|
Updated September 26, 2008
September 10, 2008, Meeting
• Official Minutes
• Informal Notes and Photos
• Agenda
• Chair Ivan Weiss's Message September
Note: View the history of September news articles and calendar events on the
September Archive News page.
Official Minutes
Download September Minutes as PDF file.
7:00 PM Call to order, flag salute led by Sen. Joe McDermott.
7:03 PM Adoption of agenda, minutes of July meeting, treasurer's report Motions were made and seconded to adopt each. There was an amendment to the agenda to allow Council Member Rasmussen to speak about the Parks Levy. Amendment was passed. All other motions were adopted.
7:05 PM Chairman's report
Ivan spoke about the fundraiser for Attorney General Candidate John Ladenburg.
It will be help at Mike Wald and Lynne Ingalls' home Saturday 9/13/08 from 12 noon to 2 PM.
White Center Food Bank Dinner will be Oct 18, from 5-7 PM at SSCC. Cherisse Luxa is collecting money for tickets
Vashon House Party for Washington Public Campaigns, will be Sun 9/14, 3-5 PM. See Marcee Stone for details
E-mail Doug Sutherland about the Maury Island Glacier Project, asking him to not approve. You can find more info at the People for Puget Sound Web site
7:15 PM First Vice Chair's report, Tim Nuse:
Chris Porter one of the National Delegates will not be able to report on the trip as he is out of town for a Family emergency.
There was a voter registration drive on Alki Beach, Les will report on it later this evening.
The Leadership Development Committee (LDC) has come up with a final draft of its proposed Executive Board rules. It will be presented to the E-board at our next meeting. We will be voting to approve or reject the proposal at that meeting.
7:20 PM Report from Democratic National Convention. Laura Hicks was Dwight Pelz' page reports there was tons to do and the message she wanted us to walk away with was "if we don't work hard we're not going to win this election."
Jim Jones was not a delegate. But he was responsible for fixing many of the problems that arose during the convention. Stated at the beginning of the convention, things between the Clinton and Obama delegates were very tense, but by the end it seemed all were getting along and on board with the message to get Sen. Obama elected.
Kimber McCreery was a Delegate. Said the INVESCO Field event was amazing. She was able to invite one person and chose the barista who worked the event. She found out that she would not be able to attend because she was a single mom and didn't have a sitter for her children. Kimber, not wanting this opportunity to pass this woman by, was able to get additional ticket so mom and children could attend. She also said this convention was one of the most amazing events she has ever attended.
7:35 PM On the ground organizing and GOTV report (Kimber, David)
Kimber and David reporting for GOTV: We need both Sen. Obama and the Governor to win, as well as all the other Dems running. We need people to sign up to be Neighborhood Leaders. They can be PCOs or people in the precincts. We are also looking for Regional Leaders to help organize. The goal as always is to get all eligible voters registered. Last day to do this is October 4th. Last day to register in person at the King County Elections office is October 20th.
If you want to do some volunteering please come to the office on 1310 Mercer, or to the respective staging areas for lit drop and pickup. We will be doing a Neighborhood Leaders Training session. It's quick, we just want to make sure all are sent out with the same info and message to pass on to the voters.
Howard Dean will be attending an event at the Renton Carpenters Hall Saturday 12 September; it starts at 11:00. From there people will be sent out with canvassing lists. Please attend.
We need people to start walking every weekend. Contact Kimber for walk lists. Please give a few days notice so she has time to prepare the list.
We also need people to phone bank at the Coffman Law Office, at 6041 California Ave SW. Sunday-Friday.
Lisa McShane, state field organizer from the Gregoire Campaign, reported that we have yard signs and need volunteers. She passed around signup sheets for those interested. Also if you need more signs please let her know and she can bring more.
Jeff Parsons spoke about Initiative 1029. It will require workers who care for the elderly and disabled to have 75 hours of training, be state certified, and have mandatory background checks. It will cost $23 million per biennium.
