Monday,
August 06,
Al Rosellini; Ex
Governor of
The
ANNOTICO Report
Albert
Dean Rosellini was born in
Giovanni opened a
saloon in
Because so many
Italian-Americans settled in the neighborhood, it was also known as "Garlic Gulch."
There, young Albert forged tight bonds with others of his background - bonds that were a bulwark against rampant
anti-Italian-American prejudices at the time. Their
close-knit community felt the sting, Lynn Rosellini
says. "Italians
weren't welcome into society at large."
During the Great
Depression, Al worked at a door factory, meat market and pharmacy. But
he also played sports and kept up with school work. Later, he labored as a longshoreman."These work habits carried over
into everything he did,"
Rosellini became a lawyer in
1933, and showed little interest in political office until
he joined the Young Men's Democratic Club of King County, where he met New
Deal Democrats who shared his interest in using government to help the
kind of people he grew up around.
He won a seat for
State Senate in 1938, in a district that included "Garlic Gulch."
Rosellini's leadership skills became evident early,when he pushed
legislation that created the
Those skills
helped vault him to the Governor's office. But his natural affability
likely tipped the balance. His charisma allowed him to break through cultural
barriers, just as John F. Kennedy. "He was terribly ambitious, which was
good," "He was terribly concerned about people, especially the
persons who were disadvantaged."
Rosellini represented "sort of
the beginning of the modern governorship". New programs fed by federal
dollars provided greater opportunities. With his outgoing personality and
boundless energy, Rosellini was the right guy at the right time to
guide the state through the post-World War II boom.
Rosellini's ability to sway people
made his first term, by most accounts, one of the most progressive and productive in state history.
The accomplishments: a separate juvenile-justice system and modernizations
in the mental-health system; increased aid to universities and
colleges; accelerated road construction. He also established a merit
system for state employees and led the way in creating the Department of
Commerce and Economic Development.
His second term
was less successful, contributing to his defeat in 1964. But his constant drive
continued to benefit him. He became a successful businessman, acting as
an attorney and consultant. He served on the state Transportation
Commission, was a director of the Washington State Convention &
Trade Center and chaired the state's
As society's attitudes
about race and ethnicity shifted, he became less known as
Yet,
as you read the article, you should be astounded by the amount of space
dedicated to a MINOR INCIDENT grandiosely labeled "Stripper Gate"
that involved Rosellini allegedly" delivering
$7,000 to City Council members on behalf of a long time friend, and forner client, seeking the expansion of
parking at his strip club.
Yet, no
corruption was proven during his eight years as governor, despite
constant inquiries by newspaper reporters and whispers in law-enforcement circles."Every
aspect of his life has been scrutinized," Rosellini's
biographer, Payton Smith, wrote in his 1997 book, "Rosellini:
Immigrants' Son and Progressive Governor."
"If there were any truth to the rumors, it would have surfaced."
Cover Story
Al
Rosellini
Steve
Miletich
August
5, 2007
The lunch
Jan. 22, 2007
The
Gov. Christine Gregoire is presiding as five former
It's a rare
gathering of an exclusive club. They sit down at a large circular table, opting
to eat in the main dining room instead of the private room they were
mistakenly assigned because Rosellini was a politician of the people.
Locke rises to
urge those seated at other tables to join them in singing "Happy
Birthday" to the man of the hour.
"You're my
hero," Evans declares, putting aside the bruising campaigns he and Rosellini once waged against each other for the state's
biggest political prize.
Basking in the
convivial glow, Rosellini gladly accommodates about a
half dozen reporters who'd been invited to cover the event. His long life, he
tells them, is the result of "hard work and clean living."
The
dinner
July 12, 2005
The Italian
Spaghetti House, Seattle
Rosellini pulls his Cadillac with
the vanity license plate "GOV ADR" into the parking lot of the aging
family restaurant on
Though Rosellini has not been charged in the so-called "Strippergate" case, charging papers show he helped
deliver 11 of the suspect campaign checks, totaling nearly $7,000.
Rosellini and Colacurcio
sit with a small gathering at a long table. Seattle Times reporter Jim Brunner,
who was driving home when he happened to spot the two going into the
restaurant, approaches. Rosellini, his usual affable
self, smiles and makes small talk. Colacurcio, surly
and blunt, says he's got nothing more to say about the charges. The talk turns
to reminiscences about the restaurant's original owner, who has died, and
Brunner continues to chat until someone else in the group cuts in. This, he
announces curtly, is "a private party."
Two
events;
two portraits of Al Rosellini:
The Al Rosellini who, as governor from 1957 to 1965, earned a
reputation as the politician who got things done things like the Highway 520 bridge over
And the Al Rosellini who, throughout his political career and since,
has fought off allegations that he got things done for Colacurcio
a man with a long history of
criminal behavior.
