Several senators livid about losing lunchroom

Prospect of sharing reduced quarters with House members fires indignation

BRAD SHANNON THE OLYMPIAN

OLYMPIA -- State senators, who voted last week to tighten the belt of state government, are balking at reducing the size of their own lunchroom.

While the Senate was weighing how to cut government earlier this month, a majority of the state's 49 senators were signing a letter protesting that their lunchroom will be smaller during next year's Legislative Building renovation, when they move into temporary quarters.

"It is our understanding that all members, House and Senate, are expected to dine together in a rather small crowded dining room in the former State Library building. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE," said the letter written by Sen. Don Benton, R-Vancouver, and signed by at least 33 other lawmakers.

The letter, dated March 4, was sent to a Senate facilities committee.

The letter goes on to tell of the Senate's enjoyment of "quality food prepared by Jean Pierre and Kerri, as well as the quiet camradery (sic) of our fellow Senators in a private setting."

Jean Pierre and Kerri Simon are part-time employees of the Senate whose contributions are so valued, the Senate gave their favorite cooks a standing ovation last week.

Peace and quiet

In interviews, Benton and Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, defended their request for private lunch facilities.

Benton and Hargrove said senators work long hours with no place to turn for a little peace and quiet in the middle of a hectic day.

"It doesn't have to be big. It needs to be separate and quiet," said Hargrove, describing his half-hour lunch breaks as "a half an hour of calm that we need."

If the Senate and House were forced together, as proposed, "It'd be 150 people in a dining room with a see-through area to the (public) cafeteria. It would be like junior high," Hargrove said.

"It's the ambience and camaraderie" that's important, Benton said. "You relax and let your hair down with colleagues who are experiencing the same kinds of pressures that you do."

Senate Democratic Caucus Leader Harriet Spanel, D-Bellingham, who sits on the committee to which the senators addressed their complaints, expressed some regret at the tone of the note and the stated unwillingness to share dining space with the House.

"That's a terrible thing to say," she said.

"It's very poorly timed at a time we're asking state employees to do more with less," added Senate Minority Leader Jim West, R-Spokane, who also sits on the operations committee. "When we're asking other state workers to be frugal ... we should be, too."

Spanel, who had warned penny-pinching Republicans during floor debates on the state budget that she would be keeping track of things that senators could "do without," said the lunchroom was not what she had in mind.

Letter released

The letter from the senators was addressed to Secretary of the Senate Tony Cook and the half-dozen senators who sit on a facilities and operations committee -- none of whom were asked to sign it, Benton said.

Cook released the letter and 34 signatures Tuesday.

Two additional signatures were blacked out. Cook said that was because two senators had expressed regret about signing the letter before The Olympian requested a copy of it.

The House will convene its floor sessions in 2003 and 2004 in modular buildings that are being installed next to the Joel M. Pritchard State Library building.

House members had said they wanted the modular building because there wouldn't be enough room for both chambers inside the library.

Besides the Senate chambers, Pritchard now will feature a joint dining area, along with a public cafeteria, one kitchen and office space. The shared dining area will be crowded, Cook said.

The private Senate dining area has long been a fact of Senate life, although free food is no longer the rule, and senators must pay as they go -- including paying for guests.

The dining room, called the Senate Locker Room, served cold sandwiches one year until Benton and others agitated for better offerings.

The House also has a private dining area.

"People are willing to pay more if it costs more" to have a separate space, said Benton, who insisted his letter was only aimed at getting the Senate facilities committee to explore its options as lawmakers prepare for their move next month.

"We show up here at 7 to 8 in the morning and we don't leave until 7 p.m." during sessions, he said.

Republican Sen. Dan Swecker of Rochester and Democratic Sen. Karen Fraser of Thurston County are among the lawmakers who did not sign the letter.

More talk?

Swecker said lawmakers communicated better with each other in 2001 when they were "cooped up" in temporary quarters after the 6.8 magnitude Nisqually earthquake closed the Capitol.

The same thing might happen if the House and Senate are forced to eat lunch at the same tables, Swecker said.

"I don't really have an opinion on whether members of the House and Senate eat together," Fraser said.

Sen. Tim Sheldon, D-Potlatch, who loudly criticized the amount of spending in the state budget, acknowledged that he signed the letter.

"I hoped they (on the committee) would look at all the options," he said, noting there had been talk of busing lawmakers to Jean Pierre's Garden Room -- a restaurant the Simons operate in Tumwater -- or perhaps catering the meals instead of using kitchen space at the Capitol Campus.

"That shows me I should never sign a Benton letter," Sheldon said. "I regret not reading the letter very carefully, because I would not object to eating with anybody."

So how do House members feel about eating with senators? "It's OK by me," said Rep. Sandra Romero, D-Olympia. "Having working lunches, you get a lot done."

Brad Shannon, political editor for The Olympian, can be reached at 360-753-1688 or shannonbrad@hotmail.com.

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