Someone Ought To Pass A Law
Rep. Mark Sterk thinks if lawmakers want to drink they’d better do it on their own time.
Sterk, R-Spokane, said he came home to angry constituents following a story in The Spokesman-Review about drinking in the statehouse on the last night of the legislative session.
Some lawmakers had way too much fun way too early in the evening, celebrating the adjournment of the session March 7.
House Speaker Clyde Ballard, R-Wenatchee, said one lawmaker had so much to drink, he couldn’t understand what she was saying.
Other lawmakers confirmed some of their colleagues overindulged, even though they had a full night of work ahead of them, voting on bills.
“I don’t mind somebody having a glass of wine,” Ballard said the morning after. “But there are limits.”
Sterk’s got a limit in mind: none at all. Zip. Zilch. Nada. He’s written Ballard, asking him to consider restricting booze on the Capitol campus.
There may be room for exemptions, Sterk said, such as the inaugural ball.
“What I want to get rid of is any public drinking by legislators while they are still voting. That’s not why people sent us to Olympia.”
His own earlier problem with drinking makes him more sensitive to the issue, Sterk said.
“The abuse of alcohol when I was a young police officer cost me my marriage and nearly my job. I haven’t had a drink in 15 years.”
There’s been at least some booze in the legislative process as long as there have been lawmakers in Olympia.
The days when lawmakers could buy a beer in the Capitol cafeteria and knock it back at their desks on the floor are gone.
But lobbyists still typically provide free food and booze for lawmakers on the last night of the session. It’s available for lawmakers just off the floor, in some members’ offices and in meeting rooms.
Some abstain, others partake. Heavily.
“I never did agree with that kind of behavior on campus,” Sterk said. “It is not professional. You are on the payroll. You are voting for your community. I don’t want to be the designated enforcer. But I want behavior to change.”
You’re running too?
West Side taxpayers may wonder what they’re getting for their money before long, as the race for governor heats up.
After all, the mayor of Seattle, King County executive, and county prosecutor are all running for the state’s top political job. So is one of the Democratic senators from Seattle, Nita Rinehart.
“How can they possibly do their duties and run for governor, too?” said Linda Johnson, a Seattle resident and co-chairman of People for Ethical Government in King County.
“We, as taxpayers, are basically subsidizing their campaigns,” Johnson said.
Johnson and other government watchdogs say all public officials should have to resign to run for higher office.
The issue has proved controversial before. U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton mounted a withering attack on King County Councilman Ron Sims for missing council meetings while running, unsuccessfully, for Gorton’s seat in 1994.
At the time, Sims freely admitted there was no way he could do his job full time and run for U.S. Senate too.
Cards and letters welcome
Noel Eder’s second chance at life is fading.
Eder, a 24-year-old native of Spokane, received a double-lung transplant last May. The operation gave him a new lease on the life that cystic fibrosis was swiftly taking from him.
At first Eder made a solid recovery, becoming strong enough to swim the length of a pool underwater.
But seven weeks ago, Eder was hospitalized. Complications from the transplant have set in. A doctor recently gave Eder a few months to live.
His parents and sister are considering becoming live donors, giving a portion of their lungs to save Eder. Meanwhile, he’s still in the hospital.
Cards cheer him up, said his mother Linda. Eder’s address is University of Washington Medical Center; 1959 NE Pacific Street; Mail Stop 356153, Seattle, WA 98195.
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