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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58 years |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan Nonpartisan
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Committee to Elect Denis Law For Mayor |
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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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Served on Planning & Development, Utilities and Finance Committees, LEOFF 1 Board, Suburban Cities Public Issues 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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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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Renton is a quality city that is experiencing a good deal of growth, most of it positive. The city's economic development policies of the past 10-plus years continues to bear fruit, with recent development that includes a major shopping/dining complex (The Landing); Federal Reserve Bank; relocation of Providence Medical Services ; redevelopment of the former Barbee Mill site into million-dollar townhomes and the Seahawks construction of their new headquarters and training facility.
Much of Renton's success is thanks to the collaboration that exists in this community between the city, school district, Renton Technical College, the public hospital district and the business community. There has been some disconnect between these groups and the city and it will be my goal to restore the positive working relationship that is credited with putting Renton on the map, while continuing our policies that have attracted new businesses, retailers and quality housing.
I also want to create a more inclusive relationship between the mayor's office, city council and Renton citizens. The mayor does not communicate well with the council, which has led to unfortunate conflict over the past three years. And there have been some significant issues over the past couple years where citizens were not properly engaged or even allowed to participate in discussions that impact their neighborhood. This is unacceptable and fuels the mistrust between the public and government.
While Renton's future looks very bright, our potential growth poses some significant challenges. Our population could double over the next few years if we absorb all of the areas within our Potential Annexation Area. It's my goal to make sure that we fully understand the costs that will be needed to provide city services and upgrading neglected infrastructure, to assure that we don't end up having to seek a higher tax rate from all of our citizens in order to pay for the costs of the annexed areas. We need to take a business-like approach in assessing projected costs of providing city services into the future for these areas, against anticipated tax revenues, (costs already are predicted to outpace revenues in some of these areas due to limited commercial development opportunities). A lack of understanding and poor planning could negatively impact this city for years to come. |
2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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I work well with others. I believe in the value of creating a team-like environment and nurturing this to achieve your goals. I welcome, respect and listen to other opinions in hopes of finding the best strategy to address a challenge or meet an objective.
Good communication and collaboration to build consensus usually results in a better product. Citizens are rightfully demanding better outcomes for their tax dollars and accountability for results. They expect better efficiency and even some creativty. We have the talent to achieve these goals and, like every other organization, there is room for improvement. We need to establish tangible goals that benefit our tax payers and constantly review our progress to assure that we're being effective managers of our resources.
Having owned my own businesses for the majority of my adult life, i have learned the importance of recognizing the value of employees and their contributions to our success. I don't have a big ego where I constantly need to exercise power that shows I'm the boss. That doesn't work. It's the same with our citizens. We need to remind ourselves that we are public servants who have been given a short period of time to represent their needs. It's important that we find new ways to engage our citizens to better understand and respond to their issues, concerns and vision.
I know that there are a lot of people much smarter than me, and I enjoy the challenge of engaging their expertise and buy-in to help me meet the goals of the organization or project. I believe my strength is in relationship and consensus building. |
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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One will need to be business. I'll use Puget Sound Publishing Co., which I sold in 2000, as an example. I had a vision for a new way of community journalism that I felt could overcome the downward spiral newspapers have been experiencing over the past 15 to 20 years. My model was to do away with newpaper carriers and use the high-cost of mail to distribute a local newspaper. Due to the cost, I had to give up the weekly frequency, traditionally taboo in our industry. But it was my opinion that, while all other newspapers were losing circulation and consequently advertising dollars, I could approach advertisers and guarantee them distribution to every household. On top of that, I could assure high readership due to our commitment to fill the pages with local, relevant news, that was not available anywhere else. This meets what every advertiser desires: reaching the highest number of households in their market area with a product that would be read, rather than tossed with other "junk" mail.
I opened an office, hired a reporter and graphic artist, and set off to sell ads. We became an instant household name in Renton and our staff quickly grew to 15. Within five years, we had newspapers in Renton, Kent and Auburn; a distribution of more than 120,000 households twice a month; and annual revenues in excess of $1.5 million. The King County Journal purchased my company in 2000 and this model was expanded throughout east and south King County. While there have been some recent changes in that company's strategy, this is the only division that continues today whiie the daily newspaper in their operation has folded.
