WA Representative apologizes for being drunk during committee meeting
After House Majority Leader Rep Joe Fitzgibbon, a Democrat representing Vashon Island & West Seattle, admitted to being visibly drunk during a House Appropriations meeting Wednesday night. Fitzgibbon said, “It’s a hard lesson for me to learn. It impacted my work, it impacted my colleagues, it impacted my constituents, my family,”
KIRO 7 News Seattle — OLYMPIA, Wash. — After House Majority Leader Rep Joe Fitzgibbon, a Democrat representing Vashon Island & West Seattle, admitted to being visibly drunk during a House Appropriations meeting Wednesday night. “It’s a hard lesson for me to learn. It impacted my work, it impacted my colleagues, it impacted my constituents, my family,” Fitzgibbon said, “It is a hard lesson, something I am not going to repeat.”
The hearing on Wednesday started at 4 pm with a dinner break. After the dinner break, Fitzgibbon made a speech, slurring his words. He later admitted to being drunk. When KIRO 7 asked if he’d ever had alcohol on the job before, he said no.
“I hope that maybe a silver lining can be that others might learn from my mistake and my experience here,” Fitzgibbon said, “I know that I need to work hard on myself, and that’s where my focus is right now, as well as on getting our work done.”
Many lawmakers have apartments in Olympia during session, and when asked, Fitzgibbon said he walked home that night. “This is something that I regret very seriously and I learned the lesson the hardest way possible. I’m happy that nobody besides myself was hurt, other than the ways in which the work was impacted. I didn’t get behind the wheel, didn’t make any choices that could have put others’ safety at risk.”
In the days since, some Republicans have called for his resignation.
“My plan is to finish our work here. I’m committed to doing that. I’m committed to doing without the use of alcohol. And I think I’ll do a better job in the remaining two weeks of the session as a result of moving past that as a tool.”