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The Municipal League of King County810 Third Avenue, Suite 224Seattle, WA 98104 (206) 264-1070 ∙ cec@munileague.org |
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2007 Board of Trustees Bruce Carter, Chair Robert Klein, Vice-Chair Norma Jean Hanson, Secretary Sandra Driscoll, Treasurer 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 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 QuestionnaireSent by: x Email US Mail Fax Not Sending Resume (education, employment, and professional activities)Sent by: x Email US Mail Fax Not Sending Check here if you DO NOT want your resume posted on the Municipal League website Campaign MaterialsSent by: Email US Mail Fax x Not Sending Constituent Newsletters and other publicationsSent by: Email US Mail Fax x Not Sending PhotographSent by: Email US Mail Fax x 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 15, 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. |
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 x No
4. How long have you resided in this district/city?
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August will mark my 15th year in Seattle |
5. How long have you resided in King County?
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15 years in August. |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan x Nonpartisan
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Joe Szwaja for Seattle City 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.
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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2000 |
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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 am running because I see our great city becoming less livable and less affordable. We are not living up to our great potential - we are becoming a city of gridlock, of haves and have nots, a place where people with power are not held accountable and folks of average means are priced out, where youth are not much involved in government and many are becoming cynical about our public institutions.
I have a vision of our common future that is a lot brighter - I see that we can provide housing for workers, families and homeless people. I know we can support schools and nurture neighborhoods with essential services that are now neglected (like power restoration and expanded community centers) bring a new generation into our problem solving processes. We can also forge transit and climate solutions that move people and freight while reducing the carbon emissions that threaten all our living systems. We can create neighborhood climate councils which harness the creativity of our neighborhoods and begin to set measurable carbon reduction goals in each neighborhood, with the city providing resources and support to help us achieve the much deeper cuts that are necessary, starting at 4% per year. I also believe we can have a council that truly stands strong to balance out the power of the mayor, department heads, and powerful developers to promote the common good.
I have a history of crafting progressive, practical solutions as a three term city council person who passed landmark domestic partners legislation in Madison Wisconsin, as an award winning teacher for 14 years in the Seattle Public schools, as a community leader in Seattle who has provided effective assistance to a host of grass roots groups. These include Common Ground (to help Katrina survivors), I -937 (renewable energy standards in Washington), the Seattle International Human Rights Coalition (founder in 2002), Jobs With Justice, The East Timor Relief Association, the Community Alliance for Global Justice and the Seattle Rainforest Action Network . I want to put forward my energy, my experience and my tireless work ethic for progressive change on behalf of the people of Seattle.
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2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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I pay attention to specifics in order to advance the values of social equity and environmental renewal to which I am committed. On the Madison City Council I received an unofficial needle in the haystack award from the city comptroller (an extreme fiscal conservative and notable curmudgeon). Though I suspect he disagreed with me on issues of social policy, he gave me this award because he said he thought I paid more attention to the specifics of the budget than any of the other 22 council members. The last three years that I served on the council I never submitted a budget amendment for the programs I wanted to fund (for things such as housing, affirmative action equal rights, environmental cleanup etc.) without submitting other amendments calling for commensurate cuts in programs I felt were ineffective or unessential.
I have never stopped believing in the story of David and Goliath, which my mom taught me as a little boy. In 1985 I was the treasurer and chief fundraiser for Rosa Escamila, the daughter of impoverished farm workers, and we faced a well-funded, well-connected opponent who was the niece of the former governor. Nobody gave us a chance. We worked sunup to sundown every day, registered many new people and inspired many to get involved for the first time. We outworked them and won by 45 votes. Rosa brought hope, positive change and a unique new voice to the Madison Common Council and I was a big part of it.
Causes which are truly just are never lost causes in my eyes. During the 1990’s many people said the cause of East Timor was clearly lost – they had suffered a near genocide and were on the verge of being swallowed up by Indonesia, with US support. I inspired many students and others to get involved on behalf of this nearly forgotten group of people. I succeeded in getting articles published about the tragedy on both major Seattle newspapers when others said it was impossible to do so. I helped raise thousands of dollars for the cause and send election observers to improve safety during their referendum vote on independence. I was part of a worldwide effort that helped East Timor to become independent in 1999 and was voted a UN Association of Seattle Human rights award for my work on East Timor during that time. Beginning in 2002 I have helped lead a sister high school program where my school has sent over $30,000 in humanitarian relief and traveled to East Timor to help our sister school recover from the violence and rebuild their lives. |
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.
Passing legislation often requires courage. In 1985 when I was elected to the Madison Common Council, city workers who were gay or lesbian did not receive equal benefits, including sick and bereavement leave for their partners. Unmarried partners were also denied equal access to housing and public accommodations. There was a proposed ordinance with community support, but no backers on the council. People told me it wasn’t the right time and that I should just forget it. I forged an alliance with a very conservative, gay council member and we were the first ones to support new legislation to allow domestic partners to register and obtain equal benefits as well as to strike down barriers in housing and public accommodations. We were told by veteran members of the council not to bring it forward. We were voted down on several occasions, lambasted and demonized. We went back to the community, gathered more support, redrafted the ordinance and came back again and again, Finally, due to our willingness to take principled political risks, our persistence, our ability to work with someone of a very different view and our continuing consultation with the community members and others on the council, Councilman Jim McFarland led the way to passing landmark domestic partners legislation in Madison in 1987 and 1988.
