Carolyn Dimmick Final PDF.indd - Washington Secretary of State

modest and so self-effacing that she comes across much more as the people’s judge.
Hughes: I like that a lot.
Lasnik: And then when she did this project here -- again to me this was another one where
there was no other person who could have pulled it off as well as Carolyn Dimmick did
because she had the clout with her colleagues to force us to sit down and deal with issues
now when we’re planning the building, rather than complain about them later. But she
also helped the architect and the design people because they can’t get a judge to make
a decision, she can. She could come and say, “OK, here’s three possible fabrics you can
have. Make a choice.” She dragged us down to a warehouse in south Seattle where there
was a mock courtroom set up. And she said, “Sit in the chair, look at the sightlines, this is
what you’re going to get. Complain about it now when I can do something about it. Wait
until it’s built, I can’t do anything about it.” And she forced us to look at things and make
adjustments all for the better of what we ended up with. So she had the clout to deal with
the judges, she had the ability to speak with architects and designers because she has such
personal design—
Hughes: She’s an artist, no doubt about it.
Lasnik: And the trades people, the construction people adored her because she’d put on a
hardhat and go out with them. And she was just like somebody’s mom or aunt. And they
thought this is great. They wanted to do it right for the judge because she is so neat, she’s
so cool. I’m telling you, there’s not another judge in the building who could have been able
to deal with all the groups, and successfully.
Hughes: That’s a wonderful story. She sure feels highly about you, too.
Lasnik: Well, having taken her position, and as chief judge now, we’re very close, very
close.
And again, it’s way too much of a stereotype to say “to the right of” because on Social
Security cases or cases involving people who were hurting and needed relief, she can be a
real softy too.
Hughes: That’s the thing that’s always annoyed me about journalism is that the shades of
grey often get overlooked.
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