2006 Candidate Questionnaire
SECTION I
BASIC CANDIDATE INFORMATION
1. Name as it will appear on the ballot
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First Name |
Middle Initial or Nick Name |
Last Name |
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Donna |
L. |
Watts |
2. Office sought (include office, jurisdiction, position/district number):
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State Representative 47th L.D. pos. 1 |
3. Are you the incumbent? Yes x No
4. How long have you resided in this district/city?
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Nearly 30 years |
5. How long have you resided in King County?
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33 years |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? x Partisan Nonpartisan
7. If partisan, please indicate party: GOP
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Donna Watts for State Rep 47th GOP |
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Address: |
P.O. Box 7415 |
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City/State/Zip: |
Covington, WA 98042 |
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Campaign Phone: |
253-735-5402 |
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Campaign Fax: |
253-735-5526 |
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Campaign E-mail: |
Watts47th GOP@aol.com |
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Campaign Website: |
Donnawatts.org |
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POLITICAL BACKGROUND
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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n/a
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2. If you ran for public office but were not elected, please list those races below:
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Office Title |
Year of Run |
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n/a
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SECTION III
In this section, we are seeking responses that reflect the four ratings criteria: involvement, effectiveness, character, and knowledge. These are defined as follows:
- 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 of being 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 candid?
- 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?
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 for State Representative because I would like the opportunity to apply the knowledge I have gained through my life experiences toward making Washington State a better place to live, work and raise a family. |
2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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My most important personal characteristics, as they relate to this office, are my dedication, my sense of obligation, my persistence, my ability to work with others, and my ability to work to solve problems |
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 most proud of raising my son. My son’s father and I separated (and later divorced) when my son was two years old. Although my ex-husband and I had a very good relationship, the bulk of my son’s rearing was my responsibility. As anyone who has raised children knows, some children force you to develop enhanced skills of perseverance and understanding. My son is very bright but as a student was bored and indifferent when it came to completing assignments or getting good grades. As someone with a very strong work ethic, I was baffled. But perseverance, respect, love and understanding finally won out. My son finally made the honor roll in his final semester of his senior year. Today my 29 year old son is married and is a loving and caring father of three children. He is a very talented machinist and programmer and has a great work ethic. Through raising this wonderful young man I learned the importance of understanding and acknowledging other people’s opinions and feelings which I believe are essential abilities when it comes to working with others. This may not seem like a great accomplishment to some, but to me it is the accomplishment I am most proud of.
Throughout my nearly 20 years at the Boeing Company, I garnered respect from my peers, management, customers and suppliers because of my dedication. I have never been a “clock watcher”. I have always taken the approach that no matter how arduous a task; I will complete it on schedule even if it requires personal sacrifice. There were times that I was paid overtime and other times I chose to bring work home. This dedication is, in part, why I was nominated to be an EXPO candidate (Boeing’s executive potential program) and completed the EXPO program. I always took the approach that no matter what needed to be done I would do it. I never took the “it’s not my job” approach. I believed we all worked for the Boeing Company and our goal was to make the company successful no matter what.
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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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During my nearly 20 years at the Boeing Company, I acquired many skills such as presentation organization, negotiation, and communication. I was also able to enhance my ability to work with others toward a common goal (team player). I used my presentation skills as an estimator and training coordinator; My organizational skills were essential to all my assignments but especially necessary in my jobs as a buyer and estimator. My negotiation skills were gained when I was a Military Estimator and used as a buyer, when negotiating with suppliers and as proposal estimator, when negotiating with other departments, with customers of the Boeing Company such as the AFPRO (Air Force Pricing Office) and as a cost analyst when negotiating with Boeing suppliers on their rates and factors.
I have served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate – Guardian Ad Litem (1996 – 1998). During my time as a Casa-Gal, I worked with DSHS case workers, natural parents, foster parents and children in foster care. Through this I learned to work with different personalities in high pressure situations and I learned to look at different situations from other’s perspectives.
I have volunteered as an office manager (200-2001) for a start up private foster care assistance agency. This experience enhanced my organizational and communication skills.
I served as the 47th LD chair for President Bush’s re-election campaign (2004) and was then promoted to 9th Congressional District co-chair for the President’s campaign. Through this experience I enhanced my leadership, organizational, motivation and communication skills.
I served as a Republican supervisor (second in command) during the 2004 Governor’s recount. Once again this required skills in leadership, organizing, and communicating. This was also a great opportunity to foster relationships with people of different political persuasions.
As a core member of Operation Support Our Troops, it is my responsibility to participate in rallies and Pack-outs (for Christmas 2006, we will be adopting 5,000 troops and will be sending them Christmas stockings and gifts) I am also listed on our web site (OSOT.org) as the contact person for questions and information concerning OSOT. This allows me to continue using and improving my communication skills along with my skills of working with others for a common goal.
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5. Please describe the duties of the office you seek. Which are the most important duties and why?
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The duty of a State Representative is to work with others to make the best possible decisions for the benefit of all the citizens of their district and the state. A State Representative is sworn to uphold the constitution of the U.S. and Washington State. He or she is there to represent all the people from his/her district – not just those who may have supported them or voted in their favor. In the process of doing their job, elected officials must never take their responsibility lightly or lose sight of the fact that their work affects the lives of every citizen.
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EDUCATION BACKGROUND SUMMARY
FOR PUBLICATION IN CANDIDATE EVALUATION REPORT
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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Graduate 1972 - Mandl School for Medical and Dental Assistants Course work – Nassau Community College, City University
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CIVIC INVOLVEMENT SUMMARY
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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During nearly 20 years at the Boeing Company, I gained and used my communication, organization, negotiation, and presentation skills in my positions as, estimator, buyer, cost analyst and Small Business administrator. These skills are also valuable to me as a small business owner working with Boeing suppliers. I have served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate – Guardian Ad Litem, working within the foster care system and as a volunteer office mgr. for a private foster care assistance agency.
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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 newsletter 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: Jennifer DiGiacomo
Seattle, WA 98104-1614 Fax: 425-671-0506 Website: www.munileague.org