YAKIMA, Wash. -- I hadn’t seen Jim Clements in ages, so it was comforting to realize that he hasn’t lost his way with words.

Clements, the former Republican state lawmaker from Selah, drew a handful of laughs Tuesday at the ceremonial groundbreaking for the Capitol Theatre expansion he’d helped fund as a state senator in 2007.

Theatre President and CEO Steve Caffery introduced Clements, who rarely speaks in public these days, with an admonishment to be brief.

“Be brief?” Clements nearly snorted, as he opened his remarks.

He then explained why he has kept such a low profile. After losing to Curtis King, R-Yakima, in the 2007 election, Clements was appointed to the state Public Disclosure Commission, the state agency that oversees campaign finance laws. He has since become chairman, and the rules of that body have put a crimp in the once-loquacious lawmaker’s ability to speak his mind in public.

“I didn’t realize that the cap would be screwed down so tight,” he said.

There are no PDC restrictions on waxing nostalgic, however, so Clements regaled the gathered VIPs with tales of his youthful trips to see movies at the Capitol. One in particular that he recalled was “The Thing,” a 1951 sci-fi horror flick starring James Arness of “Gunsmoke” fame.

“It warped my mind,” said Clements.

He ended his remarks with something a bit more eloquent, calling the theater “something permanent and beautiful” that was deserving of any effort to keep it culturally relevant.

“It is a permanent symbol of who we are, who we were and who we are going to be.”

– Pat Muir