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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7 Years |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan Nonpartisan
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Whitfield 2004 |
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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.)
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“They’re not listening.”
That’s what I heard as I led health care town-hall meetings in all of Washington’s 39 counties. Too many Washingtonians think that what they say doesn’t matter. That nobody in Olympia listens. That nobody cares.
And it’s not just health care. We all have friends who are under-employed, and worse yet, unemployed. We all have neighbors who have too many conversations with their kids by cell phone on the long commute home from work. We all know children who are going to schools that are not teaching them the things they need to know.
"Is anybody in Olympia listening?"
I decided to run for the State House of Representatives to make sure the answer to that question would be “Yes.” I decided to run because I think my friends and neighbors deserve a represenative with the personal experiece, policy exepreince, and political expereince to work effectively on behalf of the all of the people in our district. |
2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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Personal Experience
I think my most important trait is my personal experience as the product of the American Dream. I grew up poor, made it into college on academic scholarships and bought a small business at 26-years old. I can relate to people at all rungs of the economic ladder and am passionate about assuring opportunity for everyone, no matter their socio-economic situation. I have the personal experience to represent the diverse interests of the 48th District - home to the country's wealthiest as well as those much less advantaged.
Policy Experience
Since 2001, I have worked at a non-partisan statewide health foundation. My job is to work with policy leaders in Federal, State, and local government; health policy organizations and associations; and consumer groups and members of the public to collaborate on developing more effective health policy. I believe my understanding of policy development and the legislative process will allow me to be an effective reprehensive with virtually no learning curve.
Political Experience
In 2002, I was elected to the Executive Board of the Washington State Republican Party. Being elevated by my peers to this leadership position was an honor and a reflection of my history of participation in the political process. Having served my party in this fashion, I would arrive in Olympia with personal relationships with political figures throughout the state. Whether the public recognizes it or not, these relationships are the primary currency of Olympia and my political experience would make me an immediately effective representative for the interests of the people in my district. |
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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Community RoundTables In 2003, I organized and facilitated health care town hall meetings for the Washington Health Foundation. Working with community members, policy organizations and political leaders, I was able to help a group of diverse interests make progress in one of the most contentious issues of our time.
The process began with developing a group of statewide participating organizations that would work together to ensure that a broad set of perspectives were heard through the process. The twenty-plus collaborating organizations - including the Association of Washington Business, Washington Citizen Action (a consumer advocacy group), the League of Women Voters, the Washington State Medical Association, the Washington State Hospital Association, and other competing interests – helped make the process successful by encouraging their constituents to participate.
I facilitated 44 meetings covering all 39 of Washington’s counties over 3 months, hearing directly from 1200 participants who described their concerns and aspirations for their communities and their communities’ health. The information was collected, compiled, and condensed into a set of “values” for consideration by policy and political leaders throughout the state. A bi-partisan group of more than 250 of these of these leaders joined Governor Gary Locke in signing a Health Leadership Resolution agreeing to work through differing points of view to establish these values at the center of an improved health system.
CURVE Establishing “Commuters Using Roads and Vehicles on the Eastside” to advocate for Eastside transportation funding
When the state legislature approved the Regional Transportation Investment District allowing King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties to develop a ballot measure to seek public funding of regional transportation projects, a “gentleman’s agreement” was made by King County leaders to use roughly 1/3 of revenues to fund projects in South County, 1/3 in the Seattle area, and 1/3 on the Eastside. Unfortunately, as negotiations progressed, some Seattle politicians decided that they wanted more money and wanted to renege on the original deal - denying needed funds for the Eastside.
I wrote a letter to Dwight Pelz, King County Transportation Chair and proponent of the re-allocation of funds encouraging him to follow-through on the original agreement. Eastside political and business leaders signed the letter that I hand-delivered to Pelz’s office along with a dozen concerned community members. |
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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YMCA Eastside District Board (2003-Present) Activate America – Community Planning Team Member PR/Communications Task Force
CityClub (2000-Present) Vice President
Lakeview Elementary School PTA (2002-Present) Child Advocacy Chair/Vice President
Medina Children’s Services (2002-2003) Volunteer through Leadership Tomorrow
Kibble & Prentice Employee Benefits (1998-2000) Established Unit focused on needs of small business
Washington Policy Center (2003) Small Business Project Conference Facilitator
Green Elephants Society (1999-2000) Co-Founder of organization for balanced environmental involvement
Annals of Family Medicine (2002-Present) Consumer Representative on Editorial Advisory Board for national health policy journal
Health Policy Committee Member (2001-Present) Association of Washington Business
UW Health Policy Analysis Program (2001-Present) Steering Committee Member
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The duties of a State Representative are to represent the district in the development of the state budget and other state laws as well as help constituents with their concerns with state government. I feel this is best broken into three specific roles: Listening, Negotiating, and Collaborating.
An effective Representative listens to the needs of all of the constituents in the district. I feel I have the personal experience to relate well to the diverse needs of the people in the 48th District.
An effective Representative then negotiates on behalf of the district to develop solutions to address those needs. I have experience successfully negotiating policy solutions and would use that experience to benefit the people in the district and the people across the state.
Finally, an effective Representative collaborates with others to bring those potential solutions into reality. My political experience allows me to work from a position of strength to effectively execute policies on behalf of the people of Washington. |
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 with Honors, University of Washington UCC Business Management School Harvard Kennedy School of Government Health Policy Executive Program Leadership Tomorrow Leadership Training |
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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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