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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50 years |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan Nonpartisan
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Casey Corr for City Council |
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Address: |
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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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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'm honored by the opportunity to meet with the League and discuss my campaign. My mother served on the Candidate Evaluation Committee long ago. I knew how hard she worked and, later, as a journalist I knew the committee's work to be highly influential. Thank you for sustaining the legacy!
I’m running because we need change on the city council. We need new leadership to make the council stronger and the city better.
I am running with an emphasis on four issues: education, transportation, jobs and hiring more police to help make our neighborhoods safer. Human services, the environment, parks and other issues are also important to me.
Of these priorities, I put education at the top. There is a quiet crisis about schools in Seattle, not just because of the finances, but also because children of color and in lower-income homes are falling further behind in test scores. Our system is failing our children. We must do better. I am the only candidate for the council who has proposed a comprehensive plan to stabilize finances, achieve stronger oversight, and move the district down the path of real academic reforms. The mayor and the council cannot stand on the sidelines during this crisis. We must rally the community to help the district and help all of our children succeed. One of my first goals on the council will be to direct the city's Office of Intergovernmental Relations (10 employees) to make increased funding for schools its top legislative priority. We will work with the district and with the community to get it done. The crisis today is an opportunity to make lasting reforms.
With all due respect for the incumbent, I think it’s time for a change. My opponent has served for 12 years and is looking for another 4 years. I don't believe the Seattle City Council should be a lifetime job.
In this race, there is a strong case for change.
First, the incumbent did a very poor job of oversight of the Monorail and failed her duty. Regardless of how people voted on the Monorail, everyone expected people in leadership to pay attention to the project and to respond effectively to issues. My opponent ignored increasing warning signs, refused to meet people raising questions, and tried to block efforts by fellow council members and the mayor to protect the city and taxpayers. She did not utter a single word of concern about the Monorail project until I announced my campaign against her.
Going forward, we must strengthen oversight in order to restore public confidence that Seattle will move forward on transportation. We must resolve the issues around the Monorail and its future and not let those problems undermine support for the Viaduct funding, improvement in bus service, and getting light rail to Northgate. With new, effective leadership, we will keep Seattle moving.
Second, the issue in this race extends beyond the Monorail. As I doorbell neighborhoods across Seattle, I hear from people who are frustrated with the lack of leadership on the council. People say the council does not have its own agenda, that it waits for ideas from the mayor and then reacts to them. That doesn't serve the city. For a long time, the incumbent has not offered ideas for moving our city forward. She tends to talk mainly about accomplishments from the Rice era. She never kept the promise she made in 1993 to hire more police -- we have fewer today than when she has taken office.
This campaign should be about the future: who will restore accountability and bring ideas and energy to the problems and opportunities of our city? Who will make our great city better?
I hope to make a strong case that I will be a strong leader. I have a record in journalism of looking into issues, pushing government to be accountable, and speaking out for social justice. As a columnist, I tried to be independent, fearless and say what I thought was best for our city and region. I know the importance of business -- I've written two books on Seattle business leaders. I know the importance of neighborhoods -- I've served on a community council. More recently, I prepared for this run by serving in the mayor's office, where I was a leader in issues that matter: affordable housing, children and families, public safety, reducing greenhouse gases and more. As a council member, I will bring ideas, passion for community and a sense of urgency to get the job done for the people of our great city.
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2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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I think I bring several qualities that will make me an effective council member: I have the professional training to understand and analyze policy issues; I read budgets and pay attention to finances; I think we need to pay attention to the tax burden so it's fair and that we deliver value to the public for their tax dollars; I like people and want to meet them; I listen; I care deeply about social justice and human rights; I'm pretty good at grasping the essentials of a problem; I have a healthy skepticism towards status-quo thinking; I've always been independent-minded; I'm not afraid to speak my mind or change it when I've been wrong; I believe in growing and learning from people and experiences; and I love Seattle and I want city government to effectively represent the hopes, ideals and dreams of its citizens. |
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 a journalist for 25 years, my employers' ethics rules strictly limited my outside activities.
A partial list of my activities include: coach, fundraiser for schools and church, trustee of the Laurelhurst Community Club, executive committee member of the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, board of advisors to the University of Washington Writers Program, and board member of the Seattle-Galway Sister City Association.
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I think it boils down to certain values.
--Listen because we work for the people. Make sure city departments realize that as well. --Learn. If you're not growing and adding value to the ideas, it's time to let others do the job. --Pay attention to budgets and ask questions. I learned from journalism there are no dumb questions -- ask them and get them answered to avoid problems, like the Monorail. --Welcome sunshine. Government must be accountable. --Promote justice. We fall short of our ideals. I want to use my office as a council member to make our community more just and fair and open to all. --Lead. Suggest good ideas. Build support for ideas that others have. Rally people to do what's right and lasting for our community. |
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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Bachelor of Arts, with honor, Pomona College Graduate work in education, Western Washington University Knight Fellow in specialized journalism, University of Maryland Master of Public Administration, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University |
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