All three of our state legislators appeared at our meeting Saturday.  They told us of some of the highlights of legislation that was passed.  There will be more detailed presentations later on.  Below is the link to a recording of most of our meeting; it starts about a half hour into the meeting and just before the legislators arrive.  The main portion of interest would be from just after the start for about the first 45 minutes, as that is the time during which we had our state legislators presenting and answering questions.  Especially important to us is that there will be four new ferries coming out of the transportation package to go along with the one that was already funded, so that’s five ferries total to be added.  They are all hybrid diesel/electric, and we will get one of them.  There will also be a huge recruitment effort to fill the ferry job openings.  We can thank Senator Lovelett especially for advocating tirelessly for ferries. 

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/K2KoyAbcU–pGA2R4bCqw1dDRn96fgR1qq0UjAF30dDcf_3wVhK9OYxUx89Dhf7fexSf01nV84nSDYiW.hMPR1C7usQaIeJfc?continueMode=true

The other very important thing our legislators spoke of today is the upcoming campaign.  Debra Lekanoff, Alex Ramel, and Liz Lovelett are all wonderful legislators who advocate for all the things we want, and they are likely to be re-elected fairly easily.  But they can only accomplish what they do if they have a solid Democratic majority in both houses of the legislature.  To that end, a number of their Democratic colleagues have challenging races coming up this fall, and all three of our legislators want to do everything they can to assure re-election of their vulnerable colleagues.  To that end, they are asking us to donate whatever we can to help in this manner.  They know who needs the extra campaign boost, so they are asking us to donate to them, and they will redirect that money to their Democratic colleagues.  Here are the links to use: 

Rep. Debra Lekanoff – https://debralekanoff.com/donate/ 

Rep. Alex Ramel – https://www.alexramel.com/donate 

Senator Liz Lovelett – https://secure.actblue.com/donate/liz-lovelett-for-state-senate-1 

New Chair of the 40^th Sharon Abreu spoke to us about the LD caucus on Saturday, March 26, at 10:00.  This event will be used to elect delegates to the state convention that takes place June 24-26 in Tacoma.  However, it will also be on Zoom, so you don’t have to travel to Tacoma to participate.  Please think about running for delegate to attend the convention.   

David Dehlendorf presented our budget for this year.  Most of our spending will be focused on the fall election. 

Amy Vira, who has been attending our meetings and who heads up our Facebook presence, spoke to us about the role of the prosecuting attorney.  The PA prosecutes crimes, acts as the coroner, and gives civil advice.  The latter included defending the county, doing the legal end of the county’s business, and advising elected officials and county departments.  Her office takes a victim-focused approach.  This was very educational, as the role of the PA is not widely understood.  By the way, you may have heard that current PA Randy Gaylord is retiring, and Amy is running to take over upon his retirement. 

This Saturday, March 12 there will be a virtual meeting of the San Juan County Democrats via Zoom from 10am to 12pm at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84477562317
Meeting ID: 844 7756 2317       Passcode: Ea0v5c

Rep. Lekanoff, Rep. Ramel, and Senator Lovelett will visit us between 10:30 and 11:00.  They will just have finished their legislative session the night before, and will be answering questions from our group.

We will also be considering and possibly voting on a new Treasurer and Secretary, hearing about progress at the 40th LD Democrats, the state committee, upcoming county elections, and holding a town hall to attract younger members.

I hope to see you at our meeting Saturday. 

David Turnoy
Chair, San Juan County Democrats
360-376-4165
davidgeri@rockisland.com

Big news for our group with our officer openings. Two of our stalwart volunteers, Peggy Rhoads and Alison Longley, have stepped up to take on the secretary and treasurer jobs respectively on a trial basis. I am hoping this will work out well for each of them. We also know we need to recruit more folks, especially younger folks, as many of our volunteers may age out soon, and others already have. I welcome any of you who get these messages but don’t attend our meetings to start joining us. We are a very friendly, progressive, welcoming group of people who want to help make positive change, and the more hands we have on deck, the better. We will look to start making more recruitment efforts at our next meeting.

We have learned that the chair of the 40th LD is resigning because he has gone to work for Rick Larsen’s campaign. Therefore, the 40th LD chair position is open. One of our members may be interested in running for that spot, but I want to let everyone know of the opening. If you have any question as to what this would entail, feel free to call me.

We passed a resolution that is worth telling you about. The Fossil Free Finance Act would require the Federal Reserve (Fed) to mandate that major banks and other Systemically Important Financial Institutions (SIFIs) reduce and stop the financing of projects and activities that emit greenhouse gas emissions – S. 3167 introduced by Senators Markey and Merkley; also in the House. See https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-markey-and-merkley-announce-legislation-to-get-big-banks-to-stop-financing-fossil-fuel-projects#:~:text=today%20introduced%20the%20Fossil%20Free,that%20emit%20greenhouse%20gas%20emissions. I encourage you to write to our senators to encourage them to pass this bill. One of the best ways to bring the fossil fuel era to a close is to end the ability of those companies to get financing for fossil fuel projects.

