The Gortons and Slades - Washington Secretary of State

who gives A hoot? 257
McGavick’s legacy included a subtle but important course correction.
It was his observation that they’d been staffing to Slade’s strengths. He
didn’t have many weaknesses, but McGavick saw to it that they were addressed
with the new hires. Vander Stoep had the same philosophy, as
well as attention to detail that McGavick admired. One of the new staffers
was Curtis Hom, an American-born Chinese with a law degree from Columbia.
“Slade loves give and take,” Hom says. When they descended on
him one day with armloads of documents, he looked up with a grin:
“Three at once! But that’s OK. I hire you to challenge me.”
A witty, tech-savvy guy, Hom went on to spend 15 years with Microsoft.
By encouraging talented young people to go back to Washington State
after a couple of years learning the ropes on Capitol Hill, Gorton was
building an indispensable Rolodex. “The system was modeled after
Scoop’s office,” McGavick says. “He had the business and legal community
at home loaded with successful former staffers, and we wanted a
similar network of alums.”
If you were smart, it didn’t matter how old you were. Gorton loved it
when they talked back. As a committee hearing got under way one day, he
whispered to Cassie Phillips, a sharp young attorney, that Wendell Ford of
Kentucky had a thicker briefing book. “Senator Ford appears to be better
prepared than I am.” “That’s because he needs it more than you do,” Phillips
replied. 10
They all marveled at Gorton’s ability to focus. “You can have conversations
with Slade Gorton in 35 seconds that could take other people half an
hour,” Vander Stoep says.
The conversations about owls took longer.
when goRton cAMe to ABeRdeen to meet with worried loggers, mill operators
and business leaders, Jim Carlson brought along his daughter Kellie,
a spunky little blonde who was a junior at Lake Quinault High School.
“I hope you don’t forget us in Grays Harbor,” a millworker in the back
of the room told Gorton. “All we have is you.”
“I can’t promise success,” the senator said, “but I can promise a fight.”
From Port Angeles to Omak, every crowd looked and sounded the same.
A 9-year-old boy from Forks carried a handmade sign that said “What about
my future?” Another said “Spotted owl tastes like chicken.” Someone even
dummied up a box of Spotted Owl Helper. Houses and businesses sprouted
signs affirming they were “Supported by Timber Dollars.” 11
Gorton announced he planned to introduce a bill to permanently guarantee
Northwest loggers at least 3.3 billion board feet annually from fed-