Seattle City Councilman Tom Rasmussen spoke about the new Parks Levy. He's the Parks Committee Chair. It's a 6 year levy; the cost of the new project will be $145 million. This will be an increase in taxes of $81 for the average homeowner. Areas included in the project are Morgan Junction, Camp Long, and Delridge Park. Tom asked that we support this levy. Without it our parks can not be maintained or improved.
8:00 PM Discussion of campaign contributions to candidates, ballot measures from 34th LD
Sen. Joe McDermott made a motion to have the 34th District send out direct mail pieces with a sample ballot. His recommendation was to spend $11,362.95 for 25,251 mailers; which would reach 30,788 voters. His motion was moved and seconded. An amendment was made to have a larger amount spent; $12,975.75 for 28,835 mailers reaching 47,097 voters. Speakers for the amendment said it only made sense to spend $700 more dollars to reach 17,000 more voters. The amendment and the motion passed
Treasurer Greg Doss recommended that to leave at least $7,000 in the bank would be wise only because this will allow the organization to function if membership drops off or our Annual Auction is a bust. He suggested that leaving $10,000 would be a safer figure. He reported that we have $30,900.00 in the bank at this time. Considering the above figures we now have we have roughly $20,000 more we can contribute to candidates. That is if we want to leave anything in the bank.
Greg also spoke about $3,000.00 set aside for advertisements. A motion was made seconded and passed by acclamation to use those funds in for advertising in the local media venues. Jackie Dupras has the list.
Jeff Upthegrove made a motion to contribute $1000.00 to the Jason Osgood for Secretary of State Campaign. It was seconded. The motion passed with only 3 voting against.
Motion made to give $500.00 to the Yes for Parks Levy Campaign. It was seconded and passed by acclamation.
Motion made to give $1000.00 to the yes on Init 1000 Campaign. Amendment made to reduce the amount to $500.00. 41 voted for the reduction, while 11 voted against. The amendment passed, as well as the motion.
Motion made to donate $1000.00 to the John Ladenburg for Attorney General Campaign. It was seconded and passed by acclamation.
Motion made to not spend any more money at this meeting until we have an accurate account of monies left in the account, it was seconded and passed with a voice voteJulie@sueforjudge.com.
8:30 PM Appointment of PCOs none at this meeting
Old Business: Steve Karbowski reported that the final LDC draft was complete. He wanted to thank everyone for their input and thank the committee members for their hard work. He said he looked forward to reporting back the member the out come of the E-board's decision.
New Business:
Motion made to endorse Suzanne Parisien for Superior Court Judge Position 1
Motion also made to endorse Tim Bradshaw for Superior Court Judge Position 1
Both Candidates were there and were given two minutes to speak the body. Those against each motion were also given two minutes to speak against the motions.
The motion to endorse Suzanne Parisien passed 37 yes and 7 no.
The motion to endorse Tim Bradshaw passed 30 yes and 6 no
Motion made to endorse Congressman Adam Smith, seconded and passed by voice vote.
Motion made to endorse Sen. Obama for President passed by acclamation.
Motion made to endorse the Yes for the Parks Levy was seconded and also passed with a voice vote.
Motion from Conrad Knudtson the that 34th LD Democrats urge the King County Council to reject wrapped advertising which overlaps windows on metro buses.
Conrad speaking for the motion stated that from the inside it makes it difficult for the elderly to see out, and on dark rainy days it makes the inside of the busses very dark. Also stated it's hard to identify the buses because they are not that same color with the advertisements on them.
Dow Constantine speaking against the motion said it would reduce the Counties revenue by $600.000 and there is already legislation pending to limit the window covered advertised busses to 25 through out the county.
A motion was made to table this discussion, was seconded and passed with a yes for of 32 and 8 voting against.
Good of the Order:
Barbara Mack wanted to thanks us for our support and announce that she made it to the November ballot.
Dave Coffman wanted to encourage us to come to his office and phone bank.
Mickie Meahan made a motion to endorse Init 1029. It was seconded and passed with only one member voting against the motion.
9:25 PM Adjourn
Respectfully submitted, Mitchell Feller, Secretary
Informal Notes and Photos
July 2008 Meeting
Click any photo to enlarge it.
