Hopefully you are staying safe and healthy. Saturday’s meeting of the county Democrats took place on Zoom, everyone (23 people) attending from home on their electronic devices. It actually went pretty well, all things considered. We had Congressman Rick Larsen calling in to our meeting, speaking briefly, especially about the coronavirus, and answering lots of questions. He told us that the US House has now passed a public health package and an economic relief package, both in response to the virus. One of these packages still has to be passed by the Senate and signed by the president. There will also probably be a third package down the road when more is known about what is needed. Items included in the most recent package include small business loans for businesses impacted by the virus, enhanced unemployment compensation, and paid emergency leave.

There was also discussion of some other topics with the Congressman. He was asked about military training in state parks, and his suggestion was to contact the state parks department and also our local state legislators. Rep. Larsen was asked about redirecting some of the bloated military budget to fighting climate change. He says that the Trump administration is putting far too much money into nuclear weapons, which he opposes, and that some of that money could be used for fighting climate change. While Rep. Larsen does not support the Green New Deal, he says his twenty-year record in Congress shows that he has accomplished much in fighting climate change. The Congressman finished with a request for our endorsement, to which I answered that we will begin considering endorsements once the May filing deadline passes.

Regarding our participation in choosing a presidential nominee, here is the process in brief. Our recent primary will decide how many delegates each candidate will receive. It is likely that both Biden and Sanders will get 3 delegates each from San Juan County. Those delegates will be elected at our county caucus on May 3 at the Grange in Friday Harbor. Should you want to run to be a delegate to the Congressional District Convention on May 30 and to the state convention in mid-June, you are encouraged to file by April 20 at https://wademscaucus2020.azurewebsites.net/. Another website to go to for good information is https://www.waelectioncenter.com/. You are welcome to attend the May 3 caucus if you would like to vote for delegates even if you don’t want to run to be a delegate. Three of the folks at our meeting today expressed an interest in running.

However, the previous paragraph may all go out the window if the state Democratic Party, in responding to the coronavirus, completely changes to a virtual format. In that case we would need our bylaws to authorize the use of a teleconference to hold our caucus and for voting. To amend our bylaws, we need to give at least a ten-day notice that an amendment is being considered, so please consider this your notice. I have proposed the following language: When an emergency situation arises, such as a pandemic, such that county health officials deem attendance at a large public gathering, like a county or LD caucus, is not safe, the caucus may take place by teleconference and voting may occur through the teleconference or by email. There were several comments about the wording, some wanting the language simpler and

broader, others not wanting that, so I am putting out a call for you to tweak this language in any way you feel would improve it. We would then vote on the amendment at our meeting in April so that our caucus can take place electronically should that be necessary.

Speaking of bylaws amendments, here is another ten-day notice for a separate bylaws amendment proposed by our treasurer: “The Executive Committee shall develop and monitor the SJCD’s budget. The Treasurer shall prepare and provide for publication and approval the annual budget by a vote of the Precinct Committee Officers and members of the Executive Committee at a meeting during the first three months of the calendar year. The Treasurer shall also provide year-to-date revenues, expenditures and balance, at each quarterly meeting and at any other meeting as requested by the Executive Committee or Central Committee.” Our treasurer would prefer that only our PCOs and Executive Committee be the ones to approve our budget, as those are the people who are most familiar with it. Our previous language did not so specify.

George Orser and Molly Donovan kindly offered their beautiful home on Orcas for a fundraiser to benefit the Movement Voter Project (MVP) on Feb. 29. I have mentioned this organization the last couple of months, but the work they are doing is important enough to mention again to anyone not familiar with their work. MVP funds local, grassroots organizations that register people to vote and then get them out to vote. There is a large emphasis on minority communities, and through the funding provided by MVP, local residents do the work to bring in more voters. This work is largely focused on five swing states (PA, MI, WI, FL, AZ), but they also have a nationwide presence and are helping over 400 groups. If your goal is getting rid of the current abomination in the White House, you won’t find a better way to spend your political dollars. Our fundraiser brought in $8,000, thanks to a matching donor, and if anyone on Lopez or San Juan Island would like to hold a similar fundraiser, please contact me so I can put you in touch with the statewide coordinator, who happens to be close by on Whidbey. If you don’t feel you can put on a fundraiser but simply want to contribute to this very effective organization’s work, go to www.movement.vote.