Cindy Wolf reminded us that for any of you who may want to apply for the volunteer positions for the advisory environmental committee, you need to get that in by Tuesday, Feb. 15.

Ande Finley of Lopez had recommended a book called Democrats 101: A Primer For Us. It does a wonderful job of explaining who we are, from centrist to progressive. Here is a summary I have composed:

The Democratic Party starts with FDR in 1933. He stood for the idea that the American government exists to help the people, a radical concept for the time. And following on this idea, the Democratic Party exists to better people’s lives, that we are not just out to hold office but to make America a better country to live in. The Common Thread we possess is the natural human impulse toward fairness and justice. The author says we still talk the talk, but the party doesn’t walk the walk, have lost touch with our base, which he says is made up of farmers, labor, and Black Americans. He sees an arrogance and elitism, a smugness that everyone knows we are the good guys, a complacency that led to Hillary’s defeat.

Modern politics isn’t about facts, logic, policies or positions, it is about emotional perception. People vote on emotion, not ideas. Also, the vast majority of Americans don’t have time in their

lives to follow politics closely. We need to be the ones that these people trust, and we do that by good messaging based on our values, as our core beliefs excite people; equal rights for women, a livable minimum wage, clean air and water, affordable health insurance, an end to racism. You don’t become the majority party by being ahead of your time, you do it by being in your time. Our core values and the beliefs they inspire are our moral compass.

Our core values:

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which translates as justice, freedom, and opportunity.

Justice – Everyone is respected and safe, a just society.

Freedom – Democracy, safe and free elections.

Opportunity – A fair chance, putting education first over special interests, universal access to acceptable medical care, access to a decent job and a way to support your family, an end to racism.

Our declaration has to be devoid of politics, these are the things we stand for, not ideology or the way we will accomplish these goals. We need to be about pragmatism, getting things done, as most Americans believe in this. It’s time for us to reconnect with the American public.

We will always have moderates and progressives, realists and idealists, establishment and activists – But we don’t need to choose one or the other, we need to be us. Our identity as a party needs to be about our basic values and how we present them. Our basic values are American values. Our central message has to be about all of us (all races) and coming from all of us, not separate messages for different races. Us. America must be a truly just society for everyone.

This book, no longer than a pamphlet, is a Common Sense for our time. It takes about two hours to read, and it gives us all a common grounding in what it means to be a Democrat. My wife and I have both read it and found it very helpful. I have ordered 20 copies for our party, and I will pass them around first to those who attend our meetings, but I will encourage them to be passed on to others when done. The book can also be ordered from bookstores and online both in paper or as an online read. See https://www.jmpurvis.org/democrats-101

Our January 8 meeting consisted of visits by Congressman Rick Larsen and challenger Jason Call. As you may know, Rick is an eleven-term incumbent. Rick spoke to us for a half hour, giving a brief presentation about things he is working on, stressing the importance of getting rid of the filibuster in order to pass the Build Back Better Act and the Voting Rights Act, two very significant pieces of legislation that he helped pass in the House. He then answered questions that were put to him live. While Rick didn’t have time to get into all the questions submitted by all of you, I am expecting written answers from his office that I will post once I receive them. Rick spent a half hour with us before he had to leave for a meeting with the Skagit Democrats. He stressed the importance of Democrats winning wherever possible this year, that it is important to keep his district blue, and that his campaign for re-election is going well.

Jason Call spent an hour and a half with us, generously answering all questions put to him and giving us an opportunity to truly get to know him. Jason is a long-time political activist who is not afraid to speak up for what he thinks is right. His policy positions are progressive all the way down the line, supporting Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, a more peaceful foreign policy and reducing Pentagon spending, really fighting climate change, and so on. Jason takes no corporate PAC money and likens himself to members of “The Squad” in Congress. He stressed that our Congressional district is safely Democratic, that Rick wins his elections over Republican candidates by a 2 to 1 margin, that whether the candidate is Rick or Jason, the Democrat will win. He has had good success with fundraising for his campaign.

