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
Theresa		Cardamone

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

Seattle School Board Position #1

3. Are you the incumbent? No

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

7 years Ballard/Broadview, 1 1/2 years in the Central District in early '90's

5. How long have you resided in King County?

Since 1988, except for just over a year on Whidbey Island

6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Nonpartisan

7. If partisan, please indicate party:

CAMPAIGN CONTACTS

Campaign Name:

Campaign for Cardamone

Address:

401 NE Ravenna Blvd. PMB 136

City/State/Zip:

Seattle, WA 98115

Campaign Phone:

(206) 363-0960

Campaign Fax:

(206) 363-1346

Campaign E-mail:

tc4peace@earthlink.net

Campaign Website:

www.campaignforcardamone.org

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)

n/a

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

Office Title

Year of Run

n/a

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 am running for a position on the School Board because I am confident that I have the skills, the attitude and the ethics needed to rebuild trust in the administration of public education in our city. I am running because I have seen that my advocacy has made a difference for individual families, an entire school community and a city wide coalition network of concerned citizens. I am running because I find fulfillment in working for the greater good, and because I believe that a quality public education for all students is a cornerstone of our society.

I have spent the better part of the last two years researching the workings of the Seattle School District. I was prompted by my leadership position in organizing a successful stand by parents to preserve our right to refuse implementation of a mandate by former Superintendent Olchefske which we felt was contrary to both our school philosophy and state law.

It was during the many hours of research involved with taking a legal position of that kind, that I began to learn more about the Seattle School District. Along with other parents, I spent countless hours poring over school board minutes from 1968 to the present. I became a fixture at School Board meetings and work sessions. When appeals to the Superintendent were to no avail, I petitioned the Board for assistance. They were largely unresponsive. I began to connect with other citizens from around the city who had issues of their own. And I saw a common thread among us all. We were not being heard. We were being dismissed as “complaining parents”. The Board we elected was not acting on our behalf.

Parents and concerned citizens from many diverse communities banded together to learn more about each other. We represented accelerated learners, ethnic communities, alternative schools and regular programs, the rich, the poor and the in-between. Long before the budget deficit was revealed, we lobbied long and hard for the Board to remove Joseph Olchefske from his position of power. We tried earnest pleas, volumes of facts and even an occasional song and dance! We were asking the Board to recognize that the Superintendent was failing the people he was supposed to serve. Even after the financial woes were revealed, they gave him a "very good" evaluation.

I began to see that the only way to assure fair and equitable treatment for students and their families was to elect a new School Board. People from across the city approached me to see if I would be interested in running. I gave the matter careful consideration. I talked with my family about making that huge commitment. I sought the advice of people deeply entrenched in the workings of the School District. And I came to the conclusion that this election provided me with an opportunity to serve that I could embrace with gusto.

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

I am an excellent listener, with an ability to understand the feelings which often drive a person's actions. These qualities were put into use at my children's school, where I was often called on to mediate conflicts between students and sometimes between staff members or parents. I hosted a five-month workshop in Non-Violent Communication, and have helped to establish conflict resolution strategies grades K-8.

It is my personal style to deeply engage myself in any activity to which I am committed. While serving four years as the Site Council Chair, that meant attending weekly staff meetings and serving on many committees. I would extend that hands-on approach to all of the schools in my District, being in the buildings as much as possible to fully understand their unique communities and needs. I see myself as a liasion between the People and the rest of the Board.

Although I have strong opinions, I am a collaborative worker who can listen to divergent views and find a middle ground. Nearly every issue facing the School Board requires this capability. Does the Board vote to move a school community across town while their building is being renovated, or do they find a way to house the students closer to home? Too often, the present Board approaches school issues with a narrow focus, uncomfortable or unable to incorporate different ideas.

With me, what you see is what you get. My word is good, and my loyalty cannot be bought, but must be earned. I am not unduly impressed by people in positions of power or celebrity. When faced with a challenge, I prepare myself, do the necessary research, and follow through to the finish. I take the attitude that all things are possible, and when I am convinced that something is worth fighting for, I will go the distance. This approach would be helpful in extending the collaboration between the District and the greater community, particularly when public education issues need advocates in Olympia. The present Board has been, for the most part, absent in that venue.

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.

