11th Legislative District Democrats

Mar 19

General Membership Meeting Reminder: March 19th, 2013

By Robert Kangas in Blog

Just a reminder, our general membership meeting is on Tuesday, 3/19/2013.

Show up at 6:45 and get some food. Chef Marvin will be serving us some delicious food. We’re suggesting a $6 donation to offset the costs.
The raffle is back. Buy some tickets, try to win a prize, leave happy.
The meeting agenda is in our newsletter: http://www.11thlddems.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/2013-03-March.pdf
The meeting location is here: 231 Burnett Ave North, Renton WA.

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Mar 16

11th LD Townhall

By Robert Kangas in Blog, Events

Steve Bergquist, Zack Hudgins, and Bob Hasegawa had a town hall meeting at King County 911 in Renton on March 16th 2013.

Mar 13

ADVISORY: Seattle’s Community Police Commission appointees are presented to the public

By Robert Kangas in Blog

Do you ever wonder what our awesome former Vice Chair, Jay Hollingsworth is up to? Sure you do.

From Bruce Harrell’s office:

EVENT DATE
March 13, 2013
5:30 p.m.

Seattle’s Community Police Commission appointees are presented to the public

Seattle – Councilmember Bruce Harrell, chair of the Council’s Public Safety, Civil Rights and Technology Committee, will convene a special committee meeting on March 13 at 5:30 p.m. to consider legislation to move forward on the implementation of the Settlement Agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The committee will begin the meeting with a public hearing on the 15 Mayoral appointments to the Community Police Commission. All 15 members were appointed by the Mayor and are subject to confirmation by the City Council. Last October, the Council formally established the DOJ agreement’s Community Police Commission by ordinance through Council Bill 117608. Through this Council Bill, the Council established a clear selection criterion to ensure the members are representative of Seattle’s diverse population and are in a position to impartially review and make recommendations on policies related to use of force and biased policing.

The appointments are:

Claudia D’Allegri, Sea Mar Community Health Centers, Vice President of Behavioral Health;
Lisa Daugaard, Co-chair, Defender Association, Deputy Director;
Kate Joncas, Downtown Seattle Association, President and CEO;
Bill Hobson, Downtown Emergency Services Center, Executive Director;
Jay Hollingsworth, John T. Williams Organizing Committee;
Joseph Kessler, Seattle Police Department, Captain;
Diane Narasaki, Co-chair, Asian Counseling & Referral Service, Executive Director;
John Page, Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, Program Coordinator at the Defender Association’s Racial Disparity Project;
Tina Podlodowski, former Seattle City Councilmember;
Marcel Purnell, Youth Undoing Institutional Racism;
Jennifer Shaw, ACLU of Washington, deputy director,
Kevin Stuckey, Seattle Police Department, Officer;
Kip Tokuda, former State Representative for the 37th Legislative District;
Rev. Harriet Walden, Co-founder of Mothers for Police Accountability; and
Rev. Aaron Williams, Mount Zion Baptist Church, Senior Pastor.

Mar 13

9th CD Democrats Activists’ Meeting: March 31st, 2013

By Robert Kangas in Events

Date: Sunday, March 31st, 2013
Time: 1:30-3:00
Location: Renton Public Library
100 Mill Avenue South
Renton, 98057, 425-226-6043

When the state committee people met to elect the 9th CD member for the WSDCC Executive Board a great deal of interest was expressed in a meeting of activists from across the congressional district. The purpose of this meeting is to introduce ourselves and discuss further possibilities for organizing at the CD level. Please pass this information along to your executive board and general membership. Anyone interested is welcome to attend. I am hoping that by sending this out a month in advance it should be possible for everyone to announce it in their regular meetings.

Bryan Kesterson,
47th LD Washington State Democratic Central Committeeman

Mar 10

Reorganization & GM Minutes, January 15th 2013

By Robert Kangas in Blog

The minutes from the Reorganization & General Meeting on January 15th 2013 have been posted. You can view them here: 11th LD Democrats Re-Org and GM Minutes, Jan 15, 2013

Mar 08

Proposed bylaws changes for the 3/19/2013 general meeting

By Robert Kangas in Special Notices

Hey PCOs of the 11th LD, we are proposing a couple of bylaws changes for the general meeting on Tuesday, March 19th. Please review the document in the link below:

Proposed bylaws changes 03072013

At a high level, what are we proposing changing?

Endorsements: We would like to be able to endorse in non-partisan races (think King County Council / Executive races). We need a modification in order to allow for us to do this.
Endorsements: A modification to state that we cannot endorse before the end of the filing period for candidates that we haven’t endorsed before in that race. This is a fairness issue, we should know who all the candidates are before we endorse.
Meeting notices: Reducing the requirement that the meeting notice goes out no later than seven days before the general meeting. It used to be 10 days, but there are several months throughout the year where there’s not enough time to edit the newsletter & send it out before the meeting (some months only has 11 days between the e-board meeting and the general meeting).

If you have any comments, please email chair@11thlddems.org and vicechair@11thlddems.org and we’ll look at your feedback. And… if you have feedback, please give it BEFORE the next meeting. Thanks.

