Dan Evans’ politics were ‘just right’

(Pictured: Former Washington governor and U.S. senator Dan Evans, at an event in Olympia in April, five months before his death. Photo credit: David Ryder/Cascade PBS)

By Knute Berger

Cascade PBS

In many ways, three-term Washington governor and U.S. senator Dan Evans, who died at age 98 in October, was the Goldilocks politician.

While centrism is out of fashion these days — too often seen as overly compromising or wishy-washy — Evans personified the politics of the “just right” middle. He was a pragmatic progressive Republican, a species once popular in Washington and Oregon.

Evans was also a former engineer who worked on the Alaskan Way Viaduct. He was an Eagle Scout. A devoted family man, he lost his wife of 65 years, Nancy, in January.

Evans seemed to have been around forever. He was only 39 when inaugurated as governor  in 1965.

Evans adhered to reality-based decision-making, especially during his three four-year gubernatorial terms (1965-77). He was a fiscal conservative but supported a more equitable tax system. including an income tax. When California began shutting the door to Southeast Asian refugees, Evans opened Washington wide.

An avid outdoorsman, Evans hiked, climbed and was a passionate conservationist. He played major roles in the creation of North Cascades National Park, adding coastline to Olympic National Park and expanding wilderness areas in Washington. The Daniel J. Evans Wilderness in Olympic National Park is named for him.

In the spring of 1973, the youthful, vigorous governor rappelled off the 10-story concrete clock tower on the Evergreen State College campus. As a student journalist at the college, I ran out to watch him in case he fell. Ah, cynicism can come early to those of us in the journalism trade. He rappelled without incident.

In the spring of 2019, Evans led a group of Mainstream Republicans, non-MAGAs for the most part, and some journalists on a hike along the Alpine Wilderness trail. I went along, and Evans’ vigor at age 93 was on full display 46 years after his Evergreen clock stunt.

Evans pulled votes from both parties in elections and from both sides of the aisle in the Legislature. In his era, no politician was more respected, by both Republicans and Democrats. After leaving the governor’s mansion, he served one unsatisfying (for him) term in the U.S. Senate (1983-89) and retired from elective politics. He was frustrated by D.C. gridlock.

In addition to serving as president of Evergreen after he left the governor’s mansion, he became a University of Washington regent and served on many commissions and councils, often credited as a stabilizing and wise presence in regional decisionmaking. The UW’s Evans School of Public Policy and Governance is named for him.

His politics may seem baffling in the modern era of partisanship and division, like a survivor of a near-extinct species. He gave the keynote speech at the 1968 Republican national convention that nominated Richard Nixon or president, although Evans had endorsed liberal Republican Nelson Rockefeller. Evans was a fresh face in the party and continued to be seen that way. He was on Gerald Ford’s short list for vice president in 1976.

Evans didn’t support Donald Trump’s election or re-election bid as president, yet he refused to give up his GOP identity. I once asked him why he didn’t quit a party that had strayed so far from his core values. “Just stubborn, I guess,” he replied.

Evans cultivated GOP moderation in his cabinet as governor and continued to mentor Republicans who hadn’t given up on the possibility of electing common-sense candidates. Electeds like former GOP secretaries of state Ralph Munro, a former Evans aide, and Sam Reed, who fought with his own party over a so-called “stolen” election in 2004, were exemplars of the integrity that Evans represented and cultivated.

“Governor Dan” could get tough, though, especially during his campaign against the Democratic incumbent he defeated in 1964, Albert D. Rosellini. Evans kept above the fray, but his camp floated rumors about the governor’s alleged criminal associations and activities. Nothing was proven, but the allegations might have cost Rosellini a federal appointment after his loss to Evans.

Another campaign eyebrow-raiser, though hardly Evans’ fault: A young, clean-cut volunteer was tasked in 1972 with following Evans’ opponent around, recording his speeches and reporting on his events. That Evans operative’s name was Ted Bundy, before he became infamous as a serial killer.

The Evans era seems like a kind of political fairy tale for those who are nostalgic for saner, more reasonable politics. Too hot, too cold, will we ever find “just right” again? Many who remember those times might yearn for pragmatic decency as an essential criterion for running and holding office. Evans proved those could be winning qualities.