I recorded almost all of the meeting (started a little way into Rick’s time), so if you would like to see Rick Larsen and Jason Call in action answering questions, go to the following: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/jYkPzunKdOemaK0L_2yJ6oshdt4ClPAcRKmvqEizf6KLiNIaOvnb-QS7UJuyEex_.4ijCcQs7dmj3G2Ml
Passcode: 6Vm6F7?c

New Friday Harbor Port Commissioner Victoria Compton was going to address our meeting, but the Congressional discussion lasted the whole meeting, and Victoria had to leave for another meeting. She asked us to let you all know about the commission’s meeting coming up this week. “Please come to (or Zoom into) the next Port of FH meeting on Wednesday, 1/12 at noon. The agenda will be posted here next Tuesday a.m.: https://www.portfridayharbor.org/about-the-port/commissioners/agendas/ “

Local member Alexandra Gayek is the only active member in the Mt. Baker Sierra Club group from our county. She is asking that if you have any environmental information you would like presented to the Sierra Club, please let her know. She can be contacted at gayek07@hotmail.com.

Hello San Juan County Democrats,

I want to remind you that we will hold our first meeting of 2022 on Saturday, January 8, at 10:00.  You will have the opportunity to hear from both Congressman Rick Larsen and from challenger Jason Call.  Rick will speak and answer questions from 10:05 until 10:30, whereas Jason will attend our whole meeting and speak after Rick.  You might remember that Jason is a longtime Democratic activist and teacher who challenged Rick in 2020, coming within one percentage point of finishing second in the primary, which would have qualified him for the general election in November.  It is the hope of many in our party that Jason will finish at least second in the primary this next time around, which will provide an opportunity to have some serious debate about the issues that matter to us during the general election campaign.  Our district has become much more blue during the 21 years Rick has been in office, and whether Jason wins or not, many of us would like to see our Congressman move in a more progressive direction.  Instead of Rick running against a Republican in the general election, running against a progressive Democrat like Jason will provide the impetus to have a constructive discussion.  Please attend this meeting and ask the questions you have been waiting to have answered.

Here is the information you need to attend the meeting:

David Turnoy is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Time: Jan 8, 2022 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85433525771
Let me know if you need alternate connection details

_________________________________________________________________________An election in February?  That’s right, if you live on San Juan Island.  The following is from our county elections department: 2022 February 8 Special Election
Think Local and Be Vocal: Register and vote in every election. Your vote is your voice and together we can make a difference in our community.
Local Ballot Measures:

SJI School District No. 149 – Replacement Educational Programs and Operations Levy

SJC Hospital District No. 1– Renewal of Six-Year Emergency Medical Services Property Tax Levy

Only registered voters on San Juan Island will receive ballots for this election. San Juan Island voters will vote on two levies.
San Juan Island School District is renewing a four-year levy for educational programs and operational expenses not funded by the State. San Juan County Hospital District is renewing a six-year emergency medical services property tax levy.                     

Key Dates
Jan 7       Military and overseas ballots mailed
Jan 18    Ballots mailed to domestic voters (in the United States)
Jan 21    Special Election 18-day voting period begins.
Jan 31    Deadline for online and mail-in voter registrations and transfers
Feb 8      Election Day!
• 8:00 PM Deadline for in-person registration
• 8:00 PM Deadline to return February 8 Special Election ballots. Ballots must be postmarked no later than Election Day or placed in an official ballot drop box by 8:00 PM on Election night.
Feb 18    February 8 Special Election certified by Canvassing Board
We recommend dropping your ballot in the ballot box or mail by the Friday before Election Day to make sure it gets postmarked in time to be counted.

Mailed ballots must be postmarked by February 8.

Online voters’ guide available now
sanjuanco.com/elections             
Register to vote at VoteWA.gov

That’s all for today.

Thanks for reading,David Turnoy
Chair, San Juan County Democrats
360-376-4165
davidgeri@rockisland.com

The SJC Democrats had their most recent meeting on Saturday, Nov. 13, at 10:00 AM.  We still are in need of someone to take care of the secretary’s duties, which simply involve taking notes at our meetings.  Once again, Sharon Abreu stepped into the breach to do this for us.  But we can’t ask Sharon to do this permanently.  First, she is already involved in way too many causes and meetings, plus she already has two official positions with our group as PCO and state committee woman; our bylaws don’t allow more than two positions.  We need to spread the load, so I hope someone will step up.

One of the exciting developments taking place within the state party is the evolution of the Advocacy Committee.  Bob O’Connell, our state committeeman, is one of the participants on this committee.  The purpose is to advocate for our platform, to attempt to get our elected representatives to honor and follow the platform.  While our 40^th LD elected representatives are right in tune with our state and county platforms, our national representatives often are not.  Hopefully the Advocacy Committee will find a way to bring more adherence to our platforms.

