Opinion - Top opinion

POSTED: Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008

Endorsements: Choose best candidate, not party, in state office elections

For statewide elections, our editorial board is endorsing both Republicans and Democrats. What matters to us, and to most Washington voters, is getting the right person for the right job. Thankfully, there were candidates for every statewide position for which we interviewed, who we strongly endorse for election.

We should note that due to time constraints we were unable to interview the candidates for lieutenant governor this fall, so we will not be making a recommendation in that race. Our endorsement of Chris Gregoire for governor was published in the Sunday, Oct. 19, edition of The Bellingham Herald and is still available online at TheBellinghamHerald.com

SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

We believe Randy Dorn, a former principal and former head of the union that represents non-classroom employees in schools - such as janitors and office workers, and lunchroom employees - is a breath of fresh air needed to head our state's schools.

We found Dorn's take on needed changes to the system refreshing. For example, he talked of math tests that can be taken quickly and the information about student performance returned to teachers quickly. That way teachers can identify where students are struggling and help them catch up.

That's a far cry better than the Washington Assessment of Student Learning system that doesn't return results until the next school year when, presumably, the student has already been passed through to the next grade.

We like Terry Bergeson, who has been the head of the state's education department for more than a decade. But at some point, when things aren't working right, the buck must stop at the boss' desk.

Bergeson has been a strong advocate for accountability in schools, which is good. But it's no secret in Washington that kids are struggling with the math and science portions of the WASL. After realizing that a couple years ago, the state Legislature suspended the requirement that students pass the math portion of the test in order to graduate from high school.

Bergeson looked into the matter and discovered the state had dozens of different math curriculums being taught, many that did not correspond with the assessment. How could our top schools official not know that before the test was created?

Dorn is a logical replacement for Bergeson in this non-partisan race. He understands the needs of students and educators. He knows the problems that make it difficult for children to succeed. And he has good ideas on how to keep educators accountable while making testing work better for everyone involved. We encourage voters to choose Dorn this election.

COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC LANDS

We give Doug Sutherland, our state's current Lands Commissioner, credit for continuing to try and work with people, rather than against them.

In our community there are two fairly recent examples, a proposed plan for Blanchard Mountain that will retain much of the mountain for recreation but still allow some forestry and the recently approved plan for giving some state-managed land around Lake Whatcom back to Whatcom County for use as a park.

Meanwhile Sutherland, a Republican, has done some work behind the scenes in the Department of Natural Resources that has made it operate more efficiently and deal with the public more professionally.

Sutherland is challenged this year by Peter Goldmark, an Eastern Washington rancher who also holds a PhD in molecular biology. Goldmark, a Democrat, understands the land and science. He is smart, energetic and has some good ideas about how to run the department.

But we can see no reason to replace Sutherland at this point. Instead voters should return him, and his level-headed leadership, to office.

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Rob McKenna is a fine attorney general, dedicated to running a professional legal office for the state of Washington while expanding the office's work on behalf of citizens.

McKenna, a Republican, is a leader in the state in pushing for transparency in government and has had success in getting several bills passed in the Legislature in that realm, including the law that created a "Sunshine Committee" to look at all of the exemptions to public records laws and suggest getting rid of some.

McKenna also has been a leader in attacking the spread of methamphetamine production and use. He said his next target is abuse of prescription drugs, and he has plans that would track the distribution of drugs such as OxyContin and create collection stations at pharmacies where people could discard unused drugs.

McKenna is challenged this year by John Ladenburg, a Democrat and Pierce County Executive. We were unable to meet with Ladenburg in person because he had a family emergency at the time of the scheduled interview. His campaign materials focus on the public parts of the job, increasing work on identity theft, for example, and consumer fraud. Those seem like reasonable goals.

Ladenburg also points out that he is a former prosecutor, serving as Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney from 1986-2000. He believes that courtroom experience gives him an advantage over McKenna, who was a corporate attorney and former King County Councilman when elected to the job.