First, I am very proud of my six years spent as a volunteer, activist and sometime staff person in Seattle Public Schools. In particular, as Site Council Chair at Alternative School #1, an all-city K-8 public school, I was a very effective liasion between the parents, students and staff, developing plans for community input through "town meetings", surveys and other means. As stated earlier, I attended weekly staff meetings in order to have a better understanding of staff concerns. I helped to write and win over $70,000 in grants to transform the school's playgrounds from asphalt into creative playspaces. I was the teaching assistant in the kindergarten for two years, have worked in the school office and have mopped the floors and flushed the toilets when needed. I have participated in writing a balanced school budget and have been active on hiring teams for many certificated and classified teaching positions. Along the way, I have logged over 15,000 miles on school field trips including shooting the rapids on Rites of Passage wilderness trips for graduating 8th graders. I earned the respect and support of the entire teaching staff and parent community. I am a founding member of Citizens for Effective Administration of Seattle Education (CEASE). We created the first widely-circulated petition of No Confidence in the Superintendent last fall, and have become the strongest coalition of parent groups in the city, earning a seat on the Superintendent Search Advisory Committee.

Second, as a young adult, I helped to develop and promote a world-class Arabian horse farm from the ground up. For eight years, I worked directly with owner David Murdock to establish Ventura Farms as a major force in the horse industry. During the course of that relationship, Mr. Murdock was a powerful mentor, willing to teach an idealistic young woman that visionary thinking, persistence, attention to detail and integrity were the key elements to success. (He recently took Dole Foods private, a road that began many years ago when he sat on his porch reading the Wall Street Journal, and decided to invest in Castle and Cooke). He had his Chief Financial Officer, Jeff Henley (now Executive Vice President and CFO for Oracle) work with my husband and me to run the business end of an operation that, at it's peak, included over 600 horses and over 60 employees. I represented Mr. Murdock in hearings before the Ventura County Assessment Appeals Board which resulted in a refund of over $900,000 in unfair taxes and interest. I also represented the farm on buying trips to select bloodstock in Poland (during the time of the Communist regime), Brazil, Denmark and Sweden, and all over America. In those years, we hosted many events on the farm and had direct and intimate contact with many people of note from the political, business and entertainment arenas. I learned to judge them not by their name or their fame, but by their actions. I am not easily fooled by the trappings of success. Our clients included Dr. Armand Hammer (Occidental Petroleum), Jack and Loyal McMillan (Nordstrom), Robert Wagner, Kenny Rogers and Mike Nichols (who, by the way, is one of the most astute judges of Arabian horses that I have ever seen). We had presentations for military officials, and for a sitting President of the United States (Ronald Reagan). Our farm doubled as the outdoor set of the television program "Dynasty", (which involved attention to myriad details and sometimes a walk-on role!) and has been used by many other productions. I learned to be responsive, thorough and well-prepared. I also learned the fine art of multi-tasking! I often wondered how those "horse years" would prove to be of value to me as I matured. Now, I have found them to be an irreplaceable building block of human experience. This was my training ground for public relations, budgeting, and learning to turn a vision into a reality.

Finally, as a child I always dreamed of owning a horse of my own, but coming from a working class family of five kids, it was not an option. When I was in high school, I knocked on doors until I found someone who would let me clean their house in exchange for use of their empty paddock. I used my winnings from a TV game show (Joker's Wild) to purchase my first Arabian horse. I found a way to fulfill my dream to ride across the United States, by securing a position as outrider for the lead wagon on the Bicentennial Wagon Train. (That trip involved six months of traveling over 3,450 miles from California to Pennsylvania, bringing the message of rededication to the principles upon which our nation was founded to hundreds of thousands of people. We were an ever-changing community of people who had to live, work and travel together every day, no matter what the weather, the terrain or the number of saddle sores on horse or rider!) That trip culminated with a visit by President Gerald Ford to Valley Forge Park the morning of July 4th to kick-off the Bicentennial Celebrations across America. I was selected to remain at the park for the summer to explain to visitors what the Wagon Train had been, and to spread it's motto "So Your Children Can Tell Their Children". On the Wagon Train, I learned that the people of our country were warm, welcoming, vibrant individuals. They were not a reflection of the government. They were the reality of what the government should be. I believe wholeheartedly that public schools exist to serve the community. I believe that input from the community is critical in researching and developing policy. I also believe that the School Board must keep their finger on the pulse of the community, and not expect every individual to fit into a narrow framework or agenda. From a healthy community, healthy schools will flourish.