We discussed the results of the recent election.  As you may already know, our endorsed candidate Victoria Compton won her race for Port Commissioner by a landslide.  Our other endorsed candidate, Dwight Colley, is still slightly ahead in his race for Fire Commissioner.  We haven’t traditionally weighed in too often in nonpartisan races; there seems to be a strain of belief among many in the county that political parties should stay out of nonpartisan elections.  But we are seeing throughout the country how the other side is politicizing school boards and other nonpartisan bodies, and it may be necessary for us to weigh in more frequently in such elections.

The Charter Amendments were a mixed electoral bag.  The first amendment, dealing with acknowledgment of the land, ended up passing.  The amendments on term limits and nondiscrimination also passed.  While the voter initiative amendment did not pass, the effort to lower the threshold for initiative signature requirements from 15% to 8% will be reintroduced next year as a separate amendment.

The Mullis Center election continues to generate controversy.  The ballot counting on Friday morning was being broadcast on Zoom, but some bad actors “bombed” it with racist, sexist, and pornographic content, and the ballot counting was temporarily shut down.  The incident was reported to law enforcement, and counting will resume next week.

Three important local positions will be voted on next November, and it is not too early to start organizing for this.  Our current Auditor is retiring, and it is really important that we find a candidate with the requisite accounting skills as well as the proper disposition to remain completely neutral politically.  According to Dave Zeretzke, here are some more of the important skills and traits needed:  The auditor must be someone who can work with folks of all stripes to accurately account for the dollars and to communicate with the public and elected officials.  CPA preferable and demonstrated skill with public entity accounting.  (Private CPA’s usually grossly underestimate the complexity of county bookkeeping, software and reporting requirements.    Some have even suggested Quickbooks as the chosen software–impossibly naive and unseasoned by true experience with complex clients who suffer state audits annually, public audits).  The auditor needs political sensibility and good common skills regarding the press, the public and the other elected officials and key appointed officials.  There are lots of stakeholders.   SJC has 11 elected officials, all of whom want influence with the Auditor and control over their own expenses.  Then there’s the County Manager and critical Department Heads.  The Auditor needs strength of character and integrity.  The Auditor has to take the heat for many honest evaluations/opinions/trends/problems.  As the overseer of Elections and supervisor of the Elections Clerk, it is critical that the person in this role can make sound and legal decisions but still face constant criticism for them.  Sounds like a challenging position, so it is really important we find qualified candidates.

The second important local position up for election is the Prosecuting Attorney.  Again, the incumbent is retiring, so this is an open seat.  Dave’s advice here is to identify a capable attorney who can refrain from trying to control political issues regularly.  The Prosecuting Attorney is there to give legal advice but to let the political process work without interfering.  We expect a current deputy prosecutor to run for this position.

The third important position to be elected is County Councilor. We understand that Jamie Stephens will be retiring as County Councilor from Lopez and Shaw.  It is crucial that we elect a candidate to this seat who will join Cindy Wolf in forming a progressive council majority.  If you know potential candidates, please chat with them, and feel free to suggest that they give me a call.
_________________________________________________________________________

Here are a couple of events you may want to attend:

1. From Sharon A – This Tuesday evening, Nov. 16 at 7 pm Pacific time, the Washington State Progressive Caucus is hosting an online presentation by the Climate Crisis & Militarism Project of Veterans for Peace. I encourage you to tune in!

You can tune in at this private Youtube link:
https://youtu.be/w-8NmF9t0xI

Here is the agenda for the meeting:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ocHcRYWTE_OBlewP-oEJ8hKQEL6XQ0OeEX6-EiMErkc/edit

For more info, please visit:
https://www.veteransforpeace.org/take-action/climatecrisis
and https://waprogressives.org

2. The next Force Multiplier event- Join Force Multiplier on Zoom on Wednesday, December 1^st to welcome the nation’s first Latina senator, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada who will be introduced by none other than Amy Klobuchar!

_________________________________________________________________________
As promised, here are the actions.  RootsAction is an outfit I have received emails from for quite a while, and they have started to put out actions that we progressives can take.  I am pasting in two emails from them, and if you feel so motivated, please take some or all of the actions.

Last week’s election results continue to reverberate. One of the more obscene outcomes is the New York Times demanding that Democrats not challenge oligarchy, and instead find a way to productively make nice with Republicans, if at all possible. Note: it is not possible. But we can appreciate a close reading with our guides Norman Solomon and Jeff Cohen.

All of the stories below highlight important news and analysis that the mainstream routinely fails to provide. We’re confident that reading them will enhance your understanding of our world. That said, as activists have long known, the point isn’t to just understand the world, but to change it. So, each of these stories is accompanied by a quick action opportunity.

It’s Time to Rein in the Pentagon’s Yearly Blank Check
Pentagon funding seems to be just about the only thing that Congress is always in agreement on. Changing course would mean real reform and genuine accountability, starting with serious cuts to a budget for which “bloated” is far too kind an adjective.

