The speaker ducks a desperate homeowner

Scott Thalhamer of Olympia came to the Capitol yesterday to confront Speaker of the House Frank Chopp, D-Seattle.

Thalhamer wants Chopp to allow a vote on Senate Bill 6385, the “Homeowners’ Bill of Rights” sponsored by Sen. Brian Weinstein’s, D-Mercer Island. The bill would allow homeowners to sue and recover damages for shoddy home construction. It was held up last year, too.

Thalhamer was recently featured on KOMO-TV because the crawl space of his new house keeps flooding.

As Thalhamer waited for Chopp outside the Senate Chambers – where Chopp was meeting with Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane – he described the problem plaguing his subdivision. “Whether it rains or not, there’s a large amount of water that’s coming down our hill ... and floods into our crawl spaces so it’s like a swamp underneath of our homes.”

As he spoke, Thalhamer held a picture of himself, flashlight in hand, mucking through his neighbor’s crawlspace.

But in the end, Thalhamer’s plan to confront the speaker was foiled. Perhaps someone tipped off Brown. She was seen escorting Chopp to a members-only elevator in the Senate wings.

This escape route allowed Chopp to avoid two potential threats: Thalhamer and hordes of lobbyists who, in the final days of session, congregate outside the House and Senate chambers like hungry wolves at the door.