Chairman Ivan Weiss called the meeting to order at 7:00PM.
• The flag salute was led by County Councilman Dow Constantine.
• The agenda, minutes, and Treasurer’s Report were moved, seconded and passed by voice vote.
• The endorsement rules were moved and seconded to approve without discussion. The motion passed by voice vote.
• Jackie Dupras explained a proposed change to the bylaws allowing members to renew their membership at the time of the endorsement meeting. The proposal was approved by a voice vote.
Resolutions
• The 34th District Executive Board recommended opposition to renewal of the Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority. Member Mark Slack, maker of the motion, yielded his time to Stan Sorscher (46th District) to support this position. There was no opposition. Approval of the resolution was moved, seconded and passed by a voice vote.
• The Board also recommended a resolution to save Lora Lake Apartments as affordable housing. Cherisse Luxa spoke in support. There was no opposition. Approval of the resolution was moved, seconded and passed by a voice vote.
Candidate Forum
• All declared Democrats
• One minute introductions followed by Q & A.
King County Assessor
• Scott Noble (inc) Not present Bill Dubay spoke as representative.
King County Prosecutor - Keith Scully, Bill Sherman
King County Position 8 - Dow Constantine (inc)
Seattle City Council
• Position 5 - Tom Rasmussen (inc) Unopposed
• Position 1 - Jean Godden (inc), Joe Szwaya Not present – Karen Engstrom spoke as representative.
• Position 3 - Bruce Harrell, Al Runte, Venus Velazquez, John Manning Not present
• Position 7 - Tom Burgess, David Della (inc)
• Position 9 - Sally Clark (inc)
Seattle School District Director
• Position 1 - Sally Soriano (inc) Not present, Peter Maier, PCO 36th District
• Position 2 - Sherry Carr, Darlene Flynn (inc) Not present, Lisa Stuebing
• Position 3 - Harum Martin Morris Not present
• Position 4 - Maria Ramirez, Steve Sundquist
Seattle Port Commissioner
• Position 2 - Jack Block Jr., Bob Edwards (inc) Not present, Thom McCann, Gael Tarleton
• Position 5 - Bill Bryant Not present, Alec Fisken (inc)
Burien City Council
• Position 2 - Lucy Krakowiak (inc) Not present
• Position 4 - Jay Fulop Not present, Stephen Lamphear, Gordon Shaw (inc) Not present
• Position 6 - Ed Dacy Not present, Kathy Keene
Highline School District Director
• Position 1 - Fiasili Savusa
• Position 4 - Bernie Dorsey
South West Suburban Sewer District - John Jovanovich, Bill Tracy (inc)
One Precinct Committee Officer was appointed: Dan Mitchell SEA34-1530.
Good of the Order
• Peggy Abby announced “Our Constitution in Crisis: A Call to Action” to organize for presidential impeachment. The date is Sunday, June 24th at 1-5pm. The location is Pigott Auditorium on the Seattle University campus.
• Chris Arkills (PCO SEA34-1515) announced a public hearing “How Would You Change County Government?” on Wednesday, June 20th at 6:30-8PM. Location is the Hall at Fauntleroy.
• Don Bennett invited all to help the 11th District Democrats man their Burien Strawberry Festival booth on June 23rd & 24th.
Meeting of Wednesday, June 13, 2007
The Hall at Fauntleroy
9131 California Avenue S.W.,
West Seattle, Washington
34TH DISTRICT DEMOCRATS
"All The Democracy You Can Handle"
Introduction
• 6:30 PM - Social - drinks provided, please bring potluck food to share
• 7:00 PM - Call to order, by Chair Ivan Weiss, Flag Salute
• 7:03 PM - Adoption of agenda, minutes of May meeting, treasurer's report
• 7:05 PM - Consideration and adoption of Endorsement rules for July (see proposed rules below) and proposed change to the by-laws to allow existing members to renew their memberships at the Endorsement meeting (see text of the change below).
