2003 Candidate Questionnaire

 

SECTION I               

 

BASIC CANDIDATE INFORMATION

 

1.      Name as it will appear on the ballot

 

First Name

Middle Initial or Nick Name

Last Name

Cindi

A

Laws

 

2.   Office sought (include office, jurisdiction, position/district number):

 

Seattle Monorail Board Pos. 8

 

3.   Are you the incumbent?                  Yes              No

 

 

4.   How long have you resided in this district/city?

 

Nearly 13 years

 

5.   How long have you resided in King County?

 

same

 

6.   Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan?                   Nonpartisan         

                                                                                                                       

7.   If partisan, please indicate party:       

 

CAMPAIGN CONTACTS

 

Campaign Name:

Cindi for Seattle Monorail

 

Address:

 

PO Box 2764

 

City/State/Zip:

 

Seattle WA  98111-2764

 

Campaign Phone:

 

206-790-4232

 

 

Campaign Fax:

 

call 1st, 206-935-7593

 

 

Campaign E-mail:

 

cindilaws@msn.com

 

 

Campaign Website:

 

www.cindilaws2003.org

 

 

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)

Seattle Popular Monorail Authority

 

Appointive

 

2003 - present

 

Secretary

 

Elevated Transit Company

 

Appointive

 

2001-2003

 

Chair, Government Affairs

 

Hanford Advisory Board

 

Appointive

 

1997-1998

 

     

 

 

2.   If you ran for public office but were not elected, please list those races below:

 

Office Title

Year of Run

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 

     

 


 


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.)

 

I have served on  the Monorail Board for nearly 3 years, first on the Elevated Transit Company (ETC), and now on the Seattle Popular Monorail Authority (SPMA).  I was appointed to Position 5 on SPMA for a one year term; that seat converts to a city council appointment in January 2004, so I am running for Position 8, currently a mayoral appointment that converts to an elected seat in January.

 

Like many people, I became entranced with monorail long ago.  But unlike most others, I was fortunate to have helped advance Seattle's monorail since 1990, when I worked in the US Senate for Brock Adams, former US Secretary of Transportation and a committee member of  the 1962 World's Fair.  What most Seattle-ites don't know or have forgotten is that Sen. Adams, bringing Washington $350 million for transportation in a 1991 Transportation Authorization, landed $2.5 million to study the expansion or replacement of the old Seattle Monorail.  I am honored to have helped secure that important line-item. 

 

ETC developed the plan that was approved by voters last  November 2002, and I am one of only 3 board members who remain from that board.  I know what we planned and what we promised voters.  I intend to deliver on the promises we made:  build a 14- mile monorail system on-time and on-budget with beautiful and environmentally sustainable design,  with openness and public accountability.   The Green Line is just the first phase of a planned, 5-line, 58 mile city-wide system.  Planning for the 2nd line is underway and I intend to engage the same thorough, community-driven process that brought about the Green Line.

 

I am working hard to ensure the project reflects our values and the needs of working people and business owners while maintaining strict oversight.  I have raised a ruckus to keep up the commitment to public accountability.  I fought, and won, expanded public comment at board meetings.  I fight to increase transparency, helping to kill a proposal to hold secret brainstorming sessions. I also led the effort to establish a ground-breaking diversity policy.

 

I am more than a monorail booster.  I have the experience and contacts to ensure I deliver on the dreams of thousands of transit believers.

 

 


 

2.      Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.

 

The ability to overcome adversity.  I overcame incest, rape and the 1996 murder of my former husband, I am the daughter of a teenage mother who worked mornings in a bakery and evenings in a cannery. We lived with my grandmother, who worked six days a week at a taco stand.  Frequently on public assistance, we survived on free lunch programs and county health care; clothes came from the Salvation Army.

 

I began working in the agricultural fields of Clackamas County, Oregon at the age of 10, and learned the value of a good work ethic early in life, filing my first tax return at the age of 15.  I worked helping to pay the mortgage while in high school, and by grabbing overtime shifts while in college.  I earned a degree in business and later graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Political Science.      

 

These facts and history is important to the Seattle Monorail Project because, for the past 7 years, so many have fought so long and so hard to defeat the project.  Many of those involved  ignored facts, knowingly spread untruths, or sought to denigrate the personal reputations of monorail backers.  A project like the Seattle Monorail requires those who can overcome adversity, but with a skeptic eye.  I am well suited to the task.

 

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. 

 

I have worked to advance civil rights, economic opportunities, and protect  the environment by working in the political and non-profit sector for nearly 20 years: 

 

I elected  the first African American west of the Mississippi River to a statewide office (Charles Rolland, state Democratic Party Chair in 1993).

 

I served as vice-president of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, raising nearly $400,000  to expand programs in education, employment and housing (1997).

 

I worked for Hands Off Washington during vital years of 1995-97, defeating 6 anti-gay initiatives, raising over $2 million and mentoring GLBT fundraisers.

 

I helped block the restart of the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF), a Hanford nuclear reactor (1998).

 

By bringing in Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to motivate liberals, moderates and business leaders, helped expand Puget Soundkeeper Alliance so the organization could effectively stop illegal polluters in Puget Sound (1999-2001).


 

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.

 

I have been an organizer and leader going back to my 4-H years at the age of 11, serving in a multitude of clubs and service organizations throughout school.

 

I served as a restaurant and hotel manager from 1980-1987, supervising hundreds of employees and multi-million dollar budgets while also being active in community projects such as Special Olympics, the Tri-Cities Wine Festival, and the Benton-Franklin Chamber of Commerce.

 

I've been active in scores of Puget Sound projects that cross civil rights, environment, and transportation, from the Sanctuary Si movement of the mid-80's to the Issaquah Valley Trolley Project going on right now.

 

I've held nearly every office within the Democratic Party, and served on the Alki Community Council and the Southwest District Council of Neighborhoods.

 

Perhaps most important is my work with federal, state and local government leaders.  I have extensive relationships throughout Washington's transportation agencies and influential members of Congress in both parties.

 

 

  1. Please describe the duties of the office you seek.  Which are the most important duties and why?

 

Board duties include establishing goals and vision, setting policy, building and maintaining relationships with our community, businesses, and other agencies, and strict oversight of staff and the public purse.

 

Holding staff accountable for the budget and schedule is the most important duty of board members.


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.

 

BA: Political Science, University of Washington.  Associate of Business, Columbia Basin College.  Fellowship: Legal Affairs, Press and Protocol, Organization of American States, Washington DC.

 

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.

 

Board member, the Shirley Miller Titus Foundation, which serves Seattle’s homeless population with retreats and outings to encourage and facilitate their move back into society

Alki Community Council: past president & trustee.  Southwest District Council of Neighborhoods.  Schools First! Campaigns.  Audubon Society and Nature Conservancy.

34th LD and King County Democrats

 

Finished!

If at all possible, send your response to the Municipal League electronically as an attachment, or insert it into an e-mail message (rebecca@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 newsletters 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:  Rebecca Cooper

 

810 Third Avenue, Suite 224                  Phone: 206-622-8333                Email: rebecca@munileague.org

Seattle, WA 98104-1614                        Fax: 425-671-0506                        Website: www.munileague.org