The Municipal League of King County

810 Third Avenue, Suite 224

Seattle, WA 98104

(206) 264-1070 cec@munileague.org

2007 Board of Trustees

Bruce Carter, Chair
Judge Pro Tem, Seattle Municipal Court

Robert Klein, Vice-Chair
Short Cressman & Burgess PLLC

Norma Jean Hanson, Secretary
Norma Jean Hanson Paralegal Services

Sandra Driscoll, Treasurer
City Attorney (ret.)

 

Angela Avery, Community Volunteer

Dan Berger, Municipal Attorney

Jill D. Bowman, Stoel Rives LLP

Bill Breitenstein, Financial Executive (ret.)

David Brentlinger, Weyerhaeuser Realty Investors

Steve Call, Cascade Water Alliance

Mary Gates, Consultant

Albert Israel, Mass Mutual Financial Group

Rachel Jackson, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Chris Johnson, Office of the Attorney General, WA State

Mark Koenig, Consultant

Rick Lewis, Intel

Steve Marshall

Eric B. Martin, Davis Wright Tremaine

Bradley Meacham, Microsoft

Dan McDonald, MWH Americas

Kristen Peterson, Washington State Hospital Association

Kathy Putt, Comcast

Ramsey Ramerman, Foster Pepper

R. Todd Slind, CH2MHill

Will Smith, T-Mobile

John Spady, Dick’s Drive-In

Lucy Steers

Gary Strannigan, Safeco

Harold Taniguchi, King County Department of Transportation

Michael Teter, Perkins Coie, LLP

Wes Uhlman, Wes Uhlman & Associates

Jason Van Nort, Puget Sound Energy

Jen Watkins

Rodney G. Wendt, Koegen Edwards LLP

Rich White, Boeing

Nick Williamson, Encrypted Key Technologies

 

2007 CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE
FOR NON-JUDICIAL CANDIDATES

The Municipal League of King County requests every candidate who participates in the candidate evaluation process to submit background information prior to his/her interview with a candidate evaluation committee.  The questionnaire is the basis of the League’s research and interview process.  The League’s ratings are non-partisan; they are based on standards of Involvement, Effectiveness, Character, and Knowledge, all of which have been developed and refined over the past 90 years.

 

A printed version of the questionnaire is available for candidates who prefer to use the traditional format.  To obtain a hard copy, please contact the League office.  A copy of this questionnaire will be provided to Candidate Evaluation Committee members to help them prepare for your interview.  Candidate responses, except the confidential section, will be available to the general public at the League website. 

 

The Municipal League requests the following materials from candidates.  Please check to make certain you have sent in your:

 

   Candidate Questionnaire

           Sent by:       Email             US Mail           Fax            Not Sending

   Resume (education, employment, and professional activities)

           Sent by:       Email             US Mail           Fax            Not Sending

             Check here if you DO NOT want your resume posted on the Municipal

                League website

   Campaign Materials

           Sent by:       Email             US Mail           Fax            Not Sending

   Constituent Newsletters and other publications

           Sent by:       Email             US Mail           Fax            Not Sending

   Photograph

           Sent by:       Email             US Mail           Fax            Not Sending

 

Note: Electronically submitted questionnaires are strongly preferred. All materials can be emailed to cec@munileague.org.  They can be processed and made available on-line far more rapidly than handwritten or typed submissions.

 

For non-electronic submissions, please print clearly and legibly and return the application as soon as possible in order to allow the committee the greatest amount of time to prepare a complete report on your skills and experience.

We request that you return the Candidate Questionnaire

by June 22, 2007

 

If you have not yet been contacted to schedule an interview, or if you have questions about the candidate evaluation program, please contact the League office at 206-264-1070.

 

If you have a disability and require accommodation to participate in the candidate evaluation process, please contact the CEC Coordinator at the League office.

 


2007 Candidate Questionnaire

 

SECTION I               

 

BASIC CANDIDATE INFORMATION

 

1.      Name as it will appear on the ballot

 

First Name

Middle Initial or Nick Name

Last Name

Russ

     

Segner

 

2.   Office sought (include office, jurisdiction, position/district number):

 

Newcastle City Council Position #4

 

3.   Are you the incumbent?                  Yes              No

 

 

4.   How long have you resided in this district/city?

 

Six years

 

5.   How long have you resided in King County?

 

Forty-four years

 

6.   Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan?         Partisan      Nonpartisan         

                                                                                                                       

7.   If partisan, please indicate party:       

 

CAMPAIGN CONTACTS

 

 

Campaign Name:

 

Russ Segner for City Council

 

Address:

 

6947 Coal Creek Parkway SE #411

 

City/State/Zip:

 

Newcastle, WA 98059-3159

 

Campaign Phone:

 

(425) 228-7327

 

 

Campaign Fax:

 

(425) 793-9129

 

 

Campaign E-mail:

 

rsegner@qwest.net

 

 

Campaign Website:

 

www.votesegner.com

 

 

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)

King County Economic Enterprise Corp.

 

Appointive

 

1997 - 1998

 

     

 

Newcastle Planning Commission

 

Appointive

 

2005 - present

 

Chair

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

 

2.   If you ran for public office but were not elected, please list those races below:

 

Office Title

Year of Run

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 


 

 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:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.)

 

I am the current Chair of the Newcastle Planning Commission.  In this capacity, I have become very much aware of the desires and needs of the community and, at the same time, the inability of the current Council leadership to deal effectively with the city's growth.