• 7:08 PM - Consideration of resolution on Fast Track Authority (click here to see resolution as a PDF document)
• 7:10 PM - Consideration of Lora Lake Resolution (click here to see resolution as a PDF document)
7:15 PM - Candidate Forum: King County Assessor: Scott Noble
7:20 PM - Candidate Forum: King County Prosecutor: Keith Scully, Bill Sherman
7:30 PM - Candidate Forum: King County Council Position 8: Dow Constantine
Candidate Forum: Seattle City Council
7:35 PM - Unopposed candidate: Tom Rasmussen
7:40 PM - City Council Position 1: Jean Godden, Joe Szwaya
7:50 PM - City Council Position 3: Bruce Harrell, John Manning, Venus Velasquez, Al Runte
8:00 PM - City Council Position 7: Tim Burgess, David Della
8:10 PM - City Council Position 9: Sally Clark
Candidate Forum: Seattle School District
8:25 PM - School District Position 1: Peter Maier, Sally Soriano
8:35 PM - School District Position 2: Sherry Carr, Darlene Flynn, Lisa Stuebing
8:45 PM - School District Position 3: Harium Martin-Morris
8:50 PM - School District Position 4: Steve Sundquist
Candidate Forum: Seattle Port Commission
8:55 PM - Port Commission Position 2: Jack Block Jr., Bob Edwards, Gael Tarleton
9:05 PM - Port Commission Position 5: Bill Bryant, Alec Fisken
Candidate Forum, Burien City Council
9:15 PM - City Council Position 2: Lucy Krakowiak
9:25 PM - City Council Position 4: Jay Fulop, Stephen Lamphear, Gordon Shaw
9:35 PM - City Council Position 6: Kathy Keene, Ron Seale
Candidate Forum, Highline School District
9:45 PM - School District Positions 1: Fiasili Savusa
9:45 PM - School District Positions 4, 5:
Candidate Forum, SW Suburban Sewer District
9:55 PM - Sewer District Position 2: John Jovanovich, Bill Tracy
10:05 PM - Adjourn to Elliott Bay Brewery
Rules for the candidates' forum:
(1) All candidates will get a one-minute speech to introduce themselves, tell us why they are running, and why we should support them.
(2) All candidates will be asked if they are Democrats, and if they have ever voted for, endorsed, or contributed to any candidate running against a Democrat, or have been members of any other political party.
(3) Other than in (2) above, no two candidates, even candidates running for the same position, will be asked the same question. We want you to research the candidates and ask them questions that are specific to their candidacies and their past histories, or in the case of incumbents, to their performance in office.
(4) No questions from the floor will be allowed. All questions must be submitted in writing, your name must be on them, and the name of the candidate to whom they are directed must be on them, at the top. E-mail them to me at ivan.weiss@centurytel.net, or bring them to the meeting, either typed or printed. Handwritten questions must be printed in block letters. Questions that are illegible or unintelligible will not be considered.
(5) “Airhead” questions such as “What is your favorite movie?” or “Who inspires you the most in politics?” will not be considered, nor will antagonistic or “gotcha” questions.Pointed or critical questions are fine, but they must be asked to elicit a substantive reply that will—or won’t—inform us.
(6) Because of time constraints, we can not guarantee that your question will be asked.
Business meeting
• No Appointment of PCOs this meeting
• No Old Business this meeting
• No New Business this meeting
• Good of the order
9:45 PM - Adjourn
Next Meetings:
• July 9: Annual Picnic (not a business meeting)
• July 11: Primary Endorsements' Meeting
• August 10: Garden party Auction
Proposed Endorsement Rules for 2007 Primary and General Elections
For review, consideration, modification and adoption at the June, 2007, meeting. See also the 34th District by-laws, Section VII, elsewhere on this website.
To view/print these proposed rules as a PDF document, click here.
1. Eligibility to Vote or to Speak at an Endorsement Meeting
To be eligible to vote, or to speak at an endorsement meeting, you must be a member of the 34th District Democrats who votes in the 34th District by the close of the previous month’s meeting. Membership in the 34th District Democrats is determined either by payment of annual dues or by being an elected, appointed, or acting Precinct Committee Officer (PCO).
2. Endorsement Voting Requirements and Ballots
Endorsements require a vote of 2/3 of the eligible voters present and voting. Abstentions are not considered votes, and will not be counted in determining the number of votes cast. Voting will be by a show of credentials issued to eligible voters before the vote.
3. Endorsement Procedures - Candidates
3.1. Block Nominations
3.1.1. To expedite the endorsement process, motions will be entertained to endorse a block of candidates where it is expected that the endorsement of such candidates is assured, such as candidates who have secured Democratic support in the past and are currently running unopposed, or who have insignificant opposition.
3.2. Nominations
3.2.1. The chair will entertain nominations and seconds for all races that apply to all or a portion of 34th District voters. A motion for sole endorsement or a motion to close nominations shall be out of order. A motion for "no endorsement" is admissible.
3.2.2. For each motion to endorse, a nomination speech of no more than two minutes and a seconding speech of not more than two minutes will be allowed, as will be two speeches of no more than two minutes duration against the motion. Speakers shall identify themselves before speaking on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate or ballot measure. Eligible voters may cede their time to candidates, but may NOT cede their time to anyone ineligible to vote at the meeting, such as nonresident, nonmember representatives of candidates or for or against ballot measures.
