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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51 years |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan Nonpartisan
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Citizens for Hara |
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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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Director of 80 full time employees
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Managed the municipal Treasurers office
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Managed a professional staff of accountants
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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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To have a Port that is managed efficiently to effectively compete for business to securely move goods and people by air and by sea. I want to eliminate the Port's heavy reliance on the property tax to subsidize money losing operations. I will introduce performance audits to hold the Port accountable for its actions. We must reverse the trend of losing market share in trade coming to the West Coast. The Port should also be more transparent in conducting its business and listen more closely to the community it serves. At the same time we must make sure that the Port adheres to its primary mission which is supporting maritime industries and airport operations.
The growing reliance on the property tax to balance the Port budget and cover its costs is a matter of great concern to me as a taxpayer and should concern all citizens of the region. It is a symptom of the mismanagement that is currently occurring at the Port. Aside from the Aviation Division, nearly all Port operations and projects over the past decade have lost money. To a degree the Port must make investments to facilitate success in the business community, however competing ports on the West Coast actually turn a profit. I believe the Port of Seattle can be profitable. If elected I would seek to have the Commission appoint a "Blue Ribbon Committee" to examine closely all Port operations to make recommendations on the short and long term financial implications of its operations on the Port's finances and on the local economy. In addition, my first legislative priority will be to institute performance audits. This should serve the dual goal of increasing accountability within the Port and increasing transparency for the community it serves.
I also intend to focus on building relationships abroad to create additional jobs through the Port. The Port has lost nearly half its market share over the past 10 years and there is no excuse for this.
Protecting the Puget Sound environment is also an important role that the Port plays and I will ensure that the Port doing all it can in this regard. |
2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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I have a passion for public service and have spent a career serving the citizens of King County to make government work better. Throughout my career, I have been an innovator, effective communicator and a leader who gets things done. I bring positive change by working with other people to bring about needed reforms. I have the capacity to make the tough and difficult decisions, and then to see that the decisions are being implemented. I am persistent and committed to make things better if they need fixing. I have no self-interest in my running for the Port and my decisions will be based as to what is best for the citizens of King County and the region.
As a Port Commissioner, you are one vote, one person out of five who need to work together in order to set policy and guidelines for Port operations. I work diligently to represent all the citizens, and especially those of diverse background and cultures who traditionally have not been represented as a Port Commissioner. Aside from its legislative powers to pass resolutions, set the budget and property taxes and hire and fire the Port Manager, the Commissioners play an important role as ambassadors to promote goodwill, trade and commerce with foreign governments, trading companies and businesses. I believe that I have the skills and personality to greatly assist the Port of Seattle recapture more business from our competitors and to reverse a trend of losing market share of trade over the last 25 years. An interesting fact is that 95% of our trade is in Asia, we are losing market share to other West Coast Ports, and we have never elected an Asian American Commissioner in its 94-year history. I would be greatly honored to be the first.
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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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I was fortunate to be able to found and start a number of community and civic organizations. There are several organizations like the International District Rotary Club of Seattle where I gathered 35 of my friends to form a Rotary Club. The Club was probably the most diverse ethnically and culturally as any Club in the world. This club eventually was the first Club within Rotary International to successfully admit women and was a party to the Supreme Court Lawsuit that permitted women to join civic organizations who previously had male gender clauses in their by-laws. The Club remains active in community affairs. I also started a number of organizations to assist and help the Asian American community meet many unmet needs such as job placement services, health, and social service centers that provided bilingual services. Not only did these organizations provide meaningful services to an underserved community, but also more importantly it provided important leadership jobs for Asian Americans to become the director of an agency and manage people and programs, and increased the number of persons to serve on Boards of Directors. It started a new spirit within the Asian American community that they could fund meaningful programs, learn the political process and be to less reliant upon other sectors of business and government. Today, we see a much stronger Asian American Community who are much more active in business, government and the not for profit sectors throughout the region.
(See Vita for more detailed involvement)
These accomplishments point out that I am a leader who has new approaches to doing business. I am involved with various communities throughout the county and I am interested in getting more diverse groups involved with the Port of Seattle, either as employees, contractors, or customers of Port Services.