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Another important legislative quality is creativity. In Madison’s city contracting, a number of small firms owned primarily by people of color were unable to get subcontracts on city projects due to an informal network which excluded them. As chair of the affirmative action commission, I helped craft an ordinance which set specific goals for city projects to use minority contractors on city projects - it worked well and opened up new opportunities. However, the law was threatened by the Richmond v Croson Supreme Court Decision which forbade race-specific laws in contracting.
We wanted to preserve the spirit of our ordinance and had to be creative, so we redesigned it based on economic assets rather than race. As a result we built a strong support base for the ordinance among small contractors with limited assets both of color and white, yet the mayor still opposed it and prospects didn’t look good to extend our ordinance with the changes. I had to be patient - one time he left the meeting after becoming angry at the comments of another council member. We barely had a quorum and passed it while he was gone. Though I wanted to claim credit, I stayed silent with the media - fortunately the mayor didn’t notice what happened and we were able to keep this important ordinance which provided economic opportunities for hundreds of disadvantaged people on the books, albeit in a different form.
I found that flexibility is another important legislative quality. In Madison, we provided a lot of city money to the Visitor’s and Convention Bureau. I felt that it was not necessarily money well spent since most of the members were already well off and provided few good paying jobs for the money invested. I had prepared a budget amendment to cut the funding. I felt I had good arguments of how to redirect the money but few votes on my side, so I expected to lose. It happened that the new head of the Convention Bureau was a fellow alumnus of Kenyon College. As part of his lobbying in favor of their budget request (which seemed sure to pass, though he didn’t seem to understand this) he mentioned that he remembered me as a basketball player at Kenyon and that he had an old videotape of one of our games - he offered to show it to me and I gladly accepted.
He also told me that he had heard I had put forth an amendment to cut their funding, which I verified. Then he asked what he could do to change his program and gain my support. I thought about it and decided that since he didn’t’ seem to understand that my amendment was destined to lose, I would think of a good way to use the money and give it a try. I crafted an amendment that required the Visitor’s’ Bureau to open up their exhibition spaces to Muong and Mien refugees, as well as small women and minority owned businesses during their big conventions. He agreed and to the surprise of conservative council members we came foreword with an ordinance that we both supported. It passed and helped a lot of Muong businesses to be able to sell their wares in a mainstream setting for the first time. The Hong community honored me with several dinners and exposed me to mango ice cream, which I love to this day.
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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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I took care of my son with a great deal of support emotionally and financially ever since he was born (1982). I went through years when I had very limited income and was involved in a very difficult relationship with his mother, yet I stuck it out it through thick and thin with difficult court battles and at times I wasn’t allowed to see him. I think I have done a lot to help him to be the wonderful person he is now.
I worked in refugee camps with the Cuban community (1979-81) and urged my parents to sponsor two refugees who were in desperate need of a home. Carlos and Jorge are now my foster brothers and my relationship with them has helped me to learn a lot about the problems of immigrants, racism and discrimination against gays.
I was also a community organizer involved in lobbying, immigrant outreach and press work with Community Action on Latin America (1984-91). I wrote several resolutions later passed by the Common Council on sanctuary and sister cities.
I worked with immigrants and low income youth of color to access city services while working for Centro Hispano and the Neighborhood Intervention Program (1988-90).
I ran for US Congress in 2000 and was credited by Congressman McDermott with “making us listen” and was widely credited with helping to push him to more progressive stands on global trade and foreign policy as well as making him work harder as a Congressman.
I brought over half a dozen disparate groups together to work on common issues of human rights, rate candidates and forge common legislative agendas as the founder of the Seattle International Human Rights Coalition (2002).
I was on the steering committee for Brita Butler Wall; as her chief fundraiser I helped elect a person who brought fiscal integrity to the Seattle School Board.
I helped Katrina survivors navigate through city programs and raised vital funds for their housing costs housing (2007-present).
I helped secure important funding and community support for I-937, Jobs with Justice and Community Alliance and Community Alliance for Global Justice.
As an award-winning public teacher for the last 14 years I have inspired hundreds of young people to get involved in public affairs in a positive way.
As a committee of the staff/student committees that help run my school – Nova – I have crafted many effective compromises which helped our school solve pressing problems of race relations, personnel, budgets and teacher student relations.
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The duties of the office I seek include the aforementioned ones of attention to detail, courage, creativity, an ability to work with people of different persuasions, a sense of fairness and flexibility. As staff does a lot of the research and crafting of legislation, the office also requires a person who can prioritize, inspire confidence and altruism in others and treat all people with respect. I believe I excel in working with others in a respectful and effective manner. Please talk to my personal references about my qualities in this regard.
I also believe personal integrity is very important in the office I seek. This is my seventh election; I have never made any remarks about any of the personal qualities of the personal lives of any of my opponents, nor have I ever encouraged anyone from my campaign to do so. Indeed I have told them explicitly not to do engage in personal attacks or leak any such attack type of information to the press as I believe it pollutes our public discourse. I never have taken corporate PAC contributions nor will I ever do so. |
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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High School Graduate- 1974 Shaker Heights, Ohio B.A (History and Spanish Literature) Kenyon College Gambier, Ohio 1978 Junior Year Abroad Universidad de los Andes Bogota, Colombia 1977-78 M.A. (Latin American History) University of Wisconsin (Madison) 1984 High School teaching Certificate (History, Spanish) University of Wisconsin 1992 High School Teaching Certificate (History and Spanish) Sate of Washington 1993-present |
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.
x 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 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
Seattle, WA 98104-1614 Fax: (425) 671-0506 Website: www.munileague.org
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