1. Name as it will appear on the ballot
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First Name |
Middle Initial or Nick Name |
Last Name |
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?
5. How long have you resided in King County?
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39 years |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan Nonpartisan
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Friends for Rodney Tom |
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Address: |
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Campaign Phone: |
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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.
Public Office |
Elective or Appointive? |
Dates Held |
Leadership Role (if any) |
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Assistant Ranking Member - Education committee
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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.)
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I am running for re-election to the State Legislature to continue bringing a balanced, common sense, solutions oriented approach to Olympia. We need to put aside partisan politics and work to solve our state’s problems in education, the economy, health care and transportation. As a life-long resident, I believe we are so fortunate to live in a region immensely blessed with an abundance of natural beauty. In addition to our pristine natural environment, we’re lucky to have an employment base with world-class companies like Microsoft, Boeing, Immunex, Costco, Nordstrom, Amazon.com and Starbucks. That’s why I have such great hope for our state. We have the potential to be a state unparalleled in the greatest country in the world. But unless we start showing the leadership, focus and direction so lacking in Olympia, it will be nothing but wasted potential. We’ll still be mired in a 2nd rate education system, traffic congestion, and soaring health care costs. Instead of being the envy of the country, we’re bickering over political ideologies instead of actually solving our problems in education, economic viability, health care and transportation. I think it’s important when addressing these issues, that we ask 3 fundamental questions: 1) What is the most balanced approach, 2) What is the practical thing to do, and 3) What makes the most common sense? Then and only then can we work together toward practical, achievable solutions that we can implement NOW. I believe education is the most urgent and fundamental problem we face. Too often we sloganize our state’s constitutional adage that “education is the paramount duty of the State.” This is not a trite little jingle, but it should be our main guiding principle. I believe we’re not investing enough time, energy, and effort on public education. Today as parents, we have a lot of good educational alternatives available to us. Yet, we must never turn our backs on public education. I believe so adamantly in the vital role public education makes. I went to public schools. I send my children to public schools. Public schools are the backbone of our society. Public education is the engine that creates opportunity and hope for our next generation. I also believe public education can be made better. I want to continue my focus on education in Olympia and work hard to make sure our schools today, meet the needs of our children tomorrow. Through world-class public education, we can short-circuit many of the social problems we’re experiencing with drug addiction, teen-age pregnancy, and crime. We have a perfect storm brewing with the combination of an aging population (lower worker to retiree ratio), global competition, and an ever increasing high-tech economy. Educational excellence is the only way we are going to be able as American’s to continue to enjoy our high standard of living. In a high-tech world, creativity and innovation are going to be the keys to being able to compete successfully at the global level. The lifecycle of a product keeps getting shorter and shorter. Once a product becomes a commodity, it’s manufacturing goes to the lowest cost producer. America can not compete with our current wage structure in low-skilled areas. We must dominate the high-tech arena and the only way we are going to be able to do that is through a world-class education system, from pre-school all the way through our colleges and research universities. My second priority and focus is the economy and jobs. In the end, it all boils down to the economy and jobs, and creating a framework that helps, not hinders our businesses, both large and small. We need to make Washington a more business friendly environment. We can’t keep chasing the Boeing’s of the world out of town at a time when good jobs are so desperately needed. There’s a lot of talk today about outsourcing and what we can do to stop it, but the biggest problem we face as a state isn’t outsourcing, but it’s out-stating. We lost Boeing to Chicago, Airborne to Florida, the list goes on. I was in Chicago in April of 2004, and I can guarantee you Boeing didn’t move there because it’s a prettier place to live. We’re blessed with some of the most spectacular natural settings in the world. Our job in Olympia is to make sure our business environment fosters growth and opportunity, coupled with an educational climate that provides the skilled workforce that has the knowledge and creative capacity to thrive in a dynamic, global economy. Speaking of the environment, too often we pit protecting the environment against economic development and jobs. I strongly believe that the two work in conjunction with each other, not in opposition to one another. It’s through a strong and vibrant economy that we can protect the environment in a science based manner. Thirdly, with regards to health care. The reason why I’m so focused on health care is I believe unless we can figure a way to keep our health care costs from spirally out of control, more and more of our educational dollars will be gobbled up by health care expenses. Currently right now health care inflation is around 12-15%, 5 times that of the general inflation. Now this might sound like a counter intuitive idea, but I don’t want to see health care costs reduced. The reason for this is I want to make sure we continue to invest in cutting edge research. Research that can help us solve Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and so many other debilitating diseases that we are at the frontier of finding a cure for. The only way we are going to get a handle on the health care cost curve is we must address 3 issues: prevention, smoking, and obesity. We don’t have a health care system in this state or country, what we have a sick care system, and until we put our focus and concentration on prevention, we are going