2003 Candidate Questionnaire

 

SECTION I               

 

BASIC CANDIDATE INFORMATION

 

1.      Name as it will appear on the ballot

 

First Name

Middle Initial or Nick Name

Last Name

Renay

     

Bennett

 

2.   Office sought (include office, jurisdiction, position/district number):

 

Bellevue City Council Position #3

 

3.   Are you the incumbent?                  No

 

 

4.   How long have you resided in this district/city?

 

30 years

 

5.   How long have you resided in King County?

 

36 years

 

6.   Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan?              Nonpartisan         

                                                                                                                       

7.   If partisan, please indicate party:       

 

CAMPAIGN CONTACTS

 

Campaign Name:

Friends of Renay Bennett

 

Address:

 

PO Box 3674

 

City/State/Zip:

 

Bellevue WA  98009

 

Campaign Phone:

 

425-637-8670

 

 

Campaign Fax:

 

425-452-1512

 

 

Campaign E-mail:

 

renaybennett@msn.com

 

 

Campaign Website:

 

     

 

 

POLITICAL BACKGROUND

 

1.   Beginning with the most recent position, please list public offices which you have held.  Include positions on appointive Boards or Commissions.

 

Public Office

Elective or Appointive?

Dates Held

Leadership Role (if any)

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

 

2.   If you ran for public office but were not elected, please list those races below:

 

Office Title

Year of Run

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

 

SECTION III

 

In this section, we are seeking responses that reflect the four ratings criteria: involvement, effectiveness, character, and knowledge.  These are defined as follows:

 

  • Involvement: What has the candidate done previously in family, neighborhood, community, volunteer work, employment or public life to suggest readiness to accomplish challenging objectives? How do these activities demonstrate readiness for the challenges unique to the office sought?

 

  • Effectiveness: Has the candidate demonstrated promise of being productive in the office sought?  Has the candidate shown the ability to work with other people?

 

  • Character: Do the candidate's personal traits show the ability to take on the responsibilities of campaigning for and holding the public office she or he is seeking? Is the candidate a leader, participant or observer?  Is the candidate trustworthy, reliable and candid?

 

  • Knowledge: Has the candidate demonstrated the willingness and ability to learn and adapt?  Does the candidate understand the duties and challenges of the office sought?  Does the candidate have a firm grasp of the issues important to his or her constituency and their potential effects?

 

 

1.      In a page or less, why are you running for this office?  (Note: the interview committee will be given a copy of this statement before your interview; at the beginning of your interview you will have the opportunity to expand on this statement in any way you wish.)

 

Citizenship is not a spectator sport.  It is important for people to be involved in the political process, in whatever way they can.

 

I am running for the Bellevue City Council because I want to volunteer my knowledge and experience as a community advocate and provide a fresh perspective on the Council for the community.  With ten years of volunteering in many different ways, I know that my ability to appreciate different opinions while working together to find creative solutions to problems will benefit my community.  My experience from a grass roots background, not a bureaucratic one, provides a common sense approach to problem solving.

 

 

 

2.      Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.

 

I have a strong sense of fairness and justice.  I believe that our laws must apply equally to all members of the community.   Elected officials should not be tainted by conflicts of interest, and if they are, should step down from their position. 

 

I am trustworthy.  When I say I will do something, I do it.  We should expect truth and honesty from our elected official.

 

I have a lot of enthusiasm.  Being a prt of democracy is invigorating and the opportunity to work with people for a better community is not only exciting, but fulfilling, too.

 

I am a very  hard worker.  I do my homework by consulting with those who are knowledgeable on the subject, conducting  my own independent research, and talking to folks who will be impacted by the decisions being made. 

 

In all my volunteering, I have always tried to talk to those with different opinions from myself and take into account these different opinions when making decisions.  This can make the decision process longer and harder, but the outcome is better when everyone has an opportunity to help shape it.

 

 

 

 

 

3.      Please describe in sufficient detail, one to three accomplishments or contributions of which you are most proud.  These examples should illustrate effective skills and capabilities you think apply to the office you are seeking.  These accomplishments may have occurred at any time in your personal, professional, or public life. 

 

One  of my accomplishments that I am very proud of is being involved in and becoming the Co-Chair of Neighborhood Network North.  This was a partnership between the neighborhoods and the city, working together for a better community.  In addition to having monthly meetings and various subcommittee meetings, we put on two public forums.  One for pipeline safety and one for a city council candidates forum.  They were very well received by the community.    These forums required much research, planning, coordinating and decision making in their production.  Both were taped for television broadcast and the pipeline safety forum had a telephone call-in line.   They required different bodies to work together cooperatively.  They were a successful as well as a great benefit to the community.

