The Municipal League of King County 810 Third Avenue, Suite 224 Seattle, WA 98104

2005 Board of Trustees Rita Brogan, Chair Mark Troxel, Vice Chair Beth M. Arman, Secretary Harold Taniguchi, Treasurer Putnam Barber, Executive Alliance Vaughnetta J. Barton, community volunteer Jill D. Bowman, Stoel Rives Patricia Bowman, human resources manager (ret.) Bruce Carter, judge pro tem, Seattle Municipal Court Kevin Carter, Safeco Stephanie Cirkovich, Pike Place Market PDA Peter Coates, Building and Construction Trades Council Chris Cooper, CHHIP Paul Demitriades, Medina City Council (ret.) Sandra Driscoll, City Attorney (ret) Deborah Eddy, Consultant Keven Franklin, King County Mary Gates, Consultant Norma Jean Hanson, Norma Jean Hanson Paralegal Services Robert Klein, McNaul, Ebel, Nawrot, and Helgren Eric Laschever, Stoel Rives Steve Marshall, Snohomish PUD Rob Neate, Puget Sound Energy Jennifer Piccolo, citizen activist Charles Redell, Reporter Tami Ritoch, Fireside Homes Real Estate Associate R. Todd Slind, CH2MHill Lucy Steers, public participation consultant Harold Taniguchi, King County Department of Transportation Rashelle Tanner, CRISTA Ministries David Tarshes, Davis Wright Tremaine Kate Tate, Weyerhauser Philip Thompson, Perkins Coie Mark Troxel, City of Seattle Wes Uhlman, Wes Uhlman & Associates Rich White, Boeing

2005 CANDIDATE BACKGROUND QUESTIONNAIRE FOR NON-JUDICIAL CANDIDATES The Municipal League of King County requests every candidate who participates in the candidate evaluation process to submit background information prior to his/her interview with a candidate evaluation committee.  The questionnaire is the basis of the League’s research and interview process.  The League’s ratings are non-partisan; they are based on standards of Involvement, Effectiveness, Character, and Knowledge, all of which have been developed and refined over the past 90 years. A printed version of the questionnaire is available for candidates who prefer to use the traditional format.  To obtain a hard copy, please contact the League office.  A copy of this questionnaire will be provided to Candidate Evaluation Committee members to help them prepare for your interview.  Candidate responses, except the confidential section, will be available to the general public at the League website.  The Municipal League requests the following materials from candidates.  Please check to make certain you have sent in your: Candidate Questionnaire           Sent by:         Email        US Mail          Fax       Not Sending Resume (education, employment, and professional activities)           Sent by:         Email        US Mail          Fax       Not Sending      Check here if you DO NOT want your resume posted on the Municipal                    League website Campaign Materials           Sent by:     Email        US Mail          Fax       Not Sending Constituent Newsletters and other publications           Sent by:         Email        US Mail          Fax       Not Sending Photograph           Sent by:         Email        US Mail          Fax       Not Sending Note: Electronically submitted questionnaires are strongly preferred. All materials can be emailed to rebecca@munileague.org.  They can be processed and made available on-line far more rapidly than handwritten or typed submissions. For non-electronic submissions, please print clearly and legibly and return the application as soon as possible in order to allow the committee the greatest amount of time to prepare a complete report on your skills and experience. If you have not yet been contacted to schedule an interview, or if you have questions about the candidate evaluation program, please contact the League office at 206-264-1070. If you have a disability and require accommodation to participate in the candidate evaluation process, please contact Rebecca Cooper at the League office.

2005 Candidate Questionnaire

SECTION I               

BASIC CANDIDATE INFORMATION

1. Name as it will appear on the ballot

First Name	Middle Initial or Nick Name	Last Name
Lee		Fellinge

2.   Office sought (include office, jurisdiction, position/district number):

City Council, Sammamish, Position 3

3.   Are you the incumbent?                  Yes              No

4.   How long have you resided in this district/city?

22 years

5.   How long have you resided in King County?

22 Years

6.   Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan?         Partisan      Nonpartisan         

7.   If partisan, please indicate party: 

CAMPAIGN CONTACTS

Campaign Name:	Friends of Lee Fellinge
Address:	2515 224^th Place NE
City/State/Zip:	Sammamish, WA 98074
Campaign Phone:	425-868-0707
Campaign Fax:
Campaign E-mail:
Campaign Website:

POLITICAL BACKGROUND

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)
City Council-City of Sammamish	Elective Office     ( Appointed)	January 2004-Present	Chair: Finance Committee, Public Safety Committee
Planning Advisory Board: City of Sammamish	Appointive	2000-2003

2.   If you ran for public office but were not elected, please list those races below:

Office Title

Year of Run

 SECTION III

In this section, we are seeking responses that reflect the four ratings criteria: involvement, effectiveness, character, and knowledge.  These are defined as follows:

• Involvement: What has the candidate done previously in family, neighborhood, community, volunteer work, employment or public life to suggest readiness to accomplish challenging objectives? How do these activities demonstrate readiness for the challenges unique to the office sought?

• Effectiveness: Has the candidate demonstrated promise of being productive in the office sought?  Has the candidate shown the ability to work with other people?

• Character: Do the candidate's personal traits show the ability to take on the responsibilities of campaigning for and holding the public office she or he is seeking? Is the candidate a leader, participant or observer?  Is the candidate trustworthy, reliable and candid?

• Knowledge: Has the candidate demonstrated the willingness and ability to learn and adapt?  Does the candidate understand the duties and challenges of the office sought?  Does the candidate have a firm grasp of the issues important to his or her constituency and their potential effects?

