Forty Third District Dems: Blog

Sample Ballot for 2008 Primary (Draft)

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:33:41 GMT

A draft of our sample ballot is ready for review. This sample ballot will be distributed during our summer canvassing. The real size is 8.5 by 5.5 inches. For comments, please contact Rob Dolin, vice-chair for elections, by email: 43rddems@wuxx.com

Help-Wanted!

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:33:14 GMT

REGIONAL ORGANIZERS & APARTMENT/CONDO SPECIALISTS WANTED

The 43rd Legislative District is the most liberal district in Washington. We are home to 214 precincts, each representing roughly 200 households. Our research shows that on average, more than 60 of the roughly 200 households are either not registered to vote or vote infrequently. In 2008 every vote will count. It is imperative we organize every potential voting household to get out the progressive vote.

The district has been divided into five regions:

· North-East (U-District)

· North-West (Freemont, Wallingford)

· South-East (Montlake)

· South-Central (Capitol Hill)

· South-West (Downtown)

We are looking for seven coordinators to be the main point people in getting out the vote this November: a total of five Regional Organizers and two Apartment/Condo Specialists (one north and one south of the Ship Canal). This seven-person team will responsible for supporting all door-to-door voter outreach in the 43rd Legislative District.

The team will be led by Rob Dolin, Vice-Chair for Elections, and Mika Kurose Rothman from the Washington State Democratic Coordinated Campaign. A Capitol Hill office has been leased in order to house team activities.

Summary of essential job functions

· Strategic Planning – as a member of a seven-person team, the Regional Organizer will become familiar with the Summer/Fall Field Plan and will participate in strategizing effective voter turn-out plans. Current plans include door-to-door voter registration, participation in local festivals, and a voter pledge card initiative. We anticipate knocking on every door in every precinct three times before the general election (once in July, August, and October).

· Precinct Management – the Regional Organizer will be the contact person for all of the volunteers in her/his region. The Regional Organizer will implement voter turn-out plans within her/his region and will make periodic progress reports.

· Recruitment & Maintenance – in each of the precincts in her/his region, the Regional Organizer will recruit and maintain active crews of volunteers (precinct teams). This will involve contacting existing lists of volunteers (local caucus attendees, district members, political donors, etc) to identify neighborhood leaders. Once leaders are identified, the Regional Organizer will empower neighborhood leaders to manage their own precinct teams. The Regional Organizer will give advice, provide relevant data, and send reminder notices to the neighborhood leaders.

Minimum requirements

· Five – 10 hours per week starting July 1st

· Prior campaign or volunteer recruitment/management experience (paid or volunteer) is a plus, but is not required

· Strong communication skills

· Access to email and phone and the ability to reply to important queries within 24 to 48 hours

This position is unpaid. All interested applicants should send an email to Chair Hillary Madsen at chair_43@hotmail.com with a 1-3 paragraph statement explaining their interest and qualifications. A resume is not required, but will be accepted. Deadline is Monday, July 7 at 7:00 p.m.

Subscribe to the 43rd Dems News/Blog

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:48:16 GMT

Did you know that you can subscribe to the 43rd Dems in your favorite RSS reader like Bloglines or Google Reader? Our RSS is available at: http://43rddems.spaces.live.com/feed.rss

We also have Windows Live Alerts set-up so you can choose to get an Email or TXT when a new news item or blog enry is posted: http://signup.alerts.live.com/alerts/userSignup.do?partner=spaces&ut=http://43rddems.spaces.live.com/feed.rss&mkt=en-us&returnURL=http://43rddems.spaces.live.com/default.aspx?partner=wlhomepage&link=YourSpace

Finally, if you use Del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, Technorati, Windows Live Favorites, or other similar services, please consider adding the 43rd District Democrats as a Favorite.

