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 |
2. Office sought (include office, jurisdiction, position/district number):
3. Are you the incumbent? Yes No
4. How long have you resided in this district/city?
5. How long have you resided in King County?
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35 years |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan Nonpartisan
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Citizens for Mary Lou Dickerson |
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Address: |
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City/State/Zip: |
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Campaign Phone: |
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Campaign Fax: |
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Campaign E-mail: |
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Campaign Website: |
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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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Member of Sentencing Guidelines Commission
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Member of the Washington State Family Policy Council
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2. If you ran for public office but were not elected, please list those races below:
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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 re-electionn as state representative because I have a passion for improving the lives of children and families in this state. I am an effective voice for their needs and would like to continue the work that I have begun on their behelf. I am well positioned to do so as chair of the Juvenile Justice and Family Law Committee, and as a member of the Children and Families Committee and the lead for our state's National Conference of State Legislatures delegation on Helping Working Families. I took the lead in passing 15 new laws in the last two years, including measures to help improve emergency preparedness, help foster youth continue their education, protect rights to family leave, and provide stronger protections for vulnerable children caught in the cycle of repeated child neglect. (Please see my web page for a full description of the legislation I passed in the last two years.)
So much of the legislation on which I have taken the lead has passed and now I want to move on to two new and very challenging areas, children's mental health, and climate change. Our state has no real system of children's mental health. Instead we have some scattered services for a small percentage of children who desperately need quality mental health. Many of the mental health providers fail to utilize evidence-based interventions and we have a dearth of providers who are trained to help children. The result is that children who need services often end up in the Juvenile Justice system as the provider of last resort. I intend to work with stakeholders to offer a comprehensive proposal for a children's mental health system in Washington.
Climate change will have tremendous impacts on all families in Washington in the next few decades. The Legislature has already taken very positive action to reduce CO2 emmisions through the Green Car legislation as well as the Biofuels Initiative and the Green Buildings legislation. However, there is much more that we can do. I plan to work with climate change scientists at the University of Washington as well as with the Puget Sound Air Quality Authority to develop legislation and a campaign to educate members of the House and Senate about the need for significant action to reduce climate change. |
2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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I am a person who enjoys involvement. Delving into issues, learning about all sides, encouraging win-win solutions, are all activities I love. That is why you will see a host of activities on my attached resume. I founded Treehouse and the Ballard Family Center. As a Board member of Reinvesting in Youth I took the lead on legislation that will establish a state system of reinvesting in local programs that provide effective prevention and early intervention to youth in the Juvenile Justice system. I recently joined the board of First Place and am looking forward to contributing what I can to their good work.
I am an effective legislator who believes in the power of hard work. I took the lead on 15 pieces of successful legislation in the last two years. I believe in treating my colleagues from both parties with respect, and in the power of team work. These are the keys to my success.
My colleagues have learned that I keep my promises and that I am reliable and honest. I'm also very tenacious. I continue to work on passage of legislation, often for several years, as long as I believe it is important and necessary. The child neglect bill, known as the "Justice and Raiden Act", is and example of this. |
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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After several years of trying to change our state's outmoded child neglect laws, last year I was successful in passing the "Justice and Raiden Act" which allows the state to better protect children who are victims of chronic child neglect. I negotiated with a large group of stakeholders, and with state officials, to get the final language of the bill. I worked with both Democrats and Republicans to craft the final legislation and even convinced a conservative Republican senator to allow me to add the legislation to her bill which had a convenient title. I wrote opinion pieces for the press and worked with editorial boards to put pressure on my colleagues to finally pass the bill.
Earlier in my career in the Legislature I was able to establish and continue, in tight budget times, a model program for drug affected babies and their mothers. I worked closely with members from both parties and with stakeholders and DSHS to craft and pass the legislation. The program has a comprehensive evaluation component and has shown significant results and cost effectiveness. It is these results that have saved the program even while others were being cut due to budget deficits.
During the 2005 session I worked closely with the Transportation Chair to convince a majority of House members to vote for the biggest Transportation Budget in 13 years. Almost everyone knew the need was there. However, many members were reluctant to support the budget because it meant voting for a 9 and a half cent gas tax increase. I worked as a member of an informal team to secure the votes necessary for passage. After passage I worked to defeat an initiative to repeal the gas tax increase. I reached out to the Ballard Chamber of Commerce as well as to local business groups to defeat of the initiative. |
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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These activities are listed in the resume which I have attached. In addition to the employment section, you will see a section entitled, "Outstanding Accomplishments" and one entitled, "Additional Responsibilities" . Please refer to these sections for the answer.
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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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Legislators are problem solvers who assess need, develop proposed solutions to answer that need, and persuade their colleagues and stakeholders that the solutions are worth supporting. Each of these roles is significant because without them it is impossible to pass good legislation. In addition legislators must be responsible for difficult decisions on the budget. They must make sure that the budget represents the values important to the Washington residents.
In addition to initiating and passing legislation, legislators must also work as mediators and problem solvers in their districts on non-legislative matters. For example, recently I have spent a great deal of time working on Viaduct related issues. I played a key role in assuring that an expert, independent panel would review the two top Viaduct options. I recently met with the expert panel's chair to discuss important questions that should be raised in considering the feasibility of the options
Legislators also provide constituent services and educate the voters on important issues in their communities. |
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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Master of Social Work. Post graduate work in Public Administration and Business Administration. Bachelor's degree in journalism. |
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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Founder of Treehouse, a non-profit helping foster children. Board member of the Washington State Family Policy Council, Board member of the Sentencing Guidelines Commission, Board member of First Place, Board member of Reinvesting in Youth, Founder of the Ballard Family Center, Director of Belleuve Schools Foundation, Co-coordinator of Wa. ERA Coalition, Board member of WA. Women's History Consortium. |
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