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 think it is tremendously important that government works in a responsive, open, cost effective and ethical manner. I think that I can contribute to that happening in the City of Sammamish as we deal with major changes that can lead to the creation of a wonderful city.

We will be starting a construction program that is double the size of anything done previously. It will include a new city hall and commons, park projects, road projects and trail and sidewalk additions. I want to help ensure that these are done well and in a cost effective manner. I also want to find financially smart ways to develop additional needed infrastructure.

I have led efforts to be sure that Sammamish follows sound fiscal management policies. One does not have to look very far to see examples where public agencies have gotten into financial trouble. Sadly, it is often because public officials were either asleep at the switch or did not know what questions to ask. I think that my MBA degree and background in corporate finance and management of large organizations will help me keep us on the right track.

I have an interest in public safety that has been further stimulated by volunteering to do probation work with adult offenders, being a Board member of Eastside Fire & Rescue and being Chair of Public Safety. I want to continue to help us build high quality and cost effective fire and police services for our citizens.

Other people who have recommended that I continue on the Council have said that I thoughtfully consider all aspects of an issue and make decisions that are intended to be in the best long term interest of Sammamish citizens.  I want to continue that approach with the many issues that our council encounters.

Sadly, the newspapers carry stories of unethical and inappropriate behavior by elected and appointed officials. I want to conduct myself in such a way that I can be satisfied at the end of each day that I have done the right thing. Hopefully, that will contribute to an overall high standard of conduct.

2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.

I think I am an enthusiastic and positive person who behaves in a way that unites people and contributes to finding solutions.

 I love to learn about new things. I enjoy understanding why differences of opinion on issues have arisen and then trying to find a way to bridge those differences to achieve forward movement.

I keep a big picture perspective and try to be sensitive about how individual issue decisions will impact that inter-related whole. I like to understand the policy implications of decisions and actions.

People tell me that I work well with other people and am careful to listen to and understand their point of view.

I care greatly that our city government work well and want to focus on that perspective rather than what may work well for me personally.

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. 

     During my corporate career, there was a time when my industry was rapidly changing and one consequence was the layoff of thousands of people. In our giant corporation, I led an organization with hundreds of employees who were part of an overall corporate culture that used to say, "If you do a good job, you can work here for a full career". That was rapidly changing and people were scared and felt like victims. At each budget update new cuts were imposed and new layoffs planned. Many organizations held what I called drive by shootings, where people were told they were no longer employed and had to clear out the same afternoon. A side effect of this was that quality and quantity of work suffered as people became worried about when they might get the axe.

     I wanted to change this. After talking with many employees, learning more about the budgeting process and getting clear on new corporate goals and realities, I developed a completely new approach. I reached an agreement with our Chief Financial Officer that we would reduce our organizational expense by a much larger amount than had been planned in the next 3 years, but, as long as we achieved our  improved commitment benchmarks, we would have control over the timing of the reductions. This allowed us to make longer term, more effective business plans and implement longer term improvements. It enabled us to give people a minimum of 6 months notice when their jobs were eliminated. We developed training programs to help people understand that they had options and could take some control over their lives. We gave people additional skills training so they could qualify for other jobs. We got the approval and active support of the Union.

     The results over 3 years were very satisfying. We exceeded all of our goals for quality, quantity and financial results. People expressed that they felt more in control and less like a victim. We were able to place many people in other jobs in the company. Both the Union and top management thought it was a success.

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.

  Current community activities:

    Councilmember, City of Sammamish ( Chair of Finance Committee)

       Board of Directors member, Eastside Fire & Rescue (Finance Committee)

       Sammamish Kiwanis (Treasurer)

       Trustee, Northwest Railway Museum (Vice President, Community Relations)

       Granpa to my 18 month old grandson, Cody

    Past Activities (selected)

       Volunteer doing probation work with adult offenders for King County Courts (1999-2002)

       Rotary Club of Elliot Bay (Board of Directors, project chair) (1988-1997)

       Graduate-Leadership Tomorrow for Seattle (1986)

       Community Relations Team (Chair) (various)

       United Way (various)

5. Please describe the duties of the office you seek.  Which are the most important duties and why?

The duty of the City Council is to set overall policy for the city. It is the representative body of the citizens and needs to make decisions with the long term interest of the citizens in mind.

There are several very important duties:

    In the council city manager form of government, the council is responsible to hire and supervise, appraise and administer the compensation of the city manager.

    The council needs to establish goals and measurement for the city manager. It is important that the council give the city manager latitude on how to achieve the goals.

    The council is responsible to build coalitions and marshal public support for significant undertakings.

    Councilmembers are responsible to research and understand issues so that informed decisions can be made.

    The council should articulate an overall vision for the community and see that progress is made toward that vision.

    Since few things are accomplished by one person alone, councilmembers should act in a manner that promotes teamwork.

    Councilmembers are responsible to citizens to respond to grievances and suggestions.

EDUCATION BACKGROUND SUMMARY

FOR PUBLICATION IN CANDIDATE EVALUATION REPORT

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.

MBA, University of Oregon

BS, University of Oregon

Much additional specialized training

CIVIC INVOLVEMENT SUMMARY

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.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION AND GOOD LUCK IN YOUR CAMPAIGN!

THE MUNICIPAL LEAGUE OF KING COUNTY

Candidate Evaluation Coordinator:  Rebecca Cooper

810 Third Avenue, Suite 224                  Phone: 206-264-1070                Email: rebecca@munileague.org

Seattle, WA 98104-1614                        Fax: 425-671-0506                        Website: www.munileague.org