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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Mike |
Riley |
2. Office sought (include office, jurisdiction, position/district number):
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Senate 47th Legislative District |
3. Are you the incumbent? Yes No
4. How long have you resided in this district/city?
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16 years |
5. How long have you resided in King County?
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52 years |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan Nonpartisan
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Riley for Senate |
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Address: |
PO Box 697 |
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City/State/Zip: |
Black Diamond, WA 98010 |
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Campaign Phone: |
253-639-1389 |
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Campaign Fax: |
360-886-1589 |
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Campaign E-mail: |
mike@riley4senate.com |
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Campaign Website: |
www.riley4senate.com |
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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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King County Water Advisory Board
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Appointed
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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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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 to serve my community. I have retired from Federal service and have the time, interest and ability to serve in Olympia.
I believe that we need people in Olympia that will respect the will of the voters and responsibly budget the tax monies collected from the citizens.
I want the Legislature to have a “Rainy Day” fund to cover the eventuality that we might have a revenue shortfall. The budgets coming out of Olympia that outspend revenue forecasts are irresponsible. We need to budget just like responsible citizens do.
I want to support legislation that protects our children from sexual predators. The laws passed in the last session in Olympia didn’t go far enough.
I also want the swinging door of justice to be shut on repeat drunk drivers. We can’t allow repeat drunk drivers back on the road; more needs to be done.
I have worked with many diverse groups in Washington DC and have been an effective consensus builder. I would like to put those skills to work for the people of the 47th District in the Senate in Olympia. |
2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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I have always been interested in government and public service. During my school years, I sought and held many school government offices. I was not able to run for partisan office during my Federal tenure but now I am able to serve.
I have always been the person in a group to organize and accomplish activities. I have the ability to listen to all opinions, gather consensus and make progress on the issues of agreement, then focus on the issues of disagreement.
The fundamental issues we face as citizens of our State are education, transportation, environment and public safety. Those issues are not Democrat or Republican, they affect all of us. The nature of politics is that the parties have a different take on how to provide for the citizens those elemental basics. I believe I can use my abilities to help build the bridges between the differing approaches. |
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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Family is something I’m very proud of. I have a wife and four children that will continue to be the top priority in my life. Raising my children, guiding their growth, teaching them to snow ski or travel in our boat has been one of the top accomplishments in my life.
Career wise, I was extremely proud to certify as an Air Traffic Controller in area A. Area A encompasses the area around Seattle, so if you’ve flown in or out of SeaTac on a commercial airliner, chances are, I’ve directed your flight. Graduating from ATC training was the hardest, most complex thing I have ever accomplished; getting my degree from the UW wasn’t a close second.
Serving on the National Validation Team for the FAA was also very rewarding. We built, tested and deployed software to every En Route Traffic Control Facility across the country that determined the pay grades of all the En Route Controllers.
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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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Vice President Parkshore Villa Homeowners Association: I was elected as a member of the Board of Directors and served two terms. During my tenure, I directed repairs to the building of approximately 60 units. Prior to my term, the building had lost their insurance
FAA’s National Validation Team: Led a team that wrote, tested and validated software and data from all 20 Air Route Traffic Control Centers that set ATC pay grades.
FAA Technical Representative and Liaison: I interfaced between the FAA Technical Center engineers in Atlantic City, NJ, Lockheed Martin engineers, Raytheon engineers, and FAA headquarters in Washington, DC. My job was to facilitate communication between technical specification authors, engineers, and end users, the Air Traffic Controllers. I was issued a Letter of Commendation from two FAA Directors for my services which were deemed indispensable.
I worked as a government liaison for the Horseshoe Lake Homeowners association to communicate with Federal, State, and County officials to alleviate a flooding condition.
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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 mission of the Washington State Senate is to exercise legislative powers granted by the State Constitution; to represent and provide leadership for the people of the state of Washington; to enact laws and oversee their administration; and to provide for the public well-being while protecting and maintaining the rights of the individual.” From the Washington State Senate web site.
I believe that “protecting and maintaining the rights of the individual” is a fundamental requirement that underlies all of the budget functions, lawmaking and leadership functions mandated by the Senate mission statement.
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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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BA, Business, University of Washington |
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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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