Sen. Pam Roach booted off sex-trafficking panel for ‘victim-blaming,’ other insults

Seattle Times ^ | January 25, 2016

[nickcarraway]

SNIP

In a scathing letter sent Monday, Lt. Gov. Brad Owen said he was removing Roach, R-Sumner, from the task force after receiving “numerous complaints” about her conduct at a Dec. 14 meeting of the panel.

Owen, a Democrat, said in the letter while he did not have the authority to boot Roach from the Senate, he believed she should be removed from that body based on her lengthy record of “egregious and offensive behavior” toward staff, colleagues and the public.

Roach strongly denied the allegations and called Owen’s letter “one big fricking hit piece.” One fellow lawmaker on the task force came to her defense and called Owen’s letter an overreaction.

It’s the latest in a history of allegations of rude and abusive outbursts by Roach, who represents the 31st Legislative District of...

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She has previously been banned from Republican caucus meetings, barred from speaking with staff and advised to get anger-management counseling. Owen’s letter noted she previously had sanctions imposed or recommended against her, most often from Republican leaders, in 1999, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012.

SNIP

State Sen. Maralyn Chase, D-Shoreline, a task-force member who was at the meeting, defended Roach. She said some people in attendance may not have been used to Roach’s “assertive” nature. While Roach sometimes does not have “the most judicious use of words … there is not a mean bone in her body,” Chase said.

Chase added she was “annoyed” by some of the rhetoric in Owen’s letter and by the fact that he didn’t contact her and other legislators before sending it.

The rift between Roach and Owen could prove awkward; she is president pro tempore of the Senate, meaning she presides over the body when Owen is absent.

SNIP

Roach is the state Senate’s longest-serving Republican member.

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[grey_whiskers]

What's Owen's take on the mass sexual assaults by Muslim immigrants in Cologne?

Is he going to rail against Angela Merkel, too?

[llevrok]

an annual event.
it’s 3 weeks into the session. what took her so long? she’s slipping

[rockrr]

Roach added that her mention of tattoos and piercings was in the context of homeless youths and others at the meeting saying they'd had a hard time finding work.

She's right.

[Dark Knight]

Roach is the state Senate’s longest-serving Republican member.<<

Yes, she is doing the right thing.

DK

[dsc]

Just more demonrat bullcrap. Pretending that opponents have “behaved inappropriately” is one of their most overworked strategies.

[Baynative]

WA Ping

"Among other fictions, you claimed that sexually trafficked and homeless youth are deliberately trying not to fit in with their families by tattooing their faces and getting piercings. Without any apparent basis you minimized the exploitation of sexually trafficked minors by alleging that they probably spend their money on drugs, and asked if the labor trafficked persons were 'illegals,' " Owen wrote.

(Roach added that her mention of tattoos and piercings was in the context of homeless youths and others at the meeting saying they'd had a hard time finding work.)

[MarMema]

I spoke with her once and really liked her.

[ssfromla]

he did not have the authority to boot Roach from the Senate,

They never do. And that's the problem.

Pretend it upsets you that a leftist liberal would say such a thing to women.

Not do anything about it as usual.

I tell you what Senator, why don't you say the same things and see how long and how far you get away with it. They'll throw your raggedy tail under the bus so fast it'll give you a TBI and then you can retire in style.

Maybe a little earlier than expected but it's ok you can become a lobbyist the way all of you do.

[Baynative]

She’s straight forward and unapologetic about not giving a crap about political correctness.