This Washington
Mike Heavey: County Aide, Political Heir Seeks Open House Seat
This is the third article in a series, as PubliCola profiles the candidates running to fill Rep. Sharon Nelson’s open House seat in the 34th District.
The first article, "Marcee Stone: Campaign Finance Activist Makes Her Case in the 34th" ran May 1 and the second article, "Joe Fitzgibbon: Young Technocrat has Eyes on Olympia," ran on May 6.
Mike Heavey’s doorbelling schpiel to residents of West Seattle’s Genesee Hill, a visibly blue-color area dominated by post-WWII tract housing and Japanese maples, is short and sweet: He introduces himself, lets the voter know he’s running for the House seat in the 34th, and says that he’s a Democrat. At that point, rather than hyping any agenda or platform, he asks if there are any issues the voter feels are particularly important.
Heavey, 30, has dark strawberry-blonde hair, a freckled complexion, and light blue eyes. He walks with the loose slouch of a soccer player (he played midfield at the University of South Alabama). He's dressed in a light blue shirt, navy and light blue tie, loose gray slacks and black, and blunt-toed leather shoes. He said he treats his self-presentation and doorbelling like a science.
He drives between some Democratic addresses, preselected by his consulting firm, Argo Strategies. His father's 1999-2000 Legislative Manual is wedged in the passenger side door compartment of his new Subaru Outback.
His methodical approach, complete with his open-ended closing question—if there are any issues they feel are particularly important—can pay off.
At one door, Heavey talks to a Metro bus driver who's just woken up from a nap between shifts. The diver says he's worried about the “perfect storm” that's been caused by budget cuts and the seniority system.
There are two seniority tracks at Metro, the bus driver explains, and the system is set up to favor full-time employees. When cuts are made, part-timers tend to get laid off before full-timers. The driver fears part-timers, such as himself, will eventually be squeezed out in tough economic times. What’s Heavey going to do about that if he’s elected? the bus driver asked.
Heavey’s in his element here; he worked as the Eastside field organizer for Dow Constantine’s successful campaign for King County Executive last year and currently works for the King County Council as Council Member Jan Drago's constituent relations manager as well as her aid on law, criminal justice and public safety issues. Through that experience, he has become plugged in to King County politics. He identified two ways to quell this “perfect storm.”
The seniority tracks are established in collective bargaining agreements between local unions and Metro, he said. Perhaps, said Heavey, seniority parameters ought to be redesigned next time Metro and unions enter collective bargaining in order to prevent someone from losing their seniority when they shift from part-time to full-time or vice versa.
And Heavey takes the opportunity to shift from the minutiae of county policy to one his campaign themes. He deftly brings up the recently proposed high-earner’s income tax initiative, which Heavey said would smooth out the state’s revenue problems that causes these sudden, harsh cuts.
Heavey came away from the discussion with the bus driver looking like a practical, knowledgeable candidate for elected office.
But the question is: Will he be able to apply his county-specifics of to the bigger issues in Olympia? In another front-yard conversation, William and Molly Engel answer Heavey's question about important issues by saying they are upset with the legislature for nixing free all-day kindergarten. Starting in September 2010 the Engels will have to pay $207 a month for full-day kindergarten.
At this, Heavey's rap falters. He hadn’t heard about that cut until the Engels mentioned it, and he tells her so. He attempts to spin their concern into a campaign pitch but can't pull off another bus driver scenario.
“Well that comes down to the way we pay for schools,” he says to Molly, trying to sound authoritative. “The good news is a King County judge recently ruled that the state wasn’t doing its job in funding education. It’s part of the reason I’m running, getting the legislature back on track.”
The Engels don’t seem sold.
This fumbled encounter highlights the hurdle in Heavey's effort to become Rep. Heavey: He can talk shop with the best of them about county issues, but he's a bit off of his game when it comes to Olympia. This became clearer when we sat down for an interview later that day.
At his friend’s parents’ house overlooking the water in Madrona, Heavey sat down at the dining room table and struggled through some specific questions about the legislature while he sipped one of those miniature cans of Diet Coke. In the background, his buddies are hollering over a pay-per-view fight.