Last month Beth Larson gave a presentation to our group on the work of Vote Forward, an organization aligned with Swing Left that is promoting a massive letter-writing campaign to get left-leaning but inconsistent voters to vote in the election this November. Research shows that such voters who receive a personalized letter are twice as likely to vote. Beth’s group in Friday Harbor has been working at this for two years, and they have thousands of letters ready to be mailed. We decided that we wanted a group on Orcas, so my wife Geri has spearheaded an effort to get this going. We now have 25 letter-writers, which is all we can personally handle, as we print off 20 letters per writer per week, generating 500 letters per week. If someone on Lopez would like to start up one of these groups, if someone else on Orcas or San Juan would like to start a second group, or if any of you would like to simply print letters for yourself to complete each week, go to https://votefwd.org/ This is a way to actually do something concrete to make positive change as opposing to yelling at your TV. If you decide that you would like to start another group, let me know so I can publicize it here and the organizer can gain writers.

We decided to move our platform revision work back to a small committee. Thanks to those who have volunteered, and we will convene remotely this Wednesday.

One final note is to point you to a site where you can get local information on the coronavirus. The county has a website devoted to this at https://www.sanjuanco.com/1668/2019-Novel-Coronavirus. If you want to get specifics on the number of cases, go to https://www.sanjuanco.com/1682/COVID-19-SJC-Case-Count.

Hello San Juan County Democrats,

    The next meeting of the San Juan County Democrats will be on Saturday, March 14. Due to concerns about COVID-19, we will be holding the meeting virtually. This means you can access the meeting via Zoom videoconferencing software using the link
https://zoom.us/j/811216392?

    Representative Rick Larsen will be attending to speak briefly and then take questions.  In addition, we will continue our planning for our campaign actions this year and continue to work on revising our platform. 

Last month I had mentioned that there would be a fundraiser for the Movement Voter Project on February 29 on Orcas Island.  The event was very well attended, and the presentation was excellent.  You may remember that this is a project to help local, grassroots community members register people to vote and get them out to vote for Democrats in five swing states: Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Arizona.  These five states all went to Trump last time around.  The first three have generally gone to the Democratic presidential candidate but were neglected in 2016, so with a little extra effort they should go to the Democrats again this time.  Arizona had been red but is increasingly purple while its population continues to grow, while Florida seems to be a state that can go either way; because of its large population, third largest and with 29 electoral votes, it is a very important state to win.  MVP’s goal is to raise money around the country to support the efforts in the five named states so that all five states vote for the Democratic presidential candidate.  They are helping fund over 400 of these vetted, local groups nationwide.  For more information, go to https://movement.vote .
      I strongly encourage you to donate to MVP.  Rather than sending people from other states into areas to canvass, this is a way to support local people to do the canvassing without having to travel there yourself.  The locals know their communities, and they can do the job that needs to be done.  Here is a link to FAQ about donations including how to give by check (best for donations over $1000 to avoid transaction fees): https://movement.vote/faq . 

Most of the organizations supported are 501(c)(4)s, meaning they are not tax-deductible, but for those who need tax deductibility, look at the site for opportunities for this. This is one more way to defeat Trump!

Thanks for reading,
David Turnoy
Chair, San Juan County Democrats
360-376-4165

I have a fair amount of information for you in this message.  There are two very important topics, so I am noting them right here with two bullet points.

• Movement Voter Project fundraiser Feb. 29 on Orcas (or donate).
• Vote Forward/Swing Left letter-writing project already going on San Juan Island and soon to be organized on Orcas, also hopefully on Lopez.

       We are a pretty blue state here in Washington, so we often wonder how we can impact results in other states that are not so dependably Democratic.  In the summary of last month’s meeting, I mentioned that there will be an event this month to support the Movement Voter Project (MVP).  You may remember that this is a project to help local, grassroots community members register people to vote and get them out to vote for Democrats in five swing states: Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Arizona.  These five states all went to Trump last time around.  The first three have generally gone to the Democratic presidential candidate but were ignored in 2016, so with a little extra effort they should go to the Democrats again this time.  Arizona had been red but is increasingly purple while its population continues to grow, while Florida seems to be a state that can go either way; because of its large population, third largest and with 29 electoral votes, it is a very important state to win.  MVP’s goal is to raise money around the country to support the efforts in the five named states so that all five states vote for the Democrat.  Here is some information from their site:
       “Movement Voter Project (MVP) raises money to support vetted grassroots organizations (as opposed to specific candidates) in swing states! These are organizations that exist today and will exist after elections, making them a great short-term AND long-term investment. From immigrant rights groups in Arizona to student groups in Michigan to reinstating voting rights in Florida, MVP builds infrastructure in critical states with national implications. (MVP’s own operating expenses are covered thanks to another group of committed donors; every dollar they raise now goes to organizations on the ground.) MVP has a great website https://movement.vote
for you to explore…”
       To that end, a fundraising event is being held on Saturday, Feb. 29, at George Orser and Molly Donovan’s farm on Orcas just past Doe Bay.  This is Orcas Farm at 120 Byrle Hall Rd.  The time is 3:00-5:00.  I am hoping that many of you can make it, and you will want to go to the following site to RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/winning-in-2020-washington-state-tickets-92547793943 .
       For those who are unable to attend the event, you can contribute online or by check.  Here are some links:
       Here is a link to FAQ about donations including how to give by check (best for donations over $1000 to avoid transaction fees): https://movement.vote/faq .  Most of the organizations supported are 501©(4)s, meaning they are not tax-deductible, but for those who need tax deductibility, look at the site for opportunities for this.
       Here is a unique link setup for the Orcas party for donating to MVP (it is in 3 different formats but all the same place):
-Long link: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/big5battleground/?refcode=WAOI022920
-Short link: http://bit.ly/WAOI022920
-QR code: WAOI02_29_20.png
       Those donations will go to the Big 5 Battleground Fund.  If folks want to give to another fund that is fine… there are 13 funds and folks can give to any of them or to an individual group/ groups. You can explore the website for giving in a more specific way if you prefer.

