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
Brian	Emil	Derdowski

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

King County Council District 12

3. Are you the incumbent? No

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

two weeks

5. How long have you resided in King County?

25 years

6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan

7. If partisan, please indicate party: Democratic

CAMPAIGN CONTACTS

Campaign Name:

Citizens for Brian Derdowski

Address:

70 E. Sunset Way

City/State/Zip:

Issaquah, WA 98027

Campaign Phone:

425-837-9103

Campaign Fax:

Campaign E-mail:

brian@derdowski.com

Campaign Website:

www.derdowski.com

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)

King County Councilmember

Elected

1990-2000

Various Chairmanships

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.)

1) The County is going through a transformational process on many fronts:

Ø A complete overhaul of budget priorities brought on by the slowing economy and loss of tax base.

Ø A restructuring of services to unincorporated areas and new annexation policies.

Ø A restructuring of regional service delivery.

Ø A major review of regional land use and the urban/rural line.

Ø A review of governance and the County Charter.

The Council has had substantial turnover in membership and staff in recent years and has lost some important institutional memory and perspective on these issues. My experience and focus has been very much on these issues. I can help restore a balance of perspective and some of the institutional memory for the Council.

2) The County has drifted on several important areas involving legislation that I prime sponsored and succeeded in passing. These include the Performance Measurement and Accountability Initiative, the Labor Policy Ordinance, and the Customer Service Ordinance. These programs are important contributors to solving some of the major challenges facing the County. My experience in these areas would fill a need

3) The County is revising its land use ordinances without sufficient informed input from the environmental/neighborhood perspective. My experience and approaches to these issues would better inform the debate and thus improve decision outcomes.

4) My work ethic and approach to open government would improve the culture on the Council and throughout County government. My support for citizen activists and whistleblowers is really needed right now.

5) My goals of promoting the public interest throughout the region will be supported by this campaign. We always try to give back more than we take during election season, and this will help other progressive candidates and causes for some time to come.

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

I instinctively take the side of the “underdog” and this helps balance a system that tends to be driven by powerful interests.

I don’t take negativity personally, and this opens up dialogue and helps create a healthy working atmosphere.

I am naturally inquisitive and work energetically and this helps uncover information and expose unfair agendas.

I offer creative solutions because I am willing to take risks and am open to new ideas.

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.

After leaving the Council at the end of 1999, I devoted three and a half years to helping citizen groups working in the public interest. My work encompasses a wide range of issues and causes, and takes me to many corners of the State. About ¾ of my work is pro-bono. We have had dramatic success in helping people empower themselves. We carefully coach citizen groups and individuals on the many political and technical aspects of their issues. The values we inspire are: commitment to active citizenship, high quality research, building trusting relationships, and unwavering focus on the public interest.

One of the results of this work is the creation of new, synergistic alliances between groups who are not usually allied. This synergy can create a powerful positive force in a community. When that force generates public interest oriented candidates, we coach them in their campaigns and later public service. Our aim is to develop self-confident candidates who are not dependent on political manipulators and who are likely to be able to take tough votes and confront power on behalf of the public interest.

The ten years that I served on the Council were very productive. Much of what my staff and I accomplished was done in a way that was not marred by pride of authorship or hunger for power. Our mark was not only made on important legislation, perhaps more importantly it was made on the systems and people with whom we interacted.

We remained true to our principles throughout, even while we embraced change and personal growth.

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.

1970-1975 Organized citizen group to oppose sprawl in rural town in Southern California. Earned BA in Government & Business and Economics from University of Redlands (magna cum laude). Served internship studying the costs of growth in Colton, California. Wrote honors thesis on intergovernmental relations within San Bernardino County.

1973-1989 Worked as a draftsman, designer draftsman, junior engineer/estimator, senior engineer/estimator, and manager of engineering and estimating for three manufacturing and heavy industrial repair companies. Developed strong private sector skills, a can-do attitude, and a knowledge of many different economic sectors.

Raised a family and participated in school activities as a basketball, baseball, and soccer coach and PTA member. Active in numerous

Causes and organizations.

Co-founder of the Sensible Growth Alliance which significantly helped develop a statewide consensus about the need and content of a Washington State Growth Management Act (1986-1989)

1990-2000 King County Councilmember. (See hand-out with some of our legislative accomplishments)

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

Take several thousand votes per year in an informed and considered way. Inform the public and respond to and support constituent requests for service. Create legislation and policy, and secure support and adoption. Take a leadership or supportive role on issues at other levels of government where service to the public interest commands it.

All of these are critical to the successful representation of the people.

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.

BA Government & Business and Economics (magna cum laude), 1975, University of Redlands

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.

King County Councilmember (Dist 12) 1990-2000

Successfully prime sponsored:

Ø Government Accountability Initiative

Ø Labor Policy Ordinance

Ø Public Health Plan

Ø Developer Impact fees to support schools and roads

Ø Numerous tax reduction measures

Ø Numerous environmental protection measures

President, Public Interest Associates, serving non-profit citizen groups

Co-founder of Sensible Growth Alliance

Sierra Club; Jobs with Justice; Two Newspaper Town; King County Monorail; Taxpayer advocacy; PTA;

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