Adele Ferguson: Rep. Dirks conducts ‘town hall’ at Rotary

WHILE SOME members of Congress were struggling to get a word in edgewise at town hall meetings where John Q. Public had suddenly effervesced into pit bull status, where was the senior member of Washington’ s delegation of 11, the honorable Norman Dicks? Why, safe and sound in the bosom of the Bremerton Rotary Club.

The last place anyone would expect any disruption from an audience is from the elites of the most elite service club. As I recall, the old saying goes the Lions build the town, the Kiwanians run the town and the Rotarians own the town.

I may have the Lions and the Kiwanis mixed up. Members of both are always feisty and full of fun while Rotarians are inclined to view any antics through heavy lenses.

I do know that when Congressman Dicks is going to be in town and desires to deliver a message to his constituents, his office calls the Rotary Club and asks if it would like to have him as a guest speaker. Rotary, of course, always says yes and cancels whomever it had booked previously.

ROTARY DOES not, however, extend that same courtesy or hear from whoever challenges the congressman during election years, which I consider unfair. That, they say, would be too political. Norm is the Congressman, therefore he is a legitimate guest speaker.

He told his audience he didn’t see any point in town hail meetings if people were just going to be disruptive. “This,” he said to the Rotarians, “is my town hail meeting.”

It wouldn’t surprise me, however, the way the media is making a big deal over those members who haven’t canceled their meetings or switched them to teleconferences, if he doesn’t change his mind and do a face to face. I’m sure he’s not afraid of his constituents. They love him here. He’s a prime example of a bring home the bacon congressman, even if he did force on them a tunnel under downtown Bremerton from the ferry terminal out that they didn’t want. Dicks does care about his image, as do most politicians.

Shortly after his election in 1976, he had a visit in D.C: from Bremerton Mayor Glenn Jarstad who was desperate to see U.S. Sen. Henry (Scoop) Jackson. He was not able to arrange an appointment so Dicks told him Scoop would be on the plane home. He always flies first class, said Dicks, so upgrade your coach ticket and catch him there.

The city wouldn’t pay for that and he couldn’t afford it, said the mayor. So the mayor wound up in the rear of the plane and Dicks got a first class ticket for himself, figuring he’d bring Jackson back during the flight.

BUT JACKSON had become sensitized to the image of the new president, Jimmy Carter, who carried his own bags and flew coach. Jackson walked through first class and sat down in the rear with Jarstad. Dicks started getting notes from other passengers asking why a freshman member could fly first class when a U.S. senator was in coach. Jackson rubbed further salt in his wounds by coming forward into first class, and saving, he just wanted to see how you guys are doing up here in first class. Do you get free drinks’?” Jackson, of course, didn’t keep up the practice of riding coach just as Carter didn’t keep carrying his own bags.

Dicks was a frequent flier and earned first class privileges through that but was shocked back into coach when he was walking through Dulles Airport and a woman walking along was saying “That congressman was flying first class when we have to fly coach and we’re paying for his trip. That’s outrageous!”

“I am a man of the common people,” says Dicks. “It’s better to ride coach.”

That, of course, was 32 years ago when he was young, and common.

(Adele Ferguson can be reached at P.O. Box 69. Hansville, Wa., 98340.)