       In the previous section I provided a way for you to support electing the Democratic presidential nominee with your dollars.  But perhaps you would also like to be a little more involved with some personal participation.  If so, here is the perfect opportunity to affect voting in other states through as little as an hour per week.  Vote Forward and Swing Left have teamed up to promote a letter-writing campaign.  Research shows that personal letters sent to voters who don’t always vote can have a significant impact on the number of voters who turn out to vote, definitely increasing turnout.  Vote Forward is targeting letters to voters who tend to vote Democratic, whether they are actual Democrats or Independents who lean toward the Democrats, but are not consistent voters.  This is in certain states where a little more turnout could make a big difference: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas.  Volunteers are writing personal letters to these voters, the letters to be mailed shortly before election day to get them out to vote.  Most of the verbiage is already printed on the letters, but each volunteer writes a short message by hand about why we vote, making it personal.  For instance, those of us with children and/or grandchildren can express our desire for a habitable planet, or we can talk about the need for better and more economical health care.  Nowhere in the letter are the names of any candidates mentioned, this is merely to get the recipients to vote.  However, these are likely Democratic voters, so there is no need to provide candidate names.  Then you address the envelope yourself so it looks like a personal letter, which it is, rather than the mailing of some political group.  You would need to bring your own stamps, but the letters and envelopes will be provided.
       San Juan Island has a group that has been doing this for two years already, meeting weekly, and they have produced thousands of letters that are ready to be mailed.  If you are on San Juan Island and would like to get involved, contact Beth Larson at betha.larson@me.com ; she would love to hear from you.  If you are on Orcas and would like to help us start a similar group here on our island, please contact Geri and me at davidgeri@centurylink.net .  Or if you are on Lopez and would like to start a group over there, contact Beth at the above address.  If you have been waiting for an opportunity to really make a difference without having to travel to other states, this is it!

       At the meeting on Saturday, besides Beth’s presentation about Vote Forward, we had a brief presentation on the Bernie Sanders campaign from Sharon Abreu, and I read a note from the statewide coordinator who wasn’t able to attend.  We then had a presentation from the statewide campaign coordinator for the Warren campaign, Maria Leininger, and one of her assistants, Henry Pollet.  The website for the campaign is elizabethwarren.com.  They had a meet-up after our meeting to talk with volunteers and do some knocking on doors.
       Thanks to the efforts of Bob O’Connell, Ken Crawbuck, and Lynn Baker, we finally have verbiage for our platform plank on the income tax and a wealth tax.  Here is the language we adopted
We call for a more progressive federal tax system, including:
— income taxes at the highest brackets to be increased significantly. 
— elimination of loopholes in the tax code which allow persons and entities to escape taxation largely or entirely.
— amendments to the tax code to ensure that all persons and entities pay their fair share. 
— creation of a wealth tax to redress the historically unprecedented imbalance of wealth distribution in this country.
— creation of a financial transaction tax on every Wall Street and other financial market transaction, and measures to tax capital gains at the same rate as income.
We also started to work our way through the platform in general, which we will continue at our next several meetings.  If you would like to see a copy of the platform along with proposed changes, email me and I will send you a copy.
            There are three committees that work in preparation for the state convention in June: Credentials, Platform, and Rules.  At our meeting Saturday, Sharon volunteered for Credentials, and Stephen Shubert volunteered for Platform.  If there is someone who would like to represent us on the Rules Committee, please let me know.
            You might remember that regarding endorsements, we have agreed to consider each election individually and not tie ourselves down to just endorsing for the general election, that there may be circumstances that merit our endorsements for the primary election also.  The other question was what term to use for endorsing more than one candidate, as many people understand an endorsement to be solely for one candidate.  From the situation last year with the race for state senate, we found that two equally qualified candidates may emerge who both merit our endorsement.  We considered a number of terms to use for endorsing more than one candidate, and the term most of us agreed on was “dual endorse”.  Hopefully this will not confuse anyone.
            Our state committeewoman Sharon spoke on her attendance at a state party meeting in Vancouver, WA, and at several lobby days in Olympia.  She had lots of praise for our three elected state officials, Representatives Debra Lekanoff and Alex Ramel and Senator Liz Lovelett.  They are very approachable and wanting to do their best to represent us.  Her meetings with them were excellent.
            I want to remind you that you will be receiving your presidential primary ballot in a little less than two weeks.  I had sent out a long explanation of how the process will work this year, but if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.  Be sure to vote by March 10.
            We seem to still be having trouble with our Zoom transmission for virtual attendance.  We know of one member who tried to attend that way but couldn’t get any sound.  We will try to remedy that for next time.
            Our next meeting will be March 14.  As of this writing, Congressman Rick Larsen is scheduled to attend.

