I think watching the King County Executive debate the other night between Susan Hutchison and Dow Constantine got me thinking about Seattle and its' relationship to strong, successful women.
The above photo is of Debbie Armstrong (courtesy Seattle Times). She's from Seattle, and in 1984, she won the Gold Medal in the Women's Giant Slolam at the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. She was just 20 years old at the time.
After she won, I remember the city kind of cobbled together a celebration of her victory.
It was as if somebody at City Hall thought; "Oh yeah, we got a Gold Medal. Whatever." (then, had it been fashionable at the time, they probably would have made that "w" sign with their index fingers and thumbs)
The parade was short, cheesy and not very special. Traffic barely stopped for 5 minutes. Very few people came downtown to see our Olympian.
I got the feeling that nobody thought it was a big deal, until the very last minute, when somebody pulled some strings.
I was assigned to cover the parade, and celebration. Charlie Royer was Mayor at the time, and I remember he made a little presentation to Debbie after the parade. She was so happy. She had the hugest smile on her face the whole time, holding up her medal for everyone to see, and just sitting back and delighting in the moment.
But that was kind of it. There were no other significant celebrations for Debbie, who now teaches skiing in California, and calls herself "Deb". No parks, streets, city conference rooms...nothing is named for her.
Always thought we could have done better by her. That was a big-deal Gold Medal.
(For those of you keeping track, the 1984 Winter games also saw Edmond's Roslyn Sumners take the silver in figure skating. -- she got a Boulevard named after her)
It was noticed by this reporter. And by others.
Think about all the attention SILVER medalist Apolo Ohno receives these days. He makes lots of appearaces, is extremely photogenic, and probably has himself one heck of an agent. We all remember his winning performance on "Dancing With The Stars". The guy is admired wherever he goes. Crowds recently stood outside for hours, waiting for a chance to get a photo taken with him at a local QFC. ("no autographs, please....we need to let as many people meet Apolo as possible....")
What about Debbie? There were never events like that for her. Granted, Apolo is being sponsored by Coke--but I just have to wonder.
Was Debbie too "Butch" for a national sponsorship? She came out of nowhere to take that Gold medal. With the exception of those who knew her from her Alpental and Snoqualmie Summit skiing days, her trip to Sarajevo was pretty much kept under the radar. And I can't help but think there was more than a little sexism, and almost no civic pride coming from the city's "fathers", because the win wasn't celebrating a "son".
It was the daughter from the dad who wished he had a boy.
I think Seattle and Washington have come a long way since then. And that's what brings me back to the King County Executive debates.
1984 was a time when women were just starting to feel their wings in local politics. There were women on the City Council, and women State Representatives--but no women in Congress the Senate, leading State Government or local government.
Flash forward 25 years--and I don't need to remind you that it's no big deal these days. A woman Governor, two women Senators, we've had women in Congress for years, in the Legislature, gender isn't even talked about among the ranks anymore, because it is so common. The male/female balance in city and county governments is hardly an issue.
But Seattle hasn't had a woman mayor since Bertha Landes in 1926. She served for two years.
King County has never had a women County Executive. That might change in November--but these days, nobody talks about her gender. The only discussion is about whether or not she is qualified for office. THAT is a perfectly legitimate discussion. And I appreciate seeing how politics has significantly changed in the area.
Maybe Debbie Armstrong should run for office.
