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

     

Darlene

Madenwald

 

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

 

Seattle City Council, Position 2

 

3.   Are you the incumbent?                  Yes              No

 

 

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

 

20 years

 

5.   How long have you resided in King County?

 

20 years

 

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

                                                                                                                       

7.   If partisan, please indicate party:       

 

CAMPAIGN CONTACTS

 

 

Campaign Name:

 

Friends of Darlene Madenwald

 

Address:

 

117 East Louisa Street (# 2005)

 

City/State/Zip:

 

Seattle, Wa  98102

 

Campaign Phone:

 

(206) 714-0367

 

 

Campaign Fax:

 

(206) 324-4786

 

 

Campaign E-mail:

 

darlene@electdarlene.com

 

 

Campaign Website:

 

www.electdarlene.com

 

 

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)

Governor's Council on Agriculture and the Enviroment

 

Washington State  Maritime Commission.

 

Appointed by Governor Lowry

 

Appointed by Governor Gardner

 

1994 to 1996

 

 

1990 to 1993

 

 

 

 

Chair

 

Puget Sound Clean Air Agency--Citizen-at-Large Position

 

Elected by Board of Air Agency

 

1989 to 1993

 

Citizen-at_Large

 

Skagit County Planning Commission

 

Appointed by County Commissioners

 

1980 to 1987

 

Vice-Chair

 

 

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 love this city.  I came here as a young nurse in 1966.  Now, at 61 years of age, I am concerned about some problems our city faces as it expands in the next 20 years.  And, I look at our region in a different way now that I have a three-year-old granddaughter living here in West Seattle.  With the ways things stand now, we are slowly robbing her of her future quality of life by our inactions to tackle many of our big city problems.

 

 

My background as a nurse, mediator, public health advocate, citizen activist, environmentalist, businesswoman, breast cancer survivor,  mother and grandmother give me a unique perspective that is missing on the City Council today.

 

I want to deal with real problems we can change in our lifetime.  Problems like increased contamination of our public waterways and smog and toxic air emissions that have grown exponentially over the last ten years.  As President of the American Lung Assocation of Washington, I know that one in six households in Seattle has someone who has asthma.  Washington has gone from the 11th healthiest state in the nation to the 15th in just one year.  It is projected to drop to 18th next year.  As a member of the Seattle City Council I will view all of our policy decisions through the lens of public health so we can develop healthier and more cost effective solutions to our city's pressing needs.

 

There are many important issues facing our region, but these critical health and environmental issues have been ignored too long.  It's time to fix these problems or our regions health, quality of life and economy will all suffer.

 


 

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

 

Here is how others have described my personal characteristics and traits:

 

"Darlene is the kind of leader we need; she can bring everyone to the table, listen for common ground and then come up with win/win scenarios." --- (Former Governor Booth Gardner)

 

"Darlene sees the big picture.  She started 1000 Friends of Washington, helped grow the Washington Environmental Council to a statewide organization, and now leads the American Lung Association of Washington.  I think we need someone with her vision on the City Council." --- (Rep. Phyllis Kenney)

 

"I trust her.  Public health is a growing concern.  Darlene's training and experience will bring talents to the City Council to help address these issues.  Her integrity is rock solid."----(Dorothy H. Mann, PhD, MPH)

 

"Madenwald's cool approach to conflict resolution has been a welcome relief to the confrontational tactics, the heated court battles, and the petty turf sqabbles of previous years." --- Pacific Northwest Magazine, September, 1992.

 

I was given the title of "The Velvet Steamroller" when I was featured as an Echo Hero in Pacific Northwest Magazine in September of 1992.  It read:  "Environmentalists may be hell to live with, but they make great ancestors, quipped the Governor of Washington, describing the accomplishments of 'exemplary citizen,' Darlene Madenwald in  his 1991 State of the State address.

 

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. 

 

1.      At the age of 37, I was living in Anacortes with my family and I decided to seek an advanced degree in biology.  I applied to graduate school at Western Washington University (WWU).  I was turned down because of my age and social status (married to a doctor)--the committee thought I wouldn't apply my degree by working or doing research so training me wouldn't be worthwhile.  After pointing out to the graduate committee that what they had used to deny me entrance to graduate school was not only illegal but grossly unfair, they agreed and admitted me.   It took me 5 years and a 2 hour commute each day, while raising two children, but at the age of 42, I received my M.S. degree in Marine Biology.  I undertook original research for my thesis, which was then published in a scientific text and I was invited to present it at an international meeting.  That same committee that originally turned me down for entrance to graduate school was very proud of me at graduation.  I was proud of myself as well.  I then taught at WWU that next year. What I learned from this is that I am very tenacious and I  hold "fairness to all people" close to my heart and mind.

 

2.    While living in Anacortes, one mile from the Texaco oil refinery, an air pollution problem surfaced suddenly as strong odors were emitted from a new "coking unit" that Texaco had just installed. When I complained to the managers at Texaco, they said that they would sue me personally if I didn't stop talking about the odors to the media.  That spured me on to form a citizen's group, Citizens for Clean Industry, which included neighbors and friends and the Swinomish Tribe.  We held our own community meeting and 200 people showed up.  People were not only concerned about the odor, but other problems all over Skagit County.  We then formed a number of committees and we became "the community voice" on a number of issues facing the County.  We got the attention of a number of local, state and federal agencies and elected officials.  With pressure from the EPA and the state Department of Ecology, Texaco was fined and had to install equipment to clean up it's toxic air emmisions.  We also addressed other problems in Skagit County and were effective in getting a number of polluting industies and dump sites cleaned up.  Because of my work on a number of these issues, Governor Booth Gardner gave me an "Environmental Excellence" award in 1987.  The Washington Environmental Council then asked me to join their Board of Directors where I served as President from 1990 to 1994. What I learned from this was tenacity pays off and that citizen involvement, along with partnerships with the media,  are critical in making our governmental agencies work for all of us. 