Thanks for reading,

David Turnoy
Chair, San Juan County Democrats
davidgeri@centurylink.net
360-376-4165

Hello San Juan County Democrats,

Our February meeting will take place this Saturday at 11:45 at Skagit Valley College in Friday Harbor. We will have both statewide campaign managers of the Sanders and Warren campaigns presenting, and we will also have a presentation on Vote Forward. If you would like to see the whole agenda, email me and I will send it to you.

As usual, if you are coming from another island, we will have drivers to pick you up at the ferry and bring you back. Please let me know you are coming so we will be sure to have enough drivers.

We had trouble with Zoom last time, but we hope to have it up and running this time so you can attend virtually. The link is https://zoom.us/j/930896006 .

Hope to see you Saturday.

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

I am providing a brief list of items which I would like you to consider taking action on or getting involved in here. You will read about all these items in the following summary, but by placing a quick list here, you can refer back to this after you finish reading. Sorry, but as we have learned only too well the last three years, democracy is not a spectator sport. It only survives and thrives if we all help out.

1. Look at our wealth and tax resolution, think of ways to improve.
2. Think about whether you want to stand for election as a delegate for your favorite presidential candidate, which would require you to attend the May 3 caucus/convention, and if elected, attend the Congressional Caucus at the end of May. Also think about whether you want to attend May 3 so you can vote for delegates.
3. Think about contributing to the Movement Voter Project and/or to LIFT for Chucho.
4. Watch Hedrick Smith’s Democracy Rebellion on TV Tuesday or Saturday.
5. Contact our state legislators about Ranked Choice Voting.
6. Think of a synonym for endorse.
7. Think about how you would like to be involved in helping the local party in this year’s elections.

We had a packed agenda for our first meeting of the year on Saturday, January 11. Twenty-five people attended, mostly regulars but also a few new people who added to our conversations. We welcome you to come to our meetings if you haven’t before, as the more points of view shared, the better.

Probably the most interesting part of our meeting was the visit of a challenger for our seat in Congress currently held by Rick Larsen. Jason Call has been involved in the Democratic Party and in progressive activism for a long time, and he gives us a real alternative to examine. Jason supports Medicare-for-All, a Green New Deal, and all the other policies espoused by Bernie Sanders. While we have seven Democratic members of the House of Representatives, we really only have one progressive, that being Pramila Jayapal from Seattle. If you are looking for a progressive alternative to our current Congressman, you might want to go to Jason Call’s website, www.callforcongress.com, to check him out. Unlike our current representative, he is not accepting any PAC or corporate money, instead he is hoping for lots of individuals to donate $5 or $10 per month. By the way, I have also been in touch with Congressman Larsen, and he has been invited to attend one of our upcoming meetings, which he is interested in doing.

You have probably already heard, but just in case, Alex Ramel has been appointed as our new state representative in Olympia to work alongside Debra Lekanoff in the House and Liz Lovelett in the Senate. It is pretty unusual to have all three offices filled by new people within the period of a year, but we are fortunate that all three are very competent, progressive representatives. They are starting their short session on Monday, January 13.

We are still working on the language for our platform plank dealing with wealth and taxes. I provide it here for your perusal: As we see once again, and as we did before the Great Depression, when wealth and income inequality increase, our democracy will begin to fail. Therefore, in order to ensure that our democracy functions properly, we must manage the level of wealth and income inequality that exists in our country. We call for a more progressive federal tax system, which would include taxing capital gains at the same rate as income. We call for income taxes at the highest brackets to be increased significantly. We call for the elimination of loopholes in the tax code which allow persons and entities to escape taxation entirely. We call for further amendments to be made to the tax code to ensure that all persons and entities pay their fair share. We call for the creation of a wealth tax which will address the historically obscene maldistribution of wealth in this country. Finally, we call for the creation of a financial transaction tax. I presented this to our group, but it was felt that it needed a little more work, particularly tightening it up by making it a little shorter. If you have comments or would like to draft your own version to submit to us, I would welcome it.

