Rossi, Gregoire clash in Yakima

Capitol Theatre the site of hard-fought debate Tuesday night

YAKIMA — With an intense but respectful crowd hanging on to every word, Dino Rossi and Christine Gregoire gave their own vision of the Washington of tomorrow.

Rossi, a former senator and the Republican candidate for governor, and Gregoire, his Democratic opponent and current state attorney general, had hard words for each other in what was otherwise a clean fight during their only debate east of the Cascades at Yakima's Capitol Theatre.

Rossi accused Gregoire of being part of the group that had run the state for the past 20 years, a group that did not have "the will or the leadership to get things done."

Gregoire said Rossi had proposed cutting 40,000 children off Medicaid, a topic both candidates came back to repeatedly throughout the hour-long debate.

Each candidate refuted the other's words; Gregoire saying her fight against the big tobacco companies and in favor of a cleanup of Hanford were clear instances of leadership and Rossi saying that the allegations of cutting children off Medicaid were "an Olympia cut.

"Let me tell you what an Olympia cut is," Rossi said. "My daughter asks me for a $100 dollar allowance and I tell her I will give her $5. So she goes around telling people I cut 95% of her allowance. That's an Olympia cut."

With Rossi supporters outnumbering the Gregoire faithful, both candidates exposed their ideas for the future. Gregoire pledged to create 250,000 new jobs and fill them with Washingtonians, and cut through the red tape.

"We want to have a governor that shares our values," she said. "I want to be a positive, hopeful leader."

Rossi said he planned to do something radical during his term as governor, by leading the whole state and not just part of it.

A key ingredient of a Rossi administration, he said, is to change the culture in Olympia and change "the same people who have been running the show."

Asked about environmental issues and water access to central and eastern Washington, Gregoire, a former director of the state's department of ecology, said she recognized the importance of water to this area of the state.

Rossi assailed Gregoire's tenure as head of the DOE, saying the agency had doubled in size during that time. Access to water is the lifeblood of the economy east of the Cascades, he said, and the state needed a governor who understood that.

Education was an important topic throughout the debate. Rossi said that the state's high dropout rate was an indictment on the past 20 years of Democratic leadership. He added he supported revising and making the Washington Assessment of Student Learning test more flexible.

Gregoire said the solution to the problem was "the three R's: rigorous course work, relevant course work and a meaningful relationship with an adult," that could teach the importance of getting a high school diploma.

The issue of teachers' salaries was discussed, with Rossi proposing giving the control to school districts at a local level, and basing raises on skills and ability, and not just longevity.

"Governor Locke, my opponent's mentor, offered no raises," he said. "We gave them one," referring to his work as legislator.

Gregoire responded that Rossi's record spoke clearly against him.

"He cut the initiative for cost-of-living increases for teachers," she said. "Teachers deserve raises and COLA increases. Education will be my vision, my priority and my goal."

During closing statements, Gregoire pledged to go beyond bureaucracy and get things done.

"I know we can find better days ahead," she said.

Rossi closed out his debate by thanking his wife, pro-Rossi Democrats, and saying the state had all it needed to be successful right there, except the leadership in Olympia.

"Together we can restore the greatness this state once knew," he said.