Thanks--

--Rob

Primary Election Endorsements

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:16:17 GMT

Judicial Endorsements

Supreme Court

Hon. Mary Fairhurst (pos 3)

Hon. Debra Stephens (pos 7)

Hon. Charles Johnson (pos 4)

King County Superior Court

Position One - No endorsement

Position Ten - Regina Cahan

Position Twenty-Two - Rebeccah Graham

Position Twenty-Six - Hon. Laura Gene Middaugh

Position Thirty-Seven - Barbara Mack

Position Fifty-Three - Mariane Spearman

Partisan Endorsements

President - Barack Obama

Congress - Jim McDermott

Governor - Chris Gregoire

Secretary of State - Jason Osgood

Attorney General - John Ladenburg

Treasurer - Jim McIntire*

Auditor - Brian Sonntag

Insurance Commissioner - Mike Kriedler

Commissioner of Public Lands - Peter Goldmark

Superintendent of Public Instruction - Terry Bergeson*

Representative, pos 1 - Jamie Pedersen

Representative, pos 2 - Frank Chopp

an * notes a race in which there is more than one Democratic candidate running

Final Draft of Agenda for the Judicial Forum & Endorsements Meeting

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 07:06:50 GMT

43rd Legislative District Democrats Organization

Judicial Forum & Endorsements Meeting

I. Call to Order – 12:45 p.m.

a. Moment of Silence

b. Orientation (forum and endorsement rules)

c. Appointments (Time-Keeper, Sergeant, Tally Comm.)

II. Judicial Forum – 1:00 pm

a. Washington State Supreme Court – 1:00 pm

i. Hon. Charles Johnson, pos. 4

ii. Hon. Mary Fairhurst, pos. 7

iii. Hon. Debra Stephens, pos. 3

b. King County Superior Court – 1:10 pm

i. Position Thirty-Seven (approx 1:10 pm)

1. Jean Rietschel

2. Barbara Mack

ii. Position Twenty-Six (approx 1:25 pm)

1. Hon. Laura Gene Middaugh

iii. Position Twenty-Two (approx 1:30 pm)

1. Holly Hill

2. Julia Garrett

3. Rebeccah Graham

iv. Position Ten (approx 1:50 pm)

1. Regina Cahan

2. Jean Bouffard

v. Position One (approx 2:05 p.m.)

1. Suzanne (Sue) Parisien

2. Tim Bradshaw

c. King County Superior Court (uncontested) – 2:20 pm

i. Hon. Kimberly Prochnau

ii. Hon. Monica Benton

iii. Hon. Bruce Heller

III. Primary Election Endorsements – 2:45 pm

i. Uncontested Slate

ii. Superintendent of Public Instruction

iii. Washington State Supreme Court

iv. King County Superior Court

v. Initiatives

vi. Other

IV. Adjournment – 4:30 p.m.

Update for Draft Agenda for June 8th

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:41:40 GMT

Draft Agenda (Update) for June 8 Judicial Forum and Endorsement Meeting We have currently confirmed the following candidates will be present at our June 8th event:

Office	Position	RSVP 43	Candidate	Website
Supreme Court	3	x	Mary Fairhurst	http://justicemaryfairhurst.com/index.php
Supreme Court	7	x	Debra Stephens	http://justicedebrastephens.com/
Superior Court	1	x	Timothy Bradshaw	http://www.bradshawforjudge.org/
Superior Court	1	x	Julia Garratt
Superior Court	1	x	Suzanne Parisien	http://www.sueforjudge.com/
Superior Court	7	x	Kimberley Prochnau
Superior Court	10	x	Jean Bouffard
Superior Court	10	x	Regina Cahan	http://www.cahanforcourt.com/
Superior Court	22	x	Holly Hill	http://www.hollyhillforjudge.com/
Superior Court	37	x	Barbara Mack	http://www.mackforsuperiorcourt.com/
Superior Court	37	x	Jean Rietschel	http://www.electjudgejean.com/
Superior Court	49	x	Monica Benton	http://retainjudgebenton.com/
Superior Court	52	x	Bruce Heller	http://retainjudgebruceheller.com/
State Rep	43-a	x	Jamie Pedersen
State Rep	43-b	x	Frank Chopp

