STATE HOUSE AND SENATE SUPPLY SEVERAL LEGISLATIVE ALL-STARS

The News Tribune, Thursday, May 25, 1995
Letters and Opinion

What with all this talk about a new ballpark for the Seattle Mariners, you can forgive me for having the national pastime on the brain. As a result, this end-of-session assessment of 1995's top performers is taking on a baseball tinge.

Here they are, the winners of the biggest post-season awards:

Rookie of the Year

House: Two freshman Republicans share the award although they won for different reasons. Graham's Scott Smith wins for being the most obvious; Gig Harbor's Tom Huff for being the best behind-the-scenes player.

Smith is a guileless insurance salesman who says what he thinks even if it's bound to get him in trouble. Oft times he doesn't realize it's going to cause a firestorm until after he says it. His bill to eliminate affirmative action made him a spokesman for a movement. His suggestion that the cost of repeated special sessions was a small price to pay to cut taxes and government spoke for much of the freshman GOP class.

Huff is a retired retail executive who worked the halls of Olympia as a lobbyist before winning a seat last year. He was a key player on complex issues such as nursing home reimbursement. His knowledge of the budget exceeded his experience.

Senate: Lake Forest Park Democrat Darlene Fairley won a race that secured the Democratic majority. She then insisted on a prominent role on legislation and was in the middle of the Democratic response to GOP initiatives on runaways and welfare reform. On the side, she passed a bill to stiffen penalties for parking in handicapped zones.

Manager of the Year

House: Spokane Republican Todd Mielke not only masterminded the GOP election victory but served as the most savvy strategist for the new House majority. Dubbed "Mr. Fix-it," Mielke was the guy called on to work out the agreement on the toughest problems. He managed to represent a partisan group without hurting feelings or making enemies.

Senate: Puyallup's Marc Gaspard was charged with running a group of Democrats with a one-vote majority. At any time, any one of them could cross over and team with the Republicans on any issue. With no way of enforcing discipline, Gaspard kept his group together most of the time using persuasion, reason and - at least once - the threat of quitting and leaving the thankless job to someone else.

Comeback Player of the Year

House: In 1993, Issaquah Republican Phil Dyer was a freshman with an interest in health care policy. Majority Democrats ignored him. In 1995, Dyer was in the catbird seat as chairman of the Health Care Committee and was most responsible for the dismantling of the Democratic plan.

Senate: He's not all the way back - and may never be because of a diagnosis of AIDS - but the fact that Seattle Democrat Cal Anderson returned from what he thought was his deathbed to cast votes in the Senate is enough to claim this award.

Sigh Young Award

(In baseball, the Cy Young Award goes to the best pitcher, often someone who throws smoke. Our award goes to the legislator who blows smoke. In other words, the one who talks and talks and talks.)

House: Mike Carrell, the Lakewood Republican, has an opinion on every issue and isn't afraid to stand up and express it - at length.

Senate: Seattle Democrat Dwight Pelz can match Carrell gab for gab. Pelz, however, has the advantage of being a phrase maker - funny and eminently quotable.

Relief Pitcher of the Year

(This goes to the legislator who most often provides relief from over-serious and tedious floor speeches.)

House: Seattle Democrat Marlin Appelwick is quick with a quip and a phrase, but he wins here for his "habit" of dressing as comic character Father Guido Sarducci - complete with black hat and collar. In a strained Italian accent made famous by comedian Don Novello, Father Guido gives floor speeches on the last day of the session. He also grants absolution for past sins against his friend Rep. Appelwick.

Senate: Spokane Republican Bob McCaslin is a conservative with a sense of humor who is appreciated for rising after the most mind-numbing floor speeches and setting the record straight. Playing dumb is his favorite ruse.

Most Valuable Player

House: Speaker Clyde Ballard presided over a GOP majority that hadn't run things since 1982. He had 30 pure rookies out of 60 members. His caucus covered the spectrum from far right to liberal. And he wanted to set the agenda - an aggressive agenda - for the entire state. Somehow, he held his disparate troops together, checked their most radical impulses and helped them set the tone, the pace and the agenda for the session.

(When he accepts the award, Ballard will want to thank Majority Leader Dale Foreman, who did much of the heavy lifting on the budget and the details of the GOP's "Contract with Washington State.")

Senate: Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Nita Rinehart used the ultimate policy document - the state budget - to keep dispirited Democrats in the ballgame. They still lost a lot to resurgent Republicans but, their biggest victories came in the budget.

- - -Write to Peter Callaghan at PO Box 11000, Tacoma, WA 98411 or send Internet e-mail to pjc@p.tribnet.com and TRIBnet e-mail to Peter Callaghan.