Updated September 16, 2007 Process to Appoint a State Senator and State Representative
This describes the process which will be used to appoint a successor to Sen. Poulsen and
potentially Rep. McDermott. For other information about Democrats seeking the appointments,
a candidate forum, and other news, see the main Appointments page.
The Appointments Process (Short Version)
See also letter from Susan Sheary and Ivan Weiss, further down on this page.
1. Senator Poulsen resigns. Erik has announced his intention to actually resign and
vacate his position in the first week of October.
2. Call to PCO's. King County Democrats Chair Susan Sheary issues a "call" to 34th District PCO's to
come to a meeting to recommend candidates for appointment to the position. The "call" is
a mailed letter. There is at least 10 days between the "call" and the meeting.
3. PCO's gather at the meeting, chaired by Sheary, to recommend three candidates. All
elected and appointed PCO's can vote. Acting PCO's (ones who do not reside in their precincts) cannot
vote. This meeting is likely to be mid-to-late October.
4. County Council acts. The list of three candidates is forwarded to the King County Council, which chooses
one of the three, who is then appointed to the position. There is no set deadline for this action.
5. McDermott resigns. Rep. Joe McDermott has announced his intention to seek appointment to the Senate seat.
If he is appointed by the County Council, he will resign his House position.
6. Call to PCO's. King County Democrats Chair Susan Sheary issues a "call" to 34th District PCO's to
come to a meeting to recommend candidates for appointment to the position of State
Representative. The "call" is usually a mailed letter. There is at least 10 days between the "call" and the meeting.
7. PCO's gather at the meeting, chaired by Sheary, to recommend three candidates. All
elected and appointed PCO's can vote. Acting PCO's (ones who do not reside in their precincts) cannot
vote. This meeting is likely to be mid-to-late October.
8. County Council acts. The list of three candidates is forwarded to the King County Council, which chooses
one of the three, who is then appointed to the position.
Updated September 10, 2007
Letter from Susan Sheary and Ivan Weiss Process to Fill the Vacant Senate and Anticipated House Seats
34th District Democrats:
It has been quite a week in the 34th District, with the resignation of Senator Erik Poulsen, the anticipated appointment of Rep. Joe McDermott to fill Erik's Senate seat, and the anticipated contest to fill Joe's House seat.
Let's run down the process that will result in appointments to fill these two vacancies, so that we know what to expect going forward.
First and foremost, the process used to fill appointments is determined by the Constitution of the State of Washington. It is not subject to negotiation.
Second, whereas both office holders are Democrats, and the Constitution says that Democrats are replaced by Democrats, as Republicans would be replaced by Republicans, and whereas the entire 34th District lies in King County, therefore administration of this entire process is under the jurisdiction of the King County Democratic Central Committee, Susan Sheary, chair. The 34th District Democratic Party organization has NO role in administering this process, except that elected and appointed 34th District Precinct Committee Officers vote to appoint the replacements.
Erik's resignation probably will be effective October 1 or 2. Only then will Suzie Sheary send out official notification to all LD34 elected and appointed PCOs of a special meeting to appoint a successor to Erik. Notice must be 10 days or more, so that meeting likely would be mid-October, at a date, time, and location to be determined.
Assuming that Joe is designated to replace Erik, that information goes then to the King County Council, which per the Constitution would appoint Joe to the Senate seat. When that happens is solely up to the County Council.
Then and only then does Joe resign his House seat, and at that point and not before, Suzie sends out another notice to the PCOs to convene for another special meeting, which will be to appoint a successor to Joe. At best, this would not take place before the last week of October.
In the meantime, we will have two membership meetings, the September meeting, this Wednesday, and the October meeting, October 10. The agenda for the September meeting is full, and whereas the 34th District Democrats have NO jurisdiction over this process, the subject of appointments to Legislative seats will NOT be on the agenda, and motions relating to such appointments will be ruled out of order.
Members are free to discuss Legislative appointments during good of the order. But the process is non-negotiable, and because we lack any jurisdiction in this matter, any motions that contain action items will be ruled out of order. The same would go for the October meeting. Comments by or about candidates would not be on the agenda, but would be limited to good of the order.
The purpose of all this is to keep our District meetings as free as possible of any taint of partiality or electioneering. Suzie and I, and the state Party's legal minds, have concluded that this is the only way to keep the process open, transparent, and fair to all applicants for the Legislative appointments.
So how do applicants for the House appointment get their message across to a large body of PCOs at a time? Until the actual appointment meeting at the end of October, when that no doubt will happen - they don't - at least certainly not at any event organized by the 34th District. We do not have jurisdiction as an organization over any part of this process. That is per the state Constitution and the Bylaws of the state Democratic Party.
Nothing is stopping a candidate or candidates from organizing any get-together with PCOs, but it will have to be on their own. There are seven weeks to go, and that is plenty of time for candidates for appointment to contact every PCO in the District several times over.
So if you are a PCO, expect that to happen. This is where "All the Democracy You Can Handle" comes in.
Ivan Weiss, Chairman, 34th District Democrats
PO Box 860
Vashon WA 98070 206-463-4647
"When they're working, we're working
When they're sleeping, we're working."
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