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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Fifty years |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan Nonpartisan
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Committee to Re-Elect Joan McGilton |
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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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Governor Locke's Puget Sound Action Team
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Representing Puget Sound Cities
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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 re-election for Council Position #3 in the City of Burien. I care about the quality of life in Burien and I have been a part of developing Burien's long-term vision since the city incorporated. I relocated to Burien from Federal Way in 1993, at that time I committed to become a civic leader and to get to know my neighbors and the community at large. I was privileged to be elected to Burien City council in 2001 and want to continue my service to the City in that capacity. I have three outcomes that I will work on for the next four years. They are: 1) continue to work toward a transparent and ethical council decision-making process, 2) continue to involve more of the community in vital and ongoing citizen participation, and 3) continue on the path of downtown revitalization and long-range economic growth.
Involvement: Currently, council and related regional committee work take up 30 to 40 hours of my time each week. This includes not only participation in on-going and very challenging council activities but additional time to meet the commitments of the regional policy and planning groups that I sit on. I read all of the materials, ask the most in-depth and penetrating questions of city staff so I can understand the underlying assumptions and then make an informed decision. In addition to my time with council activities, I spend about 20 hours per month with the programs for the Environmental Science Center (ESC), a non-profit environmental education organization.
Since 1993, I have been involved in Burien with all manner of volunteer activities with various committee organizations, listed in Question #4, the Civic Involvement Summary and in my resume. My willingness to join Burien's first Planning Commission speaks to early challenges that I have undertaken in this community. The Planning Commission was tasked with putting the Burien vision into guiding policy by writing the first comprehensive management plan to meet GMA requirements. After the comp plan was completed, and while I was chair, we authored Burien's first zoning code. I am also involved with my family who all reside in King County.
Effectiveness: I am very effective at communicating hard science, policy, alternatives identification and possible outcomes to a widely diverse group of participants. I use these skills on council. I find that I can clearly understand the technical aspects of city-developed plans and recommendations. Several of my fellow council members rely on me for this critical analysis. I am good at budgets and contracts based on 18 years of professional experience. I have always worked successfully on projects that were mired in chaos and controversy. Most of my professional years involved projects that were in some stage of litigation. My working objective has always been to get all participants with special-interest agendas pointed in the direction of the solution. That is the reason that I acquired my mediation certificate from the UW Law School. The mediation skill comes in handy during council meetings.
I started my third career with the Seattle Engineering Department in 1983 as an environmental engineer and retired from Safety, Health and Environmental Affairs Division at Boeing in summer 2002. Prior to receiving my MA, I was previously employed at the Seattle Aquarium as an educator where I taught kids and adults marine biology and I was also the Aquarium's diving officer.
Character: I pride myself on being responsible, trustworthy, and productive. This is demonstrated by my leadership on every committee that I have ever served on. I am respected on city council and am currently serving as Deputy Mayor in order to improve communication from the mayor and city manager to the rest of my fellow council members. I am probably more candid than politic with my collegues and the city manager. I tend to diagnose the problem and identify a range of solutions. My engineering background makes me very goal-oriented. Sometimes, I need to be more patient for those who need more time to process options.
Knowledge: I always work toward creative solutions that incorporate the Burien vision into upcoming plans and actions. I certainly have benefited from my current time on the council. When I was first elected, I had a more focused range of interests that had been aquired from my time as a citizen activist and on the Planning Commission. Since my election in 2001, I have become familiar with administrative requirements, human service needs, transportation issues, the quality or lack thereof for education in the Highline School District, and how diverse our community is. I am also educating myself in the pros and cons of public/private development as we bring our 120 million Town Square development to the City of Burien.
