The January 19th meeting is open for new members from Lake Forest Park and Kenmore (LFP/K)

This blog post is going to go into technical language, so bear with me.

Last September, the Washington State Democratