1. Name as it will appear on the ballot
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2. Office sought (include office, jurisdiction, position/district number):
3. Are you the incumbent? Yes No
4. How long have you resided in this district/city? 54 years
5. How long have you resided in King County? 54 years
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6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan Nonpartisan
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Citizens for Ruth Kagi |
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Address: |
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1. Beginning with the most recent position, please list public offices which you have held. Include positions on appointive Boards or Commissions.
2. If you ran for public office but were not elected, please list those races below:
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In this section, we are seeking responses that reflect the four ratings criteria: involvement, effectiveness, character, and knowledge. These are defined as follows:
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 have dedicated my professional career to public policy. I view the legislature as the best possible place to change public policy as it affects children and families, education, public finance and public safety. My experience over the past six years has affirmed that belief.
Over the past two years, as Chair of the Children and Families Committee, I have initiated legislation to strengthen our child welfare system by lowering child welfare caseloads, improving the education experience of foster children; improving social work practice by requiring reliance on evidence based practice; and moving all state funded child welfare programs to performance based contracting. Further work is needed to institutionalize these improvements.
In the coming two years, I am committed to improving child care and early learning in Washington State. Funding for child care has been severely cut over the past four years, and the quality of care has suffered. The legislature needs to focus on the importance of early learning, and strengthen both the structure and the funding for early learning programs.
Finally, as sponsor of drug sentencing reform, I remain committed to assuring that non-violent drug offenders are provided treatment in the community. Our prisons are overcrowded and over 20% of the inmates are non-violent drug offenders, many of whom could be more efficiently and effectively treated in the community through drug courts.
Over the past six years, I have learned a great deal about how the legislative process works. The legislative process is difficult and complex; the past six years have given me the experience and perspective to work effectively as a state representative.
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2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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I focus on practical and achieveable goals in the legislative process, and devote myself to achieving those goals during session. My extensive experience working in public administration has provided valuable insight into what is practical, and what policies will actually effect change. I work very hard, and carefully research policy options before deciding on a course of action in any particular progam area. I am respectful of other people's opinions, and find that very helpful in reaching agreement on issues.
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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 consider drug sentencing reform to be my most significant legislative accomplishment. Working on a bi-partisan basis with prosecutors, police chiefs, judges, and treatment providers, I worked intensively with stakeholders to draft a bill that dramatically revises our drug sentencing laws, reduces sentences for non-violent drug offenders, and invests the savings in drug courts. It is a common sense reform the holds non-violent drug offenders responsible for their recovery--not just their crime-- and assures that our limited prison beds are reserved to incarcerate high risk offenders.
The bill required development of a coalition of support from stakeholders representing widely disperate perspectives on crime and drug use, and the ability to fashion compromises that protected public safety but moved toward the goal of treatment rather than incarceration for non-violent drug offenders. Many philosophical differences had to be overcome, and political opposition neutralized. Washington State now has one of the most progressive drug sentencing reform laws in the country. |
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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Before running for office, I served as vice president of the League of Women Voters of Washington, and worked with a broad spectrum of organizations on issues under consideration by the legislature, or being proposed for the ballot. I learned the importance of working with stakeholders to reach agreement on an issue, and then moving the issue forward through public education and advocacy.
As a citizen lobbyist for the League, I personally experienced the difficulties of trying to impact the legislative process from the outside. It is a confusing and complex system to understand and influence. That experience has been valuable in working with individuals and organizations interested in proposing legislation, and getting it through the legislative process.
My extensive involvement in volunteer community acitivities related to children and families and child abuse and neglect, from community non-profit boards to state, city and county commissions, has provided valuable experience and on-going connection to issues of concern in the community. I rely heavily on child advocates and human service professionals working in the community in my work in the legislature on child and family issues. |
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The two most important responsibilities of a legislator are to represent the constituents in my district, and to develop and move forward public policies on priority issues. As my education and background are in public policy, I devote most of my energy and time to legislative policy development and implementation, both during session and in the interim. It is a difficult challenge to stay on top of the many issues of importance to the Children and Family Services Committee, provide leadership on specific issues of particular interest, and to stay in touch and follow through with issues of concern to constituents in the district.
As Chair of the Children and Family Services Committee, I view my primary responsibility as assuring that the committee provides leadership and direction to public policy in child welfare, child care and early learning, welfare reform, drug and alcohol treatment, and services for the developmentallly disabled. Before session, I and the members of my committee should have a clear idea of what we want to accomplish during the session in each of these areas. |
EDUCATION BACKGROUND SUMMARY
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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BA Political Science University of Washington MPA Public. Admin. Syracuse University |
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.
Shoreline Community College Foundation Board; Shoreline Breakfast Rotary; Treehouse Foundation Board; Previously Vice Pres. League of Women Voters of WA; Pres., Center for Human Services Board; Chair, WA Council for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect
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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.
Candidate Evaluation Coordinator: Rebecca Cooper
Seattle, WA 98104-1614 Fax: 425-671-0506 Website: www.munileague.org