We have finally received word on the format of our presidential process here in our county. We will be holding a caucus/convention on Saturday, May 3, at the Grange in Friday Harbor. We will have already voted in our presidential primary by March 10, and those results will determine the number of delegates and alternates to which we are entitled. Therefore, you only need to attend the May 3 event if you want to be a delegate or alternate, or if you want to vote for delegate and alternate. We will probably only be entitled to about 6 delegates and 3 alternates, and these numbers will be split up among the candidates according to their performance in the March 10 primary. Those who are elected on May 3 will attend the Congressional District Caucus in late May at a location still to be determined (but for sure on the mainland).

Attorney Bill Appel talked to us about I-976, the state measure passed in November that would greatly reduce spending on transportation projects. The measure has been put on hold for now by a Washington court, and it will have to be dealt with by the courts; it will be a complicated process. San Juan County will be presenting an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief in favor of the transportation projects and against the initiative, as our county had one of the largest percentages in the state voting against the ballot measure.

The money in our treasury is generally spent on campaigns and helping our officers attend meetings around the state. However, we had two very worthy requests tendered to us that totally align with our values, so we felt it important to make small contributions to these efforts. One is a trip to Olympia while the Legislature is in session for students in middle school at the public school, the Christian school, and Salmonberry. The other is to support local husband and father Chucho, who was detained by immigration authorities last year while on his way to work, and the organization LIFT (Local Immigration Family Treasury), which is supporting Chucho in his battle to stay here with his family. If you would also like to help Chucho, there is a fund for him at Islanders Bank to which you can contribute. His legal fees will total about $35,000, and so far $13,000 has been raised. I will include a letter about this situation at the end of this summary.

If you didn’t already watch Hedrick Smith’s new documentary, Democracy Rebellion, it is a must-see. Hedrick Smith is a part-time resident in our county, and he has been providing reports from around the world for close to 60 years. This program documents the efforts of grassroots groups and people around the country to take democratic reform into their own hands, including a segment about those of us involved right here in Washington in the battle for I-735 to overturn Citizen’s United. You can read about the program at https://orcasissues.com/hedrick-smith-launches-democracy-rebellion-film/, and you can still watch it on KCTS channel 9 (PBS) on Tuesday, January 14, at 2:00 or Saturday, Jan. 18, at 11:00. In this really difficult political time, it is important to find reason for hope, and this program will inspire you.

I had sent out a few notices about the Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) presentations taking place on the three major islands. Geri and I attended the presentation today on Orcas Island, and it was fantastic. RCV will improve our democracy in so many ways. By getting to rank the candidates in order of your preference, your vote is never thrown away; if your first choice is eliminated, then your second choice is used, and so on until there are two candidates left, and the one with more than 50% wins. This eliminates winning with less than a majority, it encourages voting because one of your votes will be part of the final runoff, it eliminates negative campaigning because candidates who may not be your first choice will still want to be your second or third choice so they have to be nice, it encourages more people (particularly women and minorities) to run for office, and it results in less polarization. RCV has already been enacted in some states, and we have a chance to bring it to our state. Currently in the Legislature, we have HB 1722 and SB 5798 that would allow local jurisdictions to use RCV. It wouldn’t be required, but it would simply be allowed if the citizens of a locality want to try it. Rep. Lekanoff is one of the co-sponsors, and brand new Rep. Ramel will receive a visit from the sponsoring organization FairVote to bring him on board. You can contact them to voice your support, and we especially would encourage you to contact Sen. Lovelett, as she has not voiced an opinion yet. Here is their contact info: Debra.Lekanoff@leg.wa.gov ; Alex.Ramel@leg.wa.gov ; Liz.Lovelett@leg.wa.gov. And if you are on Lopez, be sure to attend the presentation Monday night at the golf club. For more information, go to fairvotewa.org.

I have just been made aware of an excellent organization that could help win the presidency for the Democratic nominee. The Movement Voter Project (check them out at movement.vote) was established to fund local, grassroots organizations in five of the swing states most crucial to winning the Electoral Vote and the presidency: Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Florida. Trump won these states last time by a total of approximately 77,000 votes, so these states are very winnable with the right campaigning. By targeting local, grassroots organizations who will campaign for the Democratic presidential nominee in these five states and increase voter turnout, especially in areas of minority voters, MVP uses a smart, strategic strategy to insure victory. If you are wanting to contribute to an organization that could really bring about a Democratic victory for president, this would be a good one to support. In addition, there will be a house party most likely on Feb. 29 on Orcas Island at George Orser’s farm to raise money for MVP. I will send out more information as I have it.