3.3. Voting
3.3.1. Each eligible voter will vote by show of credentials for or against one nominated candidate or "No endorsement." If any nominated candidate or "No endorsement" receives 2/3, then that vote passes. If a candidate fails to get 2/3 of the vote, there is no endorsement.
4. Endorsement Procedures - Ballot Measures
4.1. Nominations
4.1.1. Ballot Measures include all initiatives, referenda, levies, and other races without candidates. A Ballot Measure may be nominated for consideration only in the form it would appear on the ballot.
4.1.2. For each motion to consider a Ballot Measure, a speech of no more than two minutes and a seconding speech of not more than two minutes will be allowed for each of three positions: "Support," "Reject," and "Take no position." Eligible voters may NOT cede their time to anyone ineligible to vote at the meeting.
4.2. Voting
4.2.1. Each eligible voter will vote for "Support," "Reject" or "Take no position." If any of the three choices receives 2/3, then that vote passes. If no choice receives 2/3, there is no action.
5. Primary Endorsement Meeting
The general membership meeting held on July 11, 2007 will consider endorsements for:
5.1. Races and ballot measures on the August 2007 Primary Election Ballot, and
5.2. Ballot measures on the November 2007 General Election Ballot.
6. General Election Endorsement Meeting
The general membership meeting held on September 12, 2007 will consider endorsements for races and ballot measures on the November 2007 General Election Ballot.
Proposed By-Laws Change regarding Membership Renewal
Article VII: Endorsements, Section 5.a. presently reads:
"Only members in good standing by the end of the prior month’s meeting may vote."
This provision was put in place to prevent candidates from packing the meeting with new members and receiving an
endorsement that they otherwise might not have received. This is not a hypothetical situation. This has happened in the past. Unfortunately this has also prevented some of our more forgetful members from voting at our endorsement meetings. Sometimes circumstances affect even our less forgetful members.
This year we had an endorsement in February concerning the Viaduct. This meant that members who paid their dues after January 15, which is normally considered early for Democrats, were ineligible to vote.
In order to allow all members to vote, the Executive Board has proposed the following wording:
"Only members in good standing by the end of the prior month’s meeting may vote, except that any member who had paid dues in the previous calendar year may vote if the membership is renewed at or before the meeting where the endorsement takes place."
Message From the Chair, June, 2007:
Candidates Square Off
Our June 13 meeting will be one of the highlights of the year - our candidate forum.
Please plan to come early and stay late. We will be meeting and questioning a lot of candidates for county, city, school district, and special district offices. We want to give everyone a fair shake, and we want them to respect us and our process.
We do not, and will not, issue invitations to candidates. Almost all of them have contacted us already. If you know of any candidates who you think might not be aware that we are having this forum, then by all means contact them and let them know. We figure that if they are savvy enough to run for office around here, they are savvy enough to seek out organizations whose help they might value.
That is why we expect this meeting, which we will call to order at the usual time of 7 PM sharp, to go at least till 9:30 and possibly till 10 PM. To expedite the process (and to give us some time for a beer afterward), we will need some hard and fast rules.
1. All candidates will get a one-minute speech to introduce themselves, tell us why they are running, and why we should support them.
2. All candidates will be asked if they are Democrats, and if they have ever voted for, endorsed, or contributed to any candidate running against a Democrat, or have been members of any other political party.
3. Other than in (2) above, no two candidates, even candidates running for the same position, will be asked the same question. We want you to research the candidates and ask them questions that are specific to their candidacies and their past histories, or in the case of incumbents, to their performance in office.
4. No questions from the floor will be allowed. All questions must be submitted in writing, your name must be on them, and the name of the candidate to whom they are directed must be on them, at the top. E-mail them to me at ivan.weiss@centurytel.net, or bring them to the meeting, either typed or printed. Handwritten questions must be printed in block letters. Questions that are illegible or unintelligible will not be considered.
5. "Airhead" questions such as "What is your favorite movie?" or "Who inspires you the most in politics?" will not be considered, nor will antagonistic or "gotcha" questions.Pointed or critical questions are fine, but they must be asked to elicit a substantive reply that will - or won't - inform us.
6. Because of time constraints, we can not guarantee that your question will be asked.
If this framework does not produce a great candidate forum, I do not know what will. Flood my inbox with questions for the candidates, and we'll see you June 13 for "all the democracy you can handle."
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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2006 34th District Democratic Organization
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