Profile in Leadership: State Representative Steve Tharinger

​By Paul J. Pickett

State Rep. Steve Tharinger, pictured, in a photo provided by him

Steve Tharinger has been our State Representative in the 24th District since 2011. He is halfway through his eighth two-year term, and is Chair of the House Capital Budget Committee, a highly influential position for funding infrastructure projects across the state. He also sits on the House Health Care and Wellness Committee and Appropriations Committee, as well as four other Joint Committees. Previously he served three terms as a Clallam County Commissioner, from 2000 through 2012. Steve found a break in his busy schedule to chat with me on the phone.

1. Tell me a little about your past – where did you grow up, where have you lived?
“I went to high school in the Twin Cities in Minnesota,” Steve tells me. “I got a degree in political science from Colorado College, then spent some time on the east coast.” Steve came out to Seattle in 1976, where he was a contractor building houses. But he wanted a change, so he moved to the north Peninsula, and eventually settled down in Sequim. He reminisces: “I built a boat, and started a woodworking shop for kitchen specialty bent wood materials.” 

When the Growth Management Act (GMA) was passed in 1990, Steve joined several committees. “I wanted to learn how to use planning to manage growth and maintain working landscapes,” he explains. “I loved the area, and I was concerned about losing farmland and conversion of timber resources.” He worked on the Timber and Mineral, and Agricultural Lands GMA committees, and went on to be Chair of the County’s Planning Commission, where he helped develop Clallam County’s Comprehensive Plan.  

In 1995, he ran for Clallam County Commissioner and lost, but ran again in 1999 and was successful. “There was a strong Republican organization in the 1990s,” he says. “If you were a Democrat, you had to walk around with a paper bag over your head. But now the County has shifted from red to more purple, especially in Sequim.” He worked with the county Democrats to help candidates. “I helped Evan Jones by putting up yard signs. It was not a strong party organization back then.”

2. What led you to the Democratic Party? 
Steve replies, “I like that it’s a big tent, inclusive, and supportive of trying to strengthen the community by addressing problems.” He explains that coastal counties like Grays Harbor were strongholds for “FDR Labor Democrats,” but that changed when timber jobs decreased.

3. What has been the highest point for you as a Democrat?
Steve quickly answers. “It’s been an honor to be an elected official, a County Commissioner and a State Representative. Those are the high points.” I asked him if he had any specific accomplishments he was proud of. “As a Commissioner, we addressed environmental issues, worked on the Dungeness Water Rule, tried to find a balance for water, fish,  agriculture, and development. I worked on health care issues, both at the Commissioner and State levels.”  Steve describes how he was able to get a higher reimbursement rate for hospitals, with a state/federal match. He was able to direct around $2 million to our hospitals. “I’ve been able to do that for the last 6 or 7 years,” he explains with pride. “Being the Capital Budget Chair, I’ve had some success funding childcare, behavioral health, and dental care facilities.” 

4. How have personal experiences helped you with leadership as an elected official?
“Showing up, being consistent, being someone who can work within a team ” Steve explains. He points to his experience in the early advisory committees and the Planning Commission. He says, “I had training early in mediation at the Dispute Resolution Center – be an active listener, be non-judgmental. It helped me to be a respected Committee Chair.” He says that Dispute Resolution Centers are being used by the Legislature, Courts, and more recently, for tenant-landlord disputes. “The statement I like is ‘turn judgment and fear into curiosity and understanding’.” He laments that people now are doing things without a rational basis, motivated by fear, leading to ideological rigidity.

5. What advice would you give to a volunteer thinking of taking on more responsibility in the Democrats?
“The worker bees – they are the core of what we do,” Steve says. “It’s good to help out, like with door belling, parades, and other functions. For people interested in more structured community engagement – get on committees. Cities and Counties are always looking for members for various committees. Activists sometimes get frustrated with committee work, but it’s important work and a good way to learn how things get done.”

6. How do we pass the legacy of the Democratic Party to future generations?
Steve considers, then responds. “Be focused on the issues that affect youth, like housing, employment, climate change.” He explains that the Party needs to be listening to those voices and the solutions they might be thinking of. But we need to avoid getting bogged down in process. “Help the party be an effective voice for those concerns,” he says. “For younger people, it’s their responsibility –  they need to speak out. But maybe we should not be so party-focused, instead be more issue-focused – less rules, more results.” He believes that the Democrats can be a good place to achieve success if we listen and evolve. But he acknowledges that there’s a lot of information out there and yet people are not truly informed, which can be overwhelming, and sometimes conspiratorial. “We need to filter through that and create a game plan,” he explains, “while recognizing that young people are very concerned and connected.”