HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 2019-4639

HR 4639

ByRepresentatives Chopp, Wilcox, Appleton, Barkis, Bergquist, Blake, Boehnke, Caldier, Callan, Chambers, Chandler, Chapman, Cody, Corry, Davis, DeBolt, Dent, Doglio, Dolan, Dufault, Dye, Entenman, Eslick, Fey, Fitzgibbon, Frame, Gildon, Goehner, Goodman, Graham, Gregerson, Griffey, Hansen, Harris, Hoff, Hudgins, Irwin, Jenkin, Jinkins, Kilduff, Kirby, Klippert, Kloba, Kraft, Kretz, Leavitt, Lekanoff, Lovick, MacEwen, Macri, Maycumber, McCaslin, Mead, Morgan, Morris, Mosbrucker, Orcutt, Ormsby, Ortiz-Self, Orwall, Paul, Pellicciotti, Peterson, Pettigrew, Pollet, Ramos, Reeves, Riccelli, Robinson, Rude, Ryu, Santos, Schmick, Sells, Senn, Shea, Shewmake, Slatter, Smith, Springer, Stanford, Steele, Stokesbary, Stonier, Sullivan, Sutherland, Tarleton, Thai, Tharinger, Valdez, Van Werven, Vick, Volz, Walen, Walsh, Wylie, Ybarra, and Young

WHEREAS, On February 25, 1963, the Beatles released their first record in the United States and almost missed out on stardom because an even bigger star, Greg Payne, was born on that same day; and

WHEREAS, Greg grew up in Olympia and is a proud Bear from Olympia High School; and

WHEREAS, In 1985, Greg took what was supposed to be a temporary job (just to tide him over until he got something good) as a driver, supply clerk, security guard, and bill room supervisor for the Washington State House of Representatives; and

WHEREAS, Greg met and, in 1988, married the wonderful Michele Dorian, a terrific woman of great humor and even greater patience, who has somehow managed to stay married to Greg all of these years, beating the odds and surely earning some kind of sainthood for her sheer stick-with-itness, and they eventually settled in Mason County; and

WHEREAS, Greg promised Michele that he would leave the House and go and get a real job many, many times, but he somehow kept getting talked into staying and ended up in the Chief Clerk's Office for over 22 years; and

WHEREAS, No one really knows what Greg did in the Chief Clerk's Office all those years, but, at the same time, no one can really imagine the Chief Clerk's Office working without him, as he has worked on everything from office coordination, computer support, data updating, proofreading legislative documents, and serving the public both in person and on the phone with his tireless work and inexhaustible supplies of state government knowledge and goodwill; and

WHEREAS, Greg and Michele have two children, a wonderful daughter named Katy and another equally wonderful daughter named Sammi, and they have virtually grown up around the legislature and probably don't even know that the hijinks their father gets up to aren't technically a part of any specific legislative business; and

WHEREAS, Greg is a never-ending source of jokes, puns, weird trivia, anecdotes, and informal histories about what happened back in the day, all of which proves surprisingly useful in the fast-paced and stressful legislative work environment; and

WHEREAS, Greg's absolute inability to resist a dare has gotten him into trouble but also into fun many times with details that cannot be mentioned in light of good taste and strict decorum rules; and

WHEREAS, Greg is always first in line to volunteer his time and talents to numerous legislative projects, teambuilding, and charitable events, fundraising for a variety of good causes and even helping to build a house with Habitat for Humanity, still finding time to help host the National Conference of State Legislatures at least three times in Seattle; and

WHEREAS, Greg is a great conversationalist, making small talk or engaging in humorous exchanges, philosophical discourse, or sports lectures with anyone, from babies to the state patrol to dignitaries to clergy to sports stars, although always with the crucial ability to know which topics suit which audiences; and

WHEREAS, Greg can find funny monkey pictures to add and insert into any email on any subject, which is apropos to nothing, but he can, so why leave it out?; and

WHEREAS, In addition to knowing everything about how to do anything in the legislature, Greg also knows how to fix just about anything from eyeglasses to cars to cellphones and, if he can't fix it, he can at least break it worse; and

WHEREAS, Greg has been known to work miracles when providing meals for 98 hungry people working late, but is himself a picky eater, in particular refusing to eat food prepared in a home with cats because you just know that cat hair gets into everything; and

WHEREAS, Greg is such a Seahawks fan that this whole resolution could be just about that, but it's not, because we're not getting him started on that right now or he'll never get to retire; and

WHEREAS, Greg has always shown grace under fire, handling pressure with a smile and laugh that you cannot forget; and

WHEREAS, Seriously, Greg has many friends on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the rotunda and all four floors of the Legislative Building and beyond who appreciate him and will greatly miss him;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, That Greg Payne be persuaded to change his mind and stay on for at least another decade or two; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That, if his continued employment with the House of Representatives cannot be secured, he should leave with the grateful thanks of each and every member, as well as countless staff, all of whom would identify themselves not just as his colleagues, but also as his friends; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we wish Greg the best of times with his wonderful family and know that he will enjoy spending time with them at the lake, traveling the world, eating flat tacos from Jack in the Box, fixing and racing cars, boating, hiking, fishing, shrimping, crabbing, tinkering with things, and waging war against geese that befoul his lawn; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That Greg will have the decency to return to us periodically so that, with this resolution, we do not say goodbye, but instead simply say see you later.

PRESENTED WITH HEARTFELT THANKS AND APPRECIATION ON THIS 26th DAY OF APRIL, 2019, ON BEHALF OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.