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
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Approximately 30 years |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan Nonpartisan
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Friends to Re-elect Richard McIver |
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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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I am seeking re-election and want to continue serving the residents of Seattle because: - I care about the quality of life of our residents and want to continue and build on work that I have done to promote smart growth and family wage jobs; -I have unique qualifications, skills and experience that are necessary as we face new challenges; -I have been successful in taking action that has benefit all segments of the community; and -I am gratified and inspired by the role that I play in improving the lives of Seattle's citizens and others throughout the region.
I am a fifth generation Seattleite and passionate about the viability and livability of Seattle for all of its residents. I believe that my experience as a City Councilmember and regional leader with a 30 year professional career focused on housing, and community and economic development has given me skills and abilities that are necessary to continue serving as an effective public official. As a member of the City Council for nearly 9 years, I have led and contributed to several positive accomplishments aimed at enhancing the quality of life not only in Seattle, but also in the entire region. I am proud of my accomplishments to date; however, there are many old and new challenges ahead. While labor, business and government promote and support economic growth and development, as a member of the City Council I will continue to advocate that new businesses adopt and implement policies that are friendly to the community and working families. I will also fight for growth that enhances public health, the environment and civil rights.
I have demonstrated and will continue to demonstrate my commitment to work with the diverse members and sectors of the community in a collaborative, fair and honest manner. Most importantly, I bring compassion and sensitivity to my responsibilities as an elected official and decision-making;' and will continue to work on behalf of those that are most in need. |
2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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I feel confident that my record speaks for itself in this election. Whether it was putting together the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund, shepherding the City's budget process to a responsible completion, being a consistent and effective voice for minority & women rights, or working with other regional elected officials on our transportation challenges, I have shown myself to be a leader.
I bring years of professional experience, otherwise missing from the City Council, in the area of economic development and low income housing. I bring an understanding that tax dollars are limited and that we must makes choices about priorities. It has only been in the past eight years that I have been a "politician." I bring a maturity and collegial working style that is particularly important in a legislative body, where the ability to work with others is crucial to getting things done.
I am deeply committed to issues of racial and social justice. I am a strong opponent of I-200 and am actively exploring what avenues might exist to help us reverse some of the adverse impacts of its enactment. I am equally committed to civil rights for sexual minorities and am proud to have included my name in the Friend of the Court brief challenging the prohibition on same sex marriage in the recent case heard by the Washington State Supreme Court.
Being on the City Council has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life (as well as a great deal of fun). I am excited about the opportunity to serve for another four years. |
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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Secured funding to put video cameras in police cars. Vocal and consistent force demanding that city government be representative of the population it serves. Filed court action in support of same sex marriage before Washington State Supreme Court. Tireless advocate for women and minority owned businesses.
Champion for Disadvantaged Communities: Architect of the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund, an unprecedented $50 million investment in preserving the small, minority and immigrant businesses in the path of light rail construction Created the Central Area Equity Fund, to provide the “gap financing” necessary to make housing development in the Central Area financially viable. Broke the logjam that threatened the 1300 homes, $275 million New Holly housing development. Preserved funding for late-night recreational programs for at-risk youth.
Fighter for Seattle’s Transportation Needs: As a long-time board member of Sound Transit, helped turn the troubled agency around through tough fiscal discipline. Asked the tough questions about the Seattle Monorail Project when few elected officials were willing to do so. Served as Seattle’s representative on the Governors’ Blue-Ribbon Task Force on Transportation, which set the stage for the State’s $2 billion investment in the Alaskan Way Viaduct. |
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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I first went to work for the City of Seattle at the City Planning Commission in 1960. After leaving the City, I held a long list of professional positions around the nation over the next twenty-five years. These included operating my own consulting firm, Comprehensive Planning & Development, a private management consulting business, focusing on housing and community/economic development. I was Field Director and Project Manager for the Rehabilitation Advisory Service at the National League of Cities. I also served as Director of Community & Economic Development Assistance Center at A.L. Nellum & Associates, where I administered a HUD funded effort to provide technical assistance in community and economic development to 21 communities in twenty states, all with significant minority populations.
When I permanently returned to the Pacific Northwest in 1992, continued to work with Comprehensive Planning & Development. I then became Development Director for the Tacoma Housing Authority, where I was responsible for acquisition, rehabilitation, development and construction of the first expansion of units of low income housing by THA in many years.
Immediately prior to joining the City Council, I was the Executive Director of the Washington Association for Community Economic Development (WACED), a statewide association of community-based nonprofit organizations committed to the revitalization of disadvantaged communities. WACED provided technical assistance and training to its members throughout Washington State.
During my tenure on the City Council, I served as chair of the Transportation Committee, and later as Chair of the Housing & Human Services Committee. Since 2004, I have served as Chair of the Council's Finance & Budget Committee, responsible for enacting the City's biennial budget. I am also a member of the Housing & Human Services Committee and the Government Affairs & Labor Committee, and is an alternate on the Utilities & Water Committee.
