Change is the only constant

“Change is the only constant in the universe.”
Heraclitus or Einstein (take your pick)

2011 is behind us. I could write pages about what has happened to our organization over the last year. But those pages have already been written. 2012 is upon us. We’re moving forward.
The Washington State Redistricting Commission has completed their work. The LD maps of Northwestern Washington as agreed upon by the Commissioners on January 1st significantly changes the 46th LD along with many other districts in our area. We get new territory, which means a lot of things are on the table and we’ll have some exciting challenges as we go into the caucus cycle and election season.

Specifically, welcome to our new PCOs and members in Lake Forest Park and Kenmore, which will likely become part of the new 46th District! This is a huge change for us. Over the last 10 years our northern border was 145th, and in the 1990’s we were focused more around Wedgwood and the U District. I’m always interested in maps and learning election history, but I think it’s been several decades since the 46th District covered areas outside of Seattle. So we have a lot to learn, and a bunch of new jurisdictions to be involved with over the next 10 years. (Page 4 of the January Demogram)

As soon as I saw the map, I started working on updating our database with the new precincts and asked the chair of the 32nd District, Carin Chase, for the list of PCOs and paid members within the two cities. We are going to treat paid members of the local party with the respect they are due, and they are now on our mailing list to receive this newsletter. The next thing we would like to do is hold a meet-and-greet for our new members so I can present the bylaws, operating rules and the culture of the 46th before our General Meeting on January 19th. Watch our calendar for that.

In addition to gaining new areas North, we also lost some. The precincts West of Aurora were moved either into the 32nd District or the 36th District, and that means we lost several very good friends to our neighbors. Dean Fournier has been active in the 46th since the 2001 redistricting, and now returns to his previous district the 32nd. Jason Osgood was a candidate in 2008 for Secretary of State. I don’t have room for the full list of dear friends who now find themselves in a new district, and we know they will stay engaged despite the change. The work we all do is too important.

Please review the final version of the bylaws changes that the executive board is proposing that were posted on our blog. We have expanded our territory, and I believe that means we should expand our executive board. And we want to make sure we have representation from all of our municipal jurisdictions. In addition, we have an election coming up for the King Conservation District, and we’re going to address a missing piece in our rules so that we can express our voice in these races from now on.

Please renew your membership for 2012 if you have not yet done so! The work never ends!

Chad Lupkes
Chair, 46th District Democrats