booth gardner - Washington Secretary of State

Harris says the Gardner team underestimated the fact that they were in a twofront
war and was caught off guard by a change in the weather. “Booth knew his teachereducation
reforms would not be popular with the WEA,” the former policy adviser
recalls, “but he believed they would come around because of the higher salaries that
would follow. He knew that education was at the top of the business community’s policy
priorities, but we did not accurately gauge its opposition to tax increases to pay the bill.
If he had known about the improved revenue forecast, he might have reduced the tax
package but I doubt that he would have abandoned it. Although the session was regarded
by many as a failure for Booth, I think a fair retrospective shows that his initiatives were
ahead of their times. He was trying to reform K-12 years before ‘No Child Left Behind.’ His
‘Schools for the 21 st Century’ would be recognized by the first President Bush and now
Obama as laying the groundwork for public charter schools.”
Higher Education had a far happier outing. To stay competitive in the global
economy, Washington simply had to have world-class universities, Gardner said. On this
the governor and
Senate Republicans
in the catbird seat
could agree. The
Legislature allocated
$155 million more
in the 1987-89
biennium, with
raises of 6 to 8.5
percent for faculty,
including community
college instructors, the stepchildren of higher ed. UW President Gerberding and the
governor had emphasized the dangers of a “brain drain.” With salaries lagging far below
peer institutions, the university’s ability to recruit and retain world-class academic talent
was compromised. Gardner wanted the Legislature to close 80 percent of the salary gap.
He got it to 72 percent for both his alma mater and Washington State University, a major
victory in such a contentious year.
* * *
Gardner’s sweeping government reorganizational plan, packaged as a constitutional
amendment, died in the House. But there was a consolation prize. The Legislature funded
the cash-strapped Game Department from the state’s General Fund for the first time
in its 55-year history – renaming it the Wildlife Department. The revenue from hunting
and fishing licenses was falling far short and layoffs had loomed. Sen. Brad Owen, who
sided with the Republicans on the budget, was Gardner’s guardian angel on this one. The
maverick Democrat from Shelton pushed through the legislation, and Booth won the right
Booth with UW President William Gerberding, right, and Seattle bank executive John Mangels.
Gardner family album.
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