Our Place in Walla Walla #10: Olympia

Our place is connected to our state capitol.

The 300 miles between here and Olympia may seem a long way, however, for a short time every year that distance collapses. Walla Walla City Manager Elizabeth Chamberlin and City Council Member Rick Eskil are currently in Olympia sharing some of our city’s priorities with the Washington Legislature, including the status of the Highway 12 Phase 8 expansion plan, a bill to allow cities to share certain sales and use taxes through interlocal agreements (in partnership with City of College Place), and affordable housing and homelessness.

Today, we are amid a 60 day “short” legislative session, which runs from January 8th to through March 7th. During this 60-day sprint of policy making, elected officials gather in Olympia to debate, advocate for, critique and cheerlead the more than 500 bills that were proposed this year—only a handful of which will eventually be signed into law by Governor Jay Inslee this spring.

Also today, we are remembering longtime Washington State First Lady and Whitman trustee emerita Nancy Bell Evans ’54, who passed away last Friday. Evans had been a generous and long-serving link between Walla Walla / Whitman College and Olympia.

The Walla Walla region and Whitman College have myriad ties to the state government that make us who we are.

Whitman students have had memorable opportunities to participate in legislative sessions. For instance, when Nick Marquiss ’13 was working as a Whitman Community Fellow in the Walla Walla Valley Chamber of Commerce he visited Olympia to represent local business interests (Nick’s supervisor was Damien Sinnott ’93, then the Chamber’s vice president of public policy and business development)

No discussion of these connections would be complete without discussing Walla Walla resident Jeannette Hayner, the first woman Majority Leader in the Washington State Senate, who became a legend in the capitol. Whitman awarded her an honorary degree in 1992. After her death in 2010, HistoryLink noted, “A diminutive woman with a powerful presence, she was remembered both for her willingness to find common ground with her political opponents and for her steadfast refusal to consider herself a trailblazer …“ (One of Jeannette’s two sons, Jim, is Whitman’s legal counsel and a Trustee emeritus.)

Nor should we omit mention of Bill Grant ’59, who beginning in 1986, served an inspiring 22 years as a state legislator of the 16th district. His obituary noted, “Upon his death, Bill was the longest-serving representative in the Washington State Legislature.” Bill’s wife, Nancy, also a Whitman graduate, lives in a beautiful house next to campus and tells extraordinary stories about the evolution of the state legislature over the decades.

My colleague, Jennifer Northam ’91, Director of Alumni Relations, reminded me that dozens of Whitties currently live in and around Olympia, many of them connected to state government, creating excellent networking opportunities for students looking to enter public service!

In addition, some of our alumni arrive in Olympia for the legislative session, like State Representative Mary Fosse ’05 from Everett (who took her Whitman science training into a business career selling bug-eating plants) and Katharine Gillen ’20 who is the Executive Legislative Assistant to a state representative—a position Katherine earned by doing a fantastic job running the candidate’s campaign!

Speaking of alumni, three elected officials represent our community: Representative Skyler Rude, Representative Mark Klicker, and Senator Perry Dozier. Dozier is a Whitman alum.

Senator Dozier wrote to me Friday morning and shared amazing history about Walla Walla’s connections to state government and also what it’s like having Whitman connections in his role. Among many great insights he pointed out, “To anyone in the Whitman community who may be thinking about this level of public service: being effective means interacting with an incredibly diverse group of people, doing a lot of critical thinking, being able to explain things to other people, and sometimes defending your position. When I look back on my experience as a student, those are skills and qualities that any Whitman grad is going to have.”

Our delegation introduces and endorses legislation that they believe responds to concerns here or that aligns with their expertise. For instance, Rep. Klicker introduced a bill to support local cafes, noting that these “are popular with many folks in smaller communities because they give people easier access to their services and create a stronger sense of community.” Representative Rude, a longtime education advocate, has proposed legislation “to address learning loss by emphasizing the placement of tutors in schools and increasing the presence of paraeducators in classrooms.” Senator Dozier, a dry-land wheat farmer, introduced a proposal on agricultural literacy for students in grades seven through 12.

As noted earlier with the example of the city leadership team, during these 60 days many Walla Walla community leaders visit Olympia to share their local stories of issues that are addressed in legislative proposals. They interact with our local delegation and ask for support of policies that will address concerns in our part of the state. Some of the most discussed social challenges in our place, ranging from housing shortages to widespread fentanyl distribution are the subject of legislative proposals. Also of relevance to local concern are proposals to address police practices and mental health supports.

(Want to follow the progress of this and other bills making their way through the Legislature this year? Crosscut has an excellent and user-friendly bill tracker.)

Finally, one particular issue this year connecting our place and Olympia of particular interest to students and educators hopes to protect local libraries from being defunded by people who disagree with titles in the library’s collection.

Whitman Wire readers will remember a fantastic story last fall about the dire situation of the Columbia County Rural Library District, which is solely comprised of the Dayton Public Library. Due to a loophole in state law, voters outside the city of Dayton were given voting power to defund the library.

The risk of the loss of this important public resource was dramatic in our small neighboring city. Carolyn Logue, with the Washington Library Association, reflected late last week in a Northwest Public Broadcasting story, “Libraries are a key part of our democracy, providing access to information and resources that often is not available to the average person in a community.”

Thanks to a few fast-acting citizens, combined with strong legal advocacy, this possibility was blocked at the last minute before ballots were sent to voters.

The leader of Neighbors United for Progress, Elise Severe, recently testified on behalf of Senate bill 5824 which would make such attempts more difficult, requiring more signatures to get proposed shutdowns on the ballot and then allowing a larger population of voters to decide a library’s fate. (The Seattle Times noted last week “Senate Bill 5824 passed unanimously by the Senate on Wednesday” and at the time of writing is headed to the other chamber.)

Elise wants Whitman students to know, “I have zero background in politics but I could see that the decision makers in my community had no intention of considering what was best for all. Moments like these are the exact times when people need to stand up, get organized, and use your voices to bring back smart governance that benefits all people.”

Hard to agree with her more.