2006 Candidate Questionnaire
SECTION I
BASIC CANDIDATE INFORMATION
1. Name as it will appear on the ballot
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First Name |
Middle Initial or Nick Name |
Last Name |
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Christopher |
Hurst |
2. Office sought (include office, jurisdiction, position/district number):
3. Are you the incumbent? Yes X No
4. How long have you resided in this district/city?
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Life |
5. How long have you resided in King County?
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31st LD & area - life |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? X Partisan Nonpartisan
7. If partisan, please indicate party: Democrat
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Citizens for Christopher Hurst |
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Address: |
62504 Indian Summer Way E |
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City/State/Zip: |
Enumclaw, WA 98022 |
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Campaign Phone: |
360-663-2608 |
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Campaign Fax: |
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Campaign E-mail: |
chris@christopherhurst.org |
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Campaign Website: |
Christopherhurst.org |
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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) |
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State Representative – 31st LD, Position 2
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Elected
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2001 - 2003
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Vice-chair Judiciary, Chair of Community Security Committee
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State Representative – 31st LD, Position 2
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Elected
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1999 - 2001
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Vice-chair Judiciary Committee
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2. If you ran for public office but were not elected, please list those races below:
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Office Title |
Year of Run |
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State Representative – 31st LD, Position 2
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1996
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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.)
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I am running to fulfill the promise I made when I left the legislature 4 years ago – that I would return to finish the work that I had started. My teenage daughter was entering high school at the time, and I thought it was important to spend more time at home during those challenging years. When I left, I said that I would run once again for public office when she turned 18. That is happening now, and she is a fine person, a decent scholar and a good athlete. I am therefore returning to elective politics. Not everyone understood my decision at the time, or why an incumbent would leave a safe seat, but my family had to come first. It was the best decision of my life.
I also think it was healthy to leave politics for a time, by my own decision, to allow me to reflect on the process and upon my part in carrying out the duties of an elected official.
From a broader perspective, my interest in elective office comes from a lifetime of public service. I feel it is my calling. This I learned from my father. When I was a child, he served on the Kent School Board and other public service positions. He taught me to get involved and not be afraid to stand up and take a position when civic duty called. I became a police officer and served in that capacity for over 25 years – serving the citizens, and I think, helping to make the world a better place for everyone. I recently retired after 25 years of service, attaining the rank of Investigative Commander and Commander of a 15-city Violent Crime/Homicide Task Force.
While working as a police officer, I ran for the Washington State Legislature in 1996. I ran because I believed that the incumbent had lost touch with the issues that were important to our district, and had become a yes-man to partisanship and special interests that were heavily funding his campaigns. I lost that first race by only 201 votes, out of 38,000 cast, to a 5 year incumbent. I came back in 1998 and won the seat by 10 points, 55%-45%, one of the largest margins of defeat of an incumbent in recent memory. The win came largely from my campaign’s registering 5,200 new voters, mostly absentees, between March and October, and I believe that my campaign contributed to the passage of local school ballot issues as well. I then held the seat against a challenger by a margin of 4,000 votes. Of my three campaigns, I learned the most from the loss in 1996. You learn little from a win, but much personal development is gained from a loss.
Why all of this work? Because of my commitment to education, public safety, environmental concerns, the rights of children and working families and consumers. I have never been, and am not now a particularly partisan politician. I don’t vote a party line. The citizens of the district always come first for me and I felt I did a good job representing their interests when I served in office in the past. Olympia is not the real world, nor is Washington DC. The real world exists in the homes, communities, families and lives of the citizens we represent. Many politicians get lost in the political machine, and I tried not to do that. For me, party politics came second, and I was willing to work with anyone to get legislation passed that would benefit my constituents.
During the process, I was twice rated “Outstanding” by the Municipal League. Although one must be very careful with pride in politics, I took much personal pride in this particular rating, and still do to this day.
Did I live up to those expectations? You would have to ask others. I can say that I am sure that I made many mistakes along the way, but did try to serve the citizens in my district and was mindful of my responsibilities.
These are the reasons I am running and how I hope to serve once again.
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2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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I have a high level of confidence in my ability to serve and advocate for those persons and issues I am passionate about. Additionally, I believe that I truly understand the district and communities I have served. Although not a great listener by nature, I have worked hard to become one, and with age I now feel I have far more to learn than offer in conversation. I have come to this understanding through doorbelling extensively throughout the district, meeting people in their homes, and hearing their stories, starting with my first campaign one decade ago, in 1996. The most important thing politics has taught me is that more than anything, people want to be heard. They just want to feel someone in our representative form of government is willing to listen to them, and take to heart their concerns, complaints and issues. From this I developed a policy – and that was to give everyone my home phone number. You will find it on all of my political literature, along with my home address. And if a person wishes to call at 3:00 AM and complain, I will listen and they will feel well served.
I am driven by closure on issues. I often grow weary of ongoing processes to which there is no conclusion. Bringing a process to an end is important to me. I measure the effectiveness of process by the results produced. I like to set goals and see results.
