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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42 years |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan Nonpartisan
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Steve Sundquist for School Board |
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Address: |
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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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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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I'm running for School Board because I believe deeply in high quality public education for every child, and because we need to dramatically improve public confidence in the Seattle Public Schools. I believe every Seattle child deserves a quality education and the opportunity to succeed. We're incredibly fortunate to live in a city that strongly supports our public schools, but it's clear parents and the public have increasingly lost confidence in the School Board and its leadership. It's time for effective, new leadership. It's time to come together to bring strategic focus, a strong academic program for all schools, team play, and long-term fiscal health and accountability to the District. |
2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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I have a deep passion for public education, and I am the parent of two daughters, both of whom will attend Chief Sealth High School next fall. I am also a leader, a team player, a listener, an analyst, and a consensus builder. I have developed these traits through my career as a business professional and senior manager, through my non-profit board governance work, and through my community service experience. I understand the need for appropriate processes, for transparency, for a results orientation, and for a need to be data-driven in decision-making. My experience in serving and interacting with the Russell Investment Group corporate board, and my own non-profit board service and leadership has also helped me to understand the governance responsibilities and role of a board, how it is separate from management and staff, and how to build accountability for a vision, plan, and results between the two. |
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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I am a dedicated husband, and parent of two daughters who will both be attending Chief Sealth High School next fall. One of my proudest accomplishments in the public education field was to work with parents and the school community to help establish the International Baccalaureate Program at Chief Sealth. This offering delivers an accredited international education program that encourages well-rounded individuals and engaged world citizens.
I am also very proud of my 20+ year career at Russell Investment Group, a global leader in providing sophisticated institutional and retail investment strategies. During this time I managed multi-million dollar budgets, hundreds of staff, large operations, national distribution relationships, and systems and services. I served as Managing Director, Chief Information Officer, and received Russell's highest recognition for leadership achievement. These managerial, financial, and analytical skills will come in very handy in my service on the school board.
Finally, I am also very proud to have led a joint Fauntleroy Church/Fauntleroy YMCA team on a year-plus effort to create a new lease and co-location agreement for our two organizations. The two organizations have served the Fauntleroy community together for nearly 75 years, but have never had a well-defined agreement or legal relationship. Given the current complexities in offering joint service, fund-raising, etc., the concensus we built in both organizations will serve our youth and community long into the future.
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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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As detailed in (3) above, I worked with parents and the school community to help establish the International Baccalaureate Program at Chief Sealth High School. (2005 - 2007)
I have also worked for many years as a member of the Washington State University Honors College Advisory Board. (1991 - present)
As a member of Seattle Rotary (Club #4 downtown), I recently worked with a team that delivered a landmine awarness program to students at Ballard High School (2006 - 2007).
I currently serve as Chairman of the Board of Climate Solutions, Washington's leading global warming research & advocacy organization. I am also a Director of ONE/Northwest, a non-profit that helps environmental organizations use IT for communicating and building relationships.
I am a Lead Partner with Social Venture Partners, a Seattle-based community of social investors dedicated to addressing social, educational, and environmental issues in the Puget Sound region.
I currently serve as Moderator of Fauntleroy Church, United Church of Christ.
I served on the Environment Grant Committee of Social Venture Partners during the winter and spring of 2006.
I moderated a twice-monthly panel of community, environmental, and business leaders working to support and implement the Cascade Agenda of the Cascade Lands Conservancy (2006-2007).
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School board members are policy makers. They make long-term, strategic decisions which include the creation of a shared vision, goal setting, an accompanying plan for achieving the goals, financial planning, oversight of the superintendent, and instituting accountability systems for educational policies and the achievement of board plans. Policy areas might include: bond and levy elections, budget adoption, facilities, educational objective setting and assessment, curriculum adoption, instructional methodologies, fiscal planning and oversight, employee relations, and transportation.
Board members must focus on visionary, strategic decisions and policies which affect the entire district. The National School Board Association (www.nsb.org) established these eight areas as the key work of school boards:
Vision—to engage in a comprehensive planning process to establish a clear vision of student achievement as a top priority. Standards—to set clear standards for student performance Assessment—to establish an assessment process that measures student achievement at regular intervals. Accountability—to establish a strong accountability process Alignment—to align resources to focus on students’ meeting the standards Climate—to create a positive learning climate for student and staff success Collaborative Partnership—to build collaborative partnerships with municipalities, political and business communities, and other child centered organizations with a focus on developing consensus for student achievement as a top priority. Continuous Improvement—to commit to continuous improvement for student achievement.
It is important to note that while school boards govern the district and are ultimately responsible for the delivery of educational services, it is vital that the board does not perform the administration of day-to-day functions. As the governors of the district, school boards work with their administrators to make decisions and set policy, and then evaluate whether those plans and policies are being followed and met. |
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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B.S. Computer Science, Washington State University M.B.A., Information Systems & Finance, University of Chicago |
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