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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35 Years |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan Nonpartisan
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Jim Robinson for Mayor of Redmond |
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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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Office Title |
Year of Run |
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State Representative - 48th District - withdrew for family reasons
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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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“Hometown or Employment Center?” Redmond is facing a vision challenge with this mayoral election. The choice is clear-I want Redmond to remain a great hometown by thoughtfully planning our growth, maintaining our strong environmental ethic and developing a governing model that is transparent and accessible to all who call Redmond home. I am running for mayor because, of all the candidates, I have the best portfolio of insight and experience to lead Redmond forward. Our fiscal challenges are acute but my plan for rebalancing our revenue choices and prioritizing the investment of the lion’s share of our ongoing money to maintain our high level of city services is a sensible approach. Our capital expansion can and should require the citizen input inherent in including bond and levy increases in support of that type of investment. This nuanced approach should provide the course correction Redmond needs.
Just as in my successful career with Boeing, as Redmond’s Mayor I will follow through to make sure things happen. I want to demystify city government for our neighborhoods so that they can have a meaningful and easy to understand path to reaching those they elect. I intend to restore Redmond’s “Open for Business” sign by inviting stakeholders to the table to help streamline and improve our processes around growth and commerce, and by fostering an atmosphere where business feels welcome in our city. My top priorities include budget oversight, technology, infrastructure maintenance, along with establishing a transportation commission and other new opportunities for volunteerism. The citizens of Redmond have a lot to contribute and I will continue the vision of—“Together, we create a community of good neighbors.” |
2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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I bring to this mayoral race the most comprehensive qualifications, encompassing the broadest base of professional, educational, and community experience. However, if I had to focus on a one personal characteristic, it would be my ability to listen and negotiate. My last fifteen years at Boeing have been spent negotiating major outside procurement packages with some of the giants in the aerospace industry. All negotiations require excellent listening skills, understanding the opposing position, doing your homework, identifying common ground and knowing when to hold and to fold. However, in the end, the most successful negotiations hinge on personal relationships and compromise. I have also successfully used these skills in my years on the Redmond City Council, often functioning as a centrist to bring opposing viewpoints to a middle ground. I will bring this vital toolbox to the Mayor’s office. |
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 December of 2006, by a majority of 5 (McCormick, Cole, Vache, Resha, Marchione) to 2 (Allen and Robinson in the minority) the Redmond City Council passed their biennial budget. This was the most contentious budget negotiation I have ever experienced. At the core, there were fundamental differences on how to fund basic public safety. The crux of the question was whether to retain ongoing dollars in the operating fund or to divert them to the dedicated Capital Fund where there already exists a multimillion dollar balance, some of it unallocated. I strongly believe that public safety is the top priority and our existing, ongoing dollars should address this first. Large capital projects could be the subject of bond or levy increase, which has the added benefit of letting Redmond voters have a voice in the direction of our capital expansion. I stood my ground on this issue and, while the majority had apparently decided long before the budget discussions to reject such an approach and keep “doing what we have always done”, I received positive input from citizens and was later able to help broker a consensus by Council to mitigate some of park maintenance needs with capital funds. Redmond is seeking a levy increase for Park capital needs and I believe I that my efforts were critical in the final structure of the levy lid lift request. Big changes sometimes need to go forward incrementally. Cancer Survivor I was diagnosed with prostate cancer on March 15, 2005. During my recovery, I decided to share my experiences via email with my friends and co-workers. I sent the first email out early July and by mid July my story had traveled from Washington to Oregon and on to the East Coast--to this day I still get calls about prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is a sensitive issue with men, but I put these sensitivities aside and simply shared my perspectives and experience in frank and straightforward terms. I hope my willingness to share and honest approach may have actually saved some lives or reduced the impacts / side effects by catching the disease in the early stages. “Ask Me Anything” was my motto. |
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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The following is a summary of my activities in the community where I have acquired skills that relate to the office I am seeking. I have also attached my community / professional resumes which contains a more detailed review.
Professional: I have worked at Boeing for over thirty years in a variety of positions ranging from Boeing Commercial Airplanes Marketing / Sales to Program Management and now in Global Partners (Procurement). In my current position, I am responsible for estimating, pricing and contract negotiations in support of major outside production procurement contracts. For last four years, I have supported the new 787 program which has taken me to Italy for contract and partner negotiations. During my many years at Boeing, I have traveled widely and acquired negotiation and analytical skills in a multinational setting. The primary lesson my multinational deals impressed upon me is the critical value of taking the time to build relationships and to communicate clearly.
Local Government: I have held a variety of positions and served on numerous committees as a member of the Redmond City Council for four terms. This has provided me with a broad perspective on city and regional services. In addition to chairing ALL of the council committees at one time or another, I have served two separate terms on Eastside Transportation Partnership and currently chair the Lodging Tax Committee. I am most proud of my participation on the National League of Cities Leadership Training Council. Their annual conferences (tremendous speakers / programs) have been deeply inspirational and motivating. I believe my participation has broadened my horizons on national perspective and provided me insight on how to succeed at the local level. Finally, I really enjoy putting the council’s legislative agenda together every year and going to Olympia to lobby on Redmond’s behalf for a variety of causes and issues. Redmond’s agenda always reflects the acute need the Eastside feels for transportation funding but I have also advanced other issues such as the novice driving bill, smoking ban, alternative fuels and trans-fats—which are important to our lives and community.
Community: Through my son Keith, I have participated / supported and coached youth soccer and little league I loved it all – the summers at Hartman Park and the wet and soggy autumns at Sixty Acres. However, I am most proud of my son achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. While my son was learning life’s
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Redmond’s office of Mayor reflects the recent deliberate community choice to preserve the strong mayor form of government.. The Mayor serves not only as a visionary for the city but also as Chief Executive Officer. I believe the three most important duties of the Mayor’s position are:
Vision: Charting the course and setting the vision for the city is the primary responsibility of the Mayor. This vision is a synthesis of personal commitment, direct community inputs and the City Council’s vision and policy directives. The mayor needs to understand where all of these elements coalesce and be able to clearly communicate this overarching vision.
Implementation / Administration: As the Chief Executive Officer, the Mayor must administer and manage a full range of front line city service providers, as well as a plan of asset management. The Mayor, will set clear goals and expectations for the departments. The Mayor is also, in accordance with the policy set by the Council, responsible for developing the measures of success and the desired outcomes Finally, he must foster an open and respectful environment based on honest and frank discussion of the operational and policy issues that face the city staff.
Open Government: The Mayor must embrace the process of open government. The decisions of the city need to be made in the open and subject to full public scrutiny. I will conduct the business of the city with transparency and I will improve the channels for residents to review and weigh in on the decisions that affect their lives. All meetings of elected officials must be in public and on the record and, as Mayor, I will work to make it easier for the average citizen to weigh in on the issues that matter to them and to find the information they have a right to expect. |
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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MBA Seattle University MIM American Graduate School of International Management BA Political Science Willamette University |
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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Member Redmond City Council (1992 to Present) 2006 / 2007: • Chair, Parks and Human Service Committee • Member Eastside Transportation Partnership (ETP) • Chair, Redmond Historical Preservation and Lodging Tax Advisory Cmts. State / Olympia: Advocacy (1992 to Present) • General City Issues (Housing / Transportation). • Teaching Kids to Vote, Ban Trans Fats - 2007 • Lobbied for Alternative Fuel Legislation - 2006 • Smoking Ban in Public Places 2004 - 2006 • Testified in support of Novice Driving Bill 2000 National League of Cities (2004 to 2007) • Member, Leadership Training Council
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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