Goodman For Congress 2012

 

This archived website was preserved as part of Dean Hsu's Modern Political Science course and is required reading for all first year pre-law students. Roger Goot provided research and development effort to restore and implement the legacy code base. You may have seen Roger's work - he comes from a successful career as a high profile internet marketer - he made the cover of Marketing Today for his gorgeous displays of sterling silver rings for sale for an online jewelry store. Since joining the university's tech team, he has also redesigned the Poly Sci's web page among others. Working with Dean Hsu, he has archived a large collection of websites that have become a hallmark of the course material for this innovative instructor. The MPS course is one of the most popular seminars available, and it is suggested that students sign up early to ensure placement. Students can download the entire syllabus from Hsu's department webpage - use the Zendesk app.

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This was the official website for Roger Goodman's 2012 campaign for Congress. Roger Goodman, a Democratic member of the Washington House of Representatives, has represented the 45th district since 2007. Goodman won re-election in 2012 against Republican Joel Hussey. Goodman has been described by the Seattle Times as "progressive."
Content is from the site's 2012 archived pages.

 

1st Congressional District
218 Main St. PMB 468
Kirkland, WA 98033
(425) 329-6279

Dear Voter,

Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, I know that we all want to see representatives of the people working together — using their common sense to get things done. I’ve proven to be a leader who can do that for you here in our own state and I hope for the opportunity to do that for you in the other Washington.

 

 

NEWS

 

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Dear Voter,

My kids think that running for Congress means that Daddy will be "going out into the neighborhoods" again to listen to lots of people and then, as a congressman, participating in a lot of meetings where people "talk, talk, talk, talk, talk."

And guess what? They are right. It takes a lot of listening and then a lot of civil communication in order to come up with the best possible solutions for the many critical crises we currently face in this country--job losses, home foreclosures, stagnant business climate, bailouts, war and taxes.

That is why I'm running for Congress.

I am listening so that I can do my best to negotiate those issues most important to you. Like you, I strongly believe in:

• fiscal responsibility
• a strong education system
• fresh ideas to help create jobs and stabilize the economy
• protecting the environment to preserve our way of life

My mode of operation is to work both sides of the aisle . . . that's why the majority of the bills I sponsor get passed in the state legislature and why I know I can do the same for you in Washington, DC. As we continue to struggle through challenging and uncertain times, I believe that we need courageous leadership to help enact fundamental reforms that could prevent future fiscal disasters.

I can be a strong leader for you.

Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, I know that we all want to see representatives of the people working together — using their common sense to get things done. doorbellingI’ve proven to be a leader who can do that for you here in our own state and I hope for the opportunity to do that for you in the other Washington.

I look forward to talking with you — in your own neighborhood or home — and hearing about the federal issues you care about most. Please contact me so that we can come up with innovative ways to address them, together. I need YOUR input in order to an effective representative for you.

I hope I can count on your support for Congress in 2012.
Roger Goodman

 

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Roger Goodman for Congress

Experience That Counts

Roger brings considerable professional experience from his legal practice, from serving in federal and state government positions and from working in the non-profit world.

Trained in environmental law, Roger has a good working knowledge of the laws that protect our air, water, species, habitat and other natural resources. He also has developed expertise in energy policy, especially in alternative motor fuels. As senior staff in the U.S. Congress, he:

• Managed the passage of a key amendment to the Clean Air Act of 1990, providing $250 million in assistance to workers in the coal, chemical and utility industries who were displaced by the effects of more stringent air quality laws.
• Coordinated the establishment of a national research center on alternative motor fuels and bringing entrepreneurs and scholars together to promote alternative fuels.
• Helped secure federal funding for heated bridge decks across the country, to make crossing bridges in cold weather both safer and cleaner, without having to use salt.
• Managed other major legislative efforts to tighten waste laws, both for hazardous waste cleanup and solid waste disposal.

In Washington State in the late 1990s Roger served in Olympia as Executive Director of the Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission, where he became an expert in sentencing policy and was elected to the board of the National Association of Sentencing Commissions. While managing the Commission, Roger:

• Steered a bill through the State Legislature that toughened penalties on domestic violence, specifically for the violation of protection orders.
• Helped to increase the amount of treatment available to drug addicts in the prisons.
• Shepherded 14 other sentencing-related bills through the State Legislature.
• Published major reports on prison capacity and sentencing policy.

In the last several years Roger has worked for the King County Bar Association on a ground-breaking initiative to take a critical look at our failed drug laws and to promote cheaper, more effective and more humane alternatives. Roger coordinates an impressive coalition of over 20 professional and civic organizations, including the Washington Academy of Family Physicians, the Washington Society of Addiction Medicine, the state Bar, Medical, Pharmacy, Psychological, Public Health and Osteopathic Associations, the League of Women Voters, the Church Council and the National Alliance on Mental Illness, among other groups. Together, this coalition has spurred the State Legislature to reduce needless incarceration for the addicted and to shift funding into drug treatment, an approach that research shows is cheaper and much more effective.