Draft Agenda for June 8 Judicial Forum and Endorsement Meeting

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:35:22 GMT

Draft Agenda for June 8 Judicial Forum and Endorsement Meeting

I. Call to Order – 12:45 p.m.

II. Reading of the Rules

III. Appointments (Time Keeper, Sergeant-at-Arms, Tally Committee)

IV. Judicial Forum – 1:00 pm

A. Panels of Candidates

a. Washington State Supreme Court

b. Appeals Court

c. Superior Court – 2 pm

V. Primary Election Endorsements – 3:30 pm

a. Announcement and Consideration of Uncontested Slate

US Representative – Jim McDermott
State Representative Position 1 – Jamie Pedersen
State Representative Position 2 – Frank Chopp
Statewide Executive Offices
- Governor – Christine Gregoire
- Lt. Governor – Brad Owen
- Attorney General – John Ladenburg
- Public Lands Commissioner – Peter Goldmark
- Insurance Commissioner – Mike Kreidler
- Supreme Court – Charles Johnson, Debra Stephens

b. Washington State Supreme Court (Contested)

c. Appeals Court (Contested)

d. Superior Court (Contested)

e. Superintendent of Public Instruction (Contested)

f. Initiatives

VI. Adjournment – 4:30 p.m.

VII. Clean Up – Please join the 43^rd District Officers in cleaning up the meeting room in order to leave the Central Library a better place than when our meeting began.

Endorsements Procedures for the 2008 Primary and General Election

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:13:57 GMT

Endorsements Procedures for the 2008 Primary and General Election

Judicial Candidate Forum & Endorsements Meeting will be held on the afternoon of Sunday, June 8(one day after candidate filing closes). All paid members and PCOs are eligible to vote. The vote will be conducted by paper ballot and voters are not required to stay the length of the meeting.

Endorsement Requirements

1.0 All candidates will timely respond to the King County Democratic Central Committee candidate questionnaire as a prerequisite to endorsement. This must be sent to Hillary Madsen, chair of the district, at chair_43@hotmail.com

1.1 To be eligible for endorsement, a candidate must file as a Democrat or, in the case of non-partisan races, identify themselves as a Democrat. Judicial candidates are exempt from this rule.

1.2 The Executive Board will develop a slate consisting of Democratic candidates (including judges) running without opposition or without meaningful opposition.

1.3 The Executive Board may make reports and recommendations to the Membership regarding Democratic candidates (including judges) in contested races.

Notice Requirements

2.0 Notice that endorsements will be considered must be Published at least ten (10) days before the Meeting at which endorsements will be considered.

Voting Requirements

3.0 Endorsements must be approved by at least sixty percent (60%) of the Members present and voting at the Meeting, not counting abstentions. More than one (1) candidate for the same office may be endorsed.

KCDCC May Meeting Report

Fri, 30 May 2008 18:29:10 GMT

KING COUNTY INVITES VOLUNTEERS TO "THE LAST ELECTION"

As King County prepares to move to all-mail balloting for elections, volunteers are needed to staff the polls at what will probably be the very last election to be conducted at polling places in neighborhood precincts. To be an election judge or inspector in this historic last election, call King County Elections to sign up to be a poll worker and receive training at (206) 296-1606. More at http://www.metrokc.gov/elections/ .

Rob Dolin of the 43rd presented some new features his KCDCC Technology is rolling out at http://www.kcdems.net/ . The site now provides legislative and precinct maps, starting at http://www.kcdems.net/about/OrgInfo.aspx, where the user finds all the legislative districts in the county. Selecting one of those then leads to a list of precincts, and for each a map is available that shows precise boundaries and street maps, as well as names of PCOs and other volunteers. Www.kcdems.net also has a calendar of upcoming events, including Larry Phillips' Salmon Bake, Dwight Pelz' Meat-up in support of Peter Goldmark for Lands Commissioner, Richard Conlin's Burritofest.

Candidate filing for the August primary, including for PCOs, opens June 2-June 6. More at http://www.metrokc.gov/elections/ .

