2003 Candidate Questionnaire
SECTION I
BASIC CANDIDATE INFORMATION
1. Name as it will appear on the ballot
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First Name |
Middle Initial or Nick Name |
Last Name |
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Judy |
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Nicastro |
2. Office sought (include office, jurisdiction, position/district number):
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3. Are you the incumbent? Yes
4. How long have you resided in this district/city?
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15 years |
5. How long have you resided in
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15 years |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Nonpartisan
7. If partisan, please indicate party:
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Friends to Re-Elect Judy Nicastro |
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Address: |
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City/State/Zip: |
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Campaign Phone: |
206-498-1270
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Campaign Fax: |
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Campaign E-mail: |
info@reelectjudy.com
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Campaign Website: |
www.reelectjudy.com
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POLITICAL BACKGROUND
1. Beginning with the most recent position, please list public offices which you have held. Include positions on appointive Boards or Commissions.
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Public Office |
Elective or Appointive? |
Dates Held |
Leadership Role (if any) |
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Elective
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2000-present
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Chair, Land Use Committee
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2. If you ran for public office but were not elected, please list those races below:
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Office Title |
Year of Run |
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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:
1 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?
1 Effectiveness: Has the candidate demonstrated promise of being productive in the office sought? Has the candidate shown the ability to work with other people?
2 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?
3 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.)
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I am running for re-election to the City Council because I want
I am proud of my accomplishments over the past
four years of working on affordable housing issues; strengthening renters'
rights; expanding opportunities for development, density and growth;
supporting economic development efforts; and leading the way on sensible land
use regulations that have made |
2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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I have
been, and will continue to be, an independent voice on the City Council and have
supported legislation that I believe to be in the best interest of the entire
city. This has not always been the most popular approach or well-received by
all groups, but my underlying philosophy is that policymakers must balance
the needs of the communities that are impacted by the decisions the Council
makes--both for the short and long-term health of our city. Even when it has
not been popular, I have fought against some of the most powerful special
interests in
I have
delivered on my campaign promises. Within my first six months of taking
office I held a citywide Renters'
Finally, I have proven to be a fiscally responsible voice on the City Council. I was publicly critical of the Mayor's effort to raise his office budget by $650,000, while at the same time he proposed to cut vital city services that low-income people in our city depend on everyday. I spoke out against the most recent Housing Levy because it used property taxes to assist in funding homeownership programs for households earning more than $60,000 a year. The Housing Levy lost its original intent to provide housing for seniors and the disabled, and I could not support the direction it was heading.
Being a trustworthy Councilmember who has followed-through
on her promises, remaining an independent voice under enormous political
pressure and being fiscally responsible with taxpayer dollars are my most
important personal characteristics. These are undoubtedly important
characteristics for any elected official to possess.
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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.
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I am
extremely proud of the work I have accomplished on the Council over the past
four years. Many pieces of legislation have been passed that have had a
direct impact on people’s lives. The Renters’
As a result of the Summit I had the support of my colleagues in passing legislation that reduced the parking requirements for new housing when affordable rental units were provided (saving the housing provider tremendous construction and land costs); strengthening renters’ legal rights by changing the standard for retaliatory acts by landlords from criminal to civil (making it much easier for the City to pursue these cases); and allowing increased housing density in existing multifamily buildings in multifamily zones (which has resulted in many more opportunities for building owners with existing extra space that could not be utilized under the previous standards).
I am also very pleased with recent work I have done on behalf of seniors and the disabled with regard to the Seattle Housing Authority’s Seattle Senior Housing Program (SSHP). Last year, the SHA’s Board of Commissioners approved a rent increase of nearly 86% for new residents to the program--all of whom are elderly, low-income or disabled. This was an absolutely unacceptable proposal to me. The Council has limited oversight of SHA, but the City helped create the first housing levy that established the SSHP along with SHA and has a responsibility to voters to keep true to the intent of the levy. I worked alongside housing advocates and senior residents to put pressure on SHA to rescind this policy and shepherded a resolution through the Council that encouraged the creation of an ongoing advisory committee to monitor the SSHP and required SHA to periodically report back to the Council on changes to the program. SHA rescinded the rent increase and, through an impressive public process, developed a new rent structure that should sustain the program well into the future while continuing to serve the low-income population it has traditionally served. Not only was this a positive outcome for low-income seniors on the waiting list and in need of affordable housing, but this effort has mobilized seniors throughout the SSHP to become more involved with their program and with City Hall.
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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.
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I have been actively involved in community and civic activities starting with my election as ASUW President while an undergraduate student, serving as Vice-President of the Graduate and Professional Students Senate, co-founding of the UW chapter of NARAL and I have also been a longtime activist with domestic violence and women's rights issues. After law school I worked at Boeing and was feeling the crunch of Seattle's very difficult housing situation. I researched the City and state's housing laws to find that renters had very few rights and protections. Additionally, no one on the City Council was aggressively working on landlord/tenant issues and was barely even talking about them.
Dismayed, I began a grassroots organization – Local Housing needs Local Laws – to raise awareness of the difficult issues tenants were facing in the community, such as unfair rent increases. I decided shortly after that to run for an open seat on the Seattle City Council as a renters' rights and affordable housing advocate.
I continue to be involved with community organizations as much as my Council duties allow. I am a member of the Honorary Board of the Aradia Women’s Health Center and am actively involved with the Abused Deaf Women's Advocacy Services' (ADWAS) effort to develop and build a transitional housing facility for deaf and blind/deaf victims of domestic violence and sexual assault – the first of its kind in the nation.
Additionally, I participate in the activities and efforts
of many organizations and groups that mentor young women to become involved
in government. I have served as a leader-in-residence for the Center
for Women and Democracy, participated in The White House Project, and have been
a staunch supporter of Washington NARAL: Pro Choice America.
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5. Please describe the duties of the office you seek. Which are the most important duties and why?
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As a City Councilmember I represent over 500,000 people and am responsible for creating and shaping the goals and policies of our city. These policies include long-range planning for our transportation systems; approving development standards for the built environment; creating affordable housing opportunities, promoting economic development, providing resources to the police and fire departments, overseeing water and electric utilities by examining rates and services, providing funding for programs and services for food banks, health clinics, domestic violence programs, emergency shelters, and approving the City's budget for all City departments as well as programs and services.
All of these functions are extremely important to our City and the diverse neighborhoods and multitude of businesses that are part of our community. However, the most profound impact the City Council has is through the budget process which has a direct impact on the everyday lives of the people who live and work in Seattle, and depend on funding for public safety, social service programs, and the basic and vital infrastructure we rely on in our city, including repaired roads and low utility rates. |
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.
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J.D. University of Washington, 1997 B.A. in Women's Studies, University of Washington, 1994 |
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.
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Member of the 43rd District Democrats Founder of Local Housing Needs Local Laws President, Associated Students of the University of Washington Vice-President, Graduate and Professional Student Senate Advisory Committee member, Abused Deaf Women's Advocacy Services (ADWAS), A Place of Their Own Campaign Honorary Board member, Aradia Women’s Health Center Advisory Committee, May’s List |
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