How Do Candidates Get Evaluated? 

The League's Candidate Evaluation process is much like job interview. A volunteer Candidate Investigator will call references, do research on the candidate and prepare a report to present to his or her Candidate Evaluation Committee (CEC).

The Municipal League will be rating candidates from the following races:

The Election Candidate assists the Candidate Investigators in making their evaluations in two ways:

1. By completing and submitting a 2011 Candidate Questionnaire (Due June 10th).  The questionnaire forms the basis of the evaluation process and will be distributed to the CEC along with the investigator's report prior to the candidate's interview.
2. Meeting with a Candidate Evaluation Committee group for a 20 minute in-person interview. Interviews take place from 6pm-9pm, June 27th-30th and July 11th-14th.  Please contact the Municipal League CEC Coordinator ASAP at cec@munileague.org or 206-622-8333 to schedule an interview for you or your 2010 King County Primary Election candidate. 

How Will Candidates Be Rated & How Are The Ratings Used?

Each candidate is given a rating of Outstanding, Very Good, Good, Adequate, or Not Qualified. The criteria used to reach these ratings are:

• Involvement: What has the candidate done previously in family, neighborhood, community, volunteer work, employment or public life to suggest readiness to accomplish challenging objectives? How do these activities demonstrate readiness for the challenges unique to the office sought?

• Effectiveness: Has the candidate demonstrated promise to be productive in the office sought? Has the candidate shown the ability to work with other people?

• Character: Do the candidate's personal traits show the ability to take on the responsibilities of campaigning for and holding the public office she or he is seeking? Is the candidate a leader, participant or observer?  Is the candidate trustworthy, reliable and consistent?

• Knowledge: Has the candidate demonstrated the willingness and ability to learn and adapt? Does the candidate understand the duties and challenges of the office sought? Does the candidate have a firm grasp of the issues important to his or her constituency and their potential effects?

The Committee’s recommended ratings are presented to the Board of Trustees for discussion and approval. After the Board votes to approve the ratings, they are printed in a report that is distributed to League members, the media, and the public prior to the primary and general elections.  All ratings are also posted on our website at www.munileague.org.  The League urges all voters to consider this report as only one of the many available sources of information about candidates running for election.

What are the CEC's Information Sources?

The Committee gets information from:

• Files on the candidate which include public disclosure reports, newspaper clippings, records of previous interviews, position papers, a questionnaire completed by the candidate, and other materials that the candidate is invited to supply.

• References provided by the candidate and other people that are researched by committee members.

• Interviews with the candidate. Each interview lasts about twenty minutes.

Each candidate is assigned to a Committee member who researches that candidate’s activities using the candidate’s file (described above and provided by League staff) and by calling references supplied by the candidate and others identified by the Committee member. Candidates are also invited to supply the Committee with as much information as they wish.

Is the League really nonpartisan?

We make every possible effort to be so. We recruit from as wide a range of the county as possible, and we deliberately balance the membership of every committee. Committee members are trained to ask fair, unbiased questions. Overt statements of political opinion are barred from committee discussions.

The Municipal League is the only organization that rates candidates without regard to political platform. We recognize our responsibility to both voters and candidates and make every effort to run this program as carefully and fairly as possible.

If I have other questions, whom should I contact?

Please contact the Municipal League Candidate Evaluation Coordinator, at cec@munileague.org, or 206-622-8333.