The newly reorganized Legislative Action Committee meets June 8, 2 p.m. at the Burien Library to discuss state budget issues. New co-chairs are Ivan Weiss and Sarajane Siegfriedt.

KCDCC adopted a resolution supporting public ownership of critical public utility infrastructure, f calling for a feasibility study of public ownership of Puget Sound Energy, including the impact of the proposed [private] acquisition, and asking Governor Gregoire to direct the Utilities Commission to conduct such a study and halt the sale [of PSE] until it is completed.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson, who is running for reelection, was invited by the King County Chair to talk about the current state of education in Washington. Bergeson reviewed the history of the legislation in the early 90s--HB 1209--that established state standards in reading, writing, math, science, fine arts, thinking skills, and more/ HB 1209 also mandated a state test to measure how well schools and students met standards. She stressed the impact on that system of the federal No Child Left Behind program: "Its goal is great, its implementation punitive." NCLB does demand that children previously ignored must now be helped to achieve to their potential, but the increased number of tests demanded by NCLB, the inappropriate testing for special education and new immigrant students, and new rules Secretary of Education Spelling is about to impose create a burden the state is trying to counter with its own programming and slimming down the testing schedule. Bergeson predicted that about 90% of the class of 2008 will pass the reading and writing WASL tests' results will be out next week.

Former legislator Randy Dorn, candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction briefly spoke about the need for funding for education and called for simplifying state testing. Other candidates addressing the meeting included Barbara Mack (Superior Court Judge, Pos. 37) and Rebecca Graham (Superior Court judge, Pos. 22).

Respectfully submitted,

Linda Clifton, 43rd District KCDCC Committeewoman

Capitol Hill Station artwork update

Fri, 30 May 2008 18:27:06 GMT

Recently, the 43rd Legislative District Democrats passed a resolution calling out the proposed artwork for Capitol Hill Station as “culturally insensitive” to the neighborhood.

Artist Mike Ross has changed his concept since the Station Design Open House in early April. On June 11th he will host an art presentation forum at the Capitol Hill Arts Center (CHAC) to discuss the latest design developments, along with artist Ellen Forney. A public discussion to gather comments will follow. The event is being co-sponsored by the Capitol Hill Chamber, CHAC and Ignition NW.

For more information please contact:

Barbara Luecke

STart Program Manager

SOUND TRANSIT

401 S. Jackson St.

Seattle, WA 98104

206.398.5059

barbara.luecke@soundtransit.org

www.soundtransit.org/start

Help Wanted: Vice Chair for Tech and Communications

Fri, 30 May 2008 18:01:29 GMT

43rd Legislative District Board Member Position: Vice-Chair for Technology and Communications

Approximately 5-10 hours per month depending on the political calendar. Job requires great attention to detail, knowledge of website design, and Microsoft Access and Excel.

· Input PayPal data and update member contact information in the King County Democrats database as members send in their yearly membership dues.

· Forward the PayPal information to the district Treasurer after entering in database.

· Communicate with newsletter editor to ensure that the proper number of hard-copy newsletters gets printed and mailed to members without email addresses.

· Communicate with the district Chair to create blast email reminders and notices to send to members. This will involve at least one blast per month (i.e. the reminder of the monthly meeting) and could involve several depending on the political activity on a given month.

· Maintain/update the website as needed.

· Attend meetings as required (e.g. monthly general membership meetings, board meetings, others as needed)

· Provide general phone tech-support to other district board members as needed.

If interested, contact chair_43@hotmail.com.

John Kerry will keynote in Spokane!

