Helen Sommers: An Oral History

The Press
Gardner and Rep. Gary Locke, D-Seattle. But
despite his rhetoric, McDonald hasn’t successfully
used the budget or the bully pulpit it provides to
lead the charge for real changes in the welfare
system he berates.
REP. GARY LOCKE
The House Appropriations chairman, who lives
and breathes the legislative life, has an unsurpassed
knowledge of the state’s finances that makes him a
tough negotiator. Locke has become the champion
of social services, protecting those programs and
presiding over the expansion of services like mental
health. But he is seen by some as a technocrat, and
he alienated many of his colleagues by keeping
them in the dark about the budget.
REP. DENNIS BRADDOCK
Democratic chairman of the House Health
Care Committee, Braddock, of Bellingham, isn’t
one of the biggest names in the Legislature. But
he’s often cited, even by Republican opponents,
as a true leader: He has a big-picture view of the
state’s health-care system and a plan to get there.
The secret, he says, is that he’s not afraid to be
unpopular, or even unelected.
Copyright (c) 1991 Seattle Times Company, All
Rights Reserved.
The Best & The Rest – The Insiders
Rate Seattle-Area Legislators – Political
Pundits Say Smarts, Congeniality
Beget Power These Days At
The Capitol
By Mark Matassa, Jim Simon
Sunday, January 7, 1990
OLYMPIA - On paper, they’re equals - 147 men
and women who each have a single vote on the laws
and policies of the state of Washington.
However, voting is only the final and formal
stage of the lawmaking process. And in the ability
to get their pet proposals to that stage, Washington’s
legislators are anything but equal.
pg. 299
There is, in fact, a colossal range in the abilities
and effectiveness of individual lawmakers. As the
Legislature prepared for the 60-day session that
begins tomorrow, The Seattle Times set out to
measure that range.
The Times surveyed more than 30 Olympia
insiders - mostly lobbyists, government staff people
and elected officials, of various political stripes -
on the quality of the 53 legislators from the Seattle
area, including King, northern Pierce and south
Snohomish counties.
Predictably, two widely acknowledged powerbrokers
- House Appropriations Chairman Gary
Locke and Senate Ways and Means Chairman Dan
McDonald - finished at or near the top.
But other findings were more surprising. Most
notably, the survey suggests that the traditional
political equation - longevity equals power - no
longer holds true in Olympia. Consider:
- A first-term senator, Democrat Patty Murray,
finished in the top five. Freshmen are generally
presumed to wield little influence, but the energetic
Murray, who represents northwest Seattle and the
adjoining suburbs, made a big impression in her
first year.
- Two other relative newcomers from the north,
Reps. Maria Cantwell of Mountlake Terrace and Art
Sprenkle of Snohomish, both Democrats, were judged
highly, having combined studious work habits and
political smarts to rise quickly through the ranks.
- Two Democratic fixtures - Sen. Al Williams
and Rep. John O’Brien, both of Seattle - were raked
by survey respondents as lazy and ineffectual. Between
them, Williams and O’Brien have nearly 70
years of legislative service.
The survey is not a formal, scientific poll. Instead,
it is a reflection of thinking among those who watch
how public policy - and reputations - get made on
a daily basis. Those perceptions can differ greatly
from the election-time view of voters back home.
Respondents were asked to rate the lawmakers in
several categories - intellect and savvy, energy, effectiveness
and their relative standing in the Legislature.