The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

Wahkiakum voters can be proud. They’re a hard headed lot in Washington’s Third Congressional District. They ask the politicians who want to represent them – to prove their worth.

Denny Heck, a Democrat, running to replace Brian Baird this fall in the Third Congressional District, phoned the Eagle last week to request an interview. Heck said that whoever represents Southwest Washington in Congress must be an independent thinker, willing to buck their political party.

Heck became a five-term state legislator in the 1970’s. He said he knows the challenges facing Wahkiakum County. During his interview he repeatedly emphasized his primary focus that if elected, would be to create jobs. He views the need for jobs and an improved economy to overshadow almost all other issues.

“You asked me why I’m running? The day before yesterday I celebrated my 58th birthday. I’ve lived my whole life in this district and I’ve never seen it like this before,” said Heck. He said this has been a lost decade when it comes to jobs and wages.

Neither, he said, do current unemployment numbers tell the whole story. “If you want the real numbers you have to include who’s dropped out of the system and those who’ve had involuntary hour and wage cuts. When you add it all up you realize more than 50 percent of the nation’s households are affected.

Heck said he can have an impact on the high unemployment rate. “This is something I can impact or I wouldn’t run, but I don’t have rose colored glasses. What I’m hoping is I’ll be one of many new voices in Congress that says ‘Put jobs and economic growth first,'” said Heck.

He said he’s aware of the sluggish timber sector and how it has affected Wahkiakum. “The biggest weight on the backs of the timber industry is the lack of home construction,” he said.

He explained most counties in the state have an eight month inventory of unsold homes. “...and you’ve got to get below six-months to get new home starts,” he said, “and when you add the multiplier effect of construction to the local businesses that support the construction industry it creates a lot of jobs.”

Heck said if he was forced to classify himself he should be labeled a business-Democrat. He thinks the nation’s infrastructure is another area that could be used to promote economic recovery.

“Consider Cathlamet,” he said, “This town needs a new waste water treatment facility – that’s an infrastructure issue and these are things we (U.S. Congress) need to be looking at,” said Heck.

He talked about the Columbia’s commercial fishing industry and said it is in turmoil because no one at the Federal level is in charge. “You’ve got the BPA, NOAA and NMFS and the state Fish and Wildlife Department,” said Heck. “All these groups are involved but there is no single entity coordinating fish recovery, instead they’re all suing each other.”

Heck said there has been a proposed buy-back program sitting on a judge's desk for 10 years that would offer Columbia fishermen the opportunity to sell their salmon permits and boats back to the state.

What he fears most is the nation’s economic down-turn. “What if the recession lasts 10 or more years? What do you say to a guy in his late 50s, who’s worked hard all his life and then gets laid off?” asked Heck.

There’s the psychological effect of long-term unemployment. “Jobs are part of our national character,” said Heck. “When people aren’t productive they get depressed.” He doesn’t see the business community in any hurry to hire back fifty-somethings. He said he’d like to see the government help retrain older Americans.

When asked if he would continue the Brian Baird tradition of holding town hall meetings, he said, “I think Brian set the record in Congress for the most town hall meetings.” Heck neither confirmed nor denied he would hold regular town hall meetings.

Heck is skeptical of keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The president ran on his promise to go into Afghanistan after which he said he would re-assess the war this December. “What I would ask him,” said Heck, “is do we have an exit strategy and do we have a reasonable chance of success?” Heck said he is “pretty clear eyed” about the people who hate us but said he can’t see following a plan that doesn’t work.

On health care Heck said there’s a lot of pieces to the new Health Care Reform Act and the jury is still out to see if it will work. He said he’d like to see about 30 to 40 more million Americans covered under the Bill. “If we can do that, based on the consumer price index, it might work.”

He said as it stands, health care is out of control and, “Its the insurance companies, the doctors, drug companies and ‘yes’ the patients, demanding expensive drugs that drives up the cost of health care,” said Heck.

Denny Heck is 58 and a resident of Olympia. He is married with two grown sons. He received a Bachelor’s degree from the Evergreen State College, 1973.

He is an original investor in Real Networks and co-founder of Intrepid Learning Solutions. He is co-owner of Bruin Development and primary investor in Digital Efficiency, a company providing electronic medical records solutions to health care providers.

Heck served five terms in the Washington State House of Representatives starting in 1976. From 1989-93 he was Governor Booth Gardner’s Chief of Staff. He also built the state public affairs TV network TVW.