Washington Business Spring 2018 | Washington Business | Page 44

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Remembering a Statesman:
Gov. John Spellman
Gov. John Dennis Spellman, the last Republican governor
elected in Washington state, passed away Jan. 16 at age 91.
First elected to public office as a King County Commissioner
in 1967, he served as the first King County Executive from
1969 to 1980 where he modernized county government.
As the state’s 18th governor from 1981 to 1985, he led
Washington through one of the worst economic declines
since the Great Depression. The turbulent times forced
Spellman to make difficult budget decisions. He also
stopped a move to build an oil pipeline across Washington
state and under its waters. Long-time AWB member and
business leader Patrick Dunn was a policy advisor for
Spellman at the county and state level and remained a
lifelong friend to the governor and his family. With the
family’s blessing, he sat down with staff writer Bobbi
Cussins to share his insights into the governor’s time in
office, legacy of bipartisanship and the role family and faith
played in shaping how he governed.
Pat Dunn with John Spellman and Dow Constantine
Gov. Spellman led the state during one of the nation’s
worst recessions, making a pivotal decision to raise
taxes to support critical services. Running on a no-new-
taxes platform, what influenced this decision knowing it
could lead to a loss in his bid for reelection?
John Spellman had a very good sense of right and wrong, which
I believe came from his parents and his Jesuit upbringing. He
never asked, “What would be the best thing for my reelection?
How am I going to look in this situation?”
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, when he was county
executive, The Boeing Company, the dominant employer
in the region, developed a plane, the Supersonic Transport,
which ended up not getting the green light from the federal
government. Because of that and other reasons, Boeing
significantly cut their employment in the region from a peak
of around 100,000 workers in 1967 to a low of around 39,000
in 1971: The situation was summed up by the billboard near
the airport in April 1971, “Will the last person leaving Seattle
turn out the lights.” Being in office during that time gave him
experience dealing with the difficult economic situation he
would face as governor.
While he had some hints the same economic situation might
be the case when he took office as governor, he was surprised
how quickly the bottom fell out of the economy. At that
time, there was not a formal state revenue forecast council.
The governor, House and Senate each worked off their own
revenue estimates. Gov. Spellman proposed legislation to create
the forecast council so he could get straight numbers. Each
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month the state revenues declined, sometimes sharply. It was
a very difficult fiscal environment for the governor and the
Legislature. He had been elected on a platform that “raising
taxes is the very last resort.” Some would say it was a “no-new-
taxes” platform.
The state revenue decline was so bad Gov. Spellman had to
make significant cuts in state programs. Some of the largest
cuts were in the Department of Social and Health Services. He
once told me he was “not going to take dentures away from
low-income seniors.” It was very personal to him. He was not
going to let that happen. He was very committed to taking
care of those in need or with disabilities and drug or alcohol
issues that DSHS helped. That is why he ended up significantly
raising taxes to fund education and social service programs.
These actions were to his detriment when he ran for a second
term because he was then “the Republican who had raised all
these taxes.” He never had any regrets. Looking back, he often
said he would have done it the exact same way except for trying
to tax the hairdressers and barbers.
How would you describe his governing style?
I think his governing principles go back to his Jesuit and legal
training. He was very low key, which made all of us love working
for him. He was no drama. He would read the materials you
gave him. He knew the dangers of a snap decision. Early on, I
would think, “Come on, make a decision,” but he knew better
and would go through a deliberative process. He felt strongly
about getting all the data. He often said when you get everyone