Heading to Olympia as a new guy doesn’t seem to phase Chad Magendanz, recently elected to the Washington State House of Representatives in District 5.
He said he has a leg up since his face is well known in the capital from his service on the Washington State School Director’s Association’s legislative committee, the Federal Relations Network with the National School Board Association and many other appointments.The former president of the Issaquah School board, Magendanz is all about education. His first priority is to follow through on the McCleary lawsuit from earlier this year in which the state Supreme Court ruled that the state is not meeting its constitutional duty to provide a basic public education to all children in Washington.
“The case law is very clear,” Magendanz said. “If we’re going to drive economic recovery, we need to invest in education.”
Magendanz said meetings will be held to discuss committee assignments. He hopes to join the education and education appropriations committees as well as the technology, energy and communications committee. As far as charter schools, he said he was on the fence for a while because of “creaming,” (the practice of schools taking only those students that have parents who are involved enough to apply), until he visited several charter schools in California and was impressed with how well they were working. He said charter schools have more flexibility because they are not subjected to collective bargaining.
“We need to be very sensitive to be sure every parent knows this opportunity is available to their child,” he said. Acknowledging that not all kids learn the same way, he said the goal is to help a student find something he or she might have an interest in, and latch on to that interest.
Professionally, Magendanz is a software developer. He started 10 years ago with Microsoft, first testing, then to program management and design. He expertise is in rapid prototyping. Magendanz plans to continue contract work for Microsoft and other companies as well.
Magendanz is replacing Glenn Anderson, who he said recruited him, for position 2. Anderson ran unsuccessfully for Lt. Governor. Magendanz said he received amazing support from Anderson and Jay Rodne, the other representative from District 5.
“I’ve had a lot of good support on the state, local and county level,” he said. Magendanz said it comes down to priorities. When asked about the McCleary lawsuit, he said it seemed obvious to him, adding that the Issaquah School District was one of many plaintiffs. He acknowledges it won’t be easy to come up with a budget that makes everyone happy. He said they may have to cut programs with matching funds.
Magendanz also said he has the ability to say no, because there are bound to be requests made from constituents. He said he didn’t take any caucus money.
“The precedent in this seat is to say no,” he said. Magendanz said he will work well with District 5 Senate-elect, Mark Mullet, because while he is a socially moderate Republican, Mullet is a fiscally conservative Democrat. He said he is looking forward to finding common ground.
“Mark and I are both electric vehicle fans,” he said. “We get along well.”
As a result of re-districting, District 5 is filled with what he calls urban islands in rural areas, such as North Bend and Snoqualmie. It’s a large district, extending east to Snoqualmie Pass.
“I represent this district, not my party,” Magendanz said. He said he’s always thrived under pressure, learning to roll with it after 12 years in the Navy (1985 to 1997). He was stationed at Bangor Naval Base.
He’s been married for 23 years to Galen, who he met when they were attending Cornell University. Galen is an engineer for Honeywell. The couple has two sons, Duncan, 13, and Quinn, 15. The family has lived in Mirrormont for 17 years.Magendanz plans to commute back and forth to Olympia when they are in session, unless a day runs particularly late, in which case he has friends he can “crash” with.