We had a discussion of our endorsement policy, about which there were two items to consider. We generally endorse after the primary and before the general election, but we decided to make this flexible, as there may be times that it is important to endorse before the primary. The other issue was more difficult to resolve. Our current policy is that an “endorsement” can only be for one candidate. If we equally support two candidates, as was the case last August with Liz Lovelett and Carrie Blackwood, we can “approve” both but not “endorse” both. Approval only indicates that both candidates are acceptable to us, and we actually felt much more strongly in favor of both Liz and Carrie than “acceptance” indicates. It was suggested we use the term “co-endorse”, which is used by some other county parties, but some of our members thought it might be confusing to voters to “endorse” two candidates. So we need a word that will help us in this situation. I like “recommend” or “support”, but if you can think of a good word to consider, please send it my way. Thanks.

The last part of our meeting dealt with planning for our election efforts this year. We are going to need a lot of you to help. We do have some of our regulars who have agreed to be involved in some of the following, but I would ask you to think about how you might like to help in what will probably be the most important election of our lives. Here is the plan that was sent out a couple of months ago:

1. Develop and continuously update a list of: a) local, Washington state, and federal offices on the 2020 primary and general election ballots; b) names of individuals and their party affiliations who have officially filed as candidates for the offices listed in a); and c) referendums and other ballot measures on the 2020 special, primary, and general election ballots. These updated lists will be distributed to SJCDs members at our regular meetings and on our website;

2. Coordinate the Committee’s activities with those of the Washington State Democrats, other Democratic state, county, and legislative district organizations, and the campaigns of any candidates and ballot measure organizations that the SJCDs have endorsed;

3. Register new San Juan County voters, including 17-year olds who will be 18 by Election Day on November 3, 2020. (Assist with voter registration elsewhere?);

4. Recruit candidates for San Juan County partisan and non-partisan positions who support SJCD values and platform, including county council and official citizen committees;

5. Inform membership and other county Democrats of the specifics of the 2020 presidential primary process. Assist the SJCDs chair in implementation of this process;

6. Develop and implement program to assist PCOs in informing voters in their precincts about issues and candidates:

7. Promote our local and national parties, our values, our platforms, and our candidates, including by participating in July 4 parade on San Juan Island, a Democratic HQ storefront in Friday Harbor, and County Fair in Friday Harbor;

8. Develop action plan for volunteers seeking to support Democratic candidates in San Juan County, other areas of Washington State, and in other states;

9. Manage SJCD’s candidate and ballot measure endorsement process in conformity with our bylaws;

10. Publicize our endorsements, including by countywide mailing, newspaper ads, and on social media channels; and

11. Coordinate and implement phone banking program.

Again, please consider plugging yourself into one of these, and contact me.

Here is the letter about Chucho:

Would you and your friends be interested in supporting immigrants facing deportation in San Juan County, in particular, one on Orcas Island named Jesus Coro?

In August 2017, the Orcas Women’s Coalition and other individuals were active in getting an ordinance passed by the San Juan County commissioners to end cooperation with ICE, with some exceptions. Eleanor Hoague, a retired attorney who lives on Orcas, was instrumental in drafting the ordinance. Eleanor says that since the San Juan ordinance* was adopted, “Washington state has passed the Keep Washington Working law, which does much of the same thing that our ordinance does, but is weaker in some areas, and stronger in others.”

Since the ordinance went into effect, there has been one highly publicized case** on Orcas Island that pro-immigrant organizers and members of our community have been supporting.

Jesus Coro, “Chucho” to his friends, “was picked up by a Customs and Border Protection agent on his way to work on Trump (!!) Island in January 2019 and then jailed for two weeks at the Tacoma Detention Center. He has been bonded out and his case will be heard in Immigration Court. There is a dedicated fund at Islanders Bank in Eastsound called “Stand Up for Chucho”. His court costs are expected to be about $35,000 and $13,000 has been raised so far. Chucho’s fund is a part of the LIFT (Local Immigration Family Treasury) campaign.

Eleanor is the chairperson of LIFT, which was organized as a “…non-profit to help and educate immigrants and their families with their immigration questions. LIFT provides immigrants who live in the San Juan islands and who wish to discuss their immigration situation, a one-hour free interview with an immigration attorney [there have been about 10 such interviews since the ordinance became law.] LIFT lent the money for Chucho’s $12K bond.”

Eleanor and Judy Scott, another attorney who lives on Orcas, formerly General Counsel to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), have been spearheading the efforts to provide support for immigrants on Orcas through LIFT. (Judy’s daughter, by the way, is Sarah Stillman, a journalist active in immigration issues, who is a 2016 MacArthur Fellow and a staff writer for The New Yorker.)

Eleanor can be contacted at echoague@gmail.com, 206-850-0547 or 360-376-7101 and Judy’s contact info is: judithscott863@gmail.com.

Electronic donations can be made to the Stand Up for Chucho account at https://www.gofundme.com/f/n7y2x-stand-up-for-chucho

.

