booth gardner - Washington Secretary of State

With economic development as a cornerstone of his administration, Gardner’s
prize catch was John Anderson, whom he wooed back from Oregon to lead his “Team
Washington.” Before
moving to Oregon in
1982, Anderson had
been acting economic
development director,
then deputy director.
Earlier he had headed the
Puget Sound Economic
Development Council.
In Oregon, Anderson
stressed statewide
economic-development
teamwork and brought
thousands of hightech
jobs to the state.
Oregon’s Republican
governor, Vic Atiyeh, was loath to lose him. Gardner persuaded the state salary commission
to boost the pay for the post from $55,700 a year to $71,000, some $18,000 more than
Anderson was getting in Oregon. The governor also won more money for the budget director
and ecology chief, asserting the state needed to be able to recruit top-flight managers.
* * *
Booth was optimistic about the legislative session, with Foster as chief of staff,
Democratic majorities in both chambers and three members of the “Pierce County Mafia”
in leadership positions: Wayne Ehlers as speaker of the House, Ted Bottiger as Senate
majority leader and young Dan Grimm of Puyallup as head of Ways & Means in the House.
The wild card was Jim McDermott, who lost the election but was still in the catbird seat as
chairman of Ways & Means in the Senate, where the budget would originate.
With revenues projected to perk up, teachers, troopers and other public employees
were clamoring for salary increases; environmentalists, educational reformers and mentalhealth
advocates were demanding action. Colleges needed new buildings; bridges, dams
and sewage treatment plants were in disrepair – $2 billion worth of public works projects
alone. Moreover, the state’s pension funds, a huge piece of unfinished business, had to
be shored up. Reaganomics had caused the federal deficit to soar and the states saw
their “revenue-sharing” reduced to a trickle. Washington’s tax system, heavily dependent
on consumer spending, was revealed as more problematic than ever. Dan Evans, whom
Gardner regarded as the exemplar of gubernatorial excellence, had tilted twice at the
income tax windmill. Yet Booth believed that if he could “restore trust in government” tax
Booth with some of the outstanding women he appointed. Chris Gregoire is seated, third
from left. Next to her, fourth from left, is Mary Faulk. Photo courtesy Mary Faulk Riveland.
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