Mr. King was quick to respond to my email too. He did his answers essay style so first here are the initial questions I asked:
What would you say are the top 3 attributes in a candidate?
What top five principles do you try to live by? Why?
What makes a community a great place to live?
Have you ever made missteps in your political career? Care to elaborate or say what you would do differently today?
Many politicians (whether they run for Senate or School Board) always claim their best for the job due to “experience”, is experience all its cut out to be or are there more attributes we should be looking for?
Now for his answers:
I would like to start by thanking you for taking the time to be informed and asking important and intelligent questions. If you don't mind, I will answer your questions in a narrative rather than short answers to the independent questions.
I believe that elected officials are intended to provide 2 main functions. First, they should represent the interests of the people by examining issues and making decisions on their behalf. In this way, the individual citizens don't have to be bogged down by every issue and can instead focus on other aspects of their lives while knowing that someone else is representing them. Second, they should set the rules which balance protecting freedom with protecting health and well-being for the citizens they are serving. In order to achieve these aims, a political leader must be intelligent enough to deeply understand the issues at hand, honest about what they hope to achieve and have the integrity to be consistent in their decision making in the face of adversity. That is why I know I am a good leader and public servant. I live my life based on the those very principles: open-mindedness, humility, compassion, integrity, and honesty.
I believe that it is a society that understands and respects it's fellow members that makes a community great. This community is among the greatest in the world because of the mentality it maintains in respecting each other's freedom and individuality while being willing to provide a helping hand when it is needed. I want to ensure that this community remains a great place to raise a family. That includes maintaining an economy which provides income opportunity, affordable housing and energy, great educational opportunity and a healthy and safe environment. As an economist, I believe in letting the free market work so long as it is working, but I also believe in correcting its failures.
This is my first venture into politics directly, but I have been a public servant for my entire adult life. I spent 6 years in the Army, right out of high school, including a year in Iraq protecting our troops and Iraqi civilians from roadside bombs. I continue to serve and protect people in need through volunteer efforts and I continue to advance my understanding of the complex system in which we live through graduate level classes to add to my economics degree from the University of Washington. I do believe that experience is important if the person uses it as an intellectual foundation to examine what has worked as well as learning from mistakes. However, many times that experience can also lead to a reliance on tradition and an excuse not to examine a situation from the current context. Although I have not yet held a public office, I am very familiar with weighing costs and benefits as well as making tough decisions. Leading a group of soldiers in combat requires that they trust you are looking out for them, I carry that same mentality into office as I lead the good people of the North Star Borough.
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