Benton

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Senate to lose lunchtime perks

Secretary says temporary quarters will lack private dining room, chefs

BRAD SHANNON, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Saturday, March 23, 2002

OLYMPIA -- Members of the Washington state Senate, who caused a ruckus this week for wanting to retain their private lunchroom while the Capitol is renovated, can bid adieu to the prized dining area.

It looks like au revoir for their French chefs as well.

That's the latest word from Tony Cook, secretary of the Senate, who has been working with legislators on their imminent move from the Legislative Building into temporary quarters until sometime in 2004.

During the Capitol renovation, the Senate and House will share a dining area near the public cafeteria that is being constructed in the former state library building.

A single kitchen will serve all eaters there -- whether elected or off the street, Cook said.

"I think what we're trying to do now is get some other space" that lawmakers can carry their trays to for eating, Cook said Friday, referring to limitations with a 40-seat space that had been designated for House and Senate members to eat in together. "They won't all fit in that space. That is a genuine issue."

In any case, the Senate lawmakers will lose the cooks they're accustomed to -- who happen to be French, although their cuisine is often anything but French.

That news may help dampen the public furor that erupted after The Olympian reported that 34 senators, led by Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, had written a letter protesting the loss of their private dining quarters at a time they were asking the rest of state government to tighten its belt.

Roughly equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans signed the letter, including many harsh critics of government spending.

The senators said it was "UNACCEPTABLE" to have to share a cramped area with House members.

Angry public

The public replied loudly -- in e-mails and calls to The Olympian and to radio and TV stations -- that it was the Senate's conduct that was unacceptable.

Some suggested lawmakers were guilty of a sort of gluttony.

"If the senators want privacy or peace and quiet while they eat their lunches, let them go sit in their cars with a sack lunch like common people who have NEVER had the privilege of a separate lunch room from their co-workers, let alone somebody to prepare their lunches at work," said Ruth Casebolt of Shelton. "If Joe Blow has to tighten his belt or work harder in order to make ends meet, then our senators better lose some of their pride and swagger to become a lot more human."

Another writer suggested the senators should be voted out and forced to eat at Denny's with the rest of the populace.

One recommended they go eat at the Department of Licensing's lunchroom in Olympia.

Others groused that state workers will get no pay raise this year, but the Senate clung to its privileges.

Sen. Tim Sheldon, D-Potlatch, was the only South Sound senator to sign the letter.

That triggered a few e-mails to his office, most of them from outside his district, he said.

However the lunchroom issue is worked out, Sheldon said, "is fine with me."

Taxpayer subsidy

Benton, who defended the private lunch space because it offers senators a quiet place away from lobbyists and the press, had insisted that the Senate lunch room was fully supported by fees.

But it appears the dining area was partly subsidized by taxpayers.

According to data kept by the Secretary of the Senate's Office, the Senate dining room incurred roughly $13,000 in food costs for the 60-day session that ended March 14.

All of that was covered by the $4 breakfast and $6 lunch fees paid by senators and guests, Cook said.

However, salaries for three part-time cooks ran to $17,372 and were paid by taxpayers.

Taxpayers also paid rent for the lunchroom space, which is called the Senate Locker Room, in the Legislative Building, Cook said.

The House of Representatives also serves meals to members, but under a different system that appears to require a smaller taxpayer subsidy.

House members pay a flat $65-per-week fee that entitles them to hot breakfasts and lunch, said Sharon Hayward, director of facilities for the House Clerk's Office.

"It's deducted right out of their paychecks," Hayward said.

The weekly fees raised about $18,200 a month this year, enough to almost cover the costs of food, labor and space rental at the Capitol, Hayward said.

Salaries for the six people who work in the House kitchen total $11,600 a month, she said.

More precise figures weren't available late Friday.

All lawmakers who use the Capitol will have to move out by the end of May to accommodate the renovations, which include repairing damage from the 2001 earthquake.

Work is under way to set up new Senate chambers in the former library building and install House chambers in modular buildings.

On the Web:

• Letter signed by state senators protesting their proposed lunchroom accommodations during the Capitol's renovation

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