Asked what his critique of Sharon Nelson, who he may be replacing, Heavey said he hadn't followed her legislative career very closely but that she "set a good model." Regarding an important decision facing the Democratic caucus next session—who should replace conservative Rep. Lynn Kessler as Democratic House Majority Leader, Heavey said he didn't feel qualified to say “not having worked with a lot of the legislators down there." (He did say he liked Rep. Hans Dunshee, who ran a doorbelling training that Heavey attended). And when I asked him what he disagrees with Gregoire about, he said "I don’t feel like I’m at a point where I could criticize her because at the end of the day she had a lot of tough decisions to make.”
Make no mistake; Heavey has the traits to be a good politician. He’s charismatic, has a good sense of humor, he's intelligent and, as an Expedia.com financial analyst specializing in catching defrauders, he's got some relevant private industry experience.
And, although it's on vague side, he does have an Olympia agenda of sorts.
He said, if elected, he’d be honored to join the legislature’s Blue-Green Coalition, an ad hoc progressive caucus of labor and environmental House Democrats led in part by Nelson. And his first priority would be one of the coalition's failed efforts from this past session—getting the hazardous substance tax increase passed.
“It creates jobs and creates much needed revenue,” he said. “From what I’ve been told, it’s 3,000 shovel-ready jobs.”
Beside the hazardous substance tax increase, he’d like to see the Legislature tackle initiative reform (something the 34th District's State Sen. Joe McDermott tried and failed to do this past session) and, spurred by the momentum from Bill Gates, Sr.'s high-earner’s income tax proposal, and as he did at the door with the bus driver, he notes that he wants to discuss an income tax in Washington state.
In the race for Nelson’s open seat, Heavey is currently leading his competitors Joe Fitzgibbon and Marcee Stone in fundraising: $16,840 to their $10,693 and $15,882.82, respectively. All of his money has come from private individuals, and he's gotten no PAC money, yet. However, that's not on purpose. (Stone has pledged not to take any PAC money. Heavey, who says he wants to see publicly financed campaigns, doesn't see the point in not taking PAC money in the mean time.)
In addition to leading in the money chase right now, Heavey has the sole endorsement of high profile Sen. Ed Murray (D-43, Seattle) and former Supreme Court Justice Phil Talmadge. Ironically, Talmadge wrote a letter to the legislature last session saying the proposed increase to the hazardous substance tax, one of Heavey's big issues, was unconstitutional. Former Washington State Labor Council President Larry Kenney, Heavey's uncle, has also endorsed him.
I have known Mike since he was young and he has helped out from time to time on my earlier campaigns, doing unglamorous things like getting my yards signs from one end of the pride parade to the other end," Murray wrote in an email. "Importantly, he has a commitment to those in need, to public service, and experience in both the private sector (particularly in the new economy) and in Democratic politics."
The Democratic tradition and Heavey’s name will likely aid him in the race, said Rep. Deb Eddy (D-48, Clyde Hill, Hunts Point) an influential Democrat.
Heavey the youngest in a family line of politicians and public figures. His father is a former Democratic state Senator from the 34th, remembered by some for pushing a ferry worker retirement bill that he would have benefited from himself (West Seattle, Vashon Island, Maury Island, and Burien) and currently he's a King County Superior Court judge. (He also got behind the quixotic West Seattle secession movement.)
Heavey’s received a lot of advice from his father, like the idea of writing personal notes at the top of campaign literature before he leaves it on residents’ stoops, and it was his family that partially prompted him to make a run for the open House seat.
Leading up to Heavey’s candidacy announcement, every Saturday morning at 8 o’clock. Mike Heavey meets his uncles Larry Kenney and Ed Heavey—and his father Michael J. Heavey for breakfast at the Charlestown Café.
The breakfasts are mostly just weekly catch-ups, but the notion that Heavey make his own run for public office has come up more than once, he said. Finally, he decided to go for it.
