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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45 years |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan Nonpartisan
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Friends of Joan McBride |
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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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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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I am running for my third term on the Kirkland City Council because there is still work to do in service to my community. In the past eight years, I have accomplished many goals, and I am dedicated to continue working for the citizens of Kirkland in order to make our town a better place. I have seen critical projects come to fruition, some that were thought to be impossible. For instance, purchasing 66 low income housing units a block from downtown Kirkland was a dream come true. The fact that those living in the units would be just a block from the library, transit center, and our anchor park with its teen center and senior center, was representative to me of the “Kirkland Way.” It took years to accomplish this dream, but I persevered until it was a reality, just as I will continue to persevere for Kirkland. One of my top priorities is to ensure that Kirkland is safe and inviting for pedestrians and bicyclists. Thanks in part to my advocacy, our city was the first municipality in the U.S. to employ pedestrian flags, and the first outside of California to use flashing ‘in-pavement’ crosswalk lights, providing our citizens with safer street crossings. I intend to further pedestrian safety by helping to craft a sidewalk levy that will construct sidewalks within a quarter mile of Kirkland’s elementary schools. In keeping with my concern for our citizens’ safety and health, one of my goals is to work on city policies that promote active lifestyles. I am a proponent of Active Living by Design, an initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Currently 25 partner cities are engaged in this program that seeks to integrate physical activity into everyday life. Cities can help encourage active lifestyles by planning facilities that promote walking. Last year, I worked with Seattle King County Public Health to develop walking maps for eleven of our neighborhoods; this year I would like to develop a biking map. Another area of interest for me is Kirkland’s designated urban center, Totem Lake. I will continue to be active in the redevelopment of this area, including bringing reinvestment bankers to the area, working on public/private partnerships, and developing much needed amenities for the area such as open space, sidewalks and public art. In addition to the area’s ability to provide critical affordable housing, Totem Lake will increase our retail base and provide the revenues needed to sustain city services like parks and public safety. I have been a champion of the revitalization of Totem Lake and I want to see it through. It is not enough to have a beautiful thriving community – the process for achieving a stellar community must be inclusive and consensus driven. That is why another one of my goals is to ensure that Kirkland continues to enhance meaningful communication with citizens. Recent milestones include putting our council packets on the web, live streaming and an interactive web site. I am also committed to sponsoring community forums and conversations. I believe that Kirkland needs to more fully engage our boards and commissions and enhance communication between the volunteer boards and the council. Recently I initiated the first ever meeting between the chairs and vice chairs of all our boards and commissions and the city council. Our goals were to critique our working relationships and build on our strengths. The meeting brought out many new ideas. I intend to continue these ‘check-in’ meetings that will ensure that our citizens and volunteer boards are connected to the decision making process. I am running for office because I want my three children to have the same experiences I did growing up in Kirkland: a safe community where children are valued. I started out wanting to model to them that a person can make an impact for good by working within the system. And now, eight years later, I find that constantly working to make the system more responsive has become a major goal. In summary, I am seeking a third term because I have work left to do and many years of experience give me the expertise and background to get the job done. |
2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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While many of my personal traits help me to be successful on the Kirkland City Council, three in particular directly relate to my council business. The first is fairness. My parents taught me to be evenhanded and I have taken their sense of fair-play into my adult life to continually guide the decisions I make, in office and out. When citizens come before a council, they are looking for decision makers to hear all sides of the story and decide on the merits of the case, without influence. Fairness means not deciding before all facts are in – it also means the effort to read all the supportive documents, and to make sure that everyone’s viewpoints have been taken into consideration. Fairness also means that when you make a decision you are able to articulate your decision and why. Fairness means providing opportunities for open and inclusionary communication, and only then, after careful deliberation, can the final decision be reached.
The second trait is leadership, a very important characteristic for an elected official. Another word for leadership might be bravery because often the most spectacular moments of leadership are the bravest. This past year and a half I had to make a series of very hard decisions that required leadership and bravery. After a controversial issue has been thoroughly vetted and fairly presented, it falls upon elected officials to make the decision. Leadership means having confidence in your ability to make the best decisions and then doing so. It does not mean trying to pass the issue over or trivialize it, or hand it off yet again. Leadership is the price you pay to be an elected official.
