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
Jack	D	Cairnes

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

State Rep  47^th Dist. Seat 2

3.   Are you the incumbent?                  Yes              No

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

In King County since 1952, in the 47^th Dist. since 1980+

5.   How long have you resided in King County?

52 years

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

7.   If partisan, please indicate party:  Republican

CAMPAIGN CONTACTS

Campaign Name:	Friends of Jack Cairnes
Address:	Po Box  857
City/State/Zip:	Auburn, WA 98071
Campaign Phone:	253 630 2768
Campaign Fax:	425 432 3374, Call before sending
Campaign E-mail:	jcairnes@msn.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)
State Rep.	Elective	94-04	Committee lead and Chairman
Race Horse Commission	Appointed	98-04	member
Tax Structure Study	Appointed	01-03	member, Republican Representative

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

Office Title	Year of Run
King County Executive	1993

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 unfinished issues that I have been working on and I am running for re-election so that I can continue to work on difficult and pressing issues such as transportation, education, healthcare, and growth.

I also have several issues that are just as difficult, such as tort reform, that need attention.  I hope to have the opportunity to work on Tort as it relates to and impacts Health Care.

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

I work well with others.  In the Olympia environment, nothing is more crucial.  Other people have to trust you to say what you mean and mean what you say.  All you have to offer is your word.  Second is a calm and thoughtful approach to problem solving.  Third, I always do my homework.  I read and study the issues esspecially the ones that I'll be faced with the next day.

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.  When I was first elected Highway 18, which runs through the heart of my district, was scheduled to become a toll road.  I led the effort that sucessfully removed it from the toll road concept.

2.  As the Republican House representative to the Tax Restructure Committee, which Bill Gates Sr. chaired, I worked to identify problems as well as strong points of our WA state tax system.

3.  I was one of the early leaders working to keep Boeing and Boeing jobs here.  I was the first to hold meetings with aerospace machinists and Boeing to determine what it would take to get the 7E7 here.  In the end the Governor, Democrats and Republicans united in this sucessful effort.

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.

 1.  I am a livetime member of the VFW.  We perform many civic activities.

2.  I was an active member of the PTA during the years my children were in school.

3.  I was a member of the Greater Maple Valley Area Council before Maple Valley became a city.

4.  I was involved in the Area Transportation Council for several years working with King County in an effort to solve some of our transportation problems.

5.  I was a Little League Coach for several years.

6.  Playfield and Park Booster from about 1988 until a couple of of years ago when we disbanded after accomplishing our goal. 

  And many others.

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

As a 10 year incumbent, the duty that has always seemed the most important to me, is to be responsive to the people.  I help solve citizen problems with government red tape, whether it's a building permit, a tax issue or anything in between. 

Currently the most important state issue is economic vitality.  Jobs!  Meshing jobs with environmental concerns is not an easy task.  May other areas impact jobs such as transportation, education, growth, etc..  I try to take a balanced approach to solving these problems.

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.

Cameron University   Graduated 1975  Business Degree  (BS)

Ball State University  Graduated 1980  Counciling Psychology (Masters)

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