Despite Failure in Afghanistan, the Pentagon Gets a Bigger Budget
The defeat in Afghanistan offers a chance to rethink America’s war machine, but Congress is on the verge of raising Pentagon spending to $740 billion.

Israel Using Facial Recognition Tech on Palestinians in West Bank
Israeli soldiers have been involved in an organized effort to take photos of Palestinian residents of the West Bank town of Hebron and have even competed with one another to provide the photos for a facial recognition database being used to monitor Palestinians.

Supreme Court Refuses to Protect Your Right to Record Cops
The Supreme Court chose not to take on a pivotal case to protect your right to record police, leaving six states with fewer constitutional rights. For anyone who believes that Black Lives Matter, this is a big deal. Now that cops in six states can get away with blocking your right to film them, we can expect more of this behavior. A chilling reminder that even with the right to film firmly established, police continue to kill unarmed Black people at alarming rates.

The Democrats’ Big Tent Collapses — and Fundraising Drives the Divide
As the dust settles after a bruising election night for Democrats, recriminations are already flying between the progressive and “moderate” wings of the party. While corporate so-called moderates are laying the blame on progressive resistance to passing the bipartisan infrastructure bill without Build Back Better, progressives are pointing out that, again, Democrats have not delivered wins on their most popular policy items.

Thank you for tuning in this week. And before you click to take action, please know that we’re looking to expand the roster of sources we use to compile our stories. We’re especially interested in smaller progressive sources that we might have missed — including those from outside the United States. Got one to share with us? Email us directly.

Sincerely,
The Progressive Hub Team at RootsAction

And here is another message:  Please be aware that this is not an antisemitic action, it is an action against an oppressive regime.  As I am sure I have mentioned in the past, I am Jewish, but I cannot support the actions of what has become an apartheid regime in Israel.  So please do not misinterpret this message as an antisemitic diatribe.  Thank you.
 

www.RootsAction.org
 

Thanks for reading,David Turnoy
Chair, San Juan County Democrats
360-376-4165
davidgeri@rockisland.com

Our next meeting of the San Juan County Democrats is Saturday, November 13 at 10am via Zoom. The link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84299470361. Please contact me if you need phone access.

We’ll be talking about local candidates for next year.

From Dave Zeretzke:

Milene Henley is retiring in 2 yrs. Her position as SJC Auditor is a critical one. Time for the local Demos to consider who would be a capable person to run and who can work with folks of all stripes to accurately account for the dollars and to communicate with the public and elected officials.

Historically, the Prosc. Attorney and Auditor are more important by far than any one Council Member. So the same goes for the job Gaylord does. Nick Power will probably run again, but time to identify a capable attorney who can refrain from trying to control political issues regularly – it will always happen but a good PA works will try to let the process work.

So now is the time for capable candidates to know they can have help and support since early campaigning is the most powerful. That to me is the critical thing for a local Demo party to do: find good candidates who can take the heat and still smile and support them. There’s nothing like help to get started meeting people on all the islands and listening to their concerns-that’s what early campaigning is about.

Re Auditor: #1 – CPA preferable and demonstrated skill with public entity accounting. (Private CPA’s usually grossly underestimate the complexity of county bookkeeping, software and reporting requirements. Some have even suggested Quickbooks as the chosen software–impossibly naive and unseasoned by true experience with complex clients who suffer state audits annually, public audits. #2 – Political sensibility and good commo skills re the press, the public and the other elected officials and key appointed officials. Lots of stakeholders. SJC has 11 elected officials, all of whom want influence with the Auditor and control over their own expenses. Then there’s the County Mgr and critical Dept Hds. #3 – Strength of character and integrity. The Auditor has to take the heat for many honest evaluations/opinions/trends/problems. As the overseer of Elections and supervisor or the Elections Clerk, it is critical that role can make sound and legal decisions but still face constant criticism for them, think of Tim White and Tom and think of the many Republican and Demo election folks who did not buckle a bit under the Trump big lie attacks.

We’ll also address our Endorsements process and what might be limited information available on state employment history.

We’re also looking for a new Secretary!

See you Saturday,

David Turnoy
davidgeri@rockisland.com

Our meeting started out with Rep. Debra Lekanoff speaking to us about all the reasons that the maps by the two Democratic members of the Redistricting Commission, Brady Walkinshaw and April Sims, need to be revised so that instead of moving San Juan County into the 10th LD with Island County, we instead should remain in the 40th LD, where we currently are. According to Debra, our testimony at the recent hearing and all the comments being sent in are having an impact. It is important to continue to send in comments. If you haven’t sent one yet, please do so. If you have already sent one, please send another. Debra recommended that we not only use the redistricting website, but also contact legislators Walkinshaw and Sims at their legislative offices. She also recommended that we send comments to state party chair Tina Podlodowski and to the respective heads of the House and Senate Democratic caucuses. I have also been requested to contact the school superintendents in the county. I will provide all the contact information as well as Debra’s talking points at the end of this summary.

