Recently reelected Pierce County Council member Tim Farrell has a lot of things. He owns a few chickens, for example. And a duck. And he’s also the proprietor of a snappy wardrobe.

And now he has a big challenge on his hands.

In a situation Farrell likens to being a player in the French Resistance, based on election results currently available, the councilman from Tacoma will soon find himself in unfamiliar territory — in all probability one of two lone Democrats on the seven-person Pierce County Council.

Thanks to apparent victories by Rep. Joyce McDonald in Pierce County’s 2nd District — a seat vacated by Democrat Calvin Goings — not to mention the slim reelection of Roger Bush in District 3 and Dick Muri’s less competitive reelection in the District 6, Farrell and Barbara Gelman, as of next year, will almost certainly represent the only two progressive voices on the PCC. 

For a governing body that’s been mired in trivial give-and-take tactics and party-line posturing in recent years, the exciting news may be that action on the Pierce County Council may be about to pick up. The bad news is that action will be Republican dominated.

As a whole, voters in Pierce County sided with Obama, Gregoire and — if her razor slim margin holds up (which we’ll hopefully know by Thanksgiving) even Democrat Pat McCarthy in this year’s County Executive race. All that Democratic support is enough to make a person wonder whether a 5-2 Republican majority on the Pierce County Council truly reflects the values and ideals of our area, or if overriding factors played a major role in the outcome of election ’08.

And by overriding factors I mean Ranked Choice Voting and the redistricting of 2002. 

But the fact is — even though Ranked Choice ballot fatigue and a slanted redistricting effort probably did have at least some effect on election results in Pierce County — it doesn’t really matter. At least not now. What matters — to a guy like Farrell — is rolling up his sleeves and going back to work.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” says Farrell of the new makeup of the Pierce County Council. “In the past there was a chance of a progressive vote. Now the council is going to be even more conservative. The council needs to be forward thinking. Maybe I’ll be surprised.”

Specifically, Farrell worries that — with an unstoppable Republican supermajority on the council — constituents in Pierce County will see a regression on issues like environmental protection and domestic partnership. 

“I’ll continue to work on ideas by myself, in exile,” Farrell jokes of his new role on the council — probably to deal with the pain.

While Farrell is quick to point out that he’s “never run away from a fight,” and that he has every intention of sticking to his guns despite the adversity, he also admits the newfound uphill battle in Pierce County Council chambers — along with urging from friends and supporters all over Grit City — has been enough to give the Democrat serious thoughts of running for Mayor of Tacoma.

“Tacoma is at a crossroads,” says Farrell. “We need a quality mayor that can sell Tacoma to the state and legislature, and a mayor that’s progressive and looking forward. If I find that in someone else, I will endorse them.”

And if he doesn’t, there’s a strong possibility Farrell will jump in the ring himself.

While the idea of Tacoma Mayor Tim Farrell makes us giddy with excitement here at Weekly Volcano World Headquarters, the unfortunate truth is we just might need him more on the new-look Pierce County Council.

Or maybe that will only be a waste of Farrell’s talents. Only time will tell.