Agenda
Meeting of Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The Hall at Fauntleroy
9131 California Avenue S.W.,
West Seattle, Washington
34TH DISTRICT DEMOCRATS
"All The Democracy You Can Handle"
Download this agenda as a PDF document
Social Time - 6:30 PM
Social - drinks provided, please bring potluck food to share
Business Meeting - 7:00 PM
• Call to order, flag salute
• Adoption of agenda, minutes of August meeting, treasurer's report
• Chairman's report:
-- White Center Food Bank dinner Oct. 18, SSCC. Cherisse Luxa
-- Vashon House Party for WPC, Sun 9/14, 3-5 PM. See Marcee Stone
-- E-mail Doug Sutherland about Maury. People for Puget Sound website
• First Vice Chair's report
Program
• Report from the Democratic National Convention
• Update on Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) and other activies from Kimber McReery of the 34th District and the Campaign for Change
• Discussion of campaign contributions to candidates, and ballot measures from 34th LD
• Motion to endorse City of Seattle Parks Levy - Tom Rasmussen - see FAQ here
• Appointment of PCOs
Old business, new business, good of the order
• Motions for endorsements of candidates or ballot measures - see list of all known offices and candidates here
• Other old/new business
• Good of the Order
9:00 PM - Adjourn to Elliott Bay Brewery
Next Meetings:
• October 8 - Monthly District Meeting,
September Message from Chair Ivan Weiss
The 34th District Democrats and the Top Two Primary
The primary election is over and the last of the numbers are trickling in. In this chairman's opinion, one statistic is more relevant to the 34th District Democratic Party organization than any other:
King County voter turnout: 31.88 percent.
This more than anything illustrates the task we have at hand between now and November 4 - Get Out The Vote, GOTV.
We know the turnout in the 34th will be higher than 31.88 percent. It's probably higher for the primary than the King County average. Our turnout in 2004 was 85 percent, with a 72 percent Democratic vote for the top of the ticket. We can meet or beat this, and that is our goal. After Labor Day, it's crunch time for this election.
It means a little bit of work for all of us, and more than a little bit of work for those willing to do it. Fortunately, we have the tools and the personnel on hand to be better at this than we ever have been. More on that below.
It starts in your home and closest to your home. If you know your neighbors, please make sure they know that you think their vote is important. It might seem "obvious," but it isn't. Just remember Governor Gregoire's 133-vote margin in 2004, and be sure to mention it.
Kimber McCreery, David Ginsberg, Artemis OakGrove, the Obama Fellows, and the neighborhood leaders will be asking you to help in your neighborhoods or beyond. Please give them a hand. Please help them recruit other volunteers. It might be for canvassing, or phone banking, or data entry, or stapling literature packs together for canvassers. Whatever it is, we're here to help.
If you can't canvass, but you can phone, the Votebuilder software allows us to create specialized "virtual phone banks" that can put you in contact with any group that you can separate out, whether that is based on address, voting frequency, age, whether those voters have identified as Democrats or not, or have attended a Democratic caucus, or have identified as belonging to any national or ethnic group. We could, for instance, create a list that would allow you to call or canvass just the people on your block, and to enter immediately the information they gave you.
If you live in an apartment building, we might need your help getting campaign material, such as our sample ballot, to your fellow residents. Some people live secured apartments mainly to discourage uninvited visitors. Being able to tell them "I'm your neighbor, here in the building" could help us break down a lot of barriers, and could lead to new relationships that would help us build our majority.
If you are a Precinct Committee Officer, or have been elected for the next term, we expect you to help to the extent that it is possible, or to let us know as soon as possible if you can't, or if you will be out of town or otherwise indisposed. We have roughly 40 precincts out of 206 that do not have PCOs, so we will rely on Neighborhood Leaders to contact voters in those precincts.
It's an exciting time to be a Democrat, and an exciting time to be part of the Campaign for Change-at all levels of government. If you have any questions about any phase of election preparation, Please call me or call Kimber McCreery, our PCO, Field Organizer, and national convention delegate, and we'll help.
See you Wednesday, September 10, and on the campaign trail 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."
Website Copyright 2011 34th District Democratic Organization
Send comments or questions to the Webmaster.
|