The third characteristic that plays a daily part in my life is compassion. It is compassion that helps an elected official look beyond the numbers to the human or community story. I am very lucky to be an elected official in a mid-sized town, where it is easier to see and consider the complexities of any given issue. Compassion makes sure that you look out for everyone, that your city remains welcoming to all, and that you realize you must also be a voice for those who, in our culture, may not have a strong voice. Compassion is what builds vision for the future; it is optimistic and confident. Compassion leads to decisions that build on strengths and include all stakeholders. Public works might build the roads, but compassion builds the community. |
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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Kirkland Interfaith Network – 1990 to 1996, chair two years, Originator, KIN FOLK Award Chaired Crop Walk to raise money to fight hunger Bosnian Refugee Support Group Back to School Supplies Drive Skills: working with participants from other faith-based organizations on poverty issues.
Lakeview Elementary PTSA – 1991 to 1997 Founder, Lakeview Elementary Traffic Safety Committee (working with State PTA, co-wrote state cross walk law to include “lane of safety”) Founder, Mother’s Day Community Walk, 1993 to 1999 Founder, Lakeview Elementary Children’s Fund PTA co-president, 1995 Skills: tapping the skills of parents to enhance the school culture and involve the neighborhood. Organizational, budgeting, and legislative lobbying skills
Friends of Youth – employment – 1996 to 2003 Community and media relations Acquired funding for art studios for the Kirkland Teen Center Responsible for press work for the agency. Skills: effective communication skills, working with community to raise the level of knowledge regarding the need for youth services, prioritizing needs of 18 programs for community outreach.
Lake Washington High School PTSA – 2004 to current Hospitality Chair Nominating Committee Co-vice president Recruited the slate of officers for the upcoming school year. The PTSA was talking of disbanding after over 40 years of constant PTSA presence. Skills: ability to articulate a vision and recruit qualified individuals suited to the job at hand.
“Save the Animals” fundraising project to save three public art installations - 2005 Spearheaded campaign to raise over $200 thousand Personally raised $90 thousand from four donors Skills: building enthusiasm for an ambitious project. Message development and involving a broad range of participants (over 600).
I have included in the answer to this question five examples from the past 15 years. I think these five, although not the most important, exemplify some of the skills necessary to be a successful elected official. The ability to communicate a vision and to inspire others, understanding what the needs of an organization are and then helping to facilitate solutions, and learning that people want to be motivated to achieve great things are critical skills. Whether it is contributing to beloved public art or raising money to fight poverty, people want to be involved; they want opportunities to make a difference in their community – a good elected official can inspire volunteers.
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The duties of a council member in Kirkland include fairly deciding questions before the council, balancing the city budget, setting and reviewing policy, plotting a future that includes the broadest range of possibilities, and being accessible. Those are the basics, but being an effective councilmember in the Puget Sound area also means being involved regionally, since many of the challenges before our town are regional issues. So as council members we each must take on some regional responsibilities. Council members also have a responsibility to arrive at meetings prepared for the evening’s agenda. In Kirkland we place a high premium on the duty to do one’s homework; we are proud that our council meetings are deliberations among informed and prepared council members.
We have a duty to understand the appearance of fairness doctrine and to go further and understand its intent. We must show the highest integrity and if even the briefest of ex parte communication has taken place, we must disclose the conversation. We have a duty to put our political expediency aside and make sure that each decision we make is in the best interest of our town. We have to be brave in the face of supporters when the best decision for the city means we have to disappoint some. Our duty as elected officials is to raise the level of civic discourse, to include all interested parties in the process and to be the town where one doesn’t fight a faceless city hall, but rather one partners with city hall, because we have each others’ best interest at heart.
As part-time council members in a city with a city manager from of government, we are required to participate in various council committees. In my case I chair the finance committee and am a member of the public safety committee. As deputy mayor I attend the agenda meeting and work with the mayor to develop a smooth and logical agenda for our twice monthly council meetings. As mentioned, each council member is also asked to participate on regional committees. Currently I am participating in our state’s salmon recovery program (WIRA 8), state environmental streamlining (TPEAC), Suburban Cities Policy Committee, and the Regional Policy Committee (alternate).
Our most important duties are to be prepared, to participate regionally and to include our citizens in the decisions we make. We also must honor our office and always be respectful of the process of government – we should value and model civilized discourse. |
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