Knute Berger is an editor-at-large for Cascade PBS, a non-profit news organization covering the Pacific Northwest.

‘Just my way of giving back’

(Pictured: Kerri Foley is a volunteer with the American Red Cross Disaster Action Team.)

When people lost their  homes in a fire at a Lakewood apartment complex in July, the local chapter of the American Red Cross mobilized immediately to provide help and hope to the displaced residents. Red Cross volunteers set up individuals and families with overnight shelter for a safe place to stay, as well as meals, items of comfort, and community resources. 

Red Cross services like that are made possible by people like Kerri Foley. She has been with the Red Cross for about three years, serving as a Disaster Action Team volunteer.  

“I like to help people,” she said as she unloaded cots and other items for the Lakewood fire victims who were staying overnight in the Red Cross shelter. “This is just my way of giving back.”   

Every day, disasters force people from their homes. The Red Cross needs more people in Pierce, Thurston, and Kitsap counties to be volunteers and help local families cope with emergencies.  

Disaster Action Team (DAT) members respond day and night, most often in the aftermath of fires that threaten lives, destroy property, and displace entire families. While the work can be emotional and challenging, it’s also deeply rewarding, according to the Red Cross. A spokeswoman for the organization noted that volunteers provide support and assistance to people in their darkest moments. That helping hand includes emotional support, replacing prescription medications, financial assistance for food, clothing and temporary lodging, and other critically needed items or referrals. 

All required training for DAT is provided by the Red Cross free of charge. Information on how to get involved is at redcross.org.

Another example of the important role of volunteering is Kirby Engel, who has logged 3,360 hours of community service through the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP). He’s one of 135 volunteers who are helping various organizations in Pierce and Kitsap counties via the program administered locally by Lutheran Community Services Northwest.

“Our amazing volunteers have served 13,000 hours in the last 12 months alone,” said Rena Marken, supervisor of the program that pairs volunteers with schools, museums, medical providers, and food banks, among others.

One of the latter is the Tacoma-based Nourish Pierce County food banks, which hosted a ceremony Aug. 14 honoring Engel and five other RSVP participants who have individually racked up hours in the hundreds and thousands. Cheryl Fox and Jesme Fernando have 1,680 and 1,030 hours under their belts, respectively, Barbara Hadley has 469, Bruce Weathers has 383, and Carola Wittmann has 189.

The salute drew some dignitaries–Michael Smith, chief executive officer of AmeriCorps, the federal agency that supports volunteer programs like RSVP, and U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, who praised the “incredible work” of the volunteers.

Information on RSVP is available at lcsnw.org and 253-722-5695.

A road too much traveled

(Pictured: Seattle-Tacoma motorists face an average rush-hour speed of 21 miles per hour–one of the worse in the U.S., according to a national study. Photo credit: Cascade PBS Newsroom)

Just how bad is the traffic around here?

The most congested cities across America – ones where 17 miles an hour is the average speed during rush hours — have been revealed in a recent study, and the Seattle-Tacoma metro area is one of the 10 worst, slogging along at number 7.

With an average rush-hour speed of 21 miles per hour, a little better than the national mark, Seattle-Tacoma has some of the most jam-packed roads in America, according to the study by Stressfreecarrental.com

New York City motorists have it the worst, travelling at an average of just 12 mph during peak drive hours. Motorists in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco are the second and third worst-off, respectively, at 14 and 15 mph. The rest of the top (or should that be bottom?) 10 are Boston, Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Miami. 

The study, unsurprisingly, concludes that drivers are experiencing slow-moving traffic every day.

“As the U.S. tries to improve its air quality, pollution, and reduction of emissions, we need to help traffic flow more freely,” a study spokesman said. “This might involve pumping more funding into improving roads and public transportation to tackle the issue.”

More roads and highways may not be the solution. A phenomenon of “induced roadway demand” was first noticed in the 1930s, most dramatically in New York City, where “master builder” Robert Moses presided over a massive program of parkway and bridge construction. Each new project was necessary, it seemed, to alleviate traffic congestion. And yet, soon enough, the new roads were just as clogged as the old.