“I’m not looking to steal anybody’s thunder,” he said. “But I know there would definitely be stuff I’d be talking about and advocating for and lobbying other legislators for.”
The first article, "Marcee Stone: Campaign Finance Activist Makes Her Case in the 34th" ran May 1 and the second article, "Joe Fitzgibbon: Young Technocrat has Eyes on Olympia," ran on May 6.
Mike Heavey’s doorbelling schpiel to residents of West Seattle’s Genesee Hill, a visibly blue-color area dominated by post-WWII tract housing and Japanese maples, is short and sweet: He introduces himself, lets the voter know he’s running for the House seat in the 34th, and says that he’s a Democrat. At that point, rather than hyping any agenda or platform, he asks if there are any issues the voter feels are particularly important.
Heavey, 30, has dark strawberry-blonde hair, a freckled complexion, and light blue eyes. He walks with the loose slouch of a soccer player (he played midfield at the University of South Alabama). He's dressed in a light blue shirt, navy and light blue tie, loose gray slacks and black, and blunt-toed leather shoes. He said he treats his self-presentation and doorbelling like a science.
He drives between some Democratic addresses, preselected by his consulting firm, Argo Strategies. His father's 1999-2000 Legislative Manual is wedged in the passenger side door compartment of his new Subaru Outback.
His methodical approach, complete with his open-ended closing question—if there are any issues they feel are particularly important—can pay off.
At one door, Heavey talks to a Metro bus driver who's just woken up from a nap between shifts. The diver says he's worried about the “perfect storm” that's been caused by budget cuts and the seniority system.
There are two seniority tracks at Metro, the bus driver explains, and the system is set up to favor full-time employees. When cuts are made, part-timers tend to get laid off before full-timers. The driver fears part-timers, such as himself, will eventually be squeezed out in tough economic times. What’s Heavey going to do about that if he’s elected? the bus driver asked.
Heavey’s in his element here; he worked as the Eastside field organizer for Dow Constantine’s successful campaign for King County Executive last year and currently works for the King County Council as Council Member Jan Drago's constituent relations manager as well as her aid on law, criminal justice and public safety issues. Through that experience, he has become plugged in to King County politics. He identified two ways to quell this “perfect storm.”
The seniority tracks are established in collective bargaining agreements between local unions and Metro, he said. Perhaps, said Heavey, seniority parameters ought to be redesigned next time Metro and unions enter collective bargaining in order to prevent someone from losing their seniority when they shift from part-time to full-time or vice versa.
And Heavey takes the opportunity to shift from the minutiae of county policy to one his campaign themes. He deftly brings up the recently proposed high-earner’s income tax initiative, which Heavey said would smooth out the state’s revenue problems that causes these sudden, harsh cuts.
Heavey came away from the discussion with the bus driver looking like a practical, knowledgeable candidate for elected office.
But the question is: Will he be able to apply his county-specifics of to the bigger issues in Olympia? In another front-yard conversation, William and Molly Engel answer Heavey's question about important issues by saying they are upset with the legislature for nixing free all-day kindergarten. Starting in September 2010 the Engels will have to pay $207 a month for full-day kindergarten.
At this, Heavey's rap falters. He hadn’t heard about that cut until the Engels mentioned it, and he tells her so. He attempts to spin their concern into a campaign pitch but can't pull off another bus driver scenario.
“Well that comes down to the way we pay for schools,” he says to Molly, trying to sound authoritative. “The good news is a King County judge recently ruled that the state wasn’t doing its job in funding education. It’s part of the reason I’m running, getting the legislature back on track.”
The Engels don’t seem sold.
This fumbled encounter highlights the hurdle in Heavey's effort to become Rep. Heavey: He can talk shop with the best of them about county issues, but he's a bit off of his game when it comes to Olympia. This became clearer when we sat down for an interview later that day.
At his friend’s parents’ house overlooking the water in Madrona, Heavey sat down at the dining room table and struggled through some specific questions about the legislature while he sipped one of those miniature cans of Diet Coke. In the background, his buddies are hollering over a pay-per-view fight.
