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 40th 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.
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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 1st to welcome the nation’s first Latina senator, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada who will be introduced by none other than Amy Klobuchar!
| Meet 2 of the Democratic Party’s Most Dynamic Women Senators |
| Force Multiplier invites you to meet Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (NV) Wednesday, December 1, 2021, 6:30 – 7:30pm ET via Zoombwith special guest Senator Amy Klobuchar (MN)bDONATE NOW TO THE CORTEZ MASTO CAMPAIGN Suggested donation $100. Please be as generous as possible.bThis is one of 4 “Battleground Seats” Democrats must win to Hold the Senate in 2022.Senator Cortez Masto won her seat by just 2.4% in 2016 + is facing a tough opponent. Her race was just moved to “toss up” by Larry Sabato’s crystal ball + the latest public poll has her trailing her opponent by 2 points. She needs our support. Cortez Masto is: • Former two-term Attorney General of Nevada • Former Chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. • First woman + first Latina to serve as a Nevada senator • Serving a varied constituency including Las Vegas service workers + union members, farm + agricultural workers, Native American nations + Spanish speakers + a massive entertainment industry • Champion of Women’s and LGBTQ rights • Member of several critical committees, including the Senate Committee on Finance, Banking, Housing + Urban Affairs, Energy + Natural Resources + Commerce, Science + Transportation, among others. • Sponsor/co-sponsor of hundreds of bills supporting health + welfare + tax fairness + services for veterans + the disadvantaged.Together we have the power to make a difference. forcemultiplierus.org |
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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.
| Read more about militarism and foreign policy at Progressive Hub. It seems like the least we could ask Congress to insist while giving Israel billions of dollars: Israel should not be able to use that money to abuse human rights in the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. It seems like the easiest thing to ask: Please cosponsor H.R.2590. This bill would prohibit Israel from using U.S. taxpayer dollars in the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem for:the military detention, abuse, or ill-treatment of Palestinian children in Israeli military detention;the seizure and destruction of Palestinian property and homes in violation of international humanitarian law; or,Israel’s unilateral annexation of Palestinian territory in violation of international humanitarian law.Click here to quickly ask your Representative to cosponsor this bill, and to ask your Senators to introduce and pass the same legislation If H.R.2590 becomes law, here are things the Israeli government will be forbidden to do to children with U.S. dollars: torture, physical violence, restraint in stress positions, hooding, sensory deprivation, death threats, solitary confinement, imprisonment without charge or trial, denial of access to parents or legal counsel, the use of force to coerce confessions. The Israeli government imprisons around 700 Palestinian children a year, with the support of U.S. tax dollars, which flow in at a rate of nearly $4 billion a year. Armed soldiers barge into homes in the middle of the night, taking children away from their parents. Israel subjects children to torture and abuse, deprives them of food and water, and denies them their right to an attorney. U.S. tax dollars should not fund this immoral and illegal activity! (See documentation in background links at bottom.) Israel routinely destroys Palestinian homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, leaving thousands of Palestinians homeless. Israel has demolished more than 48,000 Palestinian structures since 1967, 24,000 of which are estimated to be homes. These numbers have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, Israel demolished or seized 851 Palestinian structures, displacing over 1,000 Palestinians, including over 524 children. Families are often given just minutes to gather their belongings before bulldozers destroy their homes. In some cases, Palestinians are forced to even pay for the demolition of their own homes. (See documentation in background links at bottom.) Most of the world’s oppressive governments receive funding for their militaries from the U.S. government, but Israel’s receives the most. If you think putting some basic limits on what can be done with that money is the very least the U.S. Congress could do, click here to send an email. We’ve drafted it for you but encourage you to edit and add your own words! |
Thanks for reading,David Turnoy
Chair, San Juan County Democrats
360-376-4165
davidgeri@rockisland.com