Lobbyist Mary Botkin to leave AFSCME
Union lobbyist Mary Botkin has an-
nounced she’s leaving Oregon AF-
SCME Council 75 after representing
the union in the state Capitol for the last
27 years.
Botkin, 66, has been on staff at the
statewide public sector union since
1983. She served as an organizer on the
1985 campaign to unionize at what is
today known as Oregon Health and
Science University, and she’s been a
full-time lobbyist for the union since
1987.
Botkin is known as an expert on
PERS, Oregon’s Public Employee Re-
tirement System, and has long been an
advocate for the union’s public safety
and corrections members. She was the
subject of a Labor Press feature story in
2007.
On her own time, she’s been active
in the Democratic Party, and has been
an Oregon delegate to every Demo-
cratic National Convention but one
since 1988. She’s currently active in the
Ready for Hillary campaign to build
support for a Clinton presidential run in
2016.
Botkin says she will leave the staff
of Oregon AFSCME as of Dec. 31,
2014, and begin a practice as a contract
lobbyist. She will represent Oregon
AFSCME as a part-time contract lob-
byist in the 2015 legislative session.
On the ballot in Washington
This year’s Washington state ballot
has less drama than usual: No high-
stakes ballot measures or statewide can-
didate races to decide, and no close
races for U.S. Congress.
But that doesn’t mean labor will be
sleeping through the vote. For the state
labor federation — Washington State
Labor Council (WSLC) — the priority
is electing a pro-worker majority in the
State Senate. After the 2012 election,
Democrats Tim Sheldon and Rodney
Tom handed control of the state senate
to the Republicans. That resulted in
gridlock, because the state house and
governor’s office are in Democratic
hands. Very little legislation was passed
in 2013 or 2014. Tom chose not to run
for re-election, but WSLC would dearly
like to unseat Sheldon in District 35,
northwest of Olympia.
No state senate seats in Southwest
Washington are considered close races,
but WSLC and the Southwest Wash-
ington Central Labor Council have
been actively backing Monica Stonier
for re-election to the state house in the
17th legislative district. The district
runs east of I-205 from Northeast Van-
couver nearly to Battle Ground. Stonier
is a former public school teacher who
earned an 85 percent pro-labor voting
record in her first two-year term. She’s
in a close race against challenger Clark
County Republican Party chair Lynda
Wilson, a Tea Party activist who wants
to block local minimum wage increases
and who testified in Olympia this year
in favor of a sub-minimum wage. The
Southwest Washington Central Labor
Council has been phone-banking for
Stonier up to twice a week at the Fire
Fighters Local 452 union hall.
Also in Southwest Washington,
WSLC is endorsing incumbent state
representatives Sharon Wylie and Jim
Moeller in the 49th legislative district
(Vancouver).
The state federation, along with 16
other labor organizations, is also en-
dorsing Democrat Bob Dingethal’s
challenge to incumbent Republican
Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beut-
ler in Southwest Washington’s Third
Congressional District. Dingethal, a
former outreach director for U.S. Sena-
tor Maria Cantwell, got 41 percent of
the vote in the August top-two primary;
PAGE 8
Herrera Beutler got 47 percent, and a
right-wing challenger got 12 percent.
On the statewide ballot, WSLC is
recommending a “Yes” vote on Initia-
tive 1351, which would direct the leg-
islature to reduce class size — to less
than 18 students per class in kinder-
garten through third grade, and less
than 26 students in fourth through 12th
grade. The measure would codify into
state law a 2012 Washington Supreme
Court decision, McCleary v. State of
Washington, in which the court found
the state wasn't meeting its constitu-
tional obligation to fully fund basic ed-
ucation. Implementing the class size re-
strictions would make it necessary to
hire about 15,000 new teachers. The
measure doesn’t say how the money
should be raised, just that it would be
the state legislature’s responsibility to
appropriate the funds. Besides WSLC,
the measure is backed by Washington
State Building Trades Council, Ma-
chinists District Lodge 751, IBEW,
SEIU, and the Washington Education
Association.
For Washington Supreme Court,
WSLC is endorsing Mary Yu (Position
1), Mary Fairhurst (Position 3), Charles
Johnson (Position 4), and Debra
Stephens (Position 9).
Southwest Washington Central La-
bor Council has also made endorse-
ments in two local races. It’s backing
former state senator Craig Pridemore
for Clark County Commissioner. And
it’s endorsing a proposed set of county
charter changes [See article Page 3.]
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
OCTOBER 17, 2014