At Home and in the Community

Roger was lured to Washington State in the early 1990s, when he met his wife, Liv Grohn, whose family has lived in Kirkland for three generations. Roger, Liv, their daughter and son live amidst a network of longtime family and friends on the Eastside, only two miles from Grandma and Grandpa - and only two blocks from Great-Grandma!

Roger has always given back to his community. His local activities include:

• Serving as President of Kirkland's Lakeview Neighborhood Association
• Serving on the board of the Norkirk Neighborhood Association
• Volunteering for many years as an attorney for the Eastside Legal Clinic

Roger is passionate about his family and loves to visit local parks with his daughter and son. Music is another great passion of Roger's, as is the National Football League and Major League Baseball. He has also traveled widely, which informs his common-sense and tolerant approach to life.

Roger Goodman Resume

Education

• Harvard University, M.P.A. (Kennedy School of Government), 1996-1998
• The George Washington University, J.D., 1983-1986
• Dartmouth College, A.B., also awarded Senior Fellowship, 1979-1983
• U. of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), visiting research associate, 1981

Professional Experience

• Executive Director, Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission, 1998-2000
• National Association of Sentencing Commissions Board, 1999-2000
• Washington State Law and Justice Advisory Council, 1998-2000
• Chief of Staff, U.S. Representative Rick Boucher (VA), 1993-1995
• Legislative Director and Counsel, U.S. Representative Bob Wise (WV), 1989-1993
• Legal staff, Democratic National Committee, 1988
• Attorney, Tillinghast, Collins & Graham, Providence, RI, 1986-1988

Current Work

State Representative 45th Legislative District

• Vice Chair, House Judiciary Committee
• Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee
• Early Learning and Children's Services Committee
• Statute Law Committee

Other Current Work

• Law and Justice Committee, National Conference of State Legislatures
• Public Safety Task Force, Council of State Governments
• Criminal Justice Policy Consultant, King County Bar Association
• Appointed Member, King County Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Administrative Board
• Chair, Joint Legislative Affairs and Public Advocacy Committee, King County Mental Health Advisory Board and King County Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Advisory Board
• American Bar Association, Standing Committee on Substance Abuse
• Board Member, Hopelink

Local Activities and Affiliations

• President, Lakeview Neighborhood Association, Kirkland, 2001-2003
• Board Member, Norkirk Neighborhood Association, Kirkland, 2004
• Member, Kirkland Heritage Society, since 2003
• Kirkland-Redmond Unit Leader, League of Women Voters, since 2000
• Volunteer Attorney, Eastside Legal Clinic, since 2001

Regional and State Activities and Affiliations

• Washington State Bar Association
• Washington State Public Health Association
• King County Bar Association
• Metropolitan Democratic Club
• Rotary Club - University District
• Charter Board Member, Rainier Institute
• Board Member, Marie Institute, affiliated with U. of Washington.

 

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Roger Goodman On What Matters

You know it's pretty clear that we are approaching a climate crisis. It's not in the headlines anymore, but it's time to sound the alarm. Frankly, I'm really sick of this phony science that tries to disprove it all; it's so clear. The snow pack is melting in the mountains, the ice caps are melting in the poles, the currents of the oceans are changing radically, there are droughts all over the world, like never before. I've been working to make kids healthy and ready for school and to make the streets in our communities safe and for a living wage for all of us. But we can't afford to worry about any of that if we don't have air to breath. The climate issue has to be our top priority. And it is my top priority. It's my passion but it's also my experience. I was trained as an environmental lawyer so understand both the science and the laws we need to enact. It's also going to require leadership, not just technical knowledge, but literally bringing the world together. Because we are all going to have to change the way we live our lives. It's going to be my top priority to address the climate crisis, so we have a habitable planet.

 

Roger Goodman On What Matters

I hear from a lot of people tremendous concern about the quality of our public education system. Now we all like our own neighborhood school. We think our own kid's teacher is the best. I certainly think my second grader's teacher is the best. But if we step back and take a close look, we're not competing adequately with the rest of the world. We are not making the investments necessary so that our kids can compete in what is truly a global economy. We have to make investments in public education, but we also need education reform. Changing the way teachers are trained and compensated. Providing more effective curricula, making sure that class sizes are small and that student learning is assessed properly.

One specific area that I am concerned about and that I have been already been working on is early childhood education. We need to make major investments to ensure that kids are healthy and ready for school. Half the kids that arrive at kindergarten aren't prepared and they never catch up. It's really very compelling research. I support major investments in making sure that kids have social and emotion skills and are just ready for the academic learning once school starts. Because if they are not, they just aren't going to catch up. It's not just the early learning, it's the whole school system that we have to invest in. You can count on me to make it a top priority.

