Democrat Selmann shares his moderate views

MOSES LAKE - Kaj Selmann, Democratic candidate to represent Washington's 13th Legislative district, said that while there's a D next to his name on the ballot, he's definitely a moderate.

"I am going to be entirely driven by what is fair and what works," he said. "Sometimes those are Republican ideas, and sometimes those are Democrat ideas."

Selmann, a contractor who lives in Moses Lake, is running for public office for the first time. His top priority, he said, is ground water. And now that the 13th district boundaries were redrawn to include Lincoln County, and the waning Odessa subarea aquifer, Selmann believes the time for action is now.

"Getting a project up and off the ground running is something that takes several years, and our groundwater reserves don't have the time to wait," he said.

He said working as a contractor has given him the skills to get projects done, such as one proposed by the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association.

That plan, if backed by the state, could be implemented by 2013 and have actual water provided by 2017.

"That project really needs some leadership, and a person who can act as an honest broker between the various interest groups to figure out how we can do something to actually move forward," he said.

In fact, if elected, Selmann said the first measure he would introduce would be to get the state to back the proposal, and he thinks he has the knowledge and abilities to get west side legislators on board.

It requires state backing, but it doesn't require state tax dollars. It is a project that is funded by the end users, and not the taxpayers," he said. "But we need the state as an entity to issue the bonds to initiate the project."

Other top priorities include bolstering the transportation grid and retooling workforce education to attract new industry to the district.

A rail line going through the Port of Moses Lake is also key, he said.

But the bottom line: It has to get done.

"I'm watching things become more gridlocked in the state Legislative process," he said. "Quit fighting. Fix it. And that's what we need to do, and that's what I propose to bring."

Because Selmann is new to the political process, he solicited help from both Republican and Democratic parties.

"I've been able to be forthright and honest with the Democrats about who I am and what I believe, and they were 100 percent supportive of it," he said, even if it meant voting across party lines sometimes.

According to him, they were for it.

"There may be a difference between a Grant County Democrat and a San Francisco Democrat," he said. "And that's the difference."

Selmann said that government isn't the answer to everything, but neither is the private sector.

"There's a need for both, and we need to make sure that both are effective tools, not be in the position to get rid of one ... which is government," he said.

He's fearful that's what his Republican opponent, Matt Manweller of Ellensburg, is capable of doing: overly shrinking government.

"I didn't choose to run against Judy Warnick. I did choose to run against Manweller. His top priorities are shrinking government to its Constitutional mandates. And we don't have a Constitutional mandate to irrigate.

"If his stated No. 1 goal is to do something that is contrary to this district, it's got to be a question of practicality above philosophy. We need things that actually work, not fighting a philosophical battle regardless of the consequences of those on the ground."

Selmann said the district needs practical solutions, not rhetoric or ideology. "When our continued success is contingent upon getting more things done, we can't afford and ideologue whose ideology overrides common sense," he said. "I believe it's time to stop fighting and fix it. That's what I have the personal and professional background to do."

Selmann is married with three children: 7, 10 and 20. In his free time, he enjoys hunting, fishing and the outdoors.