BySenators Hobbs, King, Billig, Braun, Brown, Carlyle, Cleveland, Conway, Darneille, Das, Dhingra, Dozier, Ericksen, Fortunato, Frockt, Gildon, Hasegawa, Hawkins, Holy, Honeyford, Hunt, Keiser, Kuderer, Liias, Lovelett, McCune, Mullet, Muzzall, Nguyen, Nobles, Padden, Pedersen, Randall, Rivers, Robinson, Rolfes, Saldaña, Salomon, Schoesler, Sheldon, Short, Stanford, Van De Wege, Wagoner, Warnick, Wellman, Wilson, C., Wilson, J., and Wilson, L.

WHEREAS, Mr. David Brian Ward was a proud Michigander turned proud Minnesotan who graduated from the University of Minnesota; and

WHEREAS, David had an industrious career, working in the financial industry in Taiwan and with refugee communities in the United States, before working at the Washington State Office of Financial Management; and

WHEREAS, David began his Senate career as a revenue analyst for the Senate Transportation Committee in October of 2004, before serving as the committee's budget coordinator in 2008, and later transferring to the Joint Transportation Committee in 2019; and

WHEREAS, David worked with five different committee chairs during his tenure on the Senate Transportation Committee, enjoying a reputation as a brilliant nonpartisan and bicameral staffer; and

WHEREAS, David traveled to all ends of the state as part of a transportation revenue package listening tour in 2014 to learn the statewide significance of the SR 522 Snohomish River Bridge, the US 12 Wildcat Bridge, the US 2 Trestle, the SR 14 Bingen Overpass, the I-82 Red Mountain Interchange, and various stoplights along SR 9 in Snohomish county; and

WHEREAS, David assisted members in the development and perfection of strategies to finance some of the most difficult and expensive public works projects in the history of civilization, such as the world's largest deep bore tunnel and the world's longest floating bridge; and

WHEREAS, David provided members with his wisdom to deliver a balanced 10 year, 12 year, or 16 year transportation budget depending on how terrible the state's gas tax collections were in a given year; and

WHEREAS, David oversaw transportation budget negotiations for the Senate each session and was known to provide helpful nonpartisan advice to members like "You can't spend the money twice, Senator,"; and

WHEREAS, Staff and members alike were mesmerized by David's preternatural command of the audio-visual equipment known as the Wardistrator 5000 that he used to educate, entertain, and enrich members while developing a transportation budget; and

WHEREAS, David served as a generous mentor to new staff and elected members of the Senate Transportation Committee, imparting his humor, positivity, and wisdom onto them; and

WHEREAS, David was known for meticulously researching the best places to eat and drink during legislative tours of transportation projects, and while he did not participate in karaoke, he did offer his colleagues encouragement and critiques of their performances; and

WHEREAS, David was respected by members, staff, and the lobbying community alike for his humility, dedication, and talent; and

WHEREAS, In 2020, David was diagnosed with a medical condition that would test him severely and David fought valiantly with love and support from many, but ultimately his battle concluded when he died at his Thurston county home on August 17, 2020; and

WHEREAS, David leaves behind a legacy of excellence and service as a model public servant; and

WHEREAS, David did some of his best work in the Senate Transportation Committee conference room as he ably assisted members and staff in directing the development of the state transportation budget, and as such we shall forever refer to room 318 in the John A. Cherberg building as the "David Ward Senate Transportation Committee Conference Room," or what is affectionately known to his friends as the "Ward Room"; and

WHEREAS, Although David would be deeply and humbly opposed to the passage of this resolution, David's tireless commitment to the state of Washington cannot go unrecognized;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That this resolution is offered in memory of our friend and colleague David Brian Ward and in honor of his legacy throughout the Washington State Transportation system; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate express its deepest gratitude for the 16 years of service given to the Legislature, and for the many more years of service given to our state government and his greater community by Mr. David Ward; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be immediately transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to David's mother, Ruth Ward-Gross, David's partner, Alison Riffer, the Senate Transportation Committee, and Senate Committee Services.