 

Since Newcastle's incorporation 14 years ago, the Council  has failed to achieve the consensus needed to mobilize the energy and interest of our entire community.  To the contrary, over the years, the Council has alienated several important segments within our city.  The Council is not adequately providing for the future economic viability of Newcastle.  Instead, there has been a consistent effort to uproot the major employment base in the city in a premature attempt to build a new civic complex.  This effort entangled and delayed for years the successful location of the new King County Library in Newcastle.  This coincides with bringing Newcastle to the precipice of major financial problems in funding the predictable cost overruns for construction of Coal Creek Parkway.  This is an important regional link and this issue needs the full attention of the city leadership and staff.  At the same time, numerous resignations of valuable staff members have left many city programs with minimal support.

 

Newcastle deserves better.  I am running to restore trust and openness in the operation of our city government.  I am running to hold accountable city management in the expenditure of our tax dollars.  I am running to build workable solutions to the important issues facing our city.  This means identifying new leadership who will work together to build consensus among the various components of our city.  This means actually honoring the hard work and intense interest of generous volunteers within the city.   With a new approach to city governance, Newcastle can and will be the great community its citizens deserve.

 


 

2.      Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.

 

I have been involved in real estate brokerage for over forty years.  To be successful, I have had to develop strong skills in analysis, listening to the needs of clients, developing appropriate strategies to accomplish the goals of my clients and negotiating to a workable conclusion with all parties to the transactions.

 

Honesty and integrity are fundamental to my career.  Openness with clients and other brokers builds trust and teamwork.  Building strong teams of specialists is a necessary part of many transactions.  In order achieve this, I have constantly upgraded my knowledge of all the disciplines affecting real estate.  Seminars and training in specialties related to commercial real estate have brought me into contact with the very best professionals in our region, and I have frequently included them in my work.

 

The other characteristics necessary for success are:  vision and imagination in order to see how best to accomplish the goals of clients, determination to see a project through adversity, and patience to allow the process to work.  I believe in "win/win".

 

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 1992, I was asked by the King County Executive to serve on the Fiscal Analysis and Economic Development Task Force.  This was a 40+ member public/private/environmental/labor Policy Advisory Committee.  The Task Force developed the King County Planning Policies which were adopted by the King County Council in 1992.  I believe that my contribution as a successful commercial/industrial real estate broker brought a balance to the policy discussions.  Growth management includes accommodation for jobs and housing in suitable locations integrated by effective transportation systems.  At that time, I had over twenty years experience in the marketplace and knew the issues of effective zoning and transportation well.

 

A natural outcome of this work was a two-year participation on the Steering Committee of the Duwamish Coalition.  This was an effort to accommodate growth by focusing on revitalizing the industrial base in south Seattle.  Keeping jobs close to existing, affordable housing was and is an important component of effective planning for growth in our region.  Appropriate, efficient use of older industrial sites helped reduce the pressure on undeveloped areas around the urban centers.  We were able to develop strategies for the reuse of contaminated sites in the Duwamish basin.  Some of these strategies led to legislative changes that sped up process and dealt more completely with remediation of these sites.  New and revitalized facilities have been built in South Park, south Seattle, Tukwila and Renton on sites that would have languished without this initiative.  Part of this effort included two years as co-chair of a working group on Job Creation and Retention with King County Councilperson Martha Choe and Ron Judd, Executive Director of the King County Labor Council.  A major focus of this group was to bring greater understanding to local jurisdictions and educational groups in learning to meet the needs of the industrial workforce.


 

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.

 

President  Mutual Business Club of Seattle - 1979

President Commercial Investment Brokers Association (CIBA) - mid '80's

President Seattle - King County Association of Realtors 1990

Founding Member & President (1990) Sunrise Rotary (south Bellevue) - Paul Harris Fellow

Board Member Economic Development Council 1990 - 1992

Member King County Growth Management Task Force 1991 - 1994

Advisor to Washington State Technology Alliance - 1993

Founding Member & First President Washington State Commercial Association of Realtors (WSCAR)1994

Member Duwamish Coalition Steering Committee 1994 - 1995

Instructor University of Washinton Extension Classes in Commercial Real Estate - mid 1990s

Member Habitat for Humanity Eastside Advisory 1996 - 1997

Board Member King County Economic Enterprise Corporation 1997 - 1998

Member Newcastle Chamber of Commerce - present

Member Newcastle Historical Society - present

Chair Newcastle Planning Commission - present

Commercial Real Estate Broker 1968 - present

 

 

  1. Please describe the duties of the office you seek.  Which are the most important duties and why?

 

 A city council member is responsible for working to build consensus with other members of the Council to establish the goals and policies of the city and to provide oversight for the management of the business of the city.

 

Duties include:  identifying and prioritizing public policy issues; focusing on workable solutions to the needs of the citizens; seeking and utilizing competent advice in considering complex issues; communicating openly with colleagues and the public; encouraging citizen involvement in city government and respecting volunteer efforts; strictly avoiding conflicts of interest

 


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.

 

BA in History University of Missouri

CCIM professional designation

CRE professional designation

 

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.

 

Current Chair of Newcastle Planning Commission, past Board member King County Economic Development Council, past member King County Growth Management Task Force, past member Fiscal Analysis and Economic Development Task Force,  past President Seattle King County Association of Realtors, past President Commercial Investment Brokers Association, past President Washington State Commercial Association of Realtors, past president Sunrise Rotary, past member Habitat for Humanity Eastide Advisory, current member Newcastle Historical Society and Newcastle Chamber of Commerce.

 

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.

 

 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION AND GOOD LUCK IN YOUR CAMPAIGN!

 

THE MUNICIPAL LEAGUE OF KING COUNTY

 

Candidate Evaluation Coordinator:  Jason Thibedeau

 

810 Third Avenue, Suite 224                 Phone: (206) 264-1070                      Email: cec@munileague.org

Seattle, WA 98104-1614                        Fax: (425) 671-0506                     Website: www.munileague.org