It was in Rosellini's first year as governor that a U.S. Senate
committee investigating organized crime identified Colacurcio
as a racketeer. In those days, Colacurcio was accused
of using strong-arm tactics to control
That first image
of Rosellini as the effective political leader is well-documented: better mental-health
institutions, budget reforms, transportation improvements, economic
development.
The second image which hurt Rosellini
when he lost to Evans in 1964 and again in a 1972 comeback run is murkier. In part, it stemmed from Rosellini's lifelong support of the liquor industry and his
liberal views on liquor laws. Some of the criticism reflected the public's
harsher view of alcohol consumption at the time. But his political foes also
accused Rosellini of catering to illicit interests.
His alleged link
to Colacurcio derailed Rosellini's
1972 campaign when a last-minute newspaper story said Rosellini
had, after leaving office, helped a Colacurcio
relative with a liquor-license issue in Hawaii.
During the same
campaign, someone circulated bumper stickers saying, "We Don't Need a Godfather."
Yet, no
corruption was proven during his eight years as governor, despite constant
inquiries by newspaper reporters and whispers in law-enforcement circles.
"Every
aspect of his life has been scrutinized," Rosellini's
biographer, Payton Smith, wrote in his 1997 book, "Rosellini:
Immigrants' Son and Progressive Governor."
"If there were any truth to the rumors, it would have surfaced."
Given that, why
would Rosellini keep an association that has marred
his career and kept the questions alive?
Lynn Rosellini, his youngest daughter, says that to understand
her father, you have to go back to the old days to his heritage and neighborhood, to his
loyalty to family and friends.
"As he went
up the ladder, he very stubbornly maintained those loyalties, even at a time
when it could be harmful to his public image," she says.
If he acted
differently now, she adds, "it would be turning your back on part of
yourself in a way."
Albert
Dean Rosellini was born in
Giovanni Rosellini rolled into town on a wave of Italian-American
immigrants, often poor and illiterate, who flooded into the country in the late
1800s and early 1900s.
Giovanni opened a
saloon in
Because so many Italian-Americans
settled in the neighborhood, it was also known as "Garlic Gulch."
There, young Albert forged tight bonds with others of his background - bonds that were a bulwark against rampant
anti-Italian-American prejudices at the time. Their close-knit
community felt the sting, Lynn Rosellini says. "Italians weren't welcome into society
at large."
There were other
troubles. In the late 1920s during the Great Depression, the family was evicted
for failing to pay rent, according to Smith's book. To help, Rosellini worked at a door factory, meat market and
pharmacy. But he also played sports and kept up with school work. Later, he
labored as a longshoreman.
"These work
habits carried over into everything he did," Smith writes, turning Rosellini into a tireless campaigner who worked
long hours when he became governor.
Rosellini was in high school when
his father was arrested in 1926 on drug-smuggling charges. His father's
imprisonment, newspaper headlines and gossip at school made an "indelible
impression" on Rosellini, Smith writes, and
likely motivated him to later enter law school at the
He became a
lawyer in 1933, after earning a combined undergraduate-law school degree at the
UW. Soon after, he spearheaded a fight against post-Prohibition "blue
laws," resulting in relaxed restrictions on Sunday liquor sales.
But he showed
little interest in running for political office until he joined the Young Men's
Democratic Club of King County, where he met New Deal Democrats who
shared his interest in using government to help the kind of people he grew up
around. He ran for the state Senate in 1934 and barely lost. He ran again in
1938, winning a seat in a district that included "Garlic Gulch."
By then, he had married Ethel McNeil, the woman who would be his wife for 64
years, and the first of their five children was on the way.
It was in the
early 1940s that Rosellini had his first official,
direct dealings with Colacurcio Sr., 7 = years his
junior. Rosellini defended Colacurcio
in a statutory-rape case. Colacurcio was found guilty
in 1943 and sent to prison.
Many times over
the years, Rosellini explained he took the case as a
favor to Colacurcio's family, whom he'd known for
some time. "I knew of the family, but I've never had any
dealings with him of any kind never," Rosellini
told The Oregonian newspaper in 1986.
But Colacurcio was a "substantial contributor" to Rosellini when he ran for office and a "primary
driving force" behind Rosellini's election to
the governor's seat, according to a
"During Rosellini's tenure, Colacurcio
profited handsomely and his organization grew," the report said.
Then again,
nearly everyone prospered under Rosellini's
leadership in the governor's mansion.
Rosellini represented "sort of the
beginning of the modern governorship," says former Gov. Evans. New
programs fed by federal dollars provided greater opportunities. With his
outgoing personality and boundless energy, Rosellini
was the right guy at the right time to guide the state through the post-World
War II boom.
