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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17 years |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan Nonpartisan
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Committee to Elect Mark T. Walsh |
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Address: |
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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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2. If you ran for public office but were not elected, please list those races below:
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Year of Run |
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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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Federal Way has the potential to be a great city to live and work in. Unfortunately, traffic problems, excessive crime and the absence of high paying jobs are the result of poor decisions by city leaders. Failure to embrace and support our existing businesses is a mistake. Adding new taxes as some incumbents have suggested (e.g. Wild Waves admission tax) will just drive businesses away. Federal Way has less than half the jobs of Kent (a city of the same size) and fewer jobs than Renton a city that is 35% smaller in population. Bellevue is a roll model city with an employment figures that exceed the population. Clearly Federal Way has anemic job growth and absolute numbers relative to its population and compared to other cities. I think this report card is at best a “D”. Because of this simple fact, we are an exporter of jobs to other cities. Our work force has to leave Federal Way in order to get to its jobs. This is the single most important reason we have traffic problems! Our most productive citizens leave in the morning at the same time, are gone all day, and return at the same time at the end of the day. I think our traffic report card is an “F”.This also explains why according to the City’s website our “retail sales per capita are less than half of all of South King County.” If your citizens all leave to get to their jobs and you have very few people coming to Federal Way from other areas because we have so few jobs here, it is no wonder our retail sales are so terrible. Our citizens are buying their lunches and shopping in other cities. Take a stroll through The Commons or Gateway and observe the suffering. Retailers that have left include Circuit City, Good Guys, Westfair Gifts, QFC, REI, Coco’s, Mervyn’s, and Lamonts among many others.Crime is a problem concerning everyone. According to the FBI, forcible rapes in Federal Way are 66% higher than the national average. Property crime is 37% higher than the national average with car theft 242% higher than the national average! Citizens tell me that our wonderful parks (Celebration and Dumas) are havens for drug deals and illegal activity. I don’t know about you but that is unacceptable for my hometown. Crimes against our businesses are also a problem. I have been a customer of Best Campus Cleaners in Twin Lakes for 15 years and they have been broken into three times in the past two months with a police presence around the corner. Other businesses that have been hit in the same time frame are Imperial Palace and Tully’s.
Compared to other cities, our police force is proportionately small. Specifically when compared to the cities of Renton and Bellevue our ratio of population to commissioned officers is inferior. Renton and Bellevue have one commissioned police officer per 629 and 657 people, respectively while Federal Way has one commissioned officer per 721 citizens. This translates into our police force being at least 11 officers too few for a city of our size.
Not only is the police force too small, but also the lack of active patrols is the single largest reason our crime is so high. |
2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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As president of a local firm managing $500 million in real estate assets and 85 personnel, I have the pracital leadership skills needed in Federal Way. Why hire consultants when you can hire knowledgeable doers? My ability to work with people in all situations good or bad have helped me to get to where I am today. I believe in honesty, integrity and ethics. Because most of Federal Way's problems are in one way or another reflective of poor land use choices, my nearly 20 year history in real estate is the experience the city is lacking. |
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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As President of a local property management company. I manage 4 million square feet of commercial property (industrial, retail and office) and over 2,200 apartments located primarily in the Puget Sound area. I manage a staff of 85 employees in multiple locations and am part of senior management team of parent company including member of Board of Directors and member of Investment Committee. In addition to running the operating company I am involved in new development projects, due diligence and acquisition of existing properties, and dispositions of assets. Increased profits of company by 65% over the past two years with 2004 the most profitable year in the company’s history. As designated broker of the company was responsible for completing 80 leases valued at $45 million over past two years. Commercial portfolio occupancy has been in excess of 97.5% for past two years. Residential occupancy continues to beat the market with a 96% occupancy versus market occupancy of 93.5%. See resume for additional information.
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This is a collaborative leadership position that guides the current and future direction of the City in all facets. I believe that providing leadership via sharing of my expertise will be critical to getting the city back on track. Changing the status quo is critical. |
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 in Finance from Univ. of Southern CA, BA in Economics/Business from UCLA, Chartered Financial Analyst & Certified Property Manager designations. WA State real estate broker's license. |
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