Debra also spent time responding to concerns about the ferries. She will actually have a meeting with the governor about this Monday morning, and she has asked that we provide personal stories that she can use in her conversation. If you have a personal story about how poor ferry service or lack of staffing has impacted you in recent times, please send me your story by Sunday night so I can provide it to Debra before her meeting Monday morning. Send to me at davidgeri@rockisland.com.

We have a new secretary. Jane Fuller was in attendance at our meeting today, and she generously volunteered to be our secretary. Thanks so much, Jane!

Stephen Shubert, PCO from San Juan Island and also the head of Mullis Center, told us about an attempt by some very rightwing folks to take over the Mullis Center. This politicization could prove to be very harmful. If you live on San Juan Island and you are at least age 60 or disabled, you will have an opportunity to vote for district committee members. You can vote by downloading a ballot, showing up in person, or mailing a ballot. Voting days are Monday through Thursday, Nov. 11-14. Mail-in ballots must be received by Nov. 14. For further information, go to mulliscenter.org/howtovote. For more information about the conflict and the challenge to current district committee members, go to https://www.mulliscenter.org/faqs.

We had seven members of the Charter Review Commission present at our meeting, and additionally I had received a note from another commissioner asking if we would consider endorsing the amendments proposed by the commission. While these are nonpartisan issues, we felt that providing input on them would be helpful to the public. We chose to go ahead with examining each of the six amendments individually, and on each one we almost unanimously agreed that it would be a positive change for the county. Kevin Ranker has written an article briefly summarizing the six amendments at https://salish-current.org/2021/08/12/community-voices-san-juan-county-to-vote-on-climate-environment-equity-justice-amendments-to-county-charter/. In addition, the commission will be putting out an article shortly that I will send to you.

Of course, you can find the amendments in your Voter’s Guide. Three members of the commission (Jane Fuller, Dick Grout and Kevin Ranker) wrote an article that was in the Journal and the Sounder this past week at https://www.islandssounder.com/opinion/vote-for-climate-action-justice-equity-and-responsive-government-guest-column/ and https://www.sanjuanjournal.com/opinion/vote-for-climate-action-justice-equity-and-responsive-government-guest-column/. Also, here is the link to a Voter Information Session organized by some of the San Juan County Charter Review Commissioners that took place this past Thursday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c_GY608Yww Again, we think each of these is a positive step, and we support all six amendments.

Thank you for reading this far. Here is the redistricting information I promised. I will start with the email addresses of relevant decision-makers: Tina Podlodowski – tina@wa-democrats.org Laurie Jinkins (head of House Democrats) – https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/memberEmail/27/1
(Because we are not in her district, you have to click an instruction that says to send the email anyway.)

Joe Fitzgibbon (head of WA House Democratic Campaign Committee) – https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/memberEmail/34/2 (Click to send anyway.)

April Sims – to be provided.

Brady Walkinshaw – to be provided.

To send comments to the Redistricting Commission website: https://www.redistricting.wa.gov/submit-public-testimony

Points to make:

Make smaller changes; don’t overhaul the 40th.

Leave east Whatcom in the 42nd and keep San Juan County and Anacortes in the 40th. Make changes to the edges as needed to balance the districts.

Don’t put the people of the 40th at a disadvantage with all new legislators in Olympia. That’s unfair to us and to the important issues we value.

Ferries are a critical piece of our transportation system in our state and we need six legislators working for them, not just three. Putting San Juan together with Whidbey puts San Juan County at a disadvantage. Small businesses and the people who live on the San Juan islands need ferries.

Keep our Hispanic communities together – the proposed maps split Hispanic neighborhoods in Mount Vernon in half, splitting some agricultural and residential areas between districts.

The Democratic maps split the Nooksack Tribe, a clear community of interest. It also moves the Tribe to a new district with all new legislators. Please keep Nooksack together and in the 42nd.

The Lake Whatcom watershed is a community of interest; keep them together in the 40th.

My testimony last Tuesday night:

My name is David Turnoy, and I am the chair of the SJC Democrats. I live on Orcas Island in SJC.

