By Natalie St. John

nstjohn@chinookobserver.com

State Sen. Brian Hatfield’s Sept. 1 resignation initiated formal announcements from candidates hoping to fill either his Senate seat or, more likely, the state House vacancy that will be created if Rep. Dean Takko, D-Longview, is appointed to the Senate.

By Tuesday afternoon, Long Beach Peninsula businesswoman Tiffany Turner, 36, had already turned a room in her Long Beach Hotel, Adrift, into the temporary headquarters for her campaign. Turner, and her friend Madeline Moore — another local who aspires to a career in politics — were consumed with making plans and managing the flurry of attention that had come with the afternoon’s big news.

With that announcement came an opportunity to jump into state politics — something that Turner said she’s been thinking about “not for months, but for years.”

Turner first learned of this opportunity around June, when party leaders began quietly advising political hopefuls to prepare for the possibility of a fast and furious campaign. However, she said potential candidates were asked to exercise discretion until Hatfield’s plans were set. Now that the news is official, Turner says the next few weeks, will be all about “trying to prove to others that I’m the best person for the job — that I have a unique set of experiences and skills that can make me an effective leader for the district and the state.”

The daughter of a commercial fisherman, Turner grew up on the Peninsula, and taught elementary school locally for three years after college. Ultimately though, Turner found her niche in small-business ownership. Along with her husband Brady Turner, she owns The Inn at Discovery Coast, Adrift Hotel and Pickled Fish restaurant in Long Beach, as well as the recently opened Ashore Hotel in Seaside. The married mother of two boys, ages nine and 11, has been laying the groundwork for a career in public service for years. Turner is a 2014 graduate of the Institute for a Democratic Future, an intensive six-month fellowship program that prepares promising young Washington Democrats for political and civic leadership. Currently, she’s the chair for the Washington Budget and Policy Center, the interim board chair for the local branch of the Boys and Girls Club, and also sits on the board of the Long beach Peninsula Visitor’s Bureau and other regional organizations.

Though Turner started out as a Republican, she says her political views gradually shifted to the left after college. Over the last few years, she’s been actively involved in several left-of-center political movements, including efforts to raise the minimum wage and secure paid sick leave for restaurant workers.

“I’m pretty involved at the statewide level in politics. I found a pretty strong voice as a small business owner in progressive politics,” Turner said.

While Turner is careful to express her respect for regional elected leaders she also sees the current political shuffle as a much-needed opportunity to make the 19th district’s leadership more reflective of the citizens they represent.

“I think I have a perspective that is very under-represented in our small government. I’ve found a voice as a citizen — an effective voice,” Turner said. “We’re supposed to have a representative government. We should have more women, more people of different generations representing us.”

Turner is well aware that some skeptics have expressed doubts about her ability to manage a demanding political career at a time when she has a rapidly expanding business and numerous existing commitments. Turner says she’d likely step away from some of the non-profit work that consumes much of her time, but she’s not concerned about her ability to handle the new role at all.

She points out that she’d already been planning to launch a campaign in 2016, so she and her husband have already been delegating much of the day-today work to trusted staff members.

“Not only do I have the time, I have the desire and experience to do it,” Turner said. “I’m not worried at all about my time, and I have an amazing amount of support behind me within my family and my business. And busy people get things done, right?”

Jim Sayce

The same day Hatfield sent out the announcement of his resignation, Seaview resident Jim Sayce, 60, sent an email to a select group of locals, announcing his own resignation from his 18-year-long tenure at the Washington State Historical Society. Sayce didn’t mention his political ambitions in the letter, but the two announcements “are related to each other,” Sayce acknowledged during an interview at the Chinook Observer office later the same day.

Sayce explained that he had been feeling ready for a change, and Hatfield’s resignation provided the impetus to pursue another long-time goal: a role in state leadership.

“I represent the area well, and I’m used to solving complex problems with disparate people,” Sayce said. He described himself as a “problem solver,” with a strong grasp of local issues and deep ties to the region.

“I’m resourceful and relentless, and I think you have to be optimistic in that way to achieve results,” Sayce said.

Born in Ilwaco and raised in Ocean Park, Sayce grew cranberries until the late 90s, then moved into a career in public service. He has worked as a planner for the county and also served as the Director of Community Development in the city of Long Beach. In 2004, he took a job at the Washington State Historical Society, where he managed the effort to develop the Lewis and Clark Station Camp Site, and assisted the National Park Service and Federal Highway Administration in developing the Megler Rest Area improvement project that is slated to begin in 2016.

Sayce is a past Ocean Beach School Board director, and has also served on the board of directors for the Kite Museum. He currently serves on the Pacific County Planning Commission and the National Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation board.

