Monorail board member to seek anti-bias training

Cindi Laws, a Seattle Monorail Project board member who runs a progressive research group committed to finding solutions to problems facing Washingtonians, said yesterday she plans to go through sensitivity training in light of recent remarks she made about Jews.

After a sleepless night and waking up to newspaper accounts detailing her comments to labor leaders that Jewish property owners donated much of the anti-monorail money in last year's unsuccessful monorail-recall campaign, Laws called Rob Jacobs, regional director of the local Anti-Defamation League.

Her call roused him from sleep. They talked about setting up some sort of anti-bias training for her and her campaign staff. Laws is seeking re-election to the monorail board.

Jacobs said he believes Laws is genuinely apologetic and that her comments were not mean-spirited.

"This is a learning opportunity, not just for Cindi but for the community," Jacobs said. "Here in the Pacific Northwest, many people hold these same stereotypic beliefs."

He added, "To say Jews have the power to defeat the monorail is a stereotype that goes beyond just that. It goes to the same old stereotype that Jews control banks, they control the government. It's a stereotypic belief that has existed, that continues to exist."

Laws made her comments about money from Jewish property owners during an Aug. 9 endorsement interview with the King County Labor Council after being asked to assess her election opponents. Laws' leading challenger for the board seat, Beth Goldberg, a county budget analyst and a monorail opponent, is Jewish. Laws said a Jewish candidate could "get that money more easily," according to notes taken by one of the union officials at the interview.

During the session, Laws, 46, apologized to the union representatives after they said her comments offended them. She apologized in interviews with reporters Thursday as the story became public, and continued to apologize yesterday, calling her comments a "huge, dreadful mistake" that do not reflect the kind of person she is.

The labor council voted Wednesday to take the unusual move of opposing Laws' re-election. It didn't endorse either of her opponents, Goldberg and Stan Lippmann.

Executive director of the progressive Rainier Institute, Laws speaks of a lifelong involvement in civil rights, having worked in several minority communities, helping gays, Latinos and African Americans. She has also been involved in funding and policy projects for organizations such as the Urban League.

"For people who have been oppressed for a millennia, when a person brings up that kind of stereotype, it strikes a horrible chord and fear," she said. "I'm aware of stereotypical things that people can say. Obviously I have some work to do on this issue."

She said she has been replaying the interview in her mind.

As she made reference to Jews and financial connections, she could see Neal Safrin's body language change.

Safrin, a board member of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 587, is Jewish. Laws considers him a friend.

"I could read his body language," she said. "I tried to undo it and it was getting worse."

She spent much of yesterday fielding calls from friends and supporters, she said, and asked them whether she should resign. She said they told her no.

Ken Alhadeff, a downtown property owner, was surprised to find himself dragged into the fray. In the interview with the labor council, Laws mentioned Alhadeff, who is Jewish, as a fund-raiser.

Alhadeff said he considers Laws a friend and has supported her campaign, donating $650 during a recent fund-raiser. Alhadeff has been critical of the monorail and last year donated to the recall campaign. Laws also has criticized aspects of the monorail project.

"How do you link one's faith with their position on public transportation?" Alhadeff asked yesterday.

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