Hello SJC Democrats,
The San Juan County Democrats met Saturday morning for the first time in two months. Here is a summary of the important items.
Whole Washington is promoting a new initiative to bring universal healthcare to Washington state. A petition to put I-1362 on the ballot is currently being circulated. 400,000 signatures are needed by the end of this year to get it on the ballot for next year. To get involved, go to
https://wholewashington.org/. I am hoping that we can get our local party involved in this effort.
Sandy Strehlou attended our meeting, and she gave us a brief summary of the Palestine solidarity event that she hosted in May. She will be organizing a gathering of people interested in working for justice on that issue, so please stay tuned.
The 40th LD will be having a soup cookoff fundraiser event the afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 19. The event will be near Lake Samish. We encourage everyone to come and if possible, register to bring a home-made soup. Prizes will be awarded.
David Dehlendorf and Amy Vira gave a presentation on increasing our social media presence so that we can communicate with a younger demographic. We are especially looking to use Facebook and Instagram. Several volunteers were recruited for the mechanical end of doing this, and we will be looking at content to include. There is room for involvement by others who didn’t attend the meeting, so if you are interested, please shoot me a brief email.
David D and other Charter Review Commissioners told us about what has been happening with the CRC. They are currently wrapping up their work, and they will have their final meeting Monday afternoon, followed the next day by the presentation of their report to the County Council that morning. Eventually there will be fact sheets available on each of the issues that will appear on the ballot this fall.
It looks like we will have a presence at the virtual County Fair again this year. We have a small committee so far to get this going, but more help is welcome. If you are interested, please let me know.
The state Democratic Party is implementing a voter engagement plan this year in preparation for next year’s extremely important midterm elections. It is crucial that we maintain and hopefully increase our Democratic majorities in Congress. The party has four areas in which it wants to be active:
1. Contacting and finding out more about voters for whom we have little data.
2. Reaching out to likely Democrats who didn’t vote in 2020 and finding out why.
3. Re-registering likely Democratic voters who’ve been purged by the Secretary of State.
4. Registering non-registered voters.
There will be a meeting of party leaders this Friday that will give an overview, and after I have that information, I will provide it to all of you to hopefully gain your participation.
In regard to the election next year, we need to start rebuilding the coffers of the San Juan County Democrats. as we spent most of our funds on the election last year. If you are able to send a donation, we would really appreciate it. Please send to San Juan County Democrats,
PO Box 1007, Friday Harbor, WA 98250.
Here are some upcoming events besides the CRC events mentioned earlier:
On Monday at 11:30 there is an opportunity for public testimony about vacation rentals as the current moratorium nears its end.
This Thursday at 11:00 in Friday Harbor, come meet Jason Call, progressive candidate for Congress and a viable challenger for the office. This will be at Sunken Park above the ferry lanes.
On Sunday, July 25, the state party is hosting a rural summit. Connecting with rural voters will be covered. The event runs from 9:00 until 4:00, and it is free. You can register for the even at https://act.myngp.com/Forms/2113176045767100160
BIG NEWS! We will skip August, but our meeting on Sept. 11 will be live and in person, the first time in a year and a half. We will try to book the community college meeting room in Friday Harbor where we used to meet. To attend in person, you will need to either be vaccinated or wear a mask. For those unable to travel to FH, we will continue to have our Zoom meeting available so you can tune in without leaving home.
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading.
David Turnoy
Chair, San Juan County Democrats
360-376-4165
davidgeri@rockisland.com