Sandra Romero 'Institutionalized'

Lack of Diverse Opinions Breeds Bad Decisions

I used to say, “Give up the goat.” I once saw an interview with Ozzy Ozborne and he used to think Jimmy Hendrix’s lyrics to Purple Haze were, “’Scuse me while I kiss this guy”. The former is, “Give up the ghost” the latter, “’Scuse me while I kiss the sky”.

I think Ozzy’s reaction would have been about the same as mine when my friend told me, “It’s give up the ghost, not give up the goat!” I remember having a good laugh. I’m thankful that I have friends that correct me. Reminds me of Hans Christian Anderson’s tale The Emperor’s New Clothes where a child finally cries out, “The Emperor has no clothes!”

These are stories of humility. These are examples of why it’s important to have people around you with different ideas, different perspectives. This is why groups through debate can produce solutions far better than most individuals. It’s stories like these that remind me I’m not a genius. It’s why I believe in having a diverse group and vigorous debate all of my committee meetings. I’m not afraid of different ideas. I believe that our differences define who we are. If I was afraid of different ideas I would have become a hermit long ago. Holly is a liberal to the far left, my father a Republican zealot. I feel like a moderate and compromiser most of the time. And to think -- at least one Thurston County Commissioner feels I’m strident; I digress.

I have a belief that diversity of input produces quality ideas, and quality ideas produce quality results. It scares me when people surround themselves with homogeneous people and ideas. Sandra Romero is one that scares me.

Sandra Romero worked for 12 years in the WA State Legislature as a Representative for District 22. She introduced 82 bills and made about 3,000 votes. I challenge you to find some that represent a fair and balanced approach. When I reviewed her voting record, I thought to myself, “She is for IT”. And she is for it. She is for more regulation, more taxes, more government, and limiting your personal rights.

If you don’t believe me, maybe you will believe these groups: The Washington State Labor Council (AFL-CIO) and the Association of Washington Businesses. They both keep a voting scorecard. It’s a way that they communicate to their membership what legislators they like and dislike. Romero has a nearly 100% lifetime voting record with Labor and under 25% with Business.

She is currently running against another Democrat, Jon Halvorson for Thurston County Commissioner. To date he has outpaced her contributions more than 2:1 with Halvorson garnering over $28k in campaign contributions to Romero’s lackluster $12k. The bulk of the Thurston County Democratic Party is backing Halvorson. A quick look at Romero’s contributors and you will see the same old homogeneous supporters. People like Karen Fraser and Brendan Williams. They are the local Democrat Party fanatics whom I figure are a dying breed. The “real” Democrats are much more fiscally-responsible and socially-moderate than this group. They are the old guard that has no new ideas, who lean hard towards socialism and who think that they are better at making decisions than their constituents.

Where Sandra Romero once thought she could make a difference by bringing new ideas to the institution, over time she has become the institution. She has, as I have titled this column, become “Institutionalized”. What’s worse is that she has since surrounded herself with others that share exactly her same view, her homogeneous bunch of fanatics.
Sandra Romero’s current campaign platform and slogan is: “We must strike a balance between respecting private property rights and personal freedoms, while promoting public health and daily living here.” I wonder if her board position with Futurewise is now compromised? Maybe since she left the state, she had an epiphany and now really believes in personal property rights. What Sandra Romero needs is some diverse opinions around her and friends that are willing to tell her that her ideas are more likely to make since in a socialist country than in a free republic. Perhaps some new friends would tell her it is “give up the ghost”, “kiss the sky” and growth management is a bad deal. At least there would be some debate.