Mulliken joining state growth board
State senator will not seek re-election
OLYMPIA — Moses Lake's state Senator has been appointed to one of the state's growth management boards, and will not seek re-election to the Legislature this fall.
Gov. Chris Gregoire on Thursday appointed Republican state Sen. Joyce Mulliken, an ally in last year's transportation tax fight, to the Eastern Washington Growth Management Hearings Board.
"I'm very much looking forward to it," Mulliken said Friday. "I think it's going to be a new challenge my husband and I are looking forward to."
Mulliken added she has worked in land-use issues since joining the Legislature 12 years ago and said the post was an opportunity to continue serving eastern Washington. She said her new position also allows her to live at home in Moses Lake, and be close to her parents.
Three regional hearings boards rule on disputes that arise from county and city growth-planning policies. A Senate colleague, Alex Deccio, R-Yakima, also had sought the appointment.
Mulliken's decision leaves the state's 13th district senate race with only one announced candidate. Kittitas County Democrat Lisa Bowen announced her candidacy earlier this year. Potential contenders also include the current 13th District Republican House members Bill Hinkle of Cle Elum and Janea Holmquist of Moses Lake, and former state Rep. Gary Chandler of Moses Lake. The district encompasses portions of Grant, Kittitas and Yakima counties.
The Moses Lake lawmaker's six-year term will begin Nov. 15 and extend to July 2012. The position would have begun July 1, but Mulliken said she asked the governor to hold the appointment until after the election so Mulliken could continue serving on a number of committees over the summer.
Her last official duty as a state senator will be on Nov. 15, during an economic development conference in Moses Lake hosted by Lt. Gov. Brad Owen.
"I just feel very grateful that I've had an opportunity and a privilege to do what I had to do," Mulliken said of her work in the senate Friday.
Mulliken, a 12-year member of the Legislature, was an ally of the Democratic governor last year in rounding up votes for a 16-year transportation plan that was financed by a four-step 91/2-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax increase. Mulliken, the only Eastern Washington member of the Senate Transportation Committee, almost never votes for taxes, but said this package included major benefits for Eastern Washington and projects to get farm goods to market.
Mulliken said despite leaving the senate next year, she will continue to work on transportation issues through to their conclusion, such as the widening of Highway 17. She said she had been in contact with state Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald since her appointment, about those transportation issues.
"She has been a thoughtful, objective representative for the 13th Legislative District and I know that she will continue to be fair and dedicated as she serves on the growth management board," the governor said in a statement.
Mulliken called the appointment "an opportunity for myself, my district and for Eastern Washington land owners that I just couldn't pass up. To have the privilege and responsibility of bringing balance to this position is an honor."