Fri, 30 May 2008 17:55:11 GMT

Very exciting news:

John Kerry will be the keynote speaker at the State Convention in Spokane. All Democrats are invited to attend the Convention - the delegates elected on April 5th will have full voting privileges and will represent the 43rd Legislative District Democrats Organization. The Convention is the weekend of June 13th through June 15th at the Spokane Convention Center. If you would like to see the state party platform that will be voted on at the meeting, a preliminary draft has been made available online: http://www.wa-democrats.org/index.php?page=display&id=344

Judicial Candidate Forum & Endorsements Meeting

Fri, 30 May 2008 04:47:02 GMT

Judicial Candidate Forum & Endorsements Meeting

Contact Person:

Julian Wheeler, Vice-Chair for Programs (email at julianwheeler@hotmail.com or phone at 206-522-9495; email is strongly preferred)

Date:

Sunday, June 8th

Time:

Library doors open at 12:00. Check-in to receive endorsement ballot will begin promptly at 12:30 p.m. Call to order at 12:45 p.m.

Location:

Central Library (Microsoft Auditorium)

1000 Fourth Ave.

Seattle, WA 98104

206-386-4636

Details:

Judges are elected in Washington! Always a surprise when voters scroll down their ballots, judicial races are among the most difficult for members of the general public to cast votes in. The 43rd District Democrats are hosting a candidate forum to give the public increased access to the judicial candidates. Voters are responsible for deciding who renders justice in Washington; and as Democrats, we want a skilled, diverse, and socially conscious judiciary. We are pleased to partner with other Democratic organizations and political watch groups to present this forum featuring the candidates for the Washington State Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and King County Superior Court. This forum is free of charge and open to any one who would like to attend.

Following the forum, members of the 43rd District Democrats will submit written ballots for the district endorsement in the judicial races and other district wide political races. Highlights include the races for Governor, Attorney general, Commissioner of public lands, and House of Representatives Pos.1 (Jamie Pederson) and Pos. 2 (Frank Chopp). Anyone wishing to stay is welcome – only members may vote.

Agenda

The first draft of the agenda will be posted online on Monday, June 1 (the first day of candidate filing). Updates will be made again on Wednesday, June 3. A final draft will be posted on Saturday, June 7. Our current agenda plan is to call to order at 12:45 p.m. and adjourn at roughly 4:45 p.m. - allocating approximately three hours for the forum and one hour for the endorsements meeting.

43rdDems now on Twitter

Sun, 25 May 2008 00:56:26 GMT

In addition to our presence on Flickr, Facebook, and Windows Live, the 43rd Legislative District Democrats are now on Twitter. You may not have heard of Twitter but it's self-described as: "a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?"

If you want to try it out, send the TXT message "follow 43rdDems" to 40404.

If you try it and you don't like it, you can send the TXT "off 43rdDems" to unsubscribe.

Some of the campaigns are using Twitter. You can subscribe to two relatively popular ones :) by sending one of the following to 40404:

follow BarackObama
follow HillaryClinton

Cheers--
--Rob

REMINDER: PCO Filing Deadline is June 2

Sun, 25 May 2008 00:43:37 GMT

As surprising as it may seem, the 43^rd District was not always a bastion of Democratic values. It took many years of hard work from local individuals to make the 43^rd into the district it is today. Please keep that in mind as you read on.

As you well know, 2008 is an earth-changing election year for our nation and our state. However, without efforts made at the neighborhood level, the opportunity to make a difference is in jeopardy. Here’s what it comes down to:

The 43^rd District contains 214 precincts.

As of today, we only have 65 people signed up to be Precinct Committee Officers.

Our deadline for recruiting neighbors for the remaining slots? June 2.

This is where you come in.

Being a PCO is truly a small commitment of your time, but makes a huge difference in promoting democracy and in the 2008 election on every level. In short, we need you.

More specifically, being a PCO means dropping sample ballots and campaign literature on your neighbor’s doorsteps. It means informing your neighbors of election information and being a resource for them when they have election questions.

Now, here is what you can do:

a) Download and sign the PCO Declaration of Candidacy Form

b) Fill it out and mail the form to:

Vice-Chair for Membership c/o:
1415 2nd Ave. #2405
Seattle, WA 98101

c) The organization will turn-in your form.

That’s it. Do it today. Please.

