Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna, on his first visit to Battle Ground since he marched in community parade in 2004. offered his views on a number of hot-button economic and political issues to a sympathetic Chamber of Commerce audience Thursday.
The second-term Republican mostly rallied the business-oriented lunchtime crowd to continue to work for economic expansion even as some lawmakers and citizens oppose growth as a threat to the state’s quality of life. While Washingtonians tend to think of prosperity as a birthright because of the success of companies like Boeing, Starbucks, Nordstrom, and Amazon, McKenna said, the current economic downturn is a warning not to take such business expansion for granted.
“If we take it for granted…..we will become like the state of Oregon,” he said, to nods approval from the crowd. Washington’s sister state, he said, has consistently higher-than-average unemployment even in good times, which he attributed to the state’s lack of hospitality for newcomers and businesses.
Battle Ground, he said, “Is in many ways an ideal community in Washington State” because it offers a safe environment, affordable housing, good schools, and economic opportunity. “It’s very easy to understand why so many people have chosen Battle Ground,” said McKenna, who is widely considered to be a potential candidate for governor.
