Muni News
VOLUME 90, ISSUE 5  - SUMMER 2000

LEAGUE OPENS CEC TRAINING PROCESS
By Putnam Barber, Trustee

The Municipal League’s Candidate Evaluation Committee (CEC) program is the only organized effort in King County that provides nonpartisan information about the knowledge, involvement, character and effectiveness of candidates. These ratings help voters select officials whose commitment and preparation reflect fitness for public office. Our ratings will be published in September; we rated 91 candidates for 36 races in 16 legislative districts. Evaluations were conducted by 48 volunteers who filled the ranks of three regional committees - South, chaired by Phil Olbrechts; East, chaired by Pat Bowman; and Central/North, chaired by Lonnie Lusardo.

In the past, some candidates have expressed concern that the League’s process was hard to understand. To dispel this concern, all political parties, every announced candidate, and the League’s list of media contacts were invited to the trainings conducted for committee volunteers. TVW also broadcast both training sessions several times throughout the state.

The two-day training for committee members was held in late July. The process the League follows was the focus of one evening. On the second, the League invited guest speakers to provide the background necessary for committee members to distinguish between candidates who think carefully about critical issues facing our state and those who don’t. These speakers were: Bette Hyde, assistant superintendent of the Highline School District, on education; Sid Morrison, Secretary of Washington State Department of Transportation, on the work of his agency; Pat Steele, Budget Director for King County, on property taxes; Rep. Brian Thompson, retiring co-chair of the Revenue Committee in the House of Representatives, on the state budget.

A new approach to scheduling, improved processing of candidate questionnaires, and energetic follow-up phone calls by intern Jennie Keith, meant that candidates were interviewed - and rated - in three weeks of evening meetings leading up to the Trustee’s final review and vote. This intense work yields ratings on a six-point scale from “Outstanding” to” Not qualified.” Voters hear the results in the news media, from the candidates themselves - at least from the “Outstanding” ones - and in the League’s widely distributed League’s Voters’ Guide. 2001 will see municipal elections, an even longer list of candidates and an even greater challenge conducting the investigations and scheduling the interviews. We’ll use this year’s experience to be ready to continue the Municipal League’s 90 years of supporting good government through Candidate Evaluations.