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.

Founding Member- Citizens for Effective Administration of Seattle Education (CEASE) 2002-present- a coalition of citizen groups citywide who formed to network with and support each other in matters dealing with public education in Seattle. This organization sprang from the relationships established by concerned individuals who heard each others many petitions and entreaties to the School Board over the last few years. It is a grassroots effort to share knowledge, information and energy.

Site Council Chair at Alternative School #1- 1998-2001 and 2002-2003 - The Site Council consists of all current students, staff and families of this K-8 public school. It is a model of site-based governance, each member having equal voting power.

Director- Sir Herbert Read Consortium- 1998-present- A non-profit entity that supports alternative learning. SHRC has also acted as fiscal agent for various community imrovement projects, such as the playground improvements at AS#1, and the updating of Pinehurst Community Park.

Playground Renovation at AS#1-2000- With Elaine Schmidt, co-wrote and won over $70,000 in grants to transform asphalt into creative playareas including playscapes, grass field and other community-use improvements. Those included a measurable-distance running track and regulation basketball hoops. We were also responsible for overseeing the project to completion. Yes, that included shoveling the woodchips and watering the grass.

Parent Representative- 2001-2003- Selected by AS#1 parents to be one of their representatives in negotiating an alternative to the Universal Standards-Based Student Progress Report mandated by then Superintendent Joseph Olchefske. Also signer on the ensuing lawsuit filed against Olchefske, and settled last spring.

Developmental-Based Student Progress Report- 2002-03-Supported Elaine Schmidt in creating a model for the Developmental Report now available District-wide. Also, led the discussions with the AS#1 staff and families that led to the first adoption of a schoolwide progress report in the school's 33 year history.

Leading Fundraiser- 1990 - Give Peace A Dance

Salmon Bay Park Playground Renovation Tile Project- 2000- Volunteer

Broadway Bound Children's Theatre- 2001-present- Volunteer200

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

The locally elected Seattle School Board members have been delegated the direct control and operation of the district's program by the State of Washington.

Seattle Public Schools Board Bylaws clearly state that "the School Board members serve as elected representatives of the community" and further that "The Board must endeavor to translate the desires and needs of the community into a balanced and workable program of public education. To achieve this end, the Board must establish effective communication with parents and other responsible and representative members of the community".

Additionally, "the Seattle School Board's primary function is to establish policy and to fix responsibility for the execution or implementation of policy..Board action is concerned generally with planning, policy making and appraisal. "

I believe that the requirement to honor community needs and desires in creating policies is critical. The present Board and former Superintendent were ineffective in this area. Rather than starting with community needs, this administration has tried to shoehorn diverse constituencies into a narrow agenda.

Inclusive decision making is key to generating parental/community involvement in public education. Involved and satisfied families provide a necessary boost to increased academic achievement. They are one side of the triangle of power: the student, the school, the family.

There are several ways to improve communication immediately. Board members need to be physically present and interactive with the schools they serve, in order to understand their unique concerns. Director Bass has established a model for monthly, interactive community meetings that provide a two-way conduit of information sharing. All Board members should provide similar venues. Other means, such as a citizens panel that includes high school student representatives, could be established to network information to and from the Board and participate in strategic planning. Public access television viewing of all Board meetings and work sessions would allow observation and future input from many more people. Changing the way the Board Meetings are run to allow for interaction with petitioners would be helpful.

The School Board is responsible for approving and monitoring a budget of nearly half a billion dollars. They approve or disapprove the hiring of teachers, bus drivers, construction firms, etc. The Board is charged with monitoring, and holding accountable, those to whom implementation of policy is charged, namely the Superintendent. Their Bylaws state that "appraisal" is one of the Board duties. That would include a fair and honest appraisal of themselves and the Superintendent on a quarterly basis. I favor the establishment of a citizen panel to review the Board quarterly as well.

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.

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.

Founding Member-Citizens for Effective Administration of Seattle Education (CEASE) 2002-present-Citywide coalition of diverse citizen groups formed to network with and support each other in matters dealing with public education in Seattle.

Sir Herbert Read Consortium Director-1998-present-Non-profit entity, fiscal agent for community improvement projects (AS#1 playground, Pinehurst Park renovation)

Playground Renovation-2000-Co-wrote/won over $70,000 in grants.

Leading Fundraiser-Give Peace a Dance-1990

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