Checks are payable to: “Island Stewards” (LIFT’s fiscal sponsor) and should be designated in the check’s memo line for: LIFT re Chucho, Island Stewards, 3222 Pt. Lawrence Rd. Olga, WA 98279.

If people wish to donate to LIFT to boost the general fund for immigrants, they need to send a check to Island Stewards indicating that it is for LIFT. It is very important to indicate the desired purpose as Island Stewards has a number of different non-profit aims that it funds.

Here is the link for the ordinance passed in August 2017

*https://www.codepublishing.com/WA/SanJuanCounty/html/SanJuanCounty09/SanJuanCounty0924.html

Here are the links to the Islands’ Sounder article and to the Orcas Issues article explaining Chucho’s situation.

**http://www.islandssounder.com/news/orcas-resident-jesus-coro-detained-by-ice/

https://orcasissues.com/letter-to-editor-immigration-nabs-local-resident/

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

Hello San Juan County Democrats,

Get ready for 2020, which is clearly going to be one of the most important political years in our lives and in the history of this country.  Nothing less than our democratic system of government is at stake, as the current White House occupant is looking to become a dictator.  Here in San Juan County we will hold our first meeting of the year on Saturday, January 11, from 11:45 until 2:30 in the upstairs community meeting room at Skagit Valley College in Friday Harbor.

At this meeting we will be planning our actions for this important political year.  In addition, we will have a visit from a progressive challenger to Congressman Rick Larsen.  And one of our legal experts will be discussing the possible court challenges to the recently passed horrendous initiative I-976.

If you cannot attend in person but would like to attend virtually, the link to join our meeting on Zoom is https://zoom.us/j/386062877.  If you are traveling from another island, we will have drivers to give us rides to and from the meeting.

I hope to see you at this and/or other meetings this year, and please be ready for calls to action.

Hello San Juan County Democrats,

One of the political reforms that would really help our political system is ranked choice voting. Please read the following from Liz Smith of Fair Vote Washington, who will be presenting on our three major islands:

“Our non-partisan non-profit FairVote Washington is working to bring Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) to Washington state. RCV is a simple, non-partisan way to help put power back into the voters’ hands, increase civility in politics, and improve our democracy. It’s also an effective way to lower primary and run-off elections costs. And we’d like to show you how it works!

RCV is also sometimes called Instant Runoff Voting, which says a lot about how it works. On a ranked-choice ballot, instead of voting for one candidate, you would get to rank the candidates in your order of preference: 1, 2, 3, and so on. If no candidate gets more than 50% of the first place votes, the last place candidate is eliminated. If that was your candidate, your vote is transferred to your second choice. That process of elimination continues until one candidate has a majority and is declared the winner. (A candidate can still win on the first round with an outright majority, and voters can still vote for one candidate, if they prefer.)

The WA Local Options Bill (HB1722 and SB5708) would allow localities to try Ranked-Choice Voting. We’ll tell you all about that and our other efforts at three upcoming presentations on Orcas, Lopez, and San Juan Islands. All are welcome, regardless of party or political views. Local FairVote Washington lead Liz Smith of Friday Harbor and FairVote Washington Chair Lisa Ayrault will be there. Let us answer your questions about this simple, non-partisan voting reform!

Sunday, January 12 from 2pm-3pm at the Orcas Island Odd Fellows Hall
Our event page: https://secure.everyaction.com/aian00iQIUK9xnJbU6oT9Q2
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/795106250953763

Sunday, January 12 from 7pm-8pm at the San Juan Island Grange Hall #966
Our event page: https://secure.everyaction.com/-zL2kUDHDk-BNRkiGVwrtg2
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/883249492077298

Monday, January 13 from 7pm-8pm at the Huddle Lopez mtg at the Lopez Island Golf Club
Our event page: https://secure.everyaction.com/4c2IyXOM2EGHVDkUVBt7GA2
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/514079569190134

For more info or questions, you can contact Liz Smith at liz.smith@fairvotewa.org, (360) 610-7136

There will be impeachment rallies in Friday Harbor at the Courthouse and in Eastsound at the Village Green on Tuesday, December 17 at 5:30pm. The president used military aid to pressure a foreign government to interfere in our elections, then he tried to cover it up. He should be impeached and removed from office because no one is above the law.

Please dress warmly and bring some kind of light, as it will be dark. You can even download a candle app for your phone. Our main goal is to contribute to the buzz going on across the nation; there will be more than 500 such events nationwide at the same time. We have confidence that the House will vote for impeachment, and our efforts on Tuesday will go toward convincing the Senate that they need to vote to convict. So bring your cameras and phones, and if you think your sign will be visible, bring it too.
You can register for the event by going to www.impeach.org, then type in your zip code, or you can go to:
Friday Harbor Event: http://act.moveon.org/event/impeach-and-remove-attend/126555/
Eastsound Event: https://act.moveon.org/event/impeach-and-remove-attend/126535/

Please notify and bring friends and family.

