.

"All I can do is show by example that I work hard and that I care deeply about my community, as she says she does," Mello said, "to show with my actions that I care about making this place safer and help to make more people feel included and have stability in their life to thrive.

"I am going to be everybody's county executive: Gay, straight, Republican and Democrat, urban and rural. I'm going to wake up every day to work hard to make meaningful progress on the issues that are holding us back."