Helen Sommers: An Oral History

Barry Sehlin
knowledge and her memory and her willingness to
share important information with me as the committee
chair.
She was very focused on the process and we had
worked very well together. She was known to take
under her wing younger new members – be they
Democrats or Republicans – that she thought were
potentially good legislators, and she would share
her thoughts and her ideas and she helped them
understand the intricacies of the process, given her
36 year career.
I’ll mention a couple of specific examples: Once
in my first term in the Legislature – as I mentioned
I didn’t know anything about the Legislature when
I first was elected – I was on the Capital Budget
Committee and Rep. Art Wang was chair at the
time. We spent many days that summer traveling
to various capital projects around the state. And, I
could just sit and listen to Helen Sommers and Art
Wang talking about the legislative process, about
projects, and about every district in the state. They
both knew exactly what the legislators from those
districts, whether Republican or Democrat, needed
to have to help their district. It was a lesson in how to
make the House of Representatives function. Being
able to listen to them, again and again, really added
to my perspective of the process. I could ask whatever
questions I wanted – even including my political
questions – and they were both willing to share.
Helen was a very kind person. In 1995, Rep.
Jean Silver became the chair of Appropriations
when the Republicans gained control of the House.
Helen went from chair to ranking Democrat. Rep.
Silver was dealing with some health issues at the
time. As ranking member, Helen sat beside Jean
Silver in the Appropriations Committee hearing
room, and she really helped Jean to make sure the
functioning of the committee worked smoothly.
She didn’t have to do that. She didn’t have to assist
Jean in the way that she did. Helen helped her very
kindly without denigrating the chair’s position. I
always respected that. Jean was only chair for just
a period of months, but I always respected that
period with Helen, perhaps more than any other
in my experience.
As I mentioned, the Capital Budget Committee
pg. 159
was my favorite assignment in my 10 year career
in the Legislature. In 1995, when I was chair of the
Committee, it was a very exciting year. But one very
intense political issue with, very heated opinions
on both sides, was a proposal to replace the King
Dome with a new baseball stadium!
The legislation for the new stadium was proposed
with very interested parties on both sides of the issue
involved. Early on, I was conducting a Capital
Budget Committee meeting, when I spotted in the
back of the room both Speaker Clyde Ballard and
Majority Leader Barbara Lisk. I knew something
serious was up that they were together in the back
of the room. They had come to tell me that the
Mariners Stadium bill was to be referred to my
committee. I wasn’t for the bill, but in the end, I
actually supported it. Over the course of several
months, we put together the best possible deal that
was in everybody’s interest, whether they support
the stadium or not. The result was good, and as it
turned out, the process was one of the most positive
I’ve ever experienced.
In 1998, I had six years of serving as a legislator
from the 10 th District, when a congressional seat in
my area opened. Congressman Jack Metcalf (R-2 nd
District) had been elected to Congress in 1994, served
three terms and stepped down in 2000. With some
persuasion, I decided to run for the open seat in
1998. I was in the race for awhile, about five or six
months, but I left the race. Democrat Rick Larsen
defeated the Republican nominee, John Koster.
With that in my mind, I was completely retired.
I’d served a career in the U.S. Navy including Commander
at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station and
six years in the House of Representatives, so my
wife, Susan, and I were interested in travel. We were
in Bend, Oregon, in 2000, when I got a phone call
from my good friend and former House colleague,
Barbara Lisk, the Republican Majority Leader.
There had been a tie in the House for 1999 and 2000.
She and Clyde Ballard, who was Co-Speaker of the
House, wanted to know if I’d be willing to run for
my old seat. With a little coaxing, I agreed to run
for the seat again, and I won. But, when the 2000
election was tabulated, there was another 49-49 tie!
So I came back to Olympia for the 2001 session.