By the Herald editorial staff
Columbia Basin College got it right the other day when it named Jim Watts its outstanding alumnus for the year.
Economically, recreationally and culturally, he has had -- and continues to have -- an under-the-radar effect on all those important aspects of Tri-City life.
On top of which, it is not an overstatement to say that he today performs some of the vital political tasks that used to be undertaken by his friend and mentor, Sam Volpentest.
Anyone living in the Tri-Cities 50 or so years ago would have been dumbfounded to hear we are talking about the same Jim Watts they knew as a member of a band of Watts brothers who raised hell and took no prisoners, a guy who was kicked out of several high schools around the Mid-Columbia.
But that was before he was corralled and tamed by Sharon Templeman, a former Columbia High homecoming queen whose strict Mormon parents must have had apoplexy when she introduced Jim Watts as her potential husband-to-be.
Watts went on to be the regional president of a 30,000-member union, who drove corporate heads crazy with his circumlocution and his habit of drawing portraits while they pontificated during union negotiating sessions.
All the time Watts was building bridges -- not just to politicians (usually of the Democratic persuasion) but also to anyone endeavoring to provide the Tri-Cities with a sound economic future.
He is one of the few union officials who held office in the Tri-City Development Council as chair of its Hanford division.
Few know that during the Hanford cutbacks of the 1990s and 2000, it was Watts who almost singlehandedly persuaded the powers-that-be at Hanford that its pension reserves were overfunded. That led to enhanced retirement packages that helped persuade older workers to retire (most stayed in the area) and kept younger workers (who would have had to move) on the job. It is estimated the move saved 750 to 900 jobs.
It's to Watts that the powerful Democrats at the state and federal levels look in the post-Volpentest era for fundraisers -- and to whom he then has links to raise such assistance as an estimated $11 million toward the Reach Interpretive Center.
A poet, author and accomplished artist, Watts understands a community does not live off bread alone and was the one who chaired the committee that brought together the divergent business, environmental and governmental interests that drafted a management plan for the Hanford Reach National Monument area and parlayed that into a group that spearheaded the idea of the interpretive center.
His company is constructing a multimillion-dollar office building on the banks of the Columbia in north Richland that will include a public park for those using the riverside trail.
Watts' involvement in the community covers two pages and ranges from the Boy Scouts, United Way, WSU Tri-Cities, Tri-City Cancer Center and Hanford Advisory Board to numerous state advisory boards.
CBC got it right when it picked Watts this year.
And Watts got it right when he stressed to those at this year's ceremony that it is educational institutions such as CBC that are the crucibles for tomorrow's leaders.
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Tri-City area colleges help laid off Hanford workers
Tri-City area colleges help laid off Hanford workers
Tri-City college campuses are offering help for workers who were laid off at Hanford.
Columbia Basin College in Pasco ramped up its worker retraining program with special orientations for former Hanford employees. And Washington State University Tri-Cities is creating a new program to turn workers from the site into teachers.
The changes come in response to announcements that about 2,000 Hanford workers have lost their jobs this spring and another 1,000 could be cut next year.
Community copes with 2,000 Hanford layoffs
Community copes with 2,000 Hanford layoffs
Editor's note: Hanford started this year with 12,000 workers and nine months later about 2,000 positions have been cut. Herald reporters and photographers take a closer look at what this means to Tri-Citians and our economy with a daily series of stories that begins today.
The day after the last of almost 2,000 workers were told they were losing their jobs at Hanford, Twigs Bistro and Martini Bar opened at the Columbia Center mall in Kennewick.
Business has been excellent, said general manager Will Willingham. Customers have been filling its 267 seats, with waits of up to 30 minutes on some nights.
CBC popular with high school grads in Tri-Cities
CBC popular with high school grads in Tri-Cities
Enrollment at Columbia Basin College dropped slightly last year compared with the two previous years, but the college still is the most popular destination by far for Tri-City high school graduates.
Numbers reported Monday to the college's Board of Trustees show CBC draws more Tri-City students than do all other Washington public colleges and universities combined. The report also showed how many students each high school sends and how many of them identify as Hispanic.
Almost 7,000 students attended CBC last year, said CBC President Rich Cummins. Their combined total course load was the equivalent of what 5,600 full-time students would take.
Reach support crucial
Reach support crucial
Recent letters to the editor have shown that a few vocal people take a very short-sighted view of the Hanford Reach Interpretive Center project. The Reach, as Jim Watts' recent In Focus column argued, must be built.
The Reach will be a world-class facility. The museum-quality changing exhibition gallery will raise the profile of the Tri-Cities in the Northwest. It will keep the tourists, who come for wine and golf here longer and bring new visitors to our community. The benefits for our economy cannot be overstated.
For those concerned about funding of the museum, I can only encourage them to inform themselves. The Reach is being funded primarily by donations made to the project by individuals, corporations and foundations that believe this is the project the Tri-Cities deserves. Letter writers who argue that we "can't afford" a project like this misunderstand the ways in which the project is being funded.
Richland Public Facilities District hopes to attract more candidates for executive position
Richland Public Facilities District hopes to attract more candidates for executive position
The Richland Public Facilities District Board has five applications for the interim executive director job at the Hanford Reach Interpretive Center, but would like some more.
The board met Monday and approved the job description, noting there are six days left before the Nov. 28 application deadline.
One applicant is David Samples of Richland, formerly with the Tri-City and Olympia Railroad and a consultant at Hanford. Samples introduced himself at the board meeting, but the names of the four other applicants were not revealed.
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