As an alum of the Washington Agriculture and Forestry Education Foundation, a program that trains members of the state’s fishing, agriculture and forestry industries for leadership, Sayce says he’s well-qualified to foster more tourism and economic development in the region. He’d like to focus on getting state government to invest more heavily in the region. He’d also like to do more to capitalize on the area’s abundant natural resources and rich heritage.

“That’s a challenge for us,” Sayce said, explaining that at a time when traditional sources of revenue such as fisheries and forestry are diminishing, Southwest Washington needs a leader with fresh ideas and approaches.

“You’ve got to be willing to take some risks and explore options you’ve never considered before,” Sayce said.

J.D. Rossetti

By the time Hatfield’s team had sent out a press release, Longview resident J.D. Rossetti was already planning weeks in advance — a staff member in the Naselle Grays-River School District confirmed that the 34-year-old legislative assistant to Rep. Brian Blake, D-Aberdeen, had called earlier in the day to try and schedule the gathering of 19th Legislative District political leaders that would decide the prospective appointee’s fate.

In a phone interview later that day, Rossetti, who served as Hatfield’s legislative intern in 2011, said the official news of his former boss’s departure was bittersweet.

“When he talked about this new opportunity, I was very excited for him. I want to emphasize that I appreciate his dedication and years of service to the 19th. I think he’s done some amazing things.”

Nonetheless, Rossetti was unequivocal about his interest in seeking Takko’s seat.

“I think it would be a honor to be appointed to that open house seat if that comes up,” Rossetti said. “I’ve been working to prepare myself for this opportunity to serve the 19th for a really long time.”

A father of three, Rossetti describes himself as a “returning student.” He balanced family life with working in coffee shops for about eight years, before enrolling in Washington State University, Vancouver.

While working on his Bachelor’s in public affairs, Rossetti said he developed a strong interest in politics. That led to participation in the state’s legislative internship program. He has also worked as a legislative assistant for the Washington State School Director’s Association.

In 2012, Rossetti aided Blake, Hatfield and Takko with their campaigns, and began working as Blake’s legislative assistant. In 2013, he also successfully ran for a position on the Longview School Board.

Rossetti, has served as the chair of the Cowlitz County Democrats and on the board of Pathways 2020.

Rosetti is the immediate past-president and a current board member of the Cowlitz/Wahkiakum United Way. However, his leadership coincides with a period of significant controversy at the non-profit community service organization.

In early 2015, an independent auditor released a scathing report that revealed numerous irregularities and a six-figure accounting error. While board leaders, including Rossetti, said they did not suspect criminal activity, they could not immediately account for a more than $200,000 shortfall in the budget.

The shortfall meant that United Way had to significantly curtail some distributions to local charities, and led to the Jan. 27 firing of CEO Kalei LeFave.

A subsequent investigation by the Longview Daily News revealed that Rossetti was one of three board members who had faced significant financial woes of their own, prior to the problems at United Way.

According to public documents, Rossetti, along with his ex-wife Rebecca Rossetti filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2009. The Rossettis listed debts to about 60 creditors, including credit card companies, medical providers and numerous check-cashing and payday loan services.

On Sept. 8 Rossetti said the audit covered a period when he served on the board, but was not yet the board president. Rossetti said that prior to the audit, the administrative team had painted an overly-rosy, and incomplete picture of the organization’s finances. For example, a reserve fund appeared to have $400,000 on paper, but when the auditors took a deeper look, they discovered that the money had all been spent.

Rossetti says he and the other board members acted quickly to dismiss LaFave, and hire a replacement with more financial management expertise.

“We strengthened our by-laws, we looked at our finances. We made it through the whole year — we didn’t have to shut the door,” Rossetti said. “… I think the thing that I learned the most is that being a leader isn’t always easy and it isn’t always popular. But when I’m in a leadership position, I’m committed to making sure things are done right …”

Rossetti said he is “totally willing” to discuss his personal financial difficulties. In fact, he said, his own ordeal as a struggling young parent is one of the driving forces behind his political aspirations.

In a prepared statement that he read over the phone, Rossetti said that he and his former wife were just starting their family when the recession hit. During a tough pregnancy and slow recovery, “devastating” medical bills began pouring in, just as their insurance rates increased. Then, Rossetti was laid off, and the couple began trying to meet their debts by borrowing heavily from high-interest lenders. Bankruptcy documents show that at the time of filing, Rossetti was living on unemployment, his ex-wife was receiving public assistance, and neither had any savings or personal assets, aside from an old car.

Eventually, the pressure caused the marriage to fall apart, and attorneys advised the couple to file for bankruptcy.

“We both sought fresh starts,” Rossetti said noting that the upheaval ultimately led him to return to school.

Reading from his statement, Rossetti concluded, “I know that I do not have to make mistakes to learn life’s lessons. But it’s a mistake that’s already been made and you can be assured that I’ve learned and grown from it.”