We believe McKenna is already doing a fine job on the issues Ladenburg brings up, and that McKenna's experience seems to have paid off - witness his winning argument in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of our state's top-two primary voting system.

We think voters will be well-served by returning McKenna to office.

SECRETARY OF STATE

We recommend returning Sam Reed to office. He has served the citizens of the state of Washington in many exemplary ways in the past four years.

Reed, a Republican, championed the top-two primary system favored by citizens but hated by political parties and won a victory in court for all Washingtonians. He helped register more voters for this year's election than ever before in the state, using modern techniques like Facebook pages to appeal to younger, more online-savvy voters.

Reed is being challenged this year by Jason Osgood, a Seattle software worker and co-founder of the watchdog group Washington Citizens for Fair Elections. Osgood never returned one of more than a dozen calls requesting his presence at our board and seems to be running a relatively low-profile campaign. His campaign statements focus on his desire to guarantee the accuracy and safety of voting systems. That's a laudable goal.

We believe Reed also shares that goal, and his work on behalf of Washington voters has been beyond reproach. Your vote should go toward returning him to office.

STATE TREASURER

Long-time state Treasurer Mike Murphy is not running for re-election. Instead, assistant state treasurer Allan Martin is asking voters to allow him to move up into the position.

It should be noted that Murphy is a Democrat and Martin is a Republican. It should also be noted that it makes no difference. Murphy is appearing in many advertisements supporting his former employee.

Voters should support Martin as well. He knows how the public's money is held. He is the only candidate who has experience investing public funds. He understands the role of being what he calls the "custodian of public funds" and will do so with the best interest of the state in mind.

Jim McIntire has a degree in economics. He is chair of the state's Economic Revenue Forecast Council. He is also a Democratic state legislator from the 46th District in Seattle. He has experience in private investment. We found McIntire also quite knowledgeable about state funding issues.

But Martin clearly understood the role of the treasurer and the office, which should be focused on money-management and not politics. We believe Martin is the better choice.

STATE AUDITOR

Brian Sonntag has led a revolution in the state auditor's office. With his urging, voters in this state have given his office broad powers to audit not just the financial documents of state and local government agencies, but the performance of those agencies.

The new performance audits are helping citizens understand where their governments are serving them well, and where changes are needed.

That effort is just one part of Sonntag's long-standing push for openness. There is not a better advocate in Olympia for state citizen's right to know how government is working.

Sonntag is challenged this year by J. Richard (Dick) McEntee, who ran previously for this seat in 2000. McEntee, a Pierce County Republican, said Sonntag is not going far enough with the performance audits. He wants auditors to prepare business plans for government agencies that fix the problems the audits point out.

Unfortunately, the auditor does not have the power to make changes in other offices. That job is left to elected officials - such as the governor and legislators on the state level, or councils and boards for local governments, who must force the hand of administrators to make changes. Citizens can help too, by applying pressure on their elected officials to make governments respond to audit results.

Sonntag, a Democrat, is doing a good job shedding the light so that others can make the changes. We recommend him for re-election without pause.

INSURANCE COMMISSIONER

This year's insurance commissioner race is a repeat of the election four years ago, with incumbent Democrat Mike Kreidler challenged by longtime marine insurance broker John Adams.

Like four years ago, Adams, a Republican, seems under-prepared for a job that is a lot bigger than just understanding how to underwrite insurance. Our insurance commissioner is in charge of regulating an entire industry.

Kreidler does that administrative job well, at little cost to taxpayers since fees charged to the industry pay for operation of the office. But Kreidler is a much bigger thinker than that. He is hard at work on a plan to create statewide catastrophic health insurance, which Kreidler defines as medical bills more than $10,000, for all citizens, paid for by a payroll tax. In return, businesses and workers should see a significant drop in the regular insurance rates they pay for regular health care, he said.

The idea is still in its infancy, and we will wait to see more details before we endorse such a massive change in our state's health care system. But we applaud Kreidler for being the kind of leader who is trying to address the most pressing insurance question of our time. Voters should send him back to Olympia for four more years.