The Municipal League of King County

810 Third Avenue, Suite 224

Seattle, WA 98104

 

2005 Board of Trustees

 

Rita Brogan, Chair

Mark Troxel, Vice Chair

Beth M. Arman, Secretary

Harold Taniguchi, Treasurer

 

Putnam Barber, Executive Alliance

Vaughnetta J. Barton, community volunteer

Jill D. Bowman, Stoel Rives

Patricia Bowman, human resources manager (ret.)

Bruce Carter, judge pro tem, Seattle Municipal Court

Kevin Carter, Safeco

Stephanie Cirkovich, Pike Place Market PDA

Peter Coates, Building and Construction Trades Council

Chris Cooper, CHHIP

Paul Demitriades, Medina City Council (ret.)

Sandra Driscoll, City Attorney (ret)

Deborah Eddy, Consultant

Keven Franklin, King County

Mary Gates, Consultant

Norma Jean Hanson, Norma Jean Hanson Paralegal Services

Robert Klein, McNaul, Ebel, Nawrot, and Helgren

Eric Laschever, Stoel Rives

Steve Marshall, Snohomish PUD

Rob Neate, Puget Sound Energy

Jennifer Piccolo, citizen activist

Charles Redell, Reporter

Tami Ritoch, Fireside Homes Real Estate Associate

R. Todd Slind, CH2MHill

Lucy Steers, public participation consultant

Harold Taniguchi, King County Department of Transportation

Rashelle Tanner, CRISTA Ministries

David Tarshes, Davis Wright Tremaine

Kate Tate, Weyerhauser

Philip Thompson, Perkins Coie

Mark Troxel, City of Seattle

Wes Uhlman, Wes Uhlman & Associates

Rich White, Boeing

2005 CANDIDATE BACKGROUND QUESTIONNAIRE
FOR NON-JUDICIAL CANDIDATES

 

The Municipal League of King County requests every candidate who participates in the candidate evaluation process to submit background information prior to his/her interview with a candidate evaluation committee.  The questionnaire is the basis of the League’s research and interview process.  The League’s ratings are non-partisan; they are based on standards of Involvement, Effectiveness, Character, and Knowledge, all of which have been developed and refined over the past 90 years.

 

A printed version of the questionnaire is available for candidates who prefer to use the traditional format.  To obtain a hard copy, please contact the League office.  A copy of this questionnaire will be provided to Candidate Evaluation Committee members to help them prepare for your interview.  Candidate responses, except the confidential section, will be available to the general public at the League website. 

 

The Municipal League requests the following materials from candidates.  Please check to make certain you have sent in your:

 

      Candidate Questionnaire

          Sent by:         Email             US Mail          Fax            Not Sending

      Resume (education, employment, and professional activities)

          Sent by:         Email             US Mail          Fax            Not Sending

               Check here if you DO NOT want your resume posted on the Municipal

                   League website

      Campaign Materials

          Sent by:         Email             US Mail          Fax            Not Sending

      Constituent Newsletters and other publications

          Sent by:         Email             US Mail          Fax            Not Sending

      Photograph

          Sent by:         Email             US Mail          Fax            Not Sending

 

Note: Electronically submitted questionnaires are strongly preferred. All materials can be emailed to rebecca@munileague.org.  They can be processed and made available on-line far more rapidly than handwritten or typed submissions.

 

For non-electronic submissions, please print clearly and legibly and return the application as soon as possible in order to allow the committee the greatest amount of time to prepare a complete report on your skills and experience.

 

If you have not yet been contacted to schedule an interview, or if you have questions about the candidate evaluation program, please contact the League office at 206-264-1070.

 

If you have a disability and require accommodation to participate in the candidate evaluation process, please contact Rebecca Cooper at the League office.

2005 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 Project Board of Directors, Position 8

 

3.   Are you the incumbent?                  Yes              No

 

 

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

 

15 years

 

5.   How long have you resided in King County?

 

15 years

 

6.   Is the office sought partisan or nonpartisan?         Partisan      Nonpartisan         

                                                                                                                       

7.   If partisan, please indicate party:       

 

CAMPAIGN CONTACTS

 

 

Campaign Name:

 

Cindi for Seattle Monorail

 

Address:

 

2518 S Brandon Ct

 

City/State/Zip:

 

Seattle WA 98108

 

Campaign Phone:

 

206-790-4232

 

 

Campaign Fax:

 

     

 

 

Campaign E-mail:

 

cindilaws@msn.com

 

 

Campaign Website:

 

cindilaws.com

 

 

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 Monorail Project

 

Elective

 

Nov 2003 +

 

Secretary of the Board

 

Seattle Monorail Project

 

Appointive

 

November 2002 - November 2003

 

Secretary of the Board

 

Elevated Transportation Company

 

Appointive

 

January 2001 - November 2002

 

Chair, Government Relations

Secretary of the Board

 

 

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.)

 

Seattle has been fighting over transportation in 3 different centuries.  We fight still. We fought transportation solutions, and killed transit proposals in each decade of the 20th century.   Building transit in our region is clearly not easy.  Transportation decision-making is blocked by fear, indecision and panicked second-, third- and fourth-guessing.

