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

Russ

S

Wilson

 

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

 

Renton Municipal Court Judge

 

3.   Are you the incumbent?                  Yes              No

 

 

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

 

4 years

 

5.   How long have you resided in King County?

 

10 years

 

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

                                                                                                                       

7.   If partisan, please indicate party:       

 

CAMPAIGN CONTACTS

 

 

Campaign Name:

 

Committee to elect Russ Wilson

 

Address:

 

1400 Talbot Rd S. Suite 400

 

City/State/Zip:

 

Renton Wa 98055

 

Campaign Phone:

 

425 260-1089

 

 

Campaign Fax:

 

425 627-7799

 

 

Campaign E-mail:

 

info@russ4judge.com

 

 

Campaign Website:

 

russ4judge.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)

None

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

 

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

 

Office Title

Year of Run

None

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 


 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:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.)

 

This office represents a perfect opportunity for me to achieve two goals.  The first is to become a judge.  The second is to serve Renton.  It was my goal upon entering law school to become a judge.  Since I have moved to Renton and worked in the Renton City Attorney's Office, I have committed myself to serving this community.  I have sought out and served this community in evry way and aspect that I can find.  it is my community involvement that has prompted virtually every civic leader in the community to endorse my campaign.  The list includes 15 loclaelected officials including all sevn City Council members, as well as the police and fire guilds.

 


 

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

 

Common sense.  However cliche' it may sound the decisions that are made are not made in a vacuum.  Blind application of the law without relation to the facts and long term effects happens too often and results in far more harm than good.

 

Sense of community.  Judges have lost sight of the fact that we are elected officials.  We answer, or at least we should answer to our community.  If we are unaware of how our community thinks and feels: How do we represent them?

 

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.         My single most significant accomplishment to date has been my work as a City Prosecutor. Specifically the prosecution of a young man who stalked and I believe would have one day killed a young girl he had become infatuated with. This individual will ultimately end up serving 4 consecutive 1 year sentences. After which, I am hopeful he will understand that he can not stalk young girls.

 

2.         My work as the Assistant City Attorney defending Renton’s interests is also very important to me.

 

3.         In the five years working in the Civil arena I have yet to loss a case that I was the primary attorney on.

 

 


 

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.

 

Since moving to Renton, I have been a mentor in the Communiites in Schools of Renton Program, and now serve on the Board of Directors.  I also serve on the Board of Directors for the Rotacare Organization, and I volunteer/run a Saturday free clinic sponsored by Rotacare for those in need.  I volunteer at the Senior Center, I'm an active member in Rotary, the Chamber of commerce and the Kennydale Neighboorhood Association.  I am in the community every day, learning what's important to the People of Renton.  As I have aready said to many of the judges of this state have forgotten that we are elected.  More importantly, people look to their officicials for their que to get involved.  If we get involved, they wwill.  

 

 

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

 

The Renton Municipal Court Judge presides over both traffic infractions, and gross misdemeaner/misdemeaner criminal offenses.  The judges duties in carring out that role are to ensure fair and equal access, timely resolutions, and court efficiency.  I do not believe any duty is more important than the other.  The importnace lies in the proper balance in those duties and understanding that balnce is never a fixed ratio, but varies in each case.


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.

 

Seattle University School of Law, 1997, Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Technology 1995 (GPA 3.87)

 

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