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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Karen |
Willard |
2. Office sought (include office, jurisdiction, position/district number):
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State Representative, 31st Legislative District, Position 1 |
3. Are you the incumbent? Yes No
4. How long have you resided in this district/city?
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I’ve lived for 20 years just outside of Buckley |
5. How long have you resided in King County?
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Prior to my move to Pierce County, I lived for 10 years in King County |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan Nonpartisan
7. If partisan, please indicate party: Democrat
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Elect Karen Willard |
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Address: |
Office: 240 Auburn Way S Mailing Address: PO Box 140 |
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City/State/Zip: |
Office: Auburn, WA 98002 Mailing Address: Wilkeson, WA 98396 |
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Campaign Phone: |
206.218.3108 |
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Campaign Fax: |
253.939.4786 |
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Campaign E-mail: |
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Campaign Website: |
www.ElectKarenWillard.com |
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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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PCO, 31-666
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Elective
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11/2004-present
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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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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 decided to run for office because I couldn’t stand on the sidelines anymore. I’m running to restore the faith in our elected representatives, to be a voice for working families, and to tackle the problems of health care access and insurance facing all but the wealthiest in our community.
Our public education system needs help. Problems that I saw in the White River School District, for example, when my sons were in school have only gotten worse, and as I doorbell in the area, I hear great unhappiness with the perennial need for special local levies, the continuing lack of fair remuneration for workers in the system, and the failure to actually teach what we require for high school graduation.
Our explosive growth has caused problems in infrastructure, our schools, and the environment that must no longer be ignored. I believe I can effectively represent the interests of the 31st — in education, family wage jobs, and health care for all — while also legislating effectively. |
2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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I quickly master new material, and pick up new tasks well. I can bring people together who have disparate views. I listen thoughtfully and without defensiveness. While I hold fast to my values, I am open to new ideas and to learn from others. I enjoy the process of researching and debating issues as I work to reach conclusions on topics new to me. Once having chosen a course of action, I work very hard to carry it out and do not quickly lose interest merely because it turns out to be difficult to achieve.
Our founders believed that self-government by ordinary folks, not elite or anointed leaders, was the best way to structure our society. I bring to this race my passion for justice, and a belief in the freedoms and liberty promised by our constitution to all citizens. I am convinced that our state will prosper only as our working families prosper, and that attention to the quality of life, opportunities for effective education, and “the pursuit of happiness” should be highly valued by whoever represents us. |
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.
In the late 1980s/early 1990s I was looking for a way to work from home so that I could continue to be a full-time at-home mother to my two sons. From my involvement in shapenote singing, I knew there was a niche market for anyone who could typeset music using the early American technique of shaped noteheads for vocal music. I designed a shapenote music font, mastered using music typesetting software with which I could use my music font, and launched Weelyrd Publishing. Presently I work with both hymnal and songbook companies (primarily located in the South), and individuals wanting their songs to be printed using this old American system. I also edited and published a collection of American Christmas songs, An American Christmas Harp, selling out 4 separate printings before letting it go temporarily out of supply while I pursue political office. Setting up a business, (and this year hiring my first employees), has given me first hand knowledge of issues faced by the small business owners in my district and across Washington State. Working from a home office as a sole proprietor requires self-starting self-discipline, and an ability to focus on projects. Working from a family home requires an ability to find creative scheduling solutions and to switch quickly from one task to another as small domestic crises arise. |
During the Christmas season of 2002, my doctor told me that my routine mammogram showed a suspicious area and recommended a biopsy. Two days after Christmas I got the biopsy report saying indeed I had a malignancy and would have to make a decision what to do about it. As the daughter of a physician and nurse, and the sister to three physicians, I have always felt comfortable in the medical world and I knew that the best outcome to my diagnosis could be brought about if I could assemble a comprehensive medical team and, after listening closely to their advice, make a timely decision, formulate a plan and carry out that plan. So I set about learning as much as I could as rapidly as I could about the current state of breast cancer treatments and risks. I sought out knowledgeable people and consulted widely. I shared everything with my husband and sons (my sons were in college and high school at the time) and they assured me they would do their best to make our home a supportive haven. I also had to take a hard look at what our financial resources were. With the help, advice, and professional skills of a primary care physician, a surgeon, a radiologist, a radiation oncologist, a medical oncologist, a physical therapist, almost countless techs and nurses, and a loving and supportive family I will celebrate my 5th year anniversary on January 9, 2007. It was this experience that imbued in me a passion for working on a fix for our health care system: the way it is experienced by most patients, the way it is experienced by health care providers, and the way we all pay for it.
