December 2023 News

December 19, 2023 — “Washington Lieutenant Governor addresses civic health crisis and political divisions”

Tri-Cities Wash. — Washington Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck visited the Tri-Cities today. He talked with leaders from Benton and Franklin counties about the Civic Health Project. Action News caught up with Heck at the Benton-Franklin Council of Governments, a voluntary association of local government helping with multi-jurisdictional decision-making and regional planning, among other things.

At a roundtable discussion Tuesday afternoon, Lieutenant Governor Heck says civic health in Washington is not good and tells us a new survey shows nearly one in four has stopped talking to a friend or a family member because of political differences.

December 7, 2023 — “Can Washington bridge its political divide? Some want to try”

When Lt. Gov. Denny Heck brought together bipartisan focus groups of community leaders – in Port Angeles, Wenatchee, Vancouver and elsewhere – to discuss civility and deepening political polarization this year, participants were asked to rate the overall health of democracy from one to 10.

In the resulting Civic Health Summit held in Renton in October, Heck, a Democrat, described the rating system: “One is almost at civil war” and 10 is “We just join hands and sing ‘Kumbaya’ all together all the time.”

December 2, 2023 — “Editorial: Improving civic health starts by coming to table”

Not to dismiss the unarguable importance of such inventions as the wheel, movable type, sliced bread and the long-handled back-scratcher, but the humble table — that flat surface with four legs where we work, gather family and friends for meals and hammer out agreements — may be what saves the world.

Denny Heck has long been convinced of that.

“I’ve not seen anything that’s more effective than people sitting around a table,” said the former state lawmaker and member of Congress and current Washington state lieutenant governor, in discussing a prime focus of his time in office: our civic health and the crisis in confidence and trust that our communities, state and nation are experiencing in public discourse and in governance.