By Robert Lewis and Susan Ferriss
Sen. Pat Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, interrupted a committee hearing Wednesday afternoon, screaming and racing toward committee staff who apparently had failed to refill a water canister that she found empty after the hearing's lunch break.
Another committee member had to intervene -- blocking the 69-year-old lawmaker from the young staff members -- before an aide to Wiggins led the senator back to her seat.
Wiggins has been dogged with questions about her health in the wake of outbursts and other odd behavior. In 2008, she swore at a minister testifying in committee on global warming, exclaiming, "Excuse me, but I think your arguments are bull----."
Last August, Wiggins announced she would not run for another four-year term this year.
"It's not a secret that she has a medical condition for which she's being treated," said David Miller, Wiggins' press secretary, on Thursday. "That condition does not affect her ability to do her job as a senator. But it can make her irritable, and when she's irritable, she lets it be known."
Wednesday's outburst happened after the Joint Legislative Audit Committee returned from its lunch break. Wiggins had walked to get a glass of water but returned to her seat apparently empty-handed and mumbling something about the lack of water.
"Why aren't you getting it?" Wiggins suddenly screamed several times, momentarily pausing the proceedings. She then raced toward several staffers before people intervened. The water was eventually refilled.
Miller said that Wiggins is "a loud person because she has a serious hearing impairment." She has had the problem for more than 20 years and wears a hearing aid, he said.
Wiggins uses a headset during committee hearings and on the Senate floor, Miller said, and sometimes takes off the aid when she's using a special telephone.
Miller wasn't at the hearing Wednesday. But he said his understanding was that Wiggins hadn't heard or was unaware that staff members had talked about getting water and were getting it when she became agitated.
"That's all there was," Miller said.
He said he wasn't certain but that it was his sense that Wiggins' irritability is caused by her condition and not medication.
He said the senator had disclosed her condition to her own staff, but that it was up to her to decide whether to disclose it publicly.
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