Think your precinct already has a PCO? It might. However, chances are, it doesn’t. You can check to see if your precinct already has a PCO here, but because some of those PCOs no longer want to be PCOs, it is still possible that slots that have names attached to them will be empty if their forms are not filled in by June 2. So please, if you are interested, fill out that form and send it in by June 2.

Questions? Contact Stephanie Pure at (206) 931-7873 or at stephanie@stephaniepure.com

Thank you for everything you do for our democracy.

Stephanie Pure
Vice-Chair, Membership
43^rd District Democrats

We are going to the DNC! Congratulations to our 43rd district delegates!

Tue, 20 May 2008 03:52:17 GMT

The 7th Congressional District Caucus brought together nearly all of the legislative districts in King County to elect just seven delegates and one alternate for Obama and two delegates for Clinton. Although it was a difficult process, our legislative district grabbed a moment in the sun and took forty-percent of the total delegate allocation. We heartily congratulate David Kunselman (Clinton - male), Majid Al-Bahadli (Obama - male), Jennifer Hauseman (Obama - female), and David Valdez (Obama - alternate).

We are proud of the work of all of our 67 delegates. Every one of our delegates who decided to run came ready to lobby and made a compelling speech. Although not everyone was elected - we are sincerely grateful for your efforts.

Thank you!

- Hillary Madsen on behalf of the entire Executive Board

Resolution to be considered at May 20th General Membership Meeting

Fri, 16 May 2008 04:05:31 GMT

ENCOURAGE HOMEOWNERSHIP MORE FAIRLY AND EFFICIENTLY

Whereas the home mortgage interest deduction is by far the biggest deduction in the federal tax code, costing the federal government $76-80 billion per year (more than double the Housing and Urban Development budget) while it posts record deficits and debt;

Whereas tax deductions from a progressive income tax are regressive and more than 63% of the savings from this deduction go to people earning over $100,000 a year;

Whereas the mortgage interest deduction skews housing production in favor of large, expensive homes for wealthy people and away from affordable homes for working people;

Whereas the mortgage interest deduction subsidizes and encourages borrowing when America desperately needs to encourage saving;

Whereas homeownership is a worthy goal for government to promote;

Whereas the biggest obstacles to Americans wanting to buy their first homes are not monthly mortgage payments but down payments, closing costs, and too little affordable housing;

Whereas moving working Americans into homeownership where they can build equity is more important than subsidizing vacation homes for the rich;

Whereas since 1997 the federal government has offered a fully refundable $5000 tax credit to low and moderate income people buying their first homes in Washington, DC;

Whereas this credit has boosted homeownership and the real estate market in Washington, DC and attracted people to move there despite its lack of voting representation in Congress;

Whereas studies have found that the mortgage interest deduction does not increase homeownership while $5000 down payment grants enable 11% more renters to buy homes;

Be it hereby resolved by the 43^rd District Democrats that Congress and the President should phase out the mortgage interest deduction and replace it with a universal, fully refundable $5000 tax credit for first time home purchases. Be it further resolved that our representatives to the King County and Washington State Democratic Parties shall present this resolution to those bodies for their consideration, and that copies of this resolution shall be sent to Congressman McDermott and Senators Cantwell and Murray.

Respectfully submitted,

Jon Morgan

Precinct Committee Officer, 43-1849

March 2008

AGENDA - General Membership Meeting & Nominating Convention

Fri, 16 May 2008 04:02:53 GMT

2008 Nominating Convention

43rd Legislative District Democrats Organization
University Heights Community Center
May 20th at 7:00 p.m.

AGENDA

Doors Open – Check-in Begins at 6:30 p.m.

1. Call to Order (7 p.m. )

2. Orientation (Q&A about the Nominating Convention Process)

3. Speakers

4. Credentials Report

5. Nominations

a. 43rd Legislative District, Position no. 1

b. 43rd Legislative District, Position no. 2

6. New Business (8 p.m.)

a. Endorsements Procedures (Endorsements meeting is Sunday, June 8th)

b. Budget presentation

c. Resolution(s)

d. PCO elections

e. Officer Reports

7. Adjourn (9 p.m.)