Jeanette Williams Memorial Bridge

by Georgie Bright Kunkel

When I learned that there would be a ceremony on West Marginal Way to unveil the highway sign JEANETTE WILLIAMS MEMORIAL BRIDGE I could not stay away. Soon I found myself driving along the boulevard and crossing the tracks into the parking area. Several dignitaries gathered to honor the woman of politics who took part in making sure that West Seattleites had a high bridge.

You may not realize it but the newly named, Jeanette Williams Memorial Bridge, made it possible to drive downtown to and from work without waiting for ships to pass under the drawbridge. This high bridge came into being because of an interesting occurrence. I will never forget the exciting news of Rolf Neslund, an older pilot, who made an error which resulted in the freighter Chavez crashing into one of the old bridges making it unusable. It is reported that he said, “My wife will kill me for this.” Well, as it happened she later died in prison for just that, killing him, even though his body was never found.

West Seattleites had to suffer traffic tie-ups because of the bridge’s demise. There was a good deal of wheeling and dealing to find the funds for a high bridge. Our senior senator Warren Magnuson had enough seniority to pull it off and the high bridge became a reality. Much of the groundwork for making it all happen was facilitated city council member Jeanette Williams when Charles Royer was mayor.

Williams did not begin her life in politics. She played viola in both Seattle and Chicago orchestras and even formed a traveling women’s band. But it wasn’t long before she found her calling. Anyone named after Alice Paul, feminist and political strategist, would naturally be a leader. She was the first female chair of a metropolitan Democratic Party organization in the United States.

I remember going with my husband downtown to her office and doing mailings. She showed us how to line up all the envelopes with the part to be moistened folded back. We would take a sponge and run it across at least ten or twenty envelopes and then seal each one. That was in the days of hands-on politics. It was before all the yard signs and high priced TV ads.

Her resume includes twenty years on the Seattle City Council with a reputation of being for parks, human rights and of course the West Seattle Bridge. Her grown children watched her stay intellectually active up until she died just a year ago at age 94. Although she wanted to see Hillary Clinton run for the presidency, she cast her vote for Barak Obama before she died.

Rusty Williams, her son, worked tirelessly to bring the issue of naming the bridge after his mother before the citizens of Seattle. He is very proud of the fact that she is the first woman to have such a large structure named in her memory.

There was a time in which I could drive over the high bridge and enter the freeway without merging at 60 miles an hour. Perhaps some other activist like Jeanette Williams will step up to the plate and find a way to change the traffic pattern to allow West Seattleites to have the right of way once more. I know that if Jeanette were still around, it might be accomplished.

Georgie Bright Kunkel is a freelance writer who can be reached at gnkunkel@comcast.net or 206-935-8663.

Thanks from David Bloom

Near the end of the meeting last Thursday, there was a motion from the floor to make a $400 contribution to the campaign of David Bloom. The motion passed, and we sent a check on Monday. I received his thanks last night:

Chad,

I received the donation check for my campaign today. It is a huge help during this last run-up to election day. Please extend my thanks to my fellow members of the 46th.

David Bloom

Thanks to our callers!

Senator Ken Jacobsen, Barbara Whitt, Gerry Pollet and Erica Minshull came to the Olympic View Church tonight to make some calls in support of the NO ON I-1033 campaign. Thanks so much for coming out!

The next phone bank hosted by the 46th District will be next Tuesday, October 27th. Contact Barbara or Gerry for details and to RSVP.

Two weeks to go!

Ballot Postage

A question came up at the meeting last Thursday night about the postage required for mailing the ballot. Emily Willoughby, Elections Vice Chair of the King County Democrats and our county representative on the Citizens' Elections Oversight Committee, let me know that a single first class stamp is sufficient. If you have any questions, please let us know.