I have a lot to report from our meeting this past Saturday, including some important information as we organize for the very crucial 2020 elections. I hope you will read this to the end, as you might find a place where you will fit in to help us in what may be the most critical election of our lives.

First, we will not be meeting in December, but there will be a holiday party hosted by the 40th Legislative District, of which we are a part. It will be held in Alger, ten miles north of Burlington, the same place the 40th’s endorsement meeting was held last June. It will be on Sunday, Dec. 8 from noon until 3:00. My wife and I will be attending, and we would be happy to drive anyone else that would like to come from Orcas. I am hoping there will also be contingents from San Juan and Lopez Islands. If you would like to come, please let me know so I can send you more information, as this event is very well organized. For all who would like to plan for the dates of the general meetings of the 40th for this coming year, the dates are March 1, June 7 (endorsements), Oct. 4 (in Friday Harbor), and Dec. 6.

Jeff Hanks was confirmed as our newest PCO (precinct committee officer), filling the position for south Lopez Island. Jeff looks to be an excellent addition to our group.

In our ongoing discussions about a more equitable tax system, Stephen Shubert talked about adding a capital gains tax here in Washington state. Our constitution currently does not allow an income tax, but a capital gains tax can be treated as an excise tax, and this could potentially bring in a lot of revenue for the state, which may be critical should I-976 be allowed to stand. Retired attorney Bill Appel said that a taxpayer could take the I-976 matter to court, and a court may very well rule that I-976 cannot be allowed to stand.

In other sad election news, it looks like I-1000/R-88 has been defeated. This is the measure that would have ratified the legislature’s decision to allow affirmative action on a case-by-case basis. The final margin of defeat was 0.7%, a tiny margin. The one bright spot: Senator Liz Lovelett was overwhelmingly elected over perennial candidate Daniel Miller.

You may be aware that this past Tuesday, the county council turned down the request made by a citizen committee asking for a moratorium on vacation rentals while the issue is studied. Forty citizens, mostly from Orcas, made the trip to the hearing to testify. The county council seems to feel they have already dealt with this issue with their recent housing needs assessment and hiring a code enforcement officer. The committee will be looking at its next steps.

Mike Hansen reported on his efforts to find out if the state attorney general’s office is dealing with the threat of private militias. He didn’t get much of a response from that office. Do we know that order will be maintained by our law enforcement officers should there be some kind of

“civil war” or other fracas initiated by a private militia group? Mike will be preparing a one-page historical, logical straightforward narrative with bullet points on this matter.

Dave Zeretzke presented an excellent tutorial on the redistricting process. In early 2021, all states will go through redistricting, where they look at population changes and make boundary adjustments based on this. Most states have made this a political process, which results in gerrymandering. Washington is one of the few states that has a commission do this job. The minority and majority caucuses of both the House and Senate appoint a person to the commission, resulting in two Democrats and two Republicans, plus there is a nonvoting fifth member who acts as the chair. The chair makes sure that redistricting is done as fairly as possible, and the plan is accepted only if the voting members vote either 3-1 or 4-0 for the plan. Since this was implemented in the 1980s, redistricting here in Washington has not suffered as badly as in states where it is a totally political process controlled by the majority party.

Former chair and current treasurer David Dehlendorf has composed a plan for an election committee for next year. It has many components to it, which I shall now present. I am hoping that as you read through this, you will find a task that appeals to you and for which you would be willing to volunteer. Here we go:

1. Develop and continuously update a list of candidates and measures that will be on the ballot for the elections in 2020 at the local, state, and national level.
2. Coordinate the activities of the SJC Democrats with other Democratic organizations and campaigns.
3. Register new voters, including 17 and 18-year-olds.
4. Recruit candidates.
5. Provide information about the presidential primary process, and help the chair in implementing this.
6. Help the PCOs work together to form ways to inform their voters about issues and candidates.
7. Help promote our party and candidates, including the following:

a. The 4th of July Parade in Friday Harbor (maybe on Orcas and Lopez also)
b. Helping at the County Fair booth
c. Helping at the storefront we open between July and October in central Friday Harbor. By the way, if you know of an available space, please let me know.

8. Develop an action plan for volunteers to help in our county as well as other regions.
9. Manage our candidate and ballot measure endorsement process in accord with our rules.
10. Publicize our endorsements.
11. Coordinate and implement a phone-banking program.

As you can see, this is a substantial list. We will need many hands onboard. If you are interested in one of these tasks, please contact me.

That’s about it for now. As always, there is much going on, and we all need to remain as informed as possible.

Thanks for reading,

David Turnoy
Chair, San Juan County Democrats
360-376-4165
davidgeri@centurylink.net

Hello San Juan County Democrats,