I am just completed my second year as President of the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC), an association of cities, counties, ports, and state agencies from King, Snohomish, Kitsap, and Pierce Counties working collaboratively to develop policies and make decisions regarding regional growth, economic development, and transportation issues. I am also a member of the board of the Washington State Housing Finance Commission, a quasi governmental agency working to increase housing affordability and access through the promotion of homeownership and the development of non-profit low-income housing. Finally, I serve as a board member for Sound Transit, and a member of its Finance Committee.
Prior to joining the City Council, I served on a number of area boards, including the Washington Community Development Loan Fund, Cascadia Revolving Loan Fund, the local Big Brothers & Sisters, Center for Urban Studies, and Neighborhood House, where I also served as board president.
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Community Development & Affordable Housing I thought then, as I do today, that my long professional career in community development and in the creation of low income housing, brings the Council an important perspective on how city government can use its resources to ensure that all our neighborhoods have an opportunity to succeed.
For too many years some parts of town, like the Central Area, Southeast Seattle and Delridge, have lagged behind other neighborhoods of the City in terms good infrastructure, solid commercial cores, stable residential neighborhoods, and safe streets. I've worked closely with SEED, CADA, CHIPP, LISC, and other neighborhood community development organizations, in partnership with the City, to develop attractive and affordable housing along with exciting new retail to remake communities a piece at a time. It is exciting to be working with Mayor Nickels on his recently announced city emphasis on economic development in Southeast Seattle.
I am particularly proud to have spearheaded the creation of the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund, an unprecedented $50 million public sector investment in this community. The goal is to ensure that the rich cultural and economic diversity that characterizes the Rainier Valley today will still exist when Sound Transit's light rail becomes a reality. We need to make sure that the small immigrant and minority business owners who were there before Sound Transit construction began, still have the opportunity to thrive in the Rainier Valley after light rail brings expected higher property values and costs.
Transportation When I first joined the Council I was made chair of the Transportation Committee, just at the time the City was beginning to fall short of the money we needed to maintain our infrastructure. Unfortunately, the situation has only gotten worse in the ensuing years given the impact of the Eyman anti-tax initiatives, the economic downturn of the late 1990s, and need to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct, the 520 bridge, and the Magnolia Bridge.
For the past two years, I have served as the president of the four-county Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC), a consortium of cities, towns, counties, tribes, and ports to work collectively at addressing our transportation needs, as well as opportunities to work regionally for economic development. (The Prosperity Partnership is an exciting new PSRC regional economic development effort just beginning to bear fruit.) We all know that our biggest transportation challenges don't end at the city limits, but are regional. As daunting a challenge as it may be at times, we will only be successful in tackling these problems by working together as a region. That is why the work of the PSRC is so important.
City Budget For the past year, I have served as Chair of the Council's Budget Committee, where I have faced the challenge of working with the Mayor and my Council colleagues to fashion a financially responsible and sustainable budget during a period of insufficient revenues. I am proud of the work we accomplished. We were able to restore the very popular Library Bookmobile from threatened extinction, reject the proposed charge for parking in City parks, and preserve critical human service funding, all while preserving the number of sworn police officers and firefighters on the streets.
Sound Transit I am now seeing the fruits of my labor as a member of the Sound Transit board as that agency's light rail project is well under construction (with bids coming in under estimates). The aforementioned Rainier Valley Community Development Fund (CDF) is helping small businesses along Martin Luther King Way survive during the disruption of light rail construction.
I have consistently spoken for the inclusion of women and minority businesses in Sound Transit contracting, as well as for an agency workforce that represents the racial and ethnic diversity of the community it serves.
Social Justice Finally, I have felt a responsibility on the City Council to be an unceasing voice in demanding that government address the concerns of our minority communities, that women and people of color are represented throughout government, and that women and minority owned businesses get their fair share of business opportunities in government contracting, particularly in this post I-200 world. We have been successful in making revisions in procedures to include aspirational goals, city efforts to create and help fund the CDCC, and the ability to debar contractors who do not make significant efforts to have an inclusive workforce. |
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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Education BA, Western Washington University, Fairhaven College, majoring in Urban Planning & Finance. Taught graduate level courses at Antioch College. Civic Involvement |
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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NAACP - 15 years; Urban League -12 years; Neighborhood House- 8 years, including Board Chair; Center for Urban Studies - 6 years, including Board Chair; Big Brothers - 6 years, including Board Vice Chair; United Way Allocation Committee Chair - 6 years; National Assoc. of Housing & Redevelopment Officials - 15 years, including officer positions at local, regional, & national levels. (Also served on the certification committee for credentialing of professional Finance and Rehab Specialists status.) |
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