I am a quick study and am very analytical in approach to problem solving. I balance my technical side with a strong need to have community input early in the planning process. I enjoy learning when it can result in a practical outcome. |
2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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The personal characteristics that I am most proud of are the following: First, I am a leader. This is demonstrated in everything that I do and every committee that I work on. Second, I am passionate about my family, my quality of life and my community. Third, I am persistent. My friends and family tried to discourage me from completing my education because it was so time consuming and stressful while trying to work and raise a family. My education has opened doors for me that make me the person I am today and I treasure all of the coworkers, friends and family who supported me along the way. Fourth, I am responsible. I never take on anything that I can't complete in a timely and relatively pleasant manner. I volunteer to do tasks that don't have a lot of glory associated with them. I have been a member of Burien's Clean Sweep program to annually collect garbage from the city's downtown. I have planted trees in our parks. I take school kids to the beach as part of the ESC progams for local kids who are on free or reduced lunch in the Highline School District (HSD). And last, I never let any topic or endeavor go by that I find interesting. Irrerespective of my academic record, I am simply self-educated and will tackle anything no matter how difficult in order to understand what it is or how it works. All of these traits help me to be a good city council member. I am respected and listened to when I have a point to make. I do not go along with the majority unless I strongly believe the outcome is the right choice for the citizens of Burien. |
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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Public Life: Deputy Mayor 1/05- 12/05. Council member 1/02 until 12/05 when my current term expires. Team member, Puget Sound Action Team (PSAT) 9/03-12/05. Committee member, South County Area Transportation Board (SCATBd) 3/02-12/05. Committee member King County Regional Transit Committee (RTC), 1/03-12/05. Committee member and planning work group member Watershed Inventory Recovery (WRIA) Area 9, 3/02-12/05. Vice chair, King County Metropolitan Solid Waste Management Advisory Committee (MSWMAC), 1/05-12/05. Council member King County Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) (waiting confirmation from County Council. Committee alternate, Highline Forum for Airport Issues, 03/05-12/05. Committee member Town Square Library/City Hall Planning Oversight Committee 04/05-12/05.
Chair and committee member Burien Planning Commission, 3/95-3/2001. Vice Chair and committee member Metro's Water Quality Advisory Committee, 10/80-12/84. Regional Director, Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) 1974-1978.
Neighborhood/Community: Chair and planning committee member, Environmental Science Center 12/99-ongoing; Chair and committee member, Parks, Arts, Cultural and Recreation Council, 1993-2001; Steward, WSU Land & Water Stewards program, 5/03-ongoing; Chair and committee member Women in Engineering and Science, 1994-2000,
Employment: The Boeing Company 11/90-6/02; Engineer, City of Seattle Engineering Department and Solid Waste Utility 3/03-11/90; Marine educator and diving officer, The Seattle Aquarium 4/78-9/03; Research technician, Friday Harbor Marine Laboratory UW, 1975-1978.
During the time I was employed and in addition to the activities listed above, I also mentored and advised young women looking to choose science and engineering as a career path. At the Aquarium and in addition to my teaching responsibilites, I administered the volunteer program averaging 150 participants per quarter. I advised and placed these volunteers according to their skills and interests. I developed a volunteer program for young high school students at the Aquarium. I also taught SCUBA diving and marine biology classes at the Green River Community College in additon to directing an annual program at Highline Community College to certify diving instructors.
Family: I was a single mom and raised 3 children while working up to 3 jobs. I have 5 grandchildren ranging in age from 4 to 22 years old.
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I am committed to implement Burien's 20-year Vision for the Future: I have been working for 12 years in this community to develop and implement this 1993 Burien long-range plan. The vision is reflected into the annual work program developed each year by council and staff.
I, along with other council members, establish annual staff work priorities in January of each year.
I attend and participate in council meetings: This includes reading information packets, analysing data and alternatives, commenting on and approving all written reports, progress reports, contracts and general work items brought before the Council on a weekly basis.
I integrate, evaluate, and approve new city programs and projects to ensure they are consistent with our prescribed council policy.
I attend and participate in policy committees as the city's representative at regional and County level: I am a member of several appointed planning groups as listed in question # 4.
I was appointed by Governor Locke to represent all Puget Sound cities on the Puget Sound Action Team.
I review and approve City operating, capital, and long-term planning budgets.
I attend National League of Cities training programs and will have my gold certificate this year.
I understand, repect and adhere to all legal requirements for being an elected official. |
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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BA Zoology, UW 1977; MA Civil Engineering, UW 1984; Certified Mediator Law School, UW 1996 |
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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Citizen activist since 1977. Examples are: Deputy Mayor, Burien 1 yr of the 4 yr term; Chair, Planning Commission 3/6 yrs; Chair and founding member, Environmental Science Center, 2/5 yrs; Chair, Burien Parks, Arts and Recreation Council, 4/8 yrs; Member, WSU's Land and Water Stewards, 3 yrs; Chair, Women in Environment and Science, 2/6 yrs; Vice Chair, Metro Citzen's Water Quality Committee 2/4 yrs; Chair, Oceanic Society 2/4 yrs. |
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