Fwd: Invitation to Special Joint Town Hall on K-12 Budget Issues

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: White, Rep. Scott <White.Scott@leg.wa.gov>
Date: Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 8:25 AM
Subject: Invitation to Special Joint Town Hall on K-12 Budget Issues
To: WALEG-HOUSE-WHITE@listserv.wa.gov

State Representative Scott White
Town Hall on K-12 Funding
46th District   |   white.scott@leg.wa.gov
10/14/09
You are invited to a Special Joint Town Hall to discuss K-12 Education
Budget and Funding Issues

Please join School Board Directors Sherry Carr and Peter Maier and
State Representative Scott White for a special Town Hall to discuss
school funding and budget issues from both a state and school district
perspective.

7:00 p.m. Tuesday, October 20th
Olympic View Elementary
504 NE 95th St

For more information:

State Representative Scott White
(206) 366-7830
white.scott@leg.wa.gov

Director Sherry Carr
(206) 252-0040
sherry.carr@seattleschools.org

Director Peter Maier
(206) 252-0040
peter.maier@seattleschools.org

To contact me directly, send an email to white.scott@leg.wa.gov

A special appeal to PCO's

This is an email I just sent out to our PCO's:

Hi everyone,

I'm not using Constant Contact this time. This is a personal appeal. Our ability to support our platform depends on getting the right people in office, and ensuring the vote goes our way on significant ballot measures. Especially this year. I-1033 could devastate the finances of the state and local governments. There is no way that I can overemphasize how important this is. Everything that we work for, everything that we dream for our kids and our future depends on being active. As PCO's you know that already.

I just stopped by Sylvia's house because I needed some I-1033 literature. It was there waiting for me. All of the literature that we need for this election is there.

There were also a LOT of bags still to be picked up. If you have already picked up the bag for your precinct, thanks so much. If you have not yet, please pick it up this weekend and distribute the literature this week. Ballots are going into the mail, and the numbers from the primary election showed that 30% of people who will vote in an all-mail election fill out their ballot right when they get it and send it in almost immediately. We need to catch that first wave of voters.

If you can do more than just your precinct, that's fantastic. Please do everything you can.

Contact me if you have any questions. Please.

--
Chad Lupkes - http://chadlupkes.blogspot.com
Chair, 46th District Democrats - http://46dems.com

Notes from the Chair, October, 2009

The Demogram has been published, and here are the "Notes from the Chair".

All of us are constantly learning from our history, to try and improve things that we may not have done as well as we hoped or to avoid making mistakes. I think the September Endorsement Meeting went much better in some ways than the June meeting, and I’ll continue to try and improve the way things are done.

The district too is exploring what we can do better. I would like to point out one of the ways that we are evolving and changing. Since probably 1995, Janet Miller has maintained a database of members and activists who have attended our precinct caucuses and other events. With my technical skills, this is one of the things I have most wanted to work on since I got involved with the district in 2004. I’m planning on making it a more robust and integrated system that will help us track our membership, events and budget. I would like to thank Janet for doing such a great job over the last 14 years. I’m nervous about taking this on, because just over the last two months I know how much work it has been.

We’re planning for the 2010 Caucus Cycle and Budget cycle. According to the rules passed by the State Committee, we will not be holding Precinct Caucuses this coming year. That’s a big change, and in some ways a positive one. But conducting the LD Caucus without the preparatory work normally started at the precinct level will take some extra work. We need to develop a platform drafting process that takes input from the grassroots and makes a meaningful update to our 2008 Platform. We will need to elect delegates and alternates to the County Convention and the State Convention. And we need to build our party by proving once again that the 46th LD is one of the most effective party organizations in the state.

If everyone pitches in, 2010 will be a bright spot in our history, where we hold true to our progressive principles and push the country further into the 21st Century. Starting in North Seattle, of course!

Chad Lupkes
Chair, 46th District Democrats

P.S., Some of you might have heard about my bike crash. I’m fine, don’t worry. But I wanted to use a point of personal privilege here to thank my personal community. The crash happened about a block away from NW Hospital, and I saw several people come out of their yards to ask if I was ok. I was well enough to walk to the ER. Everyone has been supportive, and my friends in cyberspace didn’t even notice. At least they say they didn’t notice. I love this community.

Read the rest of the October Demogram here.