1. Name as it will appear on the ballot
|
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?
|
30 + years |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan Nonpartisan
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
|
Campaign Name: |
Ron Sims for King County Executive |
|
|
Address: |
|
|
|
City/State/Zip: |
|
|
|
Campaign Phone: |
|
|
|
Campaign Fax: |
|
|
|
Campaign E-mail: |
|
|
|
Campaign Website: |
|
|
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) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2. If you ran for public office but were not elected, please list those races below:
|
Office Title |
Year of Run |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.)
|
I am running for King County Executive because there remains much to do to improve our great county. King County is a wonderful place to live, a diverse place that encompasses pristine natural spaces of breathtaking beauty and the urban vitality of Seattle, which I believe is one of the most attractive and culturally important cities in America. But with 1.8 million residents -- we are the 13th largest county in the nation -- we face enormous and complex challenges in preserving and, in some respects, improving on our unique way of life here in the Pacific Northwest.
First and foremost, I believe in good governance, which must include both the boldness to grasp opportunity when it arises and the experience and determination to push forward thoughtful solutions to pressing problems no matter how intractable or politically difficult they may seem. We must have leadership that can articulate a broad and compelling vision for the future. I believe I have done that and will continue to do that. My main themes I intend to pursue over the next four years are: begin the restoration of Puget Sound; implementing a comprehensive reform of our regional health care system designed to harness the power of market forces in a way that will simultaneously improve the quality of our health care system while reducing skyrocketing premium growth; and what I call our quality of life issues. Those include increasing trail capacity in the county, ensuring affordable housing and working to end homelessness and other social ills that afflict many of the weakest and most vulnerable among us, increasing our transportation alternatives, ensuring clean air and clean water and preserving another 100,000 acres of open space and forest land for future generations. I have led major initiatives in all of these crucial areas that I would be happy to discuss with you in more detail in person.
The rich variety of experience and knowledge I have gained through my years of public service has gifted me with a deep understanding of the values of the people of King County. Those basic values are manifested in a concern for the natural world growth management, preservation of forest lands and open space, the importance of cleaning up our environment and restoring our important bodies of water, providing real transportation solutions and choices, as well as providing the important social safety net for the most vulnerable in our society. We are at a crossroads now, with some calling for rolling back the gains we have made over the past few years. I am confident that ís not the future the people of King County want. |
2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
|
I am not afraid to lead. Some people in political life are only concerned with doing the popular thing. I say without hesitation that I care about doing the right thing. At times that has meant taking firm stands on issues that have sparked controversy. Let me give you an example. Last year the issue of marriage equality came to the fore just as I was launching my run for governor. Some advised me to duck the issue, but I felt it was important to state my views forthrightly and I did. As far as I am concerned, marriage equality is an important civil rights issue; there is nothing more personally important to me than the belief that as a society we must strive to treat all people equally. I did not shy away from saying that publicly, though I’m sure it may have hurt my campaign to do so. On the other hand, there were many in the spring of 2004 loudly demanding that I issue marriage licenses to couples on my own authority. I refused. I believe in the rule of law and I knew that if the marriage issue was to be resolved, it would have to be addressed in an orderly way and that any social change of this magnitude could not happen without the full sanction of law. So I worked to steer the issue into the courts, where it could be addressed dispassionately. After two positive lower court rulings, we are expecting a supreme court ruling soon. Nothing makes me happier than the fact that some of those who criticized me most vociferously last year have acknowledged in recent months that I handled the issue the right way.
As an individual, I am not afraid of change, and I am constantly striving to improve myself: to learn more, to increase my compassion for those less fortunate, to seek out new challenges. I believe that as a society we must do the same. It is in the ongoing quest to better ourselves as a community that we discover the most effective paths to progress. To stand still as a society is to invite stagnation.
And I am naturally optimistic about the future. |
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.
|
I have dedicated my life to public service and have been involved in my community from a very young age where I joined my parents in pushing for social change in Spokane. After graduating from college, I worked in the Consumer Protection Division of the Washington State Attorney General’s office, and later went on to the Federal Trade Commission where I fought against consumer fraud and abuse. Recruited to run the City of Seattle’s juvenile offender program, I remained head of the program until becoming a legislative aide in the Washington State Senate.
In 1985 I was elected to the King County Council, representing the 5th district and was overwhelmingly reelected twice. On the Council I proved myself as an active budget hawk, serving as Chair for two years and later as Chair of the Council. As a Councilmember I initiated a number of important legislative actions that resulted in increased environmental protection, public safety, and the protection of worker rights. In 1987, along with then Councilmember Bruce Laing, I lead the effort to rename King County in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King.
I was appointed County Executive in 1996 and then reelected twice with the largest margin of victory ever for this office. Under my administration we have protected over 130,000 acres of forest land and open space, guided the County through a signifciant budget crisis while maintainig our high credit rating and preserving core services. We have increased bus service, added additional miles of trails to our system and protected the paychecks and benefits of employees serving in the National Guard.
Throughout my political career I have also made it a point to remain an active community volunteer. As a lay minister, I volunteerd for Operation Nightwatch, which serves homeless individuals in the City of Seattle. A longtime football and baseball coach for the Rainier Valley sports leagues, I have also been a regular tutor at Meany Middle school for many years. I also founded both Pista sa Nayon, Seattle's Filipino American Community Festival, and the Paul Robeson Scholar Athlete Awards, which honors young athletes who excel in academics.
|
|
Heading King County government is a difficult job. With 13,000 employees spread over multiple departments tasked with countless responsibilities, King County is one of the largest government entities in the state. Just organizing this bureaucracy and making sure it functions in the interests of the citizens of the County is a full-time job. I am proud of the fact that as we have gone through difficult economic times in recent years we have found ways to cut the size of government without cutting into basic services. I have always been a fiscal conservative, and I am proud of the fact that even after years of fiscal challenges, we have balanced our budgets and earned top bond ratings in King County.
But running the government is only part of the job. Some problems cannot be solved by government alone. That means that often the job requires leadership skills such as bringing people, often with competing interests, together to the table to forge consensual solutions to pressing problems. I believe strongly in such public-private partnerships. When we took up the issue of salmon recovery in 1999, that is the approach that I championed. It works. I co-founded Shared Strategy, which has, over five years of difficult work, hammered out a blueprint for how we will preserve habitat in the region without slowing economic progress. And this is the same approach we are now employing to find regional solutions to our health care cost crisis.
|
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.
|
A graduate of Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane, I then went on to Central Washington University where I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. |
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.
Candidate Evaluation Coordinator: Rebecca Cooper
Seattle, WA 98104-1614 Fax: 425-671-0506 Website: www.munileague.org