2004 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
Eric		Pettigrew

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

State Representative

3.   Are you the incumbent?                  Yes              No

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

17 years

5.   How long have you resided in King County?

20 years

6.   Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan?         Partisan      Nonpartisan         

7.   If partisan, please indicate party:  Democrat

CAMPAIGN CONTACTS

Campaign Name:	Friends To Elect Eric Pettigrew
Address:	PO Box 28660
City/State/Zip:	Seattle, WA  98118
Campaign Phone:	(206)320-8683
Campaign Fax:	(206)325-2844
Campaign E-mail:	e.pettigrew@comcast.net
Campaign Website:	www.ericpettigrew.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)
State Representative	Elected	01/2002-Present	Vice-Chair Juvenile Justice Committee
N/A
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
N/A
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.)

Iam running for this office because I love my community. For 17 years I have worked very hard as a resident of my community to make sure my community is an environment that is the safest place for me and my family to work, live and play. The desire for that environment has been a main motivator for my active involvement into the success of our community. In addition to being a vocal promoter and leader of my community I have made every effort to place my ideas next to my work ethic and have been a volunteer, an employee and a businesses proponenet for my community. I truly believe I am the best candidate for this job because of my knowledge of the community and the major issues that impact my community. I believe I can continue to develop and support policy that directly address the needs of the those in most needs as well as those that are do well for themselves. I have proven that I can effectively work with colleagues from both the Republican and Democratic party as well as the Governor and his/her staff.  I am very good at listening to and implmenting ideas that come from my constituients. When I was approached by my predecessor, Kip Tokuda, I was relectant to run for this office because I could only see this as "policital" or "being a politician", but Kip convinced me that being a State Representative is not just being a politician, it is being a public servant and a chance to give back to a community that had already given me so very much. That perspective is the "lense" I use to make all my decesions including why I am running for re-election.

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

I can get things done. I am not very big on a great deal of discussion. I am good at seeing (or having a problem brought to me) and implementing some type of solution.

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. 

The passage of the Act for Hungry Families- in 2002 there was a simple piece of legislation that would allow the state to "opt out" of their restrictions related to drug felons being eligible for food stamps. I recognzed this as an important policy change because there were a lot of families in my district that were affected by the restriction.  I realized that many who were going hungry or re-offendeding because they didn't have access to resources could benefit. When I approached the leadership of my caucus they refused to give the legislation serious consideration because it was a political"fireball" for others in my caucus who would get attacked by opponents in their up coming re-election campaigns. The bill died. Although the bill died I could not let go of how important this policy would be for those living on the edge in my district. So during the interim (legislative break) I met with the Speaker of the House and asked him to explain to me what it would take to have this legislation be seriously considered. After an initial outright refusal, he gave me a long, and what may have seemed to be to him, an impossible list of things that would have to be done in order to consider the legislation. The list included getting Senate Republican support from the most conservative members, getting House Republic support from the most conservative members, making sure that the bill would first pass the Senate before coming over to the House and getting enough votes so that the members in our caucus that he thought was the most vulnerable for an attack ("soft on crime") be allowed to vote "no". Instead of being discuouraged I met with a number of community activitst and took each item one by one. I also met with conservative Republican leadersin the House and Senate and explained to them how important this was to my district. The bottom line was the legislation passed both Chambers and passed the house 85-13. In order to make sure the policy passed I had to allow my companion bill in the House to die and let the exact same Senate Republican version servive and pass. That was not at all a concern because I was committed to the policy and not having my  name on a piece of legislation. This is how I operate. Where there is an issue I am convicted about I am persistent , I am a good strategist, I am a good communicator, I work well with people who I share the same values with and also with those I do not, I am willing to give up my personal recognition for the good of good of those who are most in need.

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.

After devistating statistics were released in the late 80's and early 90's that said that youth of color have a higher likelihood ofbeing involved in teen pregnancy, violence and sexually transmitted disease, I lobbied the University of Washington to house their MY Health project in my community. As a result the MY Health project was located in the Central area of Seattle and for 5 years researched was to reduce teen pregnancy, violence, substance abguse and sexually transmitted diseases among teens 12-14 years old. I was hired to direct that program and saw a great deal of success. Another example of my active invlovement in my community was when I realized our community was struggling economically. As a result I wrote a proposal to SAFECO Insurance and convinced them to open an office in the Central Area of Seattle to create business and job opportunites. And when I realized the impact of the construction of light rail in my communtiy I successfully lobbied the City Council for 48million dollars to ease the negative impacts of light rail construction.  I was a baseballand basketball coach for 8 years and have been a volunteer on several community projects and activities over the years.

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

Legislators pass laws, bring up bills and vote on others. In preparing legislation, we work with all parties who have similar an interests. We approve budgets and appointments submitted by the chief executive. Chief executives and legislators also perform many ceremonial duties, give speeches and participate in statewide policy planning.

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.

I am a High School graduate (Nogales High School, La Puente, CA 1978

I have a Bachelors of Science Degree from Oregon State University in Sociology 1983

I have a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Washington 1987

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