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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10 concurrent years, or approximately 30 years total |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan Nonpartisan
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Campaign to Elect Geni Hawkins |
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Address: |
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City/State/Zip: |
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Campaign Phone: |
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Campaign Fax: |
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Campaign E-mail: |
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Campaign Website: |
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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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Democratic National Convention
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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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First, I believe that I bring something to this office which is currently lacking on the Council as a whole: technological background. Not everything is about technology, but it is a serious concern that our Council is facing decisions involving technology (safe elections, traffic solutions, and budget/economy to name a few) on a daily basis without anyone on the Council having any real experience in the field of technology.
Second, I feel that the current representation on the Council is not an accurate voice for the people of our district. South King County is a truly unique area with some issues which are simply not being addressed by the incumbent. The growth, traffic, crime, and economic issues we face in the 7th District have not been adequately considered, and I believe that a fresh perspective and a new way of thinking can turn our community around.
I believe that no one should run for any office just to hold a seat or have a title. I am running because I sincerely believe that I can do a better job than is being done. I have the drive to win this campaign and the intelligence and love of my community to do the job well.
I am running because, frankly, I would love to sink my teeth into some of the issues the Council works on and would love to be challenged to learn the new skills the Council position would require. The more I learn about what the County Council does, the more I want the job - because the issues are critical to the citizens of King County. I believe there are few positions in which an individual can have such a positive impact on the daily lives of the citizens, and the future of our state. I would love to use my problem-solving and communications skills in concert with my technological background to bring some new and innovative ideas to the committees whose work affects us all. |
2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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I am passionate about the issues our community faces, but I am both thoughtful and considerate in my decisions. I a strong-willed, independent minded person who will not be pushed into making decisions I don't believe in, which means that I seek to fully understand something before I take a position. I am open minded to new ideas, different perspectives, and am not afraid to ask questions to make sure I am informed about issues I don't have enough details about.
My strongest ability is as a problem solver. In my daily work, I'm required to troubleshoot problems which affect the entire school district's network connectivity, and implement solutions to prevent such problems from recurring. I am happiest in a situation where I am constantly learning new things, continually being challenged to develop new skills, and called on to come up with concrete solutions to real problems. This is a trait that I feel would be utilized to its utmost on the Council.
I am a person who invariably makes every effort to carry through on any commitments I've made. I am honest to a fault, can clearly articulate ideas and issues, and a very quick study. I've based my entire career on being able to learn new skills on a daily basis, which I think would serve me very well with the steep learning curve every new Councilmember faces. |
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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My current work in the Highline School District has given me a strong appreciation of the need for public-sector entities to be responsive to the community when setting goals, making decisions, determining budgets, etc. The district is very much a working-class district, with students who speak more than 22 different languages at home. As such, we have many unusual challenges, not the least of which is financial, in bringing our students the best possible education; it is essential for us that we make every penny count. I am a passionate advocate for the public schools, and for education.
As the Network Manager, it is often necessary for me to communicate clearly with the school staff and community as a whole, in order to gauge the effectiveness or desirability of various technological solutions. There are times I must convey information to staff which is not what they wanted to hear, and do it in such a way that they do not become disillusioned with the process or feel that the Information Technology department is not responsive to their concerns. I deal with staff members whose technological knowledge runs the gamut from absolute beginner to high-level expert, and strive to treat them all with the same level of respect. Additionally, when I worked at The Boeing Company, one of the positions I held was an enterprise-wide third-level troubleshooting position in Distributed Network Technical Support. In this position, I was required to work on issues that affected the entire Boeing company, including the merger with McDonnell-Douglas network systems. This required a great deal of coordination and communication with persons at all levels of expertise, seniority, and knowledge. This type of communication is something that the Councilmembers must do on a daily basis as well.
In the last two years, as I've become more politically active, I've taken on a number of roles which were new to me, including serving as the South King County coordinator for Women for Kerry, acting Precinct Committee Officer, and many others. All of these required skill and tact in communicating needs and issues to people with a wide variety of skills and knowledge.
I've also been very involved in community theatre and community choruses in the last several years, and have had ample opportunity to appear before the public in a public-speaking and public-performance roles. In one chorus I sang with, I served as the volunteer coordinator, which was an extremely demanding position requiring much juggling of individual schedules, preferences, transportation, etc. I was very successful at this, managing to staff several very profitable fund-raisers and performances.
In my neighborhood, I've been involved with a group that has sought solutions to an ongoing problem with an abandoned house on our street. The group has met many times with the city's mayor and police chief, and has worked cooperatively with city authorities to try to find reasonable solutions to a very intractable problem with the property's owner.
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The Council adopts ordinances and motions, sets policy for the county, holds approval authority for the county budget; Council members also serve on boards and commissions such as the Growth Management Planning Council, the Regional Transit Authority, and the Puget Sound Regional Council.
It's difficult to place one duty above another--setting policy is vitally important to guide the County and keep our citizens safe, our economy on track, and solve problems within the county. The budget is a major part of the job, and staying within our budget while trying to serve the needs of our constituents is a tough challenge which I look forward to! Additionally, the County is one of the largest employers in the state, and the Council must make decisions which affect those employees and their benefits on a daily basis.
However, I think the duty that I will find most rewarding and most important is to maintain contact with the constituents of the district and to listen to the people we serve. Being on the boards and commissions will help me stay in touch with the needs of the county and will help me understand the direction to take to best serve the district and the county as a whole. |
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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My educational background is primarily technical, not academic; I do not hold any academic degrees, but have extensive education in the very technical field in which I work. |
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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In addition to the involvement I enumerated in Question 4, I've also been involved with IGNITE (Inspiring Girls Now in Technology Education), an organization which mentors and provides role models to high school girls of women in high-tech careers. I feel very strongly that providing this kind of example to young women is one of the best ways to inspire them to pursue careers in technology. |
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