to continue to see health care become less and less affordable. Smoking is a $140B drain on our economy. Obesity is a $105B drain on our health care dollar. I ask you, is this really where we want to be spending our precious, limited resources? I want to focus our spending on education, and creating the infrastructure that will allow us to compete in a global, knowledge based economy. Finally with regards to transportation, we must focus our attention on traffic congestion. By solving our transportation mess, we can not only bring the short-term benefit of less traffic congestion, but it will have a substantial long-term impact economically on our ability to move freight and retain companies like Boeing in the area. Solving our transportation problem is going to take flexibility and working together. We can not afford a stalemate between the downtown core and the suburbs. We must also not shortsight ourselves with minimalist solutions that are going to require additional construction as soon as we’re finished. In addition, our transportation system needs to be considered wholelistically with our housing policy. We need a lot more high density housing near our work centers, so that we can partially mitigate the need for more rush hour capacity in our transportation infrastructure. Working together, we can restore balance and common sense back into our state government. We can bring thinking to Olympia that is fresh, original, and unexpected and solve our state’s most pressing needs in education, the economy, health care, and transportation. That’s exactly what I have done the past two years in Olympia and what I plan to continue on doing, and that’s why I’m asking for your vote this November. |
2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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After having served 2 years as a State Representative in Olympia, I believe I pocess several characteristics that have enabled me to be effective, even as a freshman legislator. First, and foremost is my ability to work well with others, especially my friends from across the aisle. Too often in politics we concentrate on our differences, but it’s in our similarities where we find workable solutions. Having sold real estate for 15 years, where one minute you’re competing against another agent and the next day you might be working with them on a different transaction, I’ve learned how to work with all different types of people and how not to personalize our differences, but to look for the good in everyone. The second trait I believe helps me succeed is in taking a balanced, moderate approach on most issues. Far too many politicians are polarized in their positions, not even having the capacity to work congenially with the oppositiion, let alone finding a solution that everyone can agree upon. The third trait I believe is important is that I’m able to process large amounts of information, and see how they all fit together. Over the past 2 years, I’ve voted on 809 pieces of legislation on the House floor alone, not including those votes taken in committee. I’m an admitted information junkie, and love to read, think, and contemplate on the complex issues that face us. Most of the easy problems get resolved long before they require legislative attention. It’s these complex and seemingly impossible issues that I find my real joy in helping craft a 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.
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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For the past 15 years, I have been successfully selling residential real estate on the Eastside. Real estate has taught me a lot about the importance of listening, and how real life issue like transportation and education affect individuals and families on a daily basis. During this time, I also had the fun experience of starting my own business, and finding out firsthand how government regulations and procedures affect small businesses. The most important thing about selling real estate is finding the right solution to your clients housing needs. The only way to do this is through asking lots of questions, listening intensively, knowing the market, and then applying that knowledge to help bring about one of the biggest dreams most of us have; owning our own home. It’s about putting the customer’s needs first, and then giving them my honest opinion and professional advice. Honesty is always an interesting business topic, but I have learned through countless experiences its also smart business. The lasting client relationships far exceed any quick money I could have made from being a little less than completely truthful.
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The duty of a State Representative is to help pass laws that enhance our lives, while maintaining the freedoms we’ve been so richly blessed with in this great country. It’s a balancing act between providing essential government services in the most economical manner, while finding the fairest means of paying for them. For me, the hardest part of being a State Representative is sitting in the countless committee meetings. I’m a doer, I don’t like to waste time in endless procedural formalities. I like to figure out where there’s a problem, why it’s occurring and how best to fix it, and then go fix it. Too often in government we’re forever in the studying phase. The best part of being a State Representative is getting out and meeting with people. I love to interact with individuals from all walks of life and hear their stories, and the problems they’re facing. I really cherish my time one-on-one with people and making a difference in their lives. I believe the most important duty of any public official is the ability to listen to the public, and then incorporate all the divergent viewpoints into an executable policy that will solve the problem at hand. It’s bringing an open mind, and then finding practical, common sense solutions that work in both the short and long term. |
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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MBA, Finance, Univ of Southern California, 1988 BA, Bus Admin, Univ of Washington, 1985 Newport High School, 1981 |
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.
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State Representative, 48th district Board Member, Washington State Arts Commission Board Member, March of Dimes Board Member, Mainstream Republicans Volunteer Work: Safe Rides – Providing teenagers an alternative way home, instead of them getting into an unsafe car that too often results in a tragic ending. Bellevue Rotary – Community support and outreach. Park trail cleanups. Windermere Foundation – Community service day. Cleaning up parks in Kirkland. |
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