Mar 08

Congressman Adam Smith Townhall

By Robert Kangas in Events

Congressman Adam Smith is hosting a townhall at Hazelwood Elementary School (7100 116th Ave SE, Newcastle WA 98056) on Thursday March 28th 2013 from 7-8:30pm.

The discussion will include the following congressional topics:
-The budget
-Immigration
-Education
-The economy & more

RSVP if you’re interested:
-rsvpsmith@mail.house.gov
-425-793-5180
-888-SMITII09

Mar 07

11th District Town Hall – Sat., March 16th

By Robert Kangas in Events

From Zack Hudgins:

zack_townhall

You are invited to join me for a town hall meeting with Sen. Bob Hasegawa and Rep. Steve Bergquist on Saturday, March 16th from 1-2 pm at the King County Regional Communications & Emergency Coordination Center (RCECC) in the Renton Highlands. I hope to talk with many of you about our work so far this legislative session and provide an update on the next biennial budget for the state.

Afterwards, our hosts at the King County Office of Emergency Management have graciously offered to take us on a tour of the facility and provide a glimpse into the vital work our public agencies do to keep us safe. If rock and roll history is also your style, you can also take a moment to visit the grave of Jimi Hendrix in the neighboring Greenwood Cemetery.

Town Hall Info:
Date/Time/Location:
Saturday, March 16th
1-2 pm, RCECC tour to follow
King County Regional Communications & Emergency Coordination Center (RCECC)
3511 NE 2nd Street
Renton, WA 98056

Mar 06

E-board meeting agenda: 3/7/2013

By Robert Kangas in Events

11th LD e-Board Agenda
March 6, 2013
7:00 pm Arrival to Renton Carpenters Hall
7:05 Timeline: newsletter, minutes. Notice dates for meetings.
7:15 11th LD Calendar for next 3 months (6 if we get ambitious)
Meeting topics/speakers
Endorsement meetings
7:40 General meeting
Basic Robert’s Rules
Format
Raffle rules
Promotion of meetings: who, how, when
8:00 Hospitality Team
How often, who, how to organize
8:10 Proposed Bylaw Changes
8:25 South Seattle Mayoral Candidate Forum – sponsored by 11, 34, & 37 LDs
Monday, April 29 at South Seattle CC Georgetown Campus
Need to ask for up to $150 from LD
Any interest in volunteering?
8:30 Committee Updates
8:40 Agenda for next general meeting
8:45 Adjourn

Mar 01

Top Democrats refuse to schedule votes on Family and Medical Leave, Sick Days

By Robert Kangas in Blog, Health care

Rep. Ross Hunter (D-48) (left) is Chair of the House Appropriations Committee. Rep. Reuven Carlyle (D-36) (right) is chair of the House Finance Committee.

Legislators are dragging their heels on two bills that will help rebuild Washington’s middle class and save tax dollars. What gives?

Two top Democrats, chairs of the House Finance and House AppropriationsCommittees, are refusing to schedule votes on the Family and Medical Leave Insurance (HB 1457) and Paid Sick Days (HB 1313) bills in front of their respective committees.

Lawmakers have received an outpouring of emails and phone calls in favor of the two bills. Small business owners, parents, injured workers, early learning experts, and health professionals have testified in support of these commonsense policies for healthy children, strong families, and public health. And because state employees already have sick leave, and family leave insurance benefits and administrative costs are fully covered by modest insurance premiums, any direct costs to the state’s general fund are minimal.

Read the full article here: Washington Policy Watch

and please call or comment on the bills to show support: Family and Medical Leave Insurance (HB 1457) and Paid Sick Days (HB 1313)

Feb 25

What will happen to Washington state if the sequester happens?

By Robert Kangas in Economy

The White House has released reports on what will happen to the states if the sequester happens.

If sequestration were to take effect, some examples of the impacts on Washington this year alone are:

¾ Teachers and Schools: Washington will lose approximately $11,606,000 in funding for primary and secondary education, putting around 160 teacher and aide jobs at risk. In addition about 11,000 fewer students would be served and approximately 50 fewer schools would receive funding.
Protections for Clean Air and Clean Water: Washington would lose about $3,301,000 in
environmental funding to ensure clean water and air quality, as well as prevent pollution from
pesticides and hazardous waste. In addition, Washington could lose another $924,000 in grants for
fish and wildlife protection.
Public Health: Washington will lose approximately $642,000 in funds to help upgrade its ability
to respond to public health threats including infectious diseases, natural disasters, and biological,
chemical, nuclear, and radiological events. In addition, Washington will lose about $1,740,000 in
grants to help prevent and treat substance abuse, resulting in around 3800 fewer admissions to
substance abuse programs. And the Washington State Department of Health will lose about
$174,000 resulting in around 4,300 fewer HIV tests.

The full report is here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/sequester-factsheets/Washington.pdf

Feb 21

Open States: A great tool to track what’s going on in the Legislature

By Robert Kangas in Blog

Open States is a great tool for tracking what’s going on in the Legislature: Bills, Meetings, Committees: Finding your Legislators. There’s even a free app for iPhones and iPads:

http://openstates.org/wa/

Thanks Christopher Anderson!