Approximately 95% of the trade is with Asian countries and yet we have been losing market share with other West Coast Ports. We need to recapture lost business in Asia that means more jobs and greater economic opportunities for Seattle and the region. I can draw upon my relationships with many persons who have close ties to Asia either those who directly do business in Asia or those persons who have family, relatives friends and associates in Asia to assist me to open doors for the Port to recapture lost business. Other major West Coast Ports have persons of Asian ancestry who are commissioners who play an important role to secure business for their ports. In the 94 years of electing Port Commissioners, there has never been a Port Commissioner of Asian ancestry. I would be honored to become the first Commissioner of Asian ancestry.
I have the financial and management expertise to provide the necessary oversight/accountability to operate a complex government like the Port. I have served on numerous Boards of Directors and can set effective policy and guidelines for Port operations. In summary, I have the experience, expertise, connections and determination to make the Port of Seattle the premier port on the West Coast.
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The primary role of a Port Commissioner is to provide leadership and direction for the Port by setting policy and establishing guidelines in its operations. These is done in many ways:
1. Passage of resolutions that are the laws that govern the Port. Since the Port’s authority is very board, it impacts transportation/commerce, business, economic activity/development, and can get involved in almost any activity it determines. The Commission establishes the mission of the Port and what is Port’s direction. 2. The adoption of the Annual Budget is the most important single act of the Commission in that it determines how and where the Port spends it money. Contained within the budget are constructions projects (new and maintenance), contracted services, purchase of land, the development of Port owned lands, the daily operation of SeaTac airport, Shilshoal Marina, Fisherman’s Terminal, Cruise-line terminals, SeaPort Terminals, and real estate development activities like Bell Harbor Conference Center and alike. Contained within the budget is the annual property tax levy and the setting of the levy does not require a vote of the people, but simple affirmative vote of the Commission. The 2005 budget is $1.1 billion, one of the largest government budgets in the State. Like any very large budget, it can include many “pet projects” and it is the Commissions role to be sure that funds are wisely and prudently spent on activities that benefit most all citizens of the County. 3. The Commission sets the tone of operations. The Commission has only one employee who directly reports to the Commission and that is the CEO/General Manager of the Port. It is important that the CEO has the skills and experience to effectively manage the Port. The Commission needs set performance standards for the CEO and provide the necessary oversight to be sure that set goals are accomplished each year. Meeting the annual goals will determine compensation and whether it is necessary to keep or fire the CEO. Another important role of the Commission is to be sure that there is a succession plan in place, if the CEO position becomes vacant.
It is my understanding the current CEO is considering retirement soon, and the Commission needs to be aware and have a process in place to select both a new and interim CEO if and when a vacancy takes place.
4. The Commissioner as an elected official needs to get into the community and be the people’s representative. It is important to make the Port more open and accountable. A commissioner needs to participate in neighborhood meetings especially where a Port operations has a major impact upon that community. In general, a Commissioner needs to be a speaker at civic, business group/association meeting and other means of communication to the public. The Port plays a key role in working with the fishing industry, the shipping industry, the boating community, tourist industry, air- freight industry and the airlines and many more. More recently, the Port has undertaken construction and real estate development and these industries need further discussion. This does not mean that a Commissioner meeting with the public only during campaign season.
A Commissioner as an elected official needs to be at the table for other government organization like regional planning councils, city organizations and other governments who has impacts on Port activities. This includes transportation issues and all the other governments who have a role in transportation matter. Another area is National Security and working with the Federal Government and its agencies, state and local government public safety officials. Another important role of a Commissioner is serve as the Port of Seattle Ambassador to meet with foreign officials and business leaders. This is critical in order maintain good Port relationships with our trading partners. Most foreign government officials want to do business with elected officials, those who have the authority to make decisions and not necessarily with staff. This is especially true in working with Asian countries. Therefore it is critical that the Commissioners be involved with foreign interests who want to do business with the Port.
In many cases, Commissioners have not spent sufficient time with all the various constituent groups and have left many of these functions to the Port Staff. In my case, I will devote full time to fulfilling an activist role as working Commissioner who will meet with community organizations, industry and civic groups, government coordination and relationships and the ambassadorship functions in working with foreign government officials and business people.
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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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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