The values supposedly guiding the Democrats in the redistricting process are

– To protect fair and effective representation

– To maintain and create communities of interest

– To respect Tribal sovereignty and the government-to-government relationship with Tribal partners

– To center and engage communities that have been historically underrepresented

As I said, I am the chair of the SJC Democrats. My colleagues and I have worked hard to elect strong progressive legislators. The proposed map removing our county from the 40th LD will require all three of those legislators to run against incumbent Democrats. We in the San Juans could end up with three brand new legislators who don’t know us at all. This is gerrymandering against ourselves. It looks bad when the other party does it to us, but this is the state Democrats writing our district out of existence. It also reduces the number of legislators with their eyes on effective ferry service from 6 to 3. This hardly protects fair and effective representation.

Combining our county with Whidbey in the 10th pits those fighting Growler noise in the San Juans against those on Whidbey for whom the Growlers provide their living. This is hardly creating a community of interest.

The proposed map splits the Nooksack tribe. Our tribes on the mainland have fishing, hunting, and gathering rights in the San Juans. How does this respect tribal sovereignty?

The proposed map also splits Hispanic communities. Is this what is meant by centering and engaging underrepresented communities?

We understand that population changes require some movement, but let’s keep it to a minimum of tinkering around the edges of the district, not creating total upheaval.

Thank you

To see Nels Magelssen’s longer and much more eloquent statement, please see my Oct. 5 email that I sent you.

David Turnoy

Chair, San Juan County Democrats

Our next meeting of the San Juan County Democrats is Saturday, October 9 at 10am via Zoom. The link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82414629461. Please contact me if you need phone access.

Our Washington state representative Debra Lekanoff will be joining us to discuss redistricting.

We will also discuss upcoming openings in local elected office, including the need to replace the retiring Milene Henley as San Juan County Auditor.

On a related note, we’ll be discussing our endorsement policy and how we can work with the state party to increase voter engagement.

We’re also looking for a new Secretary!

See you Saturday,

David Turnoy
davidgeri@rockisland.com

The Sept. 11 meeting of the county Democrats covered a lot of ground, including four guest speakers.  Here is a summary: 

The first item we had to deal with was an emergency resolution dealing with racial equity.  You might remember that we learned earlier this year that I-200 from 1998 was mistakenly interpreted as ending affirmative action in Washington state.  Both the state supreme court and the state attorney general have recognized that this interpretation was erroneous, and the Washington Equity Now Alliance (WENA) has been trying to remedy this by convincing the governor to sign an executive order overturning the mistaken directive issued 23 years ago.  We had passed such a resolution three months ago in our county group, and WENA thought they had everything in order to have the resolution considered at the state party meeting later this month.  However, due to a logistical oversight by the state party discovered at the last minute, it was necessary for us to re-pass the ordinance to clear the procedural hurdles for the resolution to be considered at the Resolutions Committee meeting that was taking place at the same time as our meeting.  But all went well, we re-passed it unanimously, and it was unanimously passed at the Resolutions meeting, so it goes on to the state party. 

The next meeting of the 40^th LD will be Sunday, Sept. 19, from 2:00 until 5:00.  Some of the candidates on the mainland in the 40^th will be heard from, but more important for us, there is an opening for state committeeman that one of you might want to consider filling.  This official attends the state party meetings.  The current committeeman resigned due to a conflict, so we need someone who is male or non-binary to fill this role.  Our local Democrat Larua Jo Severson is the female committee person, and it would be great to have another islander representing the 40^th.  There is also an opening for a new treasurer; the current treasurer is looking to retire after holding the position for many years.  If you are interested in either of these positions, please contact Geri or me at davidgeri@rockisland.com.  The link for the meeting next Sunday is 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84861585590#success.

Many of you are probably familiar with donating money to Democratic candidates and progressive organizations through ActBlue.  It is now possible to donate to the San Juan County Democrats on ActBlue’s site.  I tried it out, and it is about as simple as it could possibly be.  Part of our funding normally comes from donations from those who attend our meetings in person, but we haven’t had this opportunity for a year and a half.  As we try to build up our coffers for next year’s very important elections, please consider helping us with a donation of any size.  Go to https://secure.actblue.com/donate/sjcountydems?refcode=directory.  If you have donated through ActBlue before, it will take you 30 seconds or less.  Thanks! 

Emily Morrow is the new state party organizer for NW Washington state; her email address is emily@wa-democrats.org.  She appeared at our meeting today to tell us about voter engagement projects.  We are looking for people who are interested in working on one of the following: 

1. Contacting and finding out more about voters for whom we have little data. We need to know more about some of these voters so that we can target them appropriately next year, for persuasion and GOTV. By contacting them and having a conversation, we can begin building a deeper relationship between them and the Democratic party, and find out how best to communicate with them through the rest of the cycle and beyond. 

2. Reaching out to likely Dems who didn’t vote in 2020 and finding out why. Unfortunately, too many likely Democratic voters still aren’t getting their ballots in, and we want to find out why. By building relationships with these voters and listening to their issues and concerns, we can get them ready to vote this year and next! 