I am not deterred by conflict during process. Conflict of ideas is healthy during any debate. I respect that and am encouraged by the free flow of ideas when an item of concern is on the table. Although civility should be the guiding decorum during any debate, nonetheless I am not bothered by others’ voicing their views and concerns in the strongest possible terms as their conscience guides them. I respect and enjoy passion in others - even when I disagree.
I am willing to set partisan goals and ambitions aside for the greater good of the district and state. I do not like the red state/blue state mentality. It is not healthy. We are all in this together, and should, as Americans, remember that. |
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.
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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 have been married to my wife and best friend, April, for the last 28 years. Much work and communication is necessary for such a relationship to be successful.
My family and I are members of Calvary Presbyterian Church in Enumclaw. We were involved as a family in 4H when my children were younger. I am a member of the Serria Club and share a deep concern for the protection of our environment. I am a member of the National Association of Flight Instructors. I have been assisting Doctors Without Borders with fundraising and will continue to do so in the future. I am a member of the Washington State Narcotics Investigators Association.
I served as a member of the Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission for four years where we worked on and submitted to the legislature, most of the criminal sentencing proposal that have been enacted into law in recent years.
My career for the last 25 years as a police officer has provided me many lesions on life, community, substance abuse, domestic violence, pain and suffering of victims and family members, the social costs of poor education and a chance to see how people live their lives. Also an understanding of the difference between justice and order.
Serving as a member of the Washington State House of Representatives for four years, then leaving voluntarily, taught me two key lessons: always put the district before partisan politics and always put family before everything. Perspective comes from either trying to be humble or forced to become so. I have been in three elections before this race. I lost my first one and won the next two. I learned far more from the one I lost that the two I won.
Prior to entering police work I worked in the woods as a logger when I was young and eventually owned and operated my own company with 10 employees. Being a small business owner taught me much. My wife owns a small business today. Small businesses are the backbone of local communities.
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- Please describe the duties of the office you seek. Which are the most important duties and why?
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First and foremost is constituent work. People don’t care all that much about Olympia and Washington DC. Life occurs in houses, families and communities where the people actually live. More than anything in American democracy, people want to be heard. I give everyone my home phone number and address. I have always felt that at the very least, citizens must be able to call and talk to their representatives and voice their ideas and concerns. Yes, you do get calls in the middle of the night sometimes, and some are profane; however that is not that common and if you really listen to people, they begin to feel well served. That is the heart of representative government. I go out and meet people at their homes. I like to see how each community lives. I like to see local problems first hand. Generally speaking, people vote for politicians because they have met them, trust their judgment and feel they can get in touch with them if they what to. Not because of partisan issues. A member of the State House of Representatives is nothing more than an extension of the hopes, dreams, wishes and complaints of the citizens they serve. Therein lies the foundation of effective representation and the development of sound policy for constituents on matters before the legislature.
Next would be attendance to committee meetings and functions to learn the details of as many issues as possible in order to make the best possible judgments on votes before the legislature. The development of relationships with groups, citizens at large, experts and other elected officials is very important in this process. You cannot, in the end, support or oppose an issue until you understand the issue from both sides. There is very little black and white and much gray. The older I get, the more I understand this. We govern this country by consensus. Every voice matters. And as much as we may disagree with them, we must support the rights of others to voice their views, too. I do not like the red state/blue state mentality. Divisive politics have been harmful in the last 10 years and it is time to move away from that attitude.
Voting ones conscience. We vote electronically in the House of Representatives from our desk on the floor of the House, and there is only a red button and a green one, not a “maybe” button. Sometimes all elected officials probably wish there was one, but an elected official must be willing to stand and be counted. I try to never miss a vote and have never dodged one. In the face of two bad options, one must pick the best one by looking inside ones self and not be concerned about the political consequences.
Not taking ones self too seriously. Julia Patterson, upon my first election, gave me the best advice anyone ever has. She told me that in Olympia, every day, people would tell you that you are a “10”. And after a while some people begin to believe it and lose their way. She then told me that I would never be anything more that I was today, and that good legislators keep their perspective by remembering this. She was right. I tried to get people and staff to call me Chris instead of “Representative Hurst”. It seems small, but it was important to me. To remember that I was simply the instrument of policy and not anything more, in and of myself. When I left the legislature for my family four years ago, it was also a test of my commitment to this belief – to make sure that it had not become too important to me personally. I like the work, but do not have to have the position.
Finally, and this may seem odd, but spending time in quiet reflection and self assessment. I do this by hiking in the mountains. A person can get too wrapped up in things and again, lose perspective. I find the peace of the mountains restores my soul, balance and perspective. Plus the exercise makes me more effective. |
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.
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AA Degree in Aviation, Green River Community College, FAA Certified Airline Transport Pilot and Flight Instructor, Washington State Certified Peace Officer by the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, the National Intelligence Academy, The United States Department of Justice law enforcement training programs including training by the FBI, DEA and EPA. |
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.
X 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 (cec@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 newsletter 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: Jennifer DiGiacomo
Seattle, WA 98104-1614 Fax: 425-671-0506 Website: www.munileague.org