 

3.     When I was President of Citizens for Clean Industry, and President of the Washington Environmental Council, I often had people asking me how can they could get this or that governmental agency or elected official to pay attention to their  issues.  Or, I was asked by business people and elected officials--"What is it you 'enviros' really want or think on certain issues."  So, in 1994, when I left the WEC Board, I started my own governmental/community outreach consulting business for clients, corporations and non-profits alike,  to help them deal with the "people-side" of environmental issues.  I have been able to build a successful business that is now over a decade old.  I have managed very large projects and large budgets.  I have always been "on-time" and "on-budget."  I also know how to watch my own "bottom  line."  Also, running my own business and working with my various, diverse clients, I have a good understanding when governmental bodies and agencies work well for people and when then they don't serve their citizens well.


 

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.

 

Founded my own consulting business in 1994.  My firm focuses on governmental/community outreach issues.  My client range from large corporations to small citizen driven non-profits. I select one non-profit client each year to work with on a pro-bono basis. 

 

Founding Board member of the Center for Women and Democracy.  2001 to present.  Mission of the Center is to foster women's effective participation in local, national and global affairs.  I have been active in the New Leadership training program and Board Development Committee.

 

President of the American Lung Association of Washington from 2004 to present.  Member of the Board from 1996 to present.  I have chaired most of the committees on the Board during that time.  I am also President of the Leadership Forum of all of the National Lung Association's state chapters and I serve on the Council Board of the National Lung Association.

 

Member of the Executive Committee of Seattle/King County Economic Development Council (EDC), 1993 to 2000, the first EDC to have board members who represent labor and the environment.

 

Trustee of The Bullitt Foundation, 1994 to 1997. 

 

World Affairs Council Fellow, 1997 to 1998.

 

Rotary Club of Seattle, 1995 to 1997.  Chair of the Environment Committee 1996 to 1997.

 

Member of Women's Political Caucus, 2000 to present.

 

Member of the League of Women Voters, 2000 to present.

 

Member of Transition Team for Mayor Greg Nickels, 2001 to 2002.

 

Woodland Park Zoo Commissioner, 1995 to 1996.

 

Member of Governor Mike Lowry's "Citizens' Cabinet," 1992 to 1996.

 

Co-Chair of Governor Lowry's task force on "Economic Development and Environmental Enhancement," 1992 1993.

 

Founding Board member of Mount Rainier, North Cascades and Olympic Fund--a non-profit funding arm for projects to support these two national parks, 1994 to 1999.

 

Founding Board member of Sustainable Design Council, a non-profit coalition of planners, designers and environmentalists looking at urban sustainability issues, 1993 to 1996.

 

Founding President of 1000 Friends of Washington, a coalition fromed to watchdog the state's Growth Management Act, 1990 to 1991.

 

President of the Washington Environmental Council, 1990 to 1994.  Vice-President of Administration from 1988 to 1990.

 

Founding Board Member of Washington Citizen's for Fairness/Hands Off Washington, a coalition formed to oppose anti-civil rights initiatives, I-608 and 610, 1992 to 1994.

 

Port of Seattle and the Puget Sound Council of Government's "Sea-Tac Flight Plan" Project Steering Committee, 1989 to 1991.

 

 

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

 

We sit in a strange place here in Seattle now. The economy is growing, and evidence of a more thriving city are all around us. Yet, people are angry that our most important issue -- transportation -- has gotten worse. It's not just that we face a daily gridlock on the streets, it's that we face a gridlock in bureaucracies that are supposed to be working together to solve the problems. People stuck in traffic see we have many agencies all working for their own priorities, yet we are no closer to one solution, much less an integrated series of transportation solutions. People tell me they never wanted elected officials for life, and for good reason: they become a coterie of insiders who can’t see what we on the outside can see. We see the likely demise of the Monorail, a devastating loss of the gas tax, a viaduct that is crumbling, Light Rail taking us to a mile short of the airport and two miles short of Northgate.

 

I see the most important duty of the City Council is to rebuild confidence that we can handle the big problems that loom as stumbling blocks to our future's vitality.

 

In addition, the City Council is a policy making body the promotes policies that benefit the overall good of Seattle's citizens. It also approves and adopts the City's budget. The duties of the Council include overseeing public safety and health.  It is in the area of public safety that I am most concerned. We have never had  a nurse on the City Council, and given the decline in our air quality, our increase in families with major medical problems, and the health concerns eminating from our homeless community, it's time Seattle resumed it's role in ensuring the health of its citizens. Wouldn't it be important to have an advocate for a healthier quality of life for the city that's supposed to be one of the most environmentally-concerned in the nation?

 


 

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.

 

B.S. in Nursing, University of Kansas, 1965.

M.S. in Marine Biology, Western Washignton University, 1985.

 

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.

 

Darlene has served on numerous boards and commissions. She is President of the American Lung Association of Washington and remains active as a founding board member of the Center for Women and Democracy. In the past, she has served on the Seattle/King County Economic Development Council, Seattle Rotary Club’s Environment Committee , 1000 Friends of Washington, Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, Chair of the Washington State Maritime Commission and President of the Washington Environmental Council .     

 

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