King County Local Voters Pamphlet

  Cindi Laws has served on the Seattle Monorail Board for three years, attending more than 400 community meetings and fighting to ensure the project respects public process, citizens and business owners while maintaining strict accountability as we build our new monorail.

  Laws has a history of community activism in civil rights, economic development, environmental protection and transportation. She participated in the Hanford Advisory Board, overseeing nuclear waste cleanup and is currently developing public policy as executive director of the Rainier Institute.

  Laws previous professional positions include work in the US Senate as a transportation and environmental aide, and the Organization of American States in Washington DC. Laws is a West Seattle resident and former Community Council president. She is endorsed by business and community leaders, King County Labor Council, King County Building Trades, 34^th District Democrats, and earned a SEAMEC rating of 5.

  Keep Cindi Laws on the Monorail Board.

  Born and raised in Seattle, I have witnessed the city's population increase and traffic worsen. As a professional who works downtown, I regularly ride the Metro bus. And like all supporters of the monorail, I have experienced the joy of soaring above the city's streets and look forward to the system's expansion to West Seattle and Ballard.

  I am running for the Monorail Board Authority because I want to ensure that this body is accountable to the citizens of the community. As an attorney, I understand laws and have strong negotiation skills. A substantial fortune (about $1.5 billion) will be spent to design, build, operate and maintain this 14-mile line. The design must be user-friendly, and the project completed under budget and on time. Among my proposals: 1) Convenience: The monorail should have ample room for senior citizens and bicyclists, with the widest doors possible for easy passage and speed of interchange from monorail to platform. 2) Accessibility: The monorail should have parking lots for cars at each terminal, and at each reasonable point near stations. 3) Affordability: Tourism dollars should be a primary source of monorail operating expenses, as they are today. I would propose hotel taxes and other tourist fees to pay for the monorail's ongoing costs, as well as a national public relations campaign to promote the monorail as a key feature of Seattle. This would draw tourists and lower the costs for the local rider and taxpayer.

  The monorail must link Seattle neighborhoods in a way that alleviates traffic on the streets, enhances the appeal of our urban centers, moves people in an efficient way and does not break the bank for local taxpayers.