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
Geoff		Stamper

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

State Representative 41st District Position 1

3.   Are you the incumbent?                  Yes              No

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

1962-66, 1998-current

5.   How long have you resided in King County?

1962-69, 1972-1991, 1997-current

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

7.   If partisan, please indicate party:  Democratic

CAMPAIGN CONTACTS

Campaign Name:	Geoff Stamper Campaign
Address:	4505 137th Avenue S.E.
City/State/Zip:	Bellevue, WA 98006
Campaign Phone:	206-706-7304
Campaign Fax:
Campaign E-mail:	gstamper@stamperandstamper.com
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)
None

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

Office Title	Year of Run
None

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 have become increasingly discouraged about the trend of letting incumbents run unopposed.  I believe choices help promote accountability.  Rather than sit in the stands and complain, I now have the time and opportunity to make at least one small contribution to a viable political process.

I believe we all share similar core values and aspirations.  We long to live, work, and travel in an environment that is safe, healthy, and affordable.  I believe I can offer common sense as an antidote for bureaucratic paralysis. 

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

I believe I have common sense.

I believe I have an open mind, an ability to find common ground, and a willingness to compromise.

I believe I am intelligent and articulate enough to ask the questions that need to be asked and follow up until we get the accountability we deserve.

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. 

1.  See answe to question 4 below.

2.  In 1991, Boeing transferred me for a six year assignment in Wichita, Kansas.  As Director of Human Resources for the biggest employer in the state, I negotiated two cycles of contracts with five different unions without any work stoppage.  I drected an organization that hired over 4000 employees in one year while raising equal opportunity utilization numbers.  Later, we co-ordinated layoffs of thousands of employees with significant mitigation programs and minimal litigation.  We had to perform while cutting our own Human Resources budget of $10 million and 270 employees by one third.  We delivered over 300,000 annual hours of innovative training with high levels of measured line management satisfaction and increased morale as measured by statistically significant gains in employee opinion survey results.

3.  I have run 13 marathons which demonstrates the discipline to work hard for goals.

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.

Geoff has been a member of the Board for the Matt Talbot Center since 1998.  Matt Talbot is located in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood and provides free clinical substance abuse treatment and a variety of restoration services to the homeless, addicted and mentally ill populations.  Even a single commencement on a sobriety anniversary date brings a bigger sense of accomplishment to Geoff than any of his business successes.  Being a small part of a process that turns lives around in the face of incredible odds provides Geoff the opportunity to witness the anonymous but real heroes in our community.

Geoff's involvement with the Matt Talbot Center and an earlier, similar role with the Foodbank Warehouse has improved his own personal skills.  You learn how to maximize results with the barest resources.  You refine your sense of compassion and respect for all people.  It becomes easier to sort out true priorities in life.  Geoff believes these qualities transfer well to an elected state representative. 

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

My understanding of state representative duties:

a) enact or reject legislation affecting public policy in Washington State

b) levy taxes and appropriate funds to support state and local government policies

c) serve on committees with oversight responsibility to review state and local government policy issues

Although the enactment of legislation is often the most visible duty, I believe the appropriation of funds is the most important one.  Proper dialogue and accountability must be imbedded in the process.  Otherwise, a tremendous opportunity exists for waste of public resources and results at variance with the true wishes of the people.

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.

J.D., George Washington University Law School (1972)

B.A., Seattle University (1969)

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