 

This city is to absorb more than 100,000 new residents in the next 20 years and increased density is the primary objective of our city's mayor -- and the state's Growth Management Act.  At a time when gas has hit $3 a gallon within the state and major newspaper headlines scream about the increase in air pollution due to automobile exhaust, the need for transit alternatives has only increased.

 

Let's make one thing clear: we are in a civil war over transportation policy, a war where some so-called leaders think it is ok to kill a monorail costing $115 million a mile in order to build a highway that costs over a billion dollars a mile; that it is ok to take a voter approved MVET away from monorail and use it to pay for highways that would benefit voters who killed a tax to pay for those roads.  Some legislators, including those in our midst, call this good transportation policy. I think it is as moronic as starting a war to create peace.  If our region can create the world's best airplanes (Boeing), move the most freight (UPS), sell the most books (Amazon), market the most coffee (Starbucks), revolutionize shopping (Costco), and generate the most powerful company in the world (Microsoft), we ought to be able to build a transit system.

 

The monorail project currently has in hand a project bid that is 20% over our budget.  There is no doubt that problems arose from an ill-conceived finance plan that attempted to cover that overage with an outlandishly long payoff schedule and consequently, horrific interest. It is important to note that the finance committee of the Monorail Board KILLED that finance plan. The Executive Director resigned. The Deputy Executive Director resigned.  The Chair of the Board resigned.  The Board laid off 1/3 of the remaining staff while options were pursued.  The Board hired a financial consultant who turned around Sound Transit, hired transit industry experts to analyse the proposed contract for cost savings, and is about to name a new executive director. The Seattle Monorail Project can be saved and I propose to do the work it takes to make that happen in order to increase mobility and improve our environment.

 


 

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

 

TOUGH ACCOUNTABILITY

- The Stranger awarded “Most Righteous Elected Official” to Cindi precisely because she is an outspoken, vigorous voice for greater accountability and transparency

 

- II not only voted against the raise given to Joel Horn last December, I halted a proposal to give a 5% merit raise to agency staff

 

- I publicized the fact that staff had introduced legislation the SMP Board had not approved. The legislation would have allowed bonds to be extended 60, 70 and more years.  This led to the killing of that legislation.

 

- Cindi called for a "Plan B" back in December 2004 - 6 months before the contract negotiations were complete.  

 

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 overcame much childhood personal trauma 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. 


 

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.

 

Rainier Institute, Executive Director, 2002-

Hanford Advisory Board Member 1997-98

Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, Vice President 1997

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance Volunteer & Kayak Pollution Patrol 2001-present; Director of Development 1999-2001

Health Care for All Washington/Health Care 2000, Executive Director 1999-2000

Washington State Fish & Wildlife Backyard Habitat Demonstration Garden (Alki neighborhood) 1998-2004

Fundraiser and/or Consultant for Hands Off Washington, WA NARAL, US Sens. Brock Adams, George Mitchell, Tom Harkin, Bob Kerrey, US Reps. Brian Baird, Jim McDermott, Jolene Unsoeld, Don Bonker, numerous legislators and local elected officials, 1993-1997

Alki Community Council President 1993-94

Alki Community Council Trustee 1992-96

King County Boys & Girls Club Annual Campaign Manager 1994

White Center/Park Lake Boys & Girls Club Board Member 1993-95

34th District Democrats Chair 2000-2001; party officer 1991-2001

Washington State Democrats' Fundraiser 1994-1996

King County Democrats' Fundraiser 1993-1996

Democratic National Committee Advance Team 1992

United States Senate Aide (US Sen. Brock Adams) 1990-1992

Women's Campaign Fund Campaign Team (national) 1990-94

Sanctuary Si Campaign 1988-89

Snohomish County Democrats Vice Chair 1988-1990

Washington State Rainbow Coalition Member 1984-92

38th District Democrats Party Officer 1986-1988

Benton County Democrats Vice Chair 1984-85

Special Olympics Committee (Tri Cities) 1984

English as a Second Language Instructor 1982-84

Master Gardener (Benton County) 1983

 

 

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

 

From the SMP Website (www.elevated.org)        

            Board Responsibilities

 The Seattle Monorail Project is charged with the authority to build, own, operate and maintain a Citywide Monorail System as called for in the Seattle Popular Monorail Plan that was adopted by the Elevated Transportation Company on August 5, 2002 and ratified by Seattle Voters on November 5, 2002 pursuant to Seattle Citizen Petition/Proposition No. 1.

 

The Board's primary responsibilities are to:

1.         Set agency policy

2.         Approve agency budget

3.         Authorize agency debt

4.         Appoint Executive Director and evaluate his/her performance

 

The most important of these is #1 - set agency policy. I believe the Board has to take many more SMALL policy actions in lieu of adoption enormous, multi-thousand line/page policy documents as was the norm throughout 2004 and into June 2005.


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, Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society

AA, Business & Economics, Columbia Basin College

 

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.

 

     

 

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: 206-264-1070                Email: rebecca@munileague.org

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