Besides having a business concept that proved to be successful, my real satisfaction is in knowing that our publications were credited by community leaders as being a catalyst for building and nurturing a sense of community in these three towns. We became the primary communication tool used by the cities, school districts and service organizations.
A second item is chairing Renton Rotary's annual auction. This is a significant undertaking where we historically raise around $100,000 from the community, which goes directly to pay for scholarships, clothing, food, and many other community needs. The event attracts around 400 people and the coordination necessary to solicit tons of items for the auction, as well as planning for the event, is extensive. It can't be accomplished without a large group of dedicated volunteers.
Since everyone is going to work hard anyway, it seemed logical to me that we raise the goal for the year and spend some quality time with brainstorming new ideas. That year (2002), we raised a record $170,000, netting nearly $140,000 after all of our expenses. This continues to be the all-time record.
While I suggested we raise the goal for the year, our group of volunteers embraced the challenge and they made it happen. And in the end, we had nearly $40,000 more to help out in the community.
I had the same experience last year as chairman of the Renton fundraiser for King County Sexual Assault Resource Center. The committee I was able to build helped us achieve an all time record, nearly 60% higher than any previous year. |
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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Some of the answers would be the same as listed in question number 3. I feel some of the skills needed to be an effective mayor include leadership, management, vision, strong communication skills and respect for others.
LEADERSHIP: I have served on the boards of five local chambers and as the president of three, including the Renton Chamber of Commerce in 2000.
I served as president of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association in 1994, an organization that represents more than 110 community newspapers in this state.
I continue to serve on the board of Renton Rotary and was president in 2003. In each of the organizations in which I served as president, I was able to identify an area of improvement that I was able to "sell" to the boards, which I feel made us a better organization. This is similar to communicating a vision to the city council and working with them to implement programs and policies that will make Renton a better city.
I have chaired a number of fund-raising efforts for community organizations over the years. Most current is (2006 and 2007) Kids Are Our Business Breakfast for King County Sexual Assault Resource Center.
MANAGEMENT: I have owned and operated my own businesses for the past 30 years. Besides the obvious duties of determining how to profitably provide a service to our customers, my role has been to manage others to help us meet our goals. I have learned the importance of valuing the skills and effort of employees and managers, and finding ways to recognize them in ways that often do not involve financial compensation. I work with others to establish the goal and then support their efforts as we all work to achieve these goals. While I have no problem making a final decision, my strength is in bringing people together to help build consensus.
COMMUNICATION: I strongly feel that we can achieve much better outcomes when we become strong communicators. Mistrust and poor relationships are often the result of poor communication. I continually look for ways to become a better communicator in my personal and professional life, because the benefits are tremendous.
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*The duties of the mayor is to oversee the overall operation of city services while looking for ways to improve the quality of life for Renton citizens. This includes a constant review of how we do business in order to find the most efficient ways to provide quality services to our citizens.
The mayor needs to work with department administrators to set service-level goals and a plan of measuring outcomes throughout the year, and also should to be a conduit between city employees and the council to help nurture a team-like environment.
The mayor is also responsible to work with the city council in identifying priorities of service and visioning for how to improve the overall quality of life in the city, while dealing with the challenges of predictable growth in this region, and then make sure that the council priorities are met.
It's important that the mayor be an effective leader on regional issues to assure that the interests of Renton are well represented.
The mayor is the chief executive of the city and is responsible to Renton citizens to make sure the basic public services are continually provided, including police, fire, water and sewer service and roads.
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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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Graduate of Cleveland High School in Seattle Attended Seattle Community College |
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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BOARDS/COMMUNITY SERVICE ACTIVITIES Past President of Renton Rotary Club, Past Chairman of the Renton Chamber of Commerce, Past President of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association, Former board member of the Renton Technical College Foundation, Former vice-chair of the Renton Downtown Association, Past board member of Camp Fire Boys and Girls of East King County
CURRENT ACTIVITES • Board member of the Renton Community Foundation & Renton Rotary • Chair of the Renton Blue Ribbon Committee • Advisory committee member for Communities In Schools of Renton • Chair, 2007 fundraising committee for King County Sexual Assault Resource Center • Co-Chair 40 Development Assets Committee • Member of the Renton Marketing Committee
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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