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I have been a Seventh-day Adventist for my entire life; I formally joined the church when I was 13. As an adult I have sought out and participated in the life of the local congregation wherever I have lived. I have been on and chaired a number of committees, charged with a variety of tasks. I chaired the Music Committee at the Green Lake Church of SDAs in Seattle, which determined which music would be sung by the congregation each week and found musicians to present special pieces to enhance the service. The range of opinion in that congregation as to what constitutes acceptable “worship” music is quite wide (from pipe organ to drums), and I’m proud of leading the committee and satisfying most members of the congregation. While on the nominating committee for the Renton SDA Church, I led the way in recruiting and successfully presenting to the congregation the first woman to serve as a church elder in that congregation. I have always believed that my faith welcomes all who choose to worship, and have worked to make my congregation more inclusive everywhere I have lived. As an active church member, volunteer, and leader, I am thoroughly appreciative of the strict separation of church and state. I will not impose my beliefs on others, and I will resist efforts to make the government impose on my beliefs. |
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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In the late 1980s, I acquired a passion for community 4-part harmony singing from the old American songbook, “The Sacred Harp,” and in 1992, organized and chaired the first “Sacred Harp” singing convention in Seattle. Because of my desire to support and expand such community singing throughout the Pacific Northwest, I founded the Pacific Northwest Sacred Harp Singers Inc., a non-profit organization. I am the current president and developer/webmaster of their website (http://pnwshs.org). Putting this together, developing its goals and then carrying out those goals has been good training for politics.
Throughout my adult life, I have been engaged in the life of my local church congregations. I have taught in the youth departments, led several young people’s clubs, been involved with the choirs, taught adult study groups, and worked on many church committees. These situations require the ability to build consensus, resolve disputes with tact and respect for all parties involved, and find common ground even when the initial views of the participants are widely disparate and fervently held.
While my sons were in school, I volunteered in their classrooms and joined the local PTA. This gave me a good look at the successes and challenges of our public schools. Even though I have many teachers in my extended family, this close up experience in my local schools gave me an even greater appreciation for the people who have chosen teaching as their profession, and of the burdens that government, both local and federal, require our teachers to bear.
In 2004, I joined the local Democratic club (“31st District Democrats”) and was elected to the executive board. Throughout 2005 I worked closely with the others to build membership and develop the club into a more effective organization. In preparation for the 2006 election, I participated on the search committee to find suitable candidates to challenge incumbents in our district. We successfully recruited candidates for two of the positions and were still looking for a third. However, I was unaware that my fellow committee-members had stopped looking for a candidate to run for State Representative Position 1. They had concluded that I should to be their candidate. Their confidence in my abilities and faith in my skills showed me that I should run for office.
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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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The most important duty, as I see things, is to faithfully represent all of the residents of the 31st Legislative District, regardless of their voting patterns. We need Representatives who will fight for all of us, not just those who supported them in an election year. |
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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M.S. Audiology Colorado State University B.S. Communication Disorders Loma Linda University |
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.
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Founder and current President of The Pacific Northwest Sacred Harp Singers, Inc., and webmaster of http://PNWSHS.org an organization devoted to supporting and expanding community singing from and understanding of the old American songbook “The Sacred Harp”.
Church leader, choir member, youth teacher, adult Bible study teacher, and chair of many committees in my local church congregations.
Secretary and Webmaster for the 31st District Democrats; precinct committee officer; and poll worker in Pierce County.
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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