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 |
2. Office sought (include office, jurisdiction, position/district number):
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State Representative, 45th District, Position 2 |
3. Are you the incumbent? Yes No
4. How long have you resided in this district/city?
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6 Years |
5. How long have you resided in King County?
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6 Years |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan Nonpartisan
7. If partisan, please indicate party: Republican
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Friends of Tim Lee |
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Address: |
15127 NE 24th Street, PMB # 195 |
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City/State/Zip: |
Redmond, WA 98052 |
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Campaign Phone: |
(425) 898-7324 |
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Campaign Fax: |
(425) 898-7545 |
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Campaign E-mail: |
tim@leeforhouse.com |
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Campaign Website: |
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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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2. If you ran for public office but were not elected, please list those races below:
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Office Title |
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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’m running for State House of Representatives because there are five issues that keep me awake at night: How to solve transportation gridlock after decades of missed opportunities; How to keep homeowners from being pushed out of their homes after years of escalating property taxes; How to improve the performance of our education system so our students can compete in the worldwide marketplace; How to encourage businesses and entrepreneurs to take risks that create jobs; How to give direction to our moral purpose in our community and awaken our neighbors to the risks and opportunities that lie before us?
My generation will inherit the issues that are facing my community today. It is imperative that I get involved in the lawmaking process now because we face significant financial and political challenges ahead. I have the energy and experience for the job. I have spent the last 7 years creating jobs, working with others to solve difficult problems, and building a business to Washington State’s 28th fastest growing private company and the State’s 10th fastest growing minority-owned company. (Ranked by Puget Sound Business Journal, 2005) Minorities are under-represented in the Legislature. For example, there are only 3 Asian American legislators in the House and Senate, or 2% of the available seats. Yet, Asian Americans account for nearly 7% of the population in Washington and 10% of the population in Western Washington. It is important for me to run for this seat, because my district represents a wide diversity of Americans. I am excited about being the first Asian American candidate for State House in my district, and upon my successful campaign, the first Asian American legislator from my district.
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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 enjoy working with people who disagree with me to solve common problems. Over the years, I’ve had to work with competitors, partners, and customers to create solutions to problems. Often times, I’ve found that when we focus on what we have in common with each other, the other party is more likely to compromise.
I study and read everything before I make a decision. It’s important for me, as a business owner, to be well-informed of all angles of a decision I’m about to make. Once I make that decision, I stay involved to see if adjustments need to be made. Often times, I’ve found that a decision was the wrong one, but because I noticed the signs early enough, I was able to correct the action before it had a lasting effect. I have the courage to make difficult decisions, especially those that impact families directly. Over the years, I’ve had to make numerous decisions relating to my company’s direction, as well as to individual employees. It’s impossible to make everyone happy, and I have to look at the long term future in every case. I am not afraid to make decisions that may impact people directly, but I always communicate it to the affected ones clearly and quickly.
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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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In November 2005, I volunteered as a English teacher in Sudan. I was looking for an opportunity to help on the ground level instead of just watching it on the news. Fortunately, there had been a lull in the civil war for a few months. During my time there, I taught English to refugee children whose families had escaped the fighting. I met many of the parents of the children, who were so eager for their children to learn something that could give them access to better education or jobs in the future. I learned the power and resilience of the human spirit in Sudan, because the people were so hopeful and optimistic about their future despite years of destruction and violence. It gave me a new appreciation of the freedoms and conveniences that we enjoy at home. It also showed me how important it is for us to actually go out and help people with our time and energy. It’s one thing to write checks from the comfort of our homes or sit on committees and commissions, but when we go to the core of the problem and try to help, it is so much more rewarding.
When we founded the company, the impression in the market was that a Linux company competes with Microsoft. In reality, Linux’s competition is with Sun Microsystems and other UNIX vendors. We developed our server products to be compatible with Microsoft, Sun, and other software products. By doing this, we ensured that our customers could use any software company’s products with our servers. We worked closely with Microsoft’s engineers to ensure our products would work well with their software. At the same time, we also worked with Linux software companies to develop compatibility as well. The result was that we had a flexible product that bridged various competing products together. In fact, we did such a great job that Microsoft has purchased over $1M worth of servers from us. This is an example where I’ve worked to bring people of opposing views together and create a common bridge that we can all benefit from.
I love basketball, and I love working kids. Six years ago, I started to coach youth basketball and since then I’ve coached both boys and girls teams ranging from 3rd grade to 6th grade. My very first team was 5th grade girls, and despite my best preparations, I did not know what to expect. I had never coached girls before! I grew up in a family of boys, with my mom being the only female in the household. I thought to myself, “What did I know about coaching girls?” So, the night before the first practice, I read up on the latest celebrity gossip about teen pop icons, like Brittney Spears. At practice, I was able to join in their conversations and in fact surprise them by my extensive knowledge of celebrity gossip. From that point on, we developed a great bond and I quickly learned that girls are much easier to coach than boys. Although the people I will be dealing with in the Legislature are much older than the 5th graders I coached, there will be times when I will be going into a unfamiliar territory. I’ve learned to do my research and to go into it with a sense of adventure.
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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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Basketball Coach, Boys and Girls Club (2000 – Present) - I coach boys and girls basketball teams in Redmond, Sammamish, Duvall and Carnation. Board Member, Big Brothers Big Sisters of King and Pierce County (2005 – Present) - I serve on the Personnel, Fund Development and Procurement committees, in addition to the general board. Event Sponsor, Jamie Moyer Foundation (2005 – Present) - Last year, I worked with my company to sponsor a trip to see the Dalai Lama in India as a once in a lifetime auction item. The item raised over $22,000 for the foundation. Landscape Committee Member, Redmond Ridge Owners Association (2001 – 2005) - I served on the committee that approves and sets guidelines for my neighborhood’s common area landscape. Member, East King County Advisory Board to Secretary of State Sam Reed (2006 – Present) - I serve on this committee to advise the Secretary of State on regional business and community issues. Trustee, Inger Olsen Scholarship Foundation (1999 – Present) - This is a scholarship foundation that I co-manage with my business partner to honor his mother who died of Lou Gehrig’s disease. We provide college scholarships each year to students who have been affected by the disease. The scholarship consists of tuition assistance and computer equipment. Member, Alliance of Angels (2000 – Present) - This is a group of angel investors that meet once a month to review opportunities for joint investment. Entrepreneurs are screened to present their company’s business plan and the group discusses and selects companies to invest in. I also mentor entrepreneurs that I feel have a compelling idea.
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It
- Please describe the duties of the office you seek. Which are the most important duties and why?
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The legislature sets policy, law, and budget for the state of Washington. Legislators are the representatives of their district and convey the wishes of their constituents to the Legislature. Individually, each legislator is responsible for meeting with his constituents to understand the needs and issues that are affecting his district. It is important that this happens on a consistent basis, not just during re-election time. The legislator should also meet with industry representatives, government agencies and other legislators to discuss how the issues in his district are related to problems in other districts. Then, action should be taken to prepare legislation to address these issues and discussions should intensify with the committees that will study the proposed legislation. The legislator should also communicate his plans and concerns to the public by meeting with community groups, talking with member of the local newspapers, and providing quarterly updates to his district.
The most important duty of a legislator is to listen and react to his constituents. It’s difficult to balance the rigors of a full time job with being a legislator in Olympia and in the district. It’s important for a legislator to understand that he serves his community, not the other way around. With that attitude, he must sacrifice his own personal time or sleep in order to accomplish all the duties and requirements of the job. I believe that I have the time, the energy, and the integrity to do what this job requires.
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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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Development and Child Psychology, UC Berkeley |
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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Basketball Coach, Boys and Girls Club (2000 – Present) - I coach boys and girls basketball teams in Redmond, Sammamish, Duvall and Carnation. Board Member, Big Brothers Big Sisters of King and Pierce County (2005 – Present) - I serve on the Personnel, Fund Development and Procurement committees, in addition to the general board. Trustee, Inger Olsen Scholarship Foundation (1999 – Present) - This is a scholarship foundation that I co-manage with my business partner to honor his mother who died of Lou Gehrig’s disease. We provide college scholarships each year to students who have been affected by the disease. Member, Alliance of Angels (2000 – Present) - This is a group of angel investors that meet once a month to review opportunities for joint investment. I also mentor entrepreneurs that I feel have a compelling idea.
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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