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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Lynne |
D. |
Dodson |
2. Office sought (include office, jurisdiction, position/district number):
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House of Representatives, Position 1 |
3. Are you the incumbent? Yes x No
4. How long have you resided in this district/city?
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Lived in the District for 4 years, worked in the District for 14, lived in Seattle for 20 years |
5. How long have you resided in King County?
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20 years |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? x Partisan Nonpartisan
7. If partisan, please indicate party: Democrat
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Lynne To Win |
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Address: |
P.O. Box 12065 (office 154 Denny Way) |
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City/State/Zip: |
Seattle, WA 98102 |
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Campaign Phone: |
206-441-4871 |
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Campaign Fax: |
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Campaign E-mail: |
LynneToWin@comcast.net or Debbie@LynneToWin.org |
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Campaign Website: |
www.LynneToWin.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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American Federation of Teachers, WA – Vice President
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Elected
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May 2000-present |
Chair of the Community College Council
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Seattle Community Colleges Federation of Teachers, AFT 1789
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Elected
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Sept. 1999-June 2006
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President
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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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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 have a strong and abiding belief in public education as the fundamental democratizing force in our nation. In Washington state, we have fallen behind in our support for public education – from early childhood through college.
Our state’s public early childhood programs serve only 30% of the children who are eligible, even though we know that dollars invested in early childhood learning promote better educational outcomes, and return $4 to $8 for every dollar spent. Our K-12 system, which should be the best in the nation, is 42nd in per student spending. Our higher education system, the cornerstone of a robust economy and a well educated populace, has become one of the first things cut in our state’s budget.
My experience as an educator, trying to improve public education in our state, has taken me to Olympia as an advocate. I have spent many hours talking with legislators about the need to fund early childhood through college public education. While there is great sympathy for the need, we have not, as a state, put enough resources into improving our educational system.
As a leader, I have developed excellent organizing and coalition building skills. I understand what it means to find common ground and negotiate with others to reach the goals we share. I know that every legislator in Olympia wants a great educational system, I have the leadership and political skills to work to set priorities first, then figure out ways to reach them.
I also have a background in policy analysis and social welfare. I know that we all lose, as a state, when we pit education against human services. My skills are particularly well suited to problem-solving; we can prioritize our state’s goals, examine the intended and unintended consequences of solutions, implement policies that will improve our state, and then continuously evaluate the results to ensure we are actually building a healthy, economically sound, just and democratic state.
Education is not my only issue, but it is the critical issue for our state. I am an educator and a leader and will be effective in Olympia. |
2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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The personal characteristics I have that will make me an effective legislator include a strong work ethic, a deep respect and appreciation for others - whether we share the same opinions or not. I also have the ability to really listen and find common ground, a problem-solving orientation that permits changes to find the best solutions, honesty and integrity, and a sense of humor.
A strong work ethic is essential for an effective legislator. While the state legislature only meets for part of the year, it’s critical to be reaching out to constituents, researching potential legislation, and monitoring the effects of existing legislation throughout the year.
I tend toward believing that others are sincerely committed to doing the right thing – even if we disagree on the best means. This respect and appreciation for others is essential to keeping dialogue open and the possibility for collaboration alive. With this as a starting point, it becomes much easier and more productive to identify common goals and work toward them.
A problem-solving orientation means I do not get stuck thinking there is only one possible solution and once implemented – end of work. As legislators, we must continuously consider alternatives and unintended consequences. We must take action, but we also need to evaluate the effectiveness of what we do and be prepared to make changes for improvement.
Honesty and integrity are essential. A sense of humor helps in tense situations! |
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 very proud of the way my former husband and I raised our two children. They were completely loved and supported; we used the right blend of guidance and strictness coupled with freedom and responsibility. They are young adults now and perfectly wonderful, polite, socially responsible, thoughtful and kind. As I did with my kids, I expect the best from others and believe people want to do right and are capable of it. In my work as a legislator this approach to working with others will be effective and facilitate the best possible outcome to any situation.
