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

Leona

     

Orr

 

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

 

City Council - Kent - Position #5

 

3.   Are you the incumbent?                  Yes              

 

 

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

 

17 years

 

5.   How long have you resided in King County?

 

37 years

 

6.   Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan?         Nonpartisan         

                                                                                                                       

7.   If partisan, please indicate party:       

 

CAMPAIGN CONTACTS

 

Campaign Name:

Citizens to Elect Leona Orr

 

Address:

 

24909 114th Ave. S. E.

 

City/State/Zip:

 

Kent, WA  98030

 

Campaign Phone:

 

253 859-4693

 

 

Campaign Fax:

 

     

 

 

Campaign E-mail:

 

l.orr@comcast.net

 

 

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)

Kent City Council

 

Elective

 

1996 - 03

 

Council President '98 - '01

Planning Committee Chair '96 - '03

Drinking Driver Task Force Chair '01 - '03

 

Kent City Council

Kent City Council

 

Appointive

Elective

 

 

1994 - 95

1990 - 93'

 

Planning Committee Chair

Planning Committee Chair -'93-'94

 

Planning Commission

 

Appointive

 

1989

 

     

 

 

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

 

Office Title

Year of Run

Mayor of Kent

 

1993

 

Mayor of Kent

 

1997

 

     

 

     

 


 


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.)

 

I believe I have served the Citizens of Kent very well since first being elected in 1989.  That experience will be valuable as Kent continues to grow.  It is anticipated that in a few years, we will be a City of over 100,000 population.  I am proud of the accomplishments Kent has made in the past and look forward to a positive future.  I have been instrumental in helping position Kent to take advantage of an improved economy.  As the Kent Station Project takes shape, our local economy will benefit because of the many opportunities opening up.  I have worked for many years on improving the vitality of our downtown and look forward to seeing new development begin.  I have a proven track record of positively working with many groups and individuals to get the best value for Kent resident's tax dollar.  I have supported keeping our property tax levy low.  Through a hiring freeze, attrition, lay-offs and finding more efficient ways to provide services, we have been able to reduce our portion of the property tax bill and only recently authorized a small utility tax increase to avoid laying off uniformed Police Officers and Fire Fighters.  While there are those who advocate no new taxes or increases under any circumstances, I know from experience that you can never say "never".  Public safety accounts for over 65% of our annual budget and with ever decreasing revenue, at some point safety has to come first.  I support an aggressive economic development plan that will grow our economy to prevent further tax increases.  Kent has a bright future and I look forward to being involved in shaping that future. 

 


 

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

 

I am a very open honest person.  I am always willing to listen to all sides of an issue before making a decision.  I take my position on the Council  seriously and am very reliable.  I work well with others and will try to find common ground if need be to reach a reasonable solution to any issue that comes before the Council.  I will compromise when appropriate, but am willing to stand up for what I believe if need be.  I am not one to shy away from a controversial issue.  My feeling is that all issues need to be met head on and resolved in the best way possible.  I always try to take the "big picture" into account.  I know that decisions made today have far reaching effects and we have to give the future some consideration.

 

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. 

 

When I first became active in my community, the City of Kent was building apartments at a rate that had increased residency in multi-family housing to nearly 73% of all housing.  I organized a citizen's group when my neighborhood was being annexed to Kent and we were successful in obtaining all single family zoning.  I then ran for City Council, was successful, and continued to look for ways to increase opportunities for home ownership.  Through new zoning designations and the adoption of an ordinance providing incentives for condominium builders, which I sponsored, very few apartments have been construnted since 1991.

 

I have actively pursued partnerships with other community organizations to increase opportunities for Kent residents and make the best use of tax dollars.  Some of those partnerships include:

The School Districts where we run many Parks programs for youth

King County to build additional parking downtown as part of  Sounder Commuter Rail

Local Service Clubs to build ball fields on the East Hill

Private business to allow an Ice Arena to be built on City of Kent property

Several local jurisdictions in building the Tacoma Pipeline Project which will provide us with a reliable water source for many years to come.

 

I was instrumental in the hiring of an Economic Development Director to aggressively pursue attracting new business to Kent.  We will soon be breaking ground on a large project in the downtown core that will bring not only new businesses, but educational opportunities as well due to partnering with Green River Community College. 


 

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.

 

Current:  City Council Planning Committee Chair

                 Drinking Driver Task Force Chair

                 City Council Operations Committee

                 Greater Kent Historical Society

                 Kent Chamber of Commerce

                 Suburban Cities Association

 

Past:  City Council President - '98 - '02

           Kent Fire and Life Safety Strategic Planning Committee - '01 - '02

           City Council Public Safety Committee - '90' - 00

           City Council Public Works Committee - 90 - 98 

\          City Council Liason to the Arts Commission - ''96 - '00

           Kent School District Concurrency Task Force - '94 - '95

           Kent Planning Commission - '89

           Responsible Urban Growth Group - Founder and President - '88 - '89

           Shop Steward - Teamsters Local 117 - '88 - '98

           Kent Elementary Learning Improvement Team - '96 - ' 99

           Assisted Housing Committee

           Housing Advisory Committee

           Downtown Zoning Committee

           Project Lighthouse Committee

           Impact Fees Committee Chair

           Growth Management Committee Chair

           Youth Center Committee

 

 

 

 

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

 

The City Council is responsible for setting policy for the City of Kent.  We regulate zoning and land use.  We work with the Mayor's office to adopt a fiscally sound budget annually.  We approve contracts for projects such as new roads, new parks, water projects and any other services the City provides.  We are responsible for determining when and if annexations should be considered.  We are elected at large and must take into consideration the impacts to the entire City when making decisions.  I believe the most important service we provide is Public Safety and it is the responsibility of the Council to make sure we have adequately staffed and equipped personnel.


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.

 

Diploma, Fort Benton Montana High School 1964

Diploma, Bus. Mgt., Kinman Business University

Computer training related to job

 

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