 

 

Roger Goodman On What Matters

The prohibition of so-called "controlled substances" has given rise to the same adverse consequences of Alcohol Prohibition in the 1920s. Our current drug policies are irrational and counterproductive, feeding violent illegal markets, public corruption, clogging of the courts and disrespect for the law. We've heard for decades how our drug laws are supposed to "protect the children" yet our high school and junior high school kids have easier access to prohibited drugs than adults! Meanwhile, we've been arresting more than 800,000 adults each year for marijuana possession alone. Already with a strong legislative record in drug policy reform, I will continue to champion the urgent need to end our prohibition-based drug policies and to bring marijuana back into the law, regulate it for adult use and extinguish the corrosive black market. It's time for an "exit strategy" for the failed War on Drugs.

 

Roger Goodman On What Matters

I am very concerned with our fisheries; we are overfishing. We have to promote sustainable, productive and responsible fisheries. Here in the Pacific Northwest, Puget Sound is a beautiful body of water, on the surface. If you look underneath it is dying. This is an urgent matter. Puget Sound is the lynchpin to our entire ecological system in this region. We need to prevent the building of an oil super-port in the Puget Sound, prevent more risk from more pollution. We need to preserve salmon runs because it is the key indicator to environmental health. We need much more aggressive regulation of off-shore drilling and just aggressive protection of key waterways in general. It's not just about environmental sustainability, but economics as well. Because if we pollute the environment, we des

 

Roger Goodman On What Matters

We've been experiencing the worst economic crisis in many generations. We can learn lessons from history, though, particularly the need to make critical public investments in infrastructure. We can wait no longer to repair our strategic roads, bridges, railways and waterways, as well as environmental controls such as sewer and stormwater systems. Our infrastructure is a critical public good and there is little incentive for the private sector to invest in it, so we need public investment to ease the flow of commerce, to improve road safety and to reduce commuter stress, and to clean up our environment. Not only that, we are providing workers with good, living-wage jobs, giving them dignity and preserving family stability. The money they earn gets recirculated right back into the economy. This is how we can get America out of stagnation and rolling again. So yes, the government can create jobs and improve the infrastructure and our quality of life. It sounds like a win-win to me. 

 

Roger Goodman On What Matters

Recently, I listened to President Obama's major policy address on the Middle East, and I am very concerned.

I've been watching the so called “Arab Spring” unfold and I am reminded of the Russian saying, “Winter is very, very long and Spring is very short.”

Our interest in a secure and stable Israel is more important than most Americans realize. The heightened political volatility in Israel's neighborhood has me really worried.

I've celebrated the spread of democracy around the world, and I feel a sense of hope for the kids in Cairo and Damascus marching for self-determination -- but I also worry for them as their leaders like President Assad are literally shooting them in the streets.

Not to say that some nations aren't “ready” for Western democracy, but all too often we've seen the risks in many societies more tied to blood and land than to Western democratic principles. Israel has championed democracy in the region, but the bumpy road to democracy among its neighbors will surely leave them less stable and less effective for some time to come.

And even with hopeful democratic signs in the Middle East, we must keep our eye on the spectre of an authoritarian Iran and its undue influence in the region...

I really fear that the historic transition now underway in the Middle East is threatening Israel's security.

 

Roger Goodman On What Matters

Protecting Public Safety and Controlling Crime

As a society we refuse to tolerate crime and disorder. Our principal concern is to preserve and enhance public safety. However, a closer look at our crime policies shows how extravagantly we've been wasting taxpayer dollars on ineffective and counterproductive strategies. We've been pursuing “feel good” policies that don't make us any safer, locking up non-violent people who do not threaten community safety but who suffer instead from treatable mental illness or addiction. Punishing them in this way has worsened their condition and made them less functional — leaving us less safe and costing us more. The punitive approach may work for some offenders, but a more therapeutic approach works much better for others.

A cornerstone of my public service has been to promote rational sentencing reform and evidence-based public safety policies. We've talked about being “tough on crime” but we've actually been tough on the budget. With limited resources available for essential government functions we must focus on the proper public safety priorities, working to reduce physical harm to others, especially from the chronic problems of drunk driving and domestic violence. Those are key issues I've been working hard to address in the Washington State Legislature. Otherwise it's essential for us to reduce the bloated caseloads in our courts and provide instead more supportive services and assistance for socially displaced people who now languish in jails and prisons.

 

Roger Goodman On What Matters

I am very concerned about the stability of our global financial system. The United States Congress has recently enacted some very promising reforms to provide for more transparency and more accountability in our financial systems. But there is still so much more work to do. Hedge fund managers are just gambling with our money and it's immoral; This has to stop. We need more local control over our money and we need the federal reserve to aggressively regulate our big banks so that they are not gambling with our money as they have in the past. Unless we take back control over our money we will not have economic security for every family and economic prosperity for us all.

 

 

Paid for and Authorized by Roger Goodman for Congress