The opposite is true, too — call it reduced demand. You might imagine that cutting road capacity would lead to more traffic jams. Indeed, whenever a highway, road or bridge closure is planned, predictions of “carmaggedon” inevitably ensue. But that’s not what actually happens. Instead, traffic congestion is often no worse than before. Sometimes it even improves.

It turns out that more roads cause more driving. This may be counterintuitive, but the effect has been thoroughly documented. The new “generated traffic” doesn’t appear all at once; it can take several years. But the more congested an urban area already is, the faster new roads will fill up. And all this increased driving can’t simply be attributed to growing population. Road expansion leads to more vehicle miles traveled per capita. That also means more greenhouse gas emissions pumped into the atmosphere.

But how much more?

There’s a tool to help answer that question. The Rocky Mountain Institute, an international organization focused on decarbonizing energy systems, launched an Induced Travel Calculator for the United States. You choose your state, urban area, road type, and the number of lane miles a proposed project would add. The calculator tells how many vehicle miles and metric tons of emissions will result once the generated traffic effect sets in.

For example: Twenty new lane miles of interstate highway in the Seattle area will generate 103 million to 155 million additional vehicle miles traveled annually, which would burn about 7 million gallons of gas. By 2050, the cumulative direct emissions produced by this stretch of roadway would total between half a million and 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. That range is important. The upper end represents business as usual. The lower end represents a scenario aligned with achieving the U.S. Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement, including “100 percent electrification of new passenger vehicles by 2035 and rapid renewable power development,” according to the calculator’s methodology.

In other words, even with an ambitious timeline for vehicle electrification and clean energy, we just can’t keep building new highways and expect to reduce emissions. That hard truth is what inspired the calculator.

“We’ve aligned the strategy of our work around the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 1.5 degrees Celsius carbon budget,” said Ben Holland, a manager for the Rocky Mountain Institute. “We came to this realization that even if we put 70 million electric vehicles on the road by 2030, we’d still have to reduce vehicle miles traveled by 20 percent.”

“Nothing prevents the states from doing the right thing and distributing more funds to cities for transit and building complete streets,” said Holland. “But history suggests that states tend to funnel that money into regional highway projects, of which most are expansions and not repairs.”

Washington has a poor track record when it comes to making these kinds of decisions. According to analysis by the Washington Post, Washington is “the eighth worst in the country for its share of roads in poor condition, at 27 percent. At the same time, more than three-fourths of the state’s spending on roads went toward expansion — fourth-highest in the nation.”

Holland hopes the Induced Travel Calculator will help advocates at the state and local levels educate lawmakers and influence the distribution of transportation funds.

Andrew Kidde, transportation team lead at the climate action group 350 Washington, wants to do just that. He noted the Washington Legislature has considered “these things without any information about vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas impacts. “Why do you have targets if you’re not going to measure what your projects do?”

Suppose the Legislature could muster the will to stop building new highways. What should it fund instead?

That’s an easy question for Abby Griffith to answer: Public transit, and not just for the most urbanized areas. Griffith grew up in rural Ridgefield, 15 miles outside of Vancouver, where she now lives in low-income housing near the edge of the city.

“Downtown there’s a lot of buses, there’s options, but for people like me there’s no way I could afford to live in downtown Vancouver,” said Griffith,  who’s blind and depends on the transit system to get around. “Sometimes it takes me an hour to get to the store, especially if I have to transfer. If we had a transportation system that works, a lot more low-income or disabled people could get jobs.”

Upending the highway-heavy status quo won’t be easy. There’s political pressure from the corporations that profit from new highway construction and car dependence; trade unions whose members build new highways; and constituents who believe that expansions will ease congestion. There’s also the state constitution, which restricts the expenditure of gas tax revenues to “highway purposes.”

“The highways have been expanded ever since Robert Moses got his hands on Long Island,” said Kidde. “It generates its own next stage, because you’ve always got one community or another complaining, or you’ve invested $5 million into the engineering and no one wants to say we’re abandoning that. It just keeps going. There’s no good time to stop. Let’s stop now.”

Sources: Cascade PBS newsroom, previously known as Crosscut, a non-profit news site covering the Pacific Northwest, and StressFreeCarRental.com, a website for information on car rentals and related topics, contributed to this report.

