Muni News
VOLUME 90, ISSUE 4 -
APRIL/MAY 2000
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SUCCESS! NOW LET’S GO
Tom Albro gives overview of League’s work plan
Dear Members and Friends,
It is my great pleasure to announce that we have met our goal and have raised
$52,550 as of March 31st! "Thank you" to all donors for your support.
Of course, raising money is only part of what we've been working on these
last few months. More fundamental to the League, especially now that we have
exceeded our financial goal, is making a positive contribution to our
community's civic institutions and processes. We are again focused on this work.
On the docket for this year:
Candidate Evaluations and Ratings
The Board of Trustees voted at the March meeting to continue with our
candidate evaluations and ratings.
Since the second year of our existence (1911), we have rated candidates
running for local elected office. These ratings have become a significant part
of our region's electoral process by providing to the voters objective,
non-partisan ratings of candidates. Candidates are evaluated on their
experience, community involvement, proven effectiveness, and integrity (these
being the traits that the League esteems in public service).
Every year this rating process is one of our most significant undertakings,
requiring considerable financial resources, over 7000 volunteer hours to conduct
interviews and decision-making meetings and primary staff attention during the
months of May, June, July, and August. In 1999 we rated over 140 candidates
seeking office throughout the County. This year we will rate about the same
number of legislative candidates.
"Take the Pulse" Project
This will be a long-term project geared to identify the causes of public
disaffection with government and develop specific projects to deal directly with
those causes. "Take the Pulse" will be one of the most ambitious
projects undertaken by the League in recent years. It will involve ongoing
community outreach throughout King County to learn generally held views toward
the various levels of government and what issues are of latent concern (that is,
not at the forefront of public discussion, but deemed significant in citizen's
daily life). Raw information and feedback will be shared directly with the
public through our web site, and will be analyzed by the project consortium.
Working with us on this project will be The Evans School of Public Affairs
(University of Washington Graduate School of Public Affairs) and a media/press
partner yet to be named. Needless to say, this project will require significant
financial resources and will be the subject of several grant applications in
April.
Opinion - Editorials
The Municipal League is of highest service to the community when we define
issues of importance and focus public attention on them, spurring debate. This
is how the League instigated cleaning up Lake Washington, forming Metro Transit,
and the rewriting of the Charters of both the City of Seattle and King County.
Municipal League Trustees (many of whom are widely recognized community
leaders), will author Op-Ed pieces in their area of expertise on behalf of the
League. These will always be posted on our web site. The public will be invited
to join an on-line discussion of each issue. Issues showing significant public
interest will be pursued for further study and may eventually lead to a formal
position on the subject by the Board and an effort by the League to advocate for
that position.
In short, The Municipal League will continue to build stronger communities
throughout King County by connecting citizens to the local governments that
serve them.
For 90 years we have been a voter information service, a public watchdog, and
a catalyst for civic change. Thanks to your support, we are now working on the
second 90!
Until next time,
Tom
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