 

Another of my contributions that I am very proud of is helping to prevent the widening of both Bellevue Way and 112th Street.  I was slected as committee member of the Downtown Implementation Plan Citizen Advisory Committee to help plan for the growth of the downtown in  Bellevue over the next 20 years.  This group was charged with making recommendations to the City Council.  These two  beautiful boulevards in our city (near our downtown) were proposed to be widened to accomodate growth.  Their widening would have negatively impacted thousands of peole and ruined the aesthetics of the area.  I, and many others, were able to prevent this idea from coming to fruition through much outreach, coordination, and networking in the community.

 

 

  


 

4.      Please list or describe your current and past activities in the community in which you have acquired skills that relate to the office you seek.  Include your role in the activity and the year(s) in which you were involved.  Involvement consists of many areas such as family, neighborhood, community, employment, or public life.

 

President of 108th Neighborhood Association, elected in March of 2002, served on  board since 1997.  Gained leadership skills, learned how to build consensus.

 

Board member of Surrey Downs Association, since 1996, elected Secretary in 2001-2002.  Gained leadership skills, learned how to build consensus.

 

Member of Enatai PTA since 2001.  Volunteer in class, Playground Aide, serve on PTA committees.

 

Attended numerous Planning Commission, Transportation Commission, and City Council  meetings, learning about land use, traffic, Growth Management Act, long term planning, and neighborhood issues.

 

Former Co-Chair Neighborhood Network North 1999-2001, member since 1997.  Gained leadership skills, learned how to build consensus, producing public forums.

 

Spokesperson for Bellevue Charter campaign, 2002-2003.  Leadership, public speaking, campaigning, organization, research, networking.

 

Member, Downtown Implementation Plan Citizen Advisory Committee, 2001-2003.  Learned how to work with very different perspectives while trying to find a middle ground.  Learned about long-term planning and how it affects the community.

 

Member, Access Downtown Advisory Committee, 2000-present.  Learned about construiction phasing and its effects on traffic in the city.

 

Helped prevent the widening of Bellevue Way and 112th Street.  Worked together with other people to prevent the loss of a special area of our community.

 

 

 

  1. Please describe the duties of the office you seek.  Which are the most important duties and why?

 

The duties of the office of a City Council member deal  with setting policy for the city, listening with respect to every consitutent, and protecting and enhancing our community.  Each of these duties are equally important - you can't have one without the other.

 

 

 

 

EDUCATION BACKGROUND SUMMARY

FOR PUBLICATION IN CANDIDATE EVALUATION REPORT

 

The Municipal League’s Candidate Evaluation Report is distributed to voters in print and/or on our website.  It includes a summary of the candidate’s education.  Please summarize your education in 120 characters (letters, punctuation, and space all combined).  The League will delete material that exceeds the space limit by beginning with the last entry.  Suggested order is (degree)  (subject)  (school)  (year, if desired). 

 

Note: If this question is left blank the League will not include education information in your candidate profile.

 

Graduate, Juanita High School, Attended BCC

 

CIVIC INVOLVEMENT SUMMARY

FOR PUBLICATION IN CANDIDATE EVALUATION REPORT

 

The Municipal League’s Candidate Evaluation Report also includes a summary of each candidate’s civic involvement.  Please summarize your civic involvement in the space below.  We will make every attempt to include the information in the Candidate Evaluation Report as submitted.  Due to space restrictions in the Report, your response is limited to 500 characters (letters, punctuation, and spaces all combined).  It is important that you list your involvement beginning with the most important and ending with the least important.  If you exceed the length of response permitted, or if the League should find it necessary to shorten responses for publication purposes,  deletions will be made beginning with the last item listed. 

 

Note: This information will appear verbatim on the League’s Candidate Evaluation Report.  If this question is left blank, the Municipal League will not include information on your civic involvement in the Report.

 

  Check here if you would like the Municipal League to copy the first 500 characters from Question 4 to paste into this section.

 

     

 

Finished!

If at all possible, send your response to the Municipal League electronically as an attachment, or insert it into an e-mail message (rebecca@munileague.org).  Mail and fax numbers are listed below.  If the League has not contacted you to schedule an interview, please call the League office at your earliest convenience.

 

Don’t forget to send the following to the Municipal League:  a resume, a photo, campaign literature, and, if you are an incumbent, constituent newsletters and other materials.  Please use the check-off list on the cover sheet of this packet to indicate which items you have sent.

 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION AND GOOD LUCK IN YOUR CAMPAIGN!

 

THE MUNICIPAL LEAGUE OF KING COUNTY

 

Candidate Evaluation Coordinator:  Rebecca Cooper

 

810 Third Avenue, Suite 224                  Phone: 206-622-8333                Email: rebecca@munileague.org

Seattle, WA 98104-1614                        Fax: 425-671-0506                        Website: www.munileague.org