How M’s stadium heard ‘play ball’ for first time

(Pictured: T-Mobile Park (previously called Safeco Field) became the Seattle Mariners’ home 25 years ago. Also seen here is the Kingdome, where the team played until the domed edifice was torn down).

By Glenn Drosendahl

On July 15, 1999, Safeco Field — a long-sought (and since renamed T-Mobile Park) baseball-only stadium with a retractable roof — opened to critical acclaim and some public resentment.

The new half-billion dollar home of the Seattle Mariners is the product of a financing plan thrashed out by the Legislature after a different public-private financing plan was narrowly defeated at the polls. Construction was rushed and made more difficult by many design changes. But when the building opened, it was a showcase for the city and a moneymaker for the Mariners.

Team owners had complained about the Kingdome almost from the time the major league team began playing there in 1977. King County owned the massive concrete building, which had opened in 1976 with the National Football League’s Seattle Seahawks as its primary tenant. It was designed as a multi-purpose stadium, but was better-suited for football. And, as a series of Mariners owners pointed out, it lacked the revenue-producing features of newer baseball stadiums, putting them at a competitive disadvantage. The Mariners’ Kingdome lease was due to expire in 1996, and the team’s owners were not inclined to renew it. They wanted a new stadium and public money to help build it.

On Jan. 11, 1995, a task force appointed by then-King County Executive Gary Locke recommended the public pay about 65 percent of the cost of a new baseball-only stadium on county-owned land south of the Kingdome. The new stadium, estimated to cost between $243 million and $278 million, would have a retractable roof and be designed to maximize the team’s revenues. The task force said that without such a stadium, the Mariners had no future in Seattle.

Responding to the task force recommendation, the Legislature passed a financing plan that would raise the sales tax in King County from 8.2 percent to 8.3 percent. The county approved the plan in late July. It would require voter approval in September, however, and polls suggested it had little chance. The Mariners gained support by being in a pennant race for the first time in their history, but it wasn’t quite enough. The financing plan was defeated by less than 1 percent of the vote.

The Mariners owners, led by John Ellis, said they would sell the team if the ballot measure lost. But with fan interest mounting daily as the team contended for the playoffs, the owners said they would delay their decision until Oct. 31. By Oct. 2, the Mariners were division champions for the first time. On Oct. 8, they beat the New York Yankees in an epic playoff series and were off to play for the American League championship. Meanwhile, Ellis met with Governor Mike Lowry and legislative leaders to make the case for a new stadium. While the Mariners were playing the Cleveland Indians for the league title, Lowry called a special session of the Legislature to deal with the stadium issue.

After intense debate, the Legislature authorized a tax package to fund a $320 million stadium; the package was then approved by the King County Council. The taxes would be on food and drink sold at restaurants, bars, and taverns in King County, on car and truck rentals, and on tickets sold at the new stadium. This time, voter approval wasn’t required, a source of rancor among those who opposed the earlier financing plan.

The stadium was inspired by popular retro-style ballparks built earlier in the 1990s in Baltimore, Cleveland, and Denver. It combined nostalgic touches such as a red brick exterior and hand-operated scoreboard with modern touches such as restaurants, wide concourses, and a giant video screen in centerfield. When the gates opened in 1999, more than 40,000 fans saw the Seattle Symphony Orchestra play “Thus Sprach Zarathustra,” the theme from the movie “2001: Space Odyssey,” while the roof silently and majestically rolled opened. Play-by-play broadcaster Dave Niehaus, who had been with the team since its inception, donned a tux and threw out the ceremonial first pitch. After 22 years of playing their home games on artificial turf — and five years of fighting for a new stadium — the Mariners were treated to real grass and blue skies.

The ballpark quickly proved its value. Attendance for its first two seasons topped 6.6 million, the best in the major leagues. By the end of 2002, the Mariners had paid off their $100 million line of credit for cost overruns, and payment on the public debt was running ahead of schedule. Some of that payback was driven by the action on the field, but a good share could be attributed to the sheer attractiveness of the ballpark.

Source: Historylink.org, a non-profit online encyclopedia of Washington state history.