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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12 years |
6. Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan? Partisan Nonpartisan
CAMPAIGN CONTACTS
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Campaign Name: |
Beth Goldberg for Monorail Board |
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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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2. If you ran for public office but were not elected, please list those races below:
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In this section, we are seeking responses that reflect the four ratings criteria: involvement, effectiveness, character, and knowledge. These are defined as follows:
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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The Seattle Monorail Project is in disarray. Revenue forecasts have proven wildly optimistic. Cost estimates are hundreds of millions of dollars over budget. And outlandish consultant and attorney fees have contributed to an accumulated debt of $110 million before construction has even begun. The monorail board has been asleep at the switch. Staff didn't disclose the revenue problem to the board for months. Staff lobbied to change state law without board knowledge or approval. Staff covered up cost overruns for five months. Even with all of these danger signs, the Board went blithely along. Right now, the monorail collects $1 million per week from Seattle taxpayers. Project finances and feasibility must be appraised in the cold light of day. Either it will deliver the system promised to voters, or we must shut down the agency. Unfortunately, the current board lacks the expertise and leadership to successfully manage either of these tasks. I have spent my career overseeing multimillion dollar budgets. I currently supervise the METRO transit operating budget. In my nine years at the King County Office of Management and Budget, I have worked to fund critical criminal justice programs like the County Sheriff and Prosecuting Attorney. • I will oppose any crazy 50-year "creative financing" tax plans. • I will not support half a monorail, or anything less than the plan promised voters. • I will quickly evaluate project viability. If the project cannot meet its promises, I will immediately end the tax and liquidate purchased real estate to recover taxpayer equity. I would appreciate your vote. |
2. Describe your most important personal characteristics or traits as they relate to the office you seek.
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The most important skill I bring to the Monorail Board is strong fiscal management and analysis skills. I have nearly a decade of experience working in the King County Office of Management & Budget. During this time I have handled some of the toughest assignments in the office, managing criminal justice funds through the 2001-2004 budget crisis and Ridgway/Green River Killer prosecution. My job has necessitated asking unpopular and difficult questions, scrutinizing agency cost and revenue estimates in a highly charged political environment.
Our work in the budget office has a simple objective to serve the overall fiscal interests of the County. I think the monorail project would benefit from my experience. |
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.
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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I applied and developed my management skills in the following settings:
1) In my positions with the King County Office of Management & Budget (1996-present). I have served as budget analyst or managed budget analysts for a diverse set of functions, including criminal justice, health and human services, transportation, and utilities and natural resources. 2) Serving on the Board of Directors as a member and later as President for the Hutch Kids Child Care Center (2001-2003). Hutch Kids was facing a loss of some revenue that required careful and regular scrutiny of all aspects of the budget. I worked with the board and with Hutch Kids staff to put in place budget monitoring systems. I also worked with board and staff members to develop more accurate cost and revenue forecasting. This allowed the board to establish rate increases that were palatable to the families that use Hutch Kids while facilitating the appropriate fiscal environment for a top-notch childcare facility.
Ability to work on volunteer boards and serve as liason to broader community: 1) Served on the Hutch Kids Child Care Center Board of Directors one year as a member and one year as president (2001 - 2003). During my term as president I spearheaded an effort to update the organization's outdated by-laws. The revised by-laws were unanimously approved by the board and remain in place today. 2) Served on the Graduate School of Public Affairs (now the Evans School) Student Organization as student representative (1993-1994) and as president (1994-1995). Among my responsibilties was to act as a liason between the students and the school's faculty.
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It's a simple job: oversee the monorail project. The board's website lists the following goals and responsibilities:
on-time under budget break-even operations excellent design true grassroots history transparency and accoutnability to the public
I think any objective assessment would conclude that the board has failed to achive most if not all of these goals. As a board member, I will act in the public interest to review the work of agency staff. I will hold the board, staff, and consultants to the highest standard of honesty, integrity, and transparency. And I will never forget that $1 million per week is being collected from Seattle families to support the project.
Promises to the public must either be kept, or the project must be terminated immediately. This was how the project was framed three years ago, and this will be my mission as a board member. |
EDUCATION BACKGROUND SUMMARY
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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Bachelors Degree in International Relations with Honors, University of California, Davis, 1991 Masters Degree in Public Administration, University of Washington, 1995 |
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 (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.
Candidate Evaluation Coordinator: Rebecca Cooper
Seattle, WA 98104-1614 Fax: 425-671-0506 Website: www.munileague.org