Douglass B. Sutherland (born 1937), is an American politician who served as 14th commissioner of public lands of the state of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

from 2001 to 2009. Sutherland was first elected to this statewide position in 2000, when he defeated former Governor

Mike Lowry Michael Edward Lowry (March 8, 1939 – May 1, 2017) was an American politician who served as the 20th governor of Washington from 1993 to 1997. His political career ended when his deputy press secretary, Susanne Albright, made accusations of ...

. He was re-elected in 2004, defeating challenger Mike Cooper. In 2008, Sutherland ran for a third term, but lost to

Peter J. Goldmark Peter James Goldmark (born August 4, 1946) was the 15th Washington Department of Natural Resources#Commissioner of Public Lands, Commissioner of Public Lands of Washington (state), Washington, head of the Washington State Department of Natural Re ...

, a rancher from Eastern Washington. He was mayor of

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

from 1982 to 1989.

Early life and education

Born in

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

in 1937, Sutherland moved to

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

as a child. His father was a union

plasterer A plasterer is a tradesman who works with plaster, such as forming a layer of plaster on an interior wall or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. The process of creating plasterwork, called plastering, has been used in buildin ...

. As a student at

Central Washington University Central Washington University (CWU) is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington, United States. Founded in 1891, the university consists of four divisions: the President's Division, Business and Financial Affairs, Operations, and Academi ...

, Sutherland spent his summers fighting wildfires in the forests of

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

and

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

as a

smokejumper A smokejumper is a specially-trained wildland firefighter who provides an initial attack response on remote wildfires. They are inserted at the site of the fire by parachute. This allows firefighters to access remote fires in their early stag ...

. Sutherland graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history.

Career

Sutherland spent eleven working at

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

. In 1971, Sutherland purchased the Tacoma Tent and Awning Company, building it from four to thirty-four employees over the next two decades. Having seen the impact government can have on small businesses and families, Sutherland became involved in local politics. From 1980 to 1981, Sutherland served as a member of the Tacoma City Council. After two years on the council, he was elected

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Tacoma, where he served from 1982 to 1989. As mayor, he completed the nation's first environmental community assessment with then-

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...

director

William Ruckelshaus William Doyle Ruckelshaus (July 24, 1932 – November 27, 2019) was an American attorney and government official. Ruckelshaus served in the Indiana House of Representatives from 1966 to 1968, and was the United States Assistant Attorney General ...

. He also served as the chair of the Puget Sound Air Quality Authority. During that time the PSAQA led Pierce, King, Snohomish and Kitsap counties into compliance with the Clean Air Act's new standards. From 1989 to 1992, Sutherland served as the first

City Manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city in the council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are referred to as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chief administ ...

SeaTac, Washington SeaTac () is a city in southern King County, Washington, United States. The city is an inner-ring suburb of Seattle and part of the Seattle metropolitan area. The name "SeaTac" is derived from Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, itself a ...

. He was responsible for the creation, staffing and development of

municipal services Municipal services or city services refer to basic services that residents of a city expect the local government to provide in exchange for the taxes which citizens pay. Basic city services may include sanitation (both sewer and refuse), wa ...

for the newly formed city. He helped lead SeaTac through pre-incorporation operations to its establishment as a fully functioning city in February 1990. In 1992, Sutherland was elected

Pierce County Executive The Pierce County Executive is the head of the executive branch of Pierce County, Washington. The position is subject to four-year terms (with a term limit of 2) and is a partisan office. History County voters approved the adoption of a home- ...

, a position he held until his election in 2000 as Commissioner of Public Lands. As Pierce County Executive, he joined his Democratic counterparts in King and Snohomish counties to create the Tri-County Salmon Taskforce, addressing the cleanup of

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

and finding ways to improve salmon habitat. Sutherland became Washington Commissioner of Public Lands in 2000 and was re-elected in 2004.

Controversy

In 2005, he was investigated for

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...

because of inappropriate touching and commenting to a younger female employee (who later resigned from the position). Sutherland issued a formal apology to the employee. No further action was requested. Sutherland's 2008 re-election campaign has been funded by contributions from a variety of sources. As of November 3, 2008 his campaign had received $571,716.62 from cash contributions and $602,131.08 from independent funding. The majority of the independent funding ($573,000) was provided from the Committee for Balanced Stewardship. The Committee for Balanced Stewardship is predominately funded by logging and mining companies. Major contributors include $100,000 from

Weyerhaeuser The Weyerhaeuser Company ( ) is an American timberland company which owns nearly of timberlands in the U.S., and manages an additional of timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. The company has manufactured wood products for over a c ...

; $75,000 from Rayonier; $50,000 from Glacier Northwest (the company currently strip mining and shipping from the Maury Island Aquatic Reserve); and $25,000 from Sierra Pacific. Some of the cash and in-kind contributions directly to Doug Sutherland's campaign are also associated with Taylor Shellfish (a company under investigation for illegally harvesting geoduck on DNR managed public state tidelands).

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20080630094943/http://www.dougsutherland.org/ Sutherland's campaign website. * https://web.archive.org/web/20080915115622/http://www.dnr.wa.gov/Pages/default.aspx Washington State DNR website. * http://www.horsesass.org/?p=5191 Article regarding Sutherland's sexual harassment of female employee {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland, Doug Living people 1937 births Politicians from Spokane, Washington Washington (state) Republicans Mayors of Tacoma, Washington People from SeaTac, Washington Washington (state) commissioners of public lands County executives in Washington (state) 21st-century Montana politicians

Early life and education

Career

Controversy

See also

References

External links