Asked what his critique of Sharon Nelson, who he may be replacing, Heavey said he hadn't followed her legislative career very closely but that she "set a good model." Regarding an important decision facing the Democratic caucus next session—who should replace conservative Rep. Lynn Kessler as Democratic House Majority Leader, Heavey said he didn't feel qualified to say “not having worked with a lot of the legislators down there." (He did say he liked Rep. Hans Dunshee, who ran a doorbelling training that Heavey attended). And when I asked him what he disagrees with Gregoire about, he said "I don’t feel like I’m at a point where I could criticize her because at the end of the day she had a lot of tough decisions to make.”
Make no mistake; Heavey has the traits to be a good politician. He’s charismatic, has a good sense of humor, he's intelligent and, as an Expedia.com financial analyst specializing in catching defrauders, he's got some relevant private industry experience.
And, although it's on vague side, he does have an Olympia agenda of sorts.
He said, if elected, he’d be honored to join the legislature’s Blue-Green Coalition, an ad hoc progressive caucus of labor and environmental House Democrats led in part by Nelson. And his first priority would be one of the coalition's failed efforts from this past session—getting the hazardous substance tax increase passed.
“It creates jobs and creates much needed revenue,” he said. “From what I’ve been told, it’s 3,000 shovel-ready jobs.”
Beside the hazardous substance tax increase, he’d like to see the Legislature tackle initiative reform (something the 34th District's State Sen. Joe McDermott tried and failed to do this past session) and, spurred by the momentum from Bill Gates, Sr.'s high-earner’s income tax proposal, and as he did at the door with the bus driver, he notes that he wants to discuss an income tax in Washington state.
In the race for Nelson’s open seat, Heavey is currently leading his competitors Joe Fitzgibbon and Marcee Stone in fundraising: $16,840 to their $10,693 and $15,882.82, respectively. All of his money has come from private individuals, and he's gotten no PAC money, yet. However, that's not on purpose. (Stone has pledged not to take any PAC money. Heavey, who says he wants to see publicly financed campaigns, doesn't see the point in not taking PAC money in the mean time.)
In addition to leading in the money chase right now, Heavey has the sole endorsement of high profile Sen. Ed Murray (D-43, Seattle) and former Supreme Court Justice Phil Talmadge. Ironically, Talmadge wrote a letter to the legislature last session saying the proposed increase to the hazardous substance tax, one of Heavey's big issues, was unconstitutional. Former Washington State Labor Council President Larry Kenney, Heavey's uncle, has also endorsed him.
I have known Mike since he was young and he has helped out from time to time on my earlier campaigns, doing unglamorous things like getting my yards signs from one end of the pride parade to the other end," Murray wrote in an email. "Importantly, he has a commitment to those in need, to public service, and experience in both the private sector (particularly in the new economy) and in Democratic politics."
The Democratic tradition and Heavey’s name will likely aid him in the race, said Rep. Deb Eddy (D-48, Clyde Hill, Hunts Point) an influential Democrat.
Heavey the youngest in a family line of politicians and public figures. His father is a former Democratic state Senator from the 34th, remembered by some for pushing a ferry worker retirement bill that he would have benefited from himself (West Seattle, Vashon Island, Maury Island, and Burien) and currently he's a King County Superior Court judge. (He also got behind the quixotic West Seattle secession movement.)
Heavey’s received a lot of advice from his father, like the idea of writing personal notes at the top of campaign literature before he leaves it on residents’ stoops, and it was his family that partially prompted him to make a run for the open House seat.
Leading up to Heavey’s candidacy announcement, every Saturday morning at 8 o’clock. Mike Heavey meets his uncles Larry Kenney and Ed Heavey—and his father Michael J. Heavey for breakfast at the Charlestown Café.
The breakfasts are mostly just weekly catch-ups, but the notion that Heavey make his own run for public office has come up more than once, he said. Finally, he decided to go for it.
“I’m not looking to steal anybody’s thunder,” he said. “But I know there would definitely be stuff I’d be talking about and advocating for and lobbying other legislators for.”
