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The Associated Press Political Service OLYMPIA (AP) - Dig this: An affable 30-year-old excavation contractor from Spokane, Todd Mielke, has quietly turned out to be the troubleshooter, conciliator and "Mr. Fix-It" for the Republican revolution. Got a problem with welfare negotiations? Call Todd. Want to cut a deal with the Democratic governor on health care? Call Todd. Stuck on how far to cut taxes - and which ones to target? Call in Todd. Need a budget proposal that synthesizes the views of a diverse caucus? Yup, you guessed it. Call on Todd to help. "Todd is our troubleshooter. He's our Mr. Fix-It," says admiring House Majority Leader Dale Foreman, R-Wenatchee, no slouch himself in the multiple-hats department. Mielke, pronounced Milky, is proving to be no milquetoast in the cutthroat business of legislative diplomacy. But he says there was no grand plan for him to be a roving troubleshooter five months ago, when he was elected caucus chairman - traditionally a less powerful role. His first big assignment came when Speaker Clyde Ballard, R-East Wenatchee, asked him to be part of a four-member inner circle that drafted the House's $17.3 billion state budget plan. That was, and is, a huge challenge, since the 61-member majority caucus spans the gamut from ultraconservatives who didn't want to spend even $17 billion to suburban moderates inclined to allocate something closer to the $17.9 billion allowed under the spending-limits law. Next, Mielke went subterranean to strike a remarkable deal with Gov. Mike Lowry that essentially rolls back the Democrats' vaunted health-care reform law of 1993. Lowry's fellow Democrats in the Senate meekly, if unhappily, acquiesced. At the moment, Mielke's a central player in hammering out a welfare-reform bill and in striking a deal with the Senate over a tax-cut package. It's a pretty impressive performance from a 30-year-old in just his third term. He has drawn plaudits from far more senior members for his skills at negotiating, consensus-building and problem-solving. And Democrats consider him the voice of sweet reason in a sometimes rigid and cantankerous caucus. His assignment as troubleshooter just sort of happened, and Mielke says even he was taken by surprise. "It has evolved," he says. "If you would have asked me (before the session) if I would be involved in revenue negotiations or in drafting the budget or health-care reform or welfare, my response would have been `I'm not assigned to those committees.' "But that has been the joy in this position. I'm much more involved in policy than I ever thought I would be. I'm enjoying it. "I'm not on the Appropriations Committee, but I'm working on the budget. I'm not on the Revenue Committee and I'm involved in taxes. I'm no longer on Health Care Committee and was involved in the health-care issue. I'm not on Human Services, and I'm in the welfare talks. It's been kind of fun." - - - THE MIELKE WAY... It all seems to come effortlessly for the boyish lawmaker. He seems just as comfortable in well-tailored suits walking the marble halls of Olympia as wearing jeans and a hardhat atop a bulldozer. He's no lawyer, trained negotiator or political scientist. His degrees from Eastern Washington University are in finance and operations management. But friends say he's temperamentally suited to the negotiations biz. He's relentlessly sunny, plays his cards close to the vest, seems to be able to make the other side think it's winning more than it is and articulates his position clearly and colorfully. His critics, such as they are, say he's more of a process person and doesn't care deeply about the actual issues he's negotiating. Mielke flatly rejects this: "Process is important, but it's important to make it work for you." He says he entered each of the negotiations either because of his past experience with the issue - such as welfare or health-care - or because the speaker wanted his fresh perspective - as on the budget and taxes. Senate Majority Leader Marcus Gaspard, D-Puyallup, and the Senate's lead tax negotiator, Nita Rinehart, D-Seattle, have high regard for Mielke. Rinehart says he has a finger on the pulse of his caucus, having been instrumental in the election of many of them. Gaspard says Mielke is working overtime to try to make his caucus flexible and sensible. Gaspard's theory on Mielke's bulging portfolio is that Ballard wants a layer of insulation around himself as the GOP leader. If Mielke strikes a deal that the caucus rebels against, it's Mielke they'll vent on, not Ballard, he says. - - - THE MIELKE FILE... A lifelong resident of Spokane - "a city that is fiscally conservative and socially progressive" - Mielke laughingly calls himself "a dinosaur in our caucus at age 30." That's because he's been involved in politics since he was student-body president at Shadle Park High School and a city council candidate almost before he was shaving. While still at EWU, he hooked up with the campaigns of Jim West, now ranking Republican budget-writer in the Senate. Mielke worked for years as West's aide, returning home to complete his college degrees. In 1990, at 26, heavily outspent and unsponsored by the House Republican campaign drive, he ousted an incumbent Democrat, labor activist Shirley Rector. He was re-elected in 1992 and 1994, quickly rising as a caucus spokesman and leader. He's clearly wondering what's next, but hasn't come up with a clear goal yet. He could be majority leader or budget chairman of the House, run for insurance commissioner, succeed his old mentor, West, or try for Congressman George Nethercutt's 5th District seat when he retires after two more terms. Mielke says life outside politics also has major appeal, since he could spend more time with his wife, Tonia Bendickson, a morning anchor on KXLY-TV and amateur race car driver, and their daughter, Ciara. He owns and operates an excavation business with his father, a retired Spokane policeman.
David Ammons is the AP's state political writer and has covered government and politics since 1971. He may be reached at PO Box 607, Olympia, Wash., 98507. © 2003 Dow Jones Reuters Business Interactive LLC (trading as Factiva). All rights reserved.
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