Rosellini's leadership skills were
already well-established. As a state senator, he pushed legislation that
created the
Those skills
helped vault him to the governor's office. But his natural affability likely
tipped the balance. His charisma allowed him to break through cultural
barriers, just as John F. Kennedy did not long after when he overcame
anti-Catholic sentiments to win the presidency in 1960.
"He was
terribly ambitious, which was good," says Warren Bishop, 86, who served as
Rosellini's chief of staff. "He was terribly
concerned about people, especially the persons who were disadvantaged."
Rosellini's ability to sway people
made his first term, by most accounts, one of the most progressive and
productive in state history. The accomplishments: a separate juvenile-justice
system and modernizations in the mental-health system; increased aid to universities
and colleges; accelerated road construction. He also established a merit system
for state employees and led the way in creating the Department of Commerce and
Economic Development.
His second term
was less successful, contributing to his defeat in 1964. But his constant drive
continued to benefit him after he left office. He became a successful
businessman, acting as an attorney and consultant to the liquor and
entertainment industries. He served on the state Transportation Commission, was
a director of the
As society's
attitudes about race and ethnicity shifted, he became less known as
His popularity
made him a welcome guest at many political events. Politicians courted him for
support. He was an early mentor to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray. City Attorney Thomas
Carr, after being elected in 2001, chose Rosellini to
swear him in to office.
"He's always
got that constant smile," says former Gov. Locke, who helped arrange the
birthday celebration in January.
This is how Rosellini would have been remembered years from now except
for one thing: his entanglement, at the unlikely age of 93, in the "Strippergate" scandal.
For
years, Frank
Colacurcio and his son, Frank, Jr., had been pushing
In 2003, Colacurcio Jr. raised the issue again. Several City Council
members were up for re-election, prompting longtime associates and friends of
the Colacurcios to contribute at least $39,000 to
three of them Judy Nicastro, Heidi Wills and Jim Compton. Rosellini
had approached all three, lobbying for the Colacurcios'
position and delivering some contributions directly to Nicastro.
The donations
were remarkable by city-election standards which cap individual contributions at
$650 and dwarfed those by political
heavy-hitters such as Boeing and Vulcan, billionaire
Nicastro, Wills and
Their judgment
was immediately questioned when it was revealed that many of the Colacurcio-related contributions came from people outside
Seattle, some from as far away as Texas. The Seattle Ethics and Elections
Commission began an investigation to determine if donors had been reimbursed to
skirt contribution limits.
The three council
members returned contributions in question, even as Rosellini
continued to defend their actions. "I think they were completely innocent
of any wrongdoing and just accepted money from a clean source, a legal business
for a legal cause that I certainly support, overthrowing that zoning
ordinance," he said at the time.
The Ethics
Commission found otherwise, fining Nicastro, Wills
and Compton for ethical lapses, including accepting free lunches from Rosellini and failing to disclose official contacts with
him.
Nicastro and Wills lost their
re-election bids in November 2003.
When prosecutors
said they could find no evidence of criminal conduct on his part, Rosellini dodged a very big bullet.
The glare
on Rosellini might still have gone away if not for the
birthday lunch in January. When the state's political elite gathered to praise
him, it was as though Strippergate had never
happened.
Gregoire says she attended to
honor someone who has been a mentor, coach and adviser on economic development.
She professed little knowledge about "Strippergate"
or Rosellini's ties to Colacurcio
Sr.
"I just
think he is a gem of the state," she said, calling Rosellini
a "model of a public servant" and a "model of what I would like
to be at 97."
Some of the
former governors also pointed to Rosellini's
longevity and loyalty to the state as reasons to honor him.
"None of us
are perfect," Locke said.
Timothy Burgess,
a former Ethics Commission chairman who has closely followed the Strippergate matter and is running for the City Council,
holds a different view. He acknowledges the accomplishments but criticizes Rosellini for a "blind spot that apparently keeps him
from seeing the darker side of public corruption."
These days, Rosellini continues to show up at public events. He still
drives to his
"We talk
about politics, real estate and them sort of things," Colacurcio
Sr. says, declining to say much more.
"It's
amazing; here we are 30 or 40 years later" and Colacurcio
and Rosellini are still making news together, says
Christopher T. Bayley, who while serving as
"It's an
astonishing fact."
Rosellini won't talk about this or
anything else in his life. He says he's too busy.
Says daughter
Lynn, "At this point in his life, he pretty much doesn't care what people
think. Maybe it's something you earn by 97. Maybe it is something to be
admired."
Maybe.
Steve Miletich is a
The
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