I am also proud of the work I have done as the president of our faculty union. I worked tirelessly to engage faculty so our colleges would be strengthened and students better served. Participation in legislative activity increased from a handful of faculty to hundreds, and faculty became engaged in other community and labor activities. We made a lot of progress, from increasing salaries to improving benefits, to developing a scholarship program. We united full time and part time faculty to work toward pay equity for part-time faculty; as a result Seattle’s part-time faculty now earn 72% of a full time salary, up from 46% in 1999. As the union president, I also worked to bring students, staff, and administrators all together on our common legislative goals – we all worked to increase funding to our colleges, keep tuition low, and increase salaries.
As the co-chair of Washington State Jobs with Justice, I worked to build coalitions between labor, faith, and community organizations. I’m proud of my contribution on the organizing committee of the two largest peace rallies in Seattle history. My role was to ensure that the voices of Seattle workers were included to show the costs at home of the war. As a result, a nurse from Seattle’s VA Hospital was included in the program to discuss the crisis they were facing in trying to provide services to returning veterans.
When I work with others to create a better community, I am most proud. |
- 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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Vice President, American Federation of Teachers WA, chair of the Community College Council: May 2000-present President, Seattle Community Colleges Federation of Teachers: Sept. 1999-June 2006 Co-chair, Washington State Jobs With Justice: May 2001-May 2005 Community College Faculty, Seattle Central Community College: Sept. 1993 to present Founding President, SCCFT 1789 Dollars for Scholars (Scholarship program): January 2004-June 2005 Seattle Coordinating Committee, AFLCIO Human Rights Day 2005, 2006 Coordinator, Equal Pay Day with Linda Chavez Thompson, 2004 Organizing Committee, Feb 15 and Mar 24 Peace Rallies: 2003, 2004 Contract Negotiations Team, Seattle Community Colleges Federation of Teachers, 2002-2003 Regular attendee/participant – Seattle Community Colleges Board of Trustees Meetings, State Board for Community and Technical College meetings, 1999-2006 Qualitative study/policy analysis of WA State welfare programs – Dissertation for Ph.D. in Social Welfare from the UW 1992-1994 Participated in legislative advocacy and on campaign committees for: League of Education Voters, No repeal of Estate Tax, Wage and Career Ladder for early childhood educators, Early Learning initiative, minimum wage (and many others!) 1993-present Research - Evaluator, Teen Parent Project in Everett, WA (1989-1992) Developed centralized, multi-lingual program for City of Long Beach JTPA programs (1987) Evaluation of the effects of centralized program on employment and participation (1988) Director, Job Search Assistance Program in Summer Youth Employment Program (1987)
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- Please describe the duties of the office you seek. Which are the most important duties and why?
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The role of a state legislator is to ensure our laws and policies are creating the kind of state we want to live in – economically robust, compassionate and fair, democratic, with an excellent quality of life for our residents. The most important duties are:
Legislators must be fiscally responsible – ensuring adequate revenue to meet our state’s needs, and expenditures reflect the priorities we set for our state. We also must ensure that our tax system is fair and stable.
Legislators must be responsive to constituents, and also have the best interests of the entire state in mind. They have to be both visionary and pragmatic – addressing the long view, and building relationships to get legislation passed.
Legislators must be stewards of our state – identifying our priorities and ensuring we are continually and constantly working to ensure we meet them.
Legislators must ensure that everyone is represented – especially those without the resources to lobby! It is up to legislators to ensure our laws are building our state and protecting all our residents. |
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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Inchelium, WA High School graduate; BA-Psychology; MS-Community Psychology, CA St. U, Long Beach; Ph.D - Social Welfare, UW |
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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Vice President, American Federation of Teachers WA, chair of the Community College Council: May 2000-present President, Seattle Community Colleges Federation of Teachers: Sept. 1999-June 2006 Co-chair, Washington State Jobs With Justice: May 2001-May 2005 Community College Faculty, Seattle Central Community College: Sept. 1993 to present Founding President, SCCFT 1789 Dollars for Scholars (Scholarship program): January 2004-June 2005 Seattle Coordinating Com. AFLCIO Human Rights Day 2005, 2006
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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