3. Re-registering likely Democratic voters who’ve been purged from the voter rolls by the Secretary of State’s office. Thousands of Democratic voters are purged from the voter rolls every year by the Secretary of State’s office, and we know many of them are people who are still alive, still living at the same address, and still should be eligible to vote. We can identify these people, let them know they were purged, and get them re-registered to vote.  

4. Registering non-registered voters. There are still so many likely Democrats who fall through the cracks of our automatic voter registration system – we need the face-to-face touch to reach them and get them registered. 

This may look familiar, as I sent it out a couple months ago.  Unfortunately, I received only one response.  Now that summer is over, I am hoping there may be some more interest.  Please let me know if you would be interested in being involved with one or more of these items. 

County Councilor Cindy Wolf attended our meeting, and I put her on the spot to ask if she had anything she would like to tell us.  She warned us about the sickout being participated in by many ferry workers, that now is probably not a good time to ride the ferry.  She encouraged the wearing of masks to protect against the Delta Variant.  Cindy mentioned that the council is working on caps for vacation rentals, that the Planning Commission meeting this coming Friday would again deal with that.  She said that participating on citizen advisory boards is important, that this council listens closely to them.  She particularly needs two people to fill the openings on the Eastsound Planning Review Commission.  She said that if you care about the environment, this is a good place to have some influence, while another spot to have environmental influence will be the new environmental commission that will include citizen representatives. 

Victoria Compton addressed us today.  You may know her as the head of the Economic Development Commission, but she spoke to us in a new role today—candidate.  Victoria is running for Port Commissioner for Friday Harbor.  She brings lots of fresh ideas, including using the Port Commission as a way to foster more affordable housing as well as environmental sustainability.  We think Victoria would be an excellent Port Commissioner, and we voted unanimously to offer her our endorsement.  You can find out more at comptonforport.com.   

Amy Vira and David Dehlendorf have been working on improving our Facebook page.  It will be kept much more up to date and will have more content.  You can find it at https://www.facebook.com/San-Juan-County-WA-Democrats-710973952268643/. 

If you have content you would like to have put on the page, please send it to me.  Thanks to Amy and David D for bringing us into the 21^st century. 

Bob O’Connell gave us an update on the work of the Charter Review Commission.  There will be six proposals put forward by the commission for voters to consider this fall, so be sure to look for those when you receive your ballot next month.  Also, the fact that the commission was looking to establish a new position for a person to deal with climate has led the County Council to create such a position.  Stay tuned for further developments. 

Another of our guests was Joseph Bogaard, Executive Director of Save Our Wild Salmon.  There is an effort to breach the four lower Snake River dams to help save our salmon and our orcas.  A resolution has been passed by all the northwest tribes and is being considered by Democratic locals across the state in order to influence the political powers in the northwest.  The resolution thanks Congressman Simpson of Idaho who got this conversation going, it calls for breaching the dams along with investments to take care of stakeholders and communities affected by this, and it calls on the Biden Administration to drop the Trump salmon plan and instead work with the tribes, states, stakeholders and elected officials to meet the U.S. Government’s legal and treaty obligations.  We have a little language that we want to add to the resolution, and once that is complete, we will vote on the resolution, which I would imagine will pass unanimously. 

Our final guest was Dwight Colley, candidate for Fire Commissioner in Friday Harbor.  Dwight has a long history in public service, both in his career and in volunteer capacities, especially in managing nonprofits.  He also has personal experience in EMS, which gives him a perspective on the job not shared by his opponent.  He wants to make sure EMS is represented if EMS and the Fire Department merge.  Dwight would also like to see more transparency and accountability from the department.  As to dealing with fire, he has some excellent suggestions related to having smaller fire trucks that can be used to fight brush fires a lot better than the large engines.  Dwight is an excellent candidate who has asked for our endorsement, and once we vet him, we look forward to voting on his endorsement. 

We had on our agenda another major topic—looking at local elections for next year.  However, we decided that after our well spent two and a quarter hours at this meeting, we can safely postpone that topic until next month.  Our next meeting will be at 10:00 AM on Saturday, Oct. 9. 

Wrapping up, let me just remind you of items to keep in mind: 

If interested in running for state committeeman or treasurer of the 40^th, please contact Geri or myself. 

Remember the meeting of the 40^th next Sunday afternoon. 

Please let me know if you would like to participate in one of the four areas of the voter engagement plan. 

If you can, we would really appreciate a donation to help get our organization ready for ncxt year’s elections.  Go to https://secure.actblue.com/donate/sjcountydems?refcode=directory. 

Thanks for reading, 
David Turnoy 
Chair, San Juan County Democrats 
davidgeri@rockisland.com 
360-376-4165