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
Al		Yuen

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?

34 years

5. How long have you resided in King County?

45 years

6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Nonpartisan

7. If partisan, please indicate party:

CAMPAIGN CONTACTS

Campaign Name:

Al Yuen for Bellevue City council

Address:

P.O. Box 53462

City/State/Zip:

Bellevue

Campaign Phone:

425-746-6076

Campaign Fax:

Same

Campaign E-mail:

electalyuen@comcast.net

Campaign Website:

alyuen.com (under construction)

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)

Bellevue Transportation Commissioner

May 19, 2003

June 1, 2003

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

Office Title

Year of Run

Seattle Port Commissioner

2001

Seattle Port commissioner

1999

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.)

a. I feel it is time for me to contribute back to the City that has provided me a great family environment, great education for my children, support on my restaurant operation in Bellevue Square, Crabapple Restaurant, and the many friends I have made in my 34 years as a member of this Great City.

b. Now that my childred have grown to be good citizens contributing to society, I can devote a major portion of my time to this part time position as a City Council Member. I want to continue to improve our City by utilizing my business experience to oversee and continue to build a better and prosperous City. As a resident in Bellevue for the past 34 years, I have seen the growth of the city and I want to protect the tranquility and save neighborhoods from becoming commercial and traffic congestion areas. I want to leave Bellevue better then when I found it and settled here.

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

a I served three terms as President of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, five terms as President of the Seattle/Koahsiung Sister City Association, Greater Seattle Chamber, President’s Club Member. It was my great honor to have received “Volunteer of the Year” from Governor Booth Gardner, “Man of the Year” awards from Washington State Restaurant Association and the Chinatown Chamber. These honors were bestowed upon me for my love to serve people, especially those who are less fortunate and in need of special assistance.

b. Running for Bellevue City Council Member is just another page in my life. I want to serve my neighbors and business colleagues on concerns they have in the community. Once deciding to take on a task, I firmly believe that you do the best you can with what you have. If you feel you can not give it your all, then don’t even try or say you will.

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.

a. My accomplishment is serving the people as a volunteer and to give without expecting any rewards. A THANKS is some time better then monetary rewards.

b. I am one of the Founders and a Board member of Kin On Chinese Nursing Home in Seattle. Many Chinese elderly move into nursing homes where they encounter unfamiliar surroundings and diet and find themselves unable to communicate due to language difference. I felt there was a need for a Chinese Nursing Home where people speak the same language and serve food they are accustomed to. Finding a home where they are surrounded by friends would be a pleasant home for the golden days of their remaining life.

c. I was able to develop a Sister Hospital relationship between Seattle’s Virginia Mason Hospital and Long Zhong Hospital in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Filling the need for medical care for people traveling from and to Seattle/Kaohsiung, this also developed a stronger friendship between our two cities. The two hospitals exchange information regarding the health care of their patients and develop new techniques in providing medical services to their patients.

d. I felt the need for our younger generation to reach out to understand other people’s cultures, customs and heritage in life. I took sixteen high school seniors from Greater Seattle area and sixteen high school seniors from Kobe, Japan to visit high school student in three cities in China for two weeks. There, they would visit two schools a day, attend classes, exchange stories of life in their country, play games and share meals together. It was amazing how well all of the students found common interests. All left with an enriched mind and new friends. Their final remarks were, “we want to remain friends and, therefore, we will work hard in preserving peace throughout the world. People should make friends and not conflict.”

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.

a. I am a graduate of Advanced Bellevue Leadership training 2001. This nine month course grooms you to become a leader in the community, teaches the history of Bellevue and the skills to work with the public. This training and my years of experience in working with the public gives me the tools I need to be a City Council person. Being a leader and serving the public is no easy task. Making everyone feel important and address their concerns is a difficult task. Raising three children with different personalities was not easy either. I am up to the challenge to do the best I can and I know I will succeed.

b. Serving as Bellevue Transportation Commissioner, is giving me an opportunity to see the many challenges that our city faces, downturn in the economy, cutbacks in the education field, traffic congestion throughout the city, just to mention a few. These are challenges I will face and aim to find a solution to the problem.

c. As a member of the Board of Trustees, Crisis Clinic 2002, I saw first hand the need for human services and shelter for abused woman and children. We who have should not forget those who have not. I want to be a leader for all of the people, especially for the poor and minority population. They need a voice in our community when they do not have the resources or the education to the procedures to obtain help.

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

a. The duties of the City Council Member are to set policies, regulations and budgets. I feel all of these duties are important.

b. Our policy making must be fair to all while keeping order in our daily life. Regulations help us in our planning and serving the wishes of our citizens.

c. Budgets are set and constantly watched so that our expenditures do not exceed our income. All play an import role in managing our City and the wishes of our shareholders, the citizens of our city.

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.

MBA, City University

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