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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39 years |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan Nonpartisan
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Cole for Council |
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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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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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As with many local governments, Redmond's financial future presents a challenge. This problem has magnified over the last several budget cycles. I have explored a number of different approaches to this issue. Several years ago, I found a new technique for budgeting government that focuses on outcomes, in a book titled Priorities of Governement. It was written by several professors and has been sucessfully used by the State of Washington as well as many other governements across the country. I contacted the authors and led the process to educate the City Council on this approach. Last year the Council unanimously agreed to try this for next year. We have set aside the money to hire a consultant to guide us. After investing significant time in getting to this point, I want to be re-elected to implement this plan. As a Certified Public Accountant, I am uniquely qualified to provide the leadership in this budget process.
Another high priority is the improvement of the region's transportation system. Redmond must work more regionally in order to complete projects that will help Redmond as well as improve the Puget Sound region. We can build a multi-model system that more effectively moves people, goods and services.
Redmond is committed to accepting it's share of growth. This can be accomplished without negatively affecting existing neighborhoods. With my experience on the City Council and work with the Puget Sound Regional Council, we can avoid some techniques that would cause a deterioration of our quality of growth. |
2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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I am widely known for the integrity and ethics that I bring to this job. While not always a popular thing to do, I insist that we take actions in public. As a Certified Public Accountant, I've always had legal responsibilities to do the right thing. It's a way of life with me. I also exercise the same oversight over the spending of taxpayers money as I do my own. Too often elected officials do not follow this policy. I'm also a strong believer in having a healthy debate over issues and voting no if it's important. It's frustrating to watch some people just go along, even though they disagree. |
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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During my first few years on the Council, I led the initiative to switch to a two year budget, and require a six year projection of revenues and expenses. This long range look at Redmond's finanicial status has helped us avoid many problems by forcing us to look ahead and budget accordingly.
As a Certified Public Accountant, I had oversight of the implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation at a division of the Boeing Company. This assignment has greatly increased my knowledge of internal controls that will also be applicable to my work as a Councilmember.
Most recently, I have come up with a new process to improve the budgeting in Redmond. We plan on implementing this outcome based budget process in 2008.
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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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My first involvement in Redmond was working with several citizens to defeat an attempt to rezone part of the North end of Redmond. This area was semi-rural in nature and was not the appropriate area for high density housing. There was inadequate infrastructure as well as the plan was contrary to existing policy. I worked on this project for over three years.
I have helped raise four daughters in Redmond. I'm fortunate that they have been great kids and the youngest just received her college degree in June, 2007. Three daughters are now married and I'm the proud grandfather of five grandchildren.
I was recognized in 2005 with the Rotary Community MVP of the Year award and also was named as the Paul Harris Fellow.
I have been a long time member of many civic organizations, including the League of Women Voters and the Municipal League as well as being active in several non-profit organizations, including Hopelink's Executive Leadership Council. I just completed two terms as the President of the Board of NARAL Pro-Choice Washington.
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My job as a Councilmember is to represent the citizens and taxpayers of Redmond and to assure that their money is spent wisely and that we provide the best services possible. We also are responsible for the policy development and oversight to assure that the government is serving the people.
I also spend considerable time representing Redmond at the regional, state and national level.
Councilmembers have a duty to study issues that are presented to them, ask questions and seek outside information to confirm that the we are setting the best policy.
I believe that setting the budget and determining the fairest tax policy is our most important role.
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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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Certified Public Accountant since 1974 Masters of Accounting degree Masters of Business Administration in Finance BS degree in Political Science |
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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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 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: Jason Thibedeau
Seattle, WA 98104-1614 Fax: (425) 671-0506 Website: www.munileague.org