Boeing, less visible in Capitol, says it's just by chance

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OLYMPIA - It's a question that's been asked for months. But it was asked a little louder and a little more publicly last week after Boeing's chief executive officer rapped lawmakers for not doing enough to fix the state's transportation and public schools: Where has Boeing been?

Lawmakers say if Boeing is impatient for traffic solutions and tough standards for schools, it could do more in Olympia to flex its prodigious political muscle.

As Boeing executives pack to move corporate headquarters out of state, some legislators say the company has been less engaged in state politics this year. And they worry that the company may abdicate its role as the state's leading corporate citizen.

It was at a shareholders meeting Monday that Phil Condit repeated the company's longtime concern that Washington isn't friendly enough to businesses.

He was clear that had nothing to do with the decision to move corporate headquarters from Seattle. But he hinted that other employees could follow the brass if the state does not do more to reduce traffic jams, cut red tape and improve education.

The concern over Boeing's role in Olympia comes at time when education and transportation issues are as thorny as they have been in recent years.

Lawmakers said they have heard less this year from Boeing executives and lobbyists and that business groups have assumed much of the role the company had been expected to play. They say there's a sense the company's focus is elsewhere.

"Lately they seem a lot more concerned about their stock price," said Bill Finkbeiner, R-Redmond, ranking Republican on the Senate Education Committee. "They are sort of disengaged."

He doesn't say that with animus. Rather, it's a recognition of the financial realities of Condit's attempts to appease Wall Street while trying to broaden the company's image beyond that of a Seattle airplane maker.

With mergers and acquisitions, Boeing now has more workers out of state than in. The company soon will announce which of three locations - Denver, Chicago or Dallas-Fort Worth - will be Boeing's new corporate home.

"They move corporate headquarters, they acquire all this stuff - it's sure to be a distraction at the upper levels," said T.M. Sell, author of "Wings of Power: Boeing and the Politics of Growth in the Northwest" and a journalism and political-science professor at Highline Community College. "Before, corporate was probably paying attention to Olympia."

Staff turnover

Boeing's man in Olympia says he understands why some lawmakers are feeling a bit ignored. But Al Ralston, the company's veteran lobbyist, said "about 90 percent of that" is because of a turnover in the lobbying staff.

Boeing lost one of its two lobbyists right before this year's legislative session began.

"I think we've tried to make the commitment," Ralston said.

Sell agrees with some lawmakers who say they sense a shift from the personal interests of former Boeing Chief Executive Officer Frank Shrontz to those of Condit, who took over in 1996.

"Frank had a particular passion for education reform," Sell said. "Condit sees himself as this global statesman."

Senate Education Chairwoman Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell, said the Washington Roundtable, a Seattle business lobby, now plays the role of advocate for education reform.

"I really have not heard from Boeing," she said.

House Education Committee co-Chairwoman Gigi Talcott, R-Lakewood, said she also senses a reduced role for Boeing, although she says the company is watching carefully.

"If you move in a direction on ed reform that they don't like, then you hear it," she said.

Perhaps the most prevalent business voice in Olympia on education reform is Steve Mullin, vice president of the Washington Roundtable. He says the organization's goals reflect Boeing's priorities.

"I just don't have a sense that in any way they have backed off from their commitments," Mullin said. "That doesn't mean that they're not now in 28 states and have other issues broader than just what's here, but they're highly focused on this state, too."

Last year, he said, Condit spent a full day in Olympia at the Roundtable's executive committee, talking about the company's commitment to education reform.

If Boeing had its customary two full-time lobbyists this year, lawmakers likely would not be noticing any difference from years past, Ralston said.

He is chairman of the legislative committee of the Washington Transportation Alliance, a labor and business group that has been pushing for a transportation budget.

House Transportation Committee co-Chairwoman Maryann Mitchell, R-Federal Way, said Ralston has been a constant presence during discussion of how best to pay for billions of dollars in transportation projects.

"Al Ralston has been upfront on this," she said.

Actually, he's been more in the background.

When Gov. Gary Locke announced his transportation plan last week, he looked around for Ralston among the people gathered for the news conference.

"I think I saw Al Ralston here," Locke said as he surveyed the room.

Ralston was there, but not in the front, not where the cameras could see him.

And that's the customary Boeing way. The company's lobbyists traditionally stay in the background. When there are major issues to push, they work to build a coalition so it does not become a "Boeing issue."

Company style

It's a style pioneered by the former Boeing chief lobbyist, Bud Coffey, whom Ralston considers his mentor in the ways of the Legislature.

Ralston has been named to the company's transition team that will help structure Boeing's Northwest presence. He says he thinks the company may become even more involved in local issues under the reorganization.

On March 21, when Boeing announced it was moving its corporate headquarters, one of the first phone calls Ralston got was from Alan Mulally, chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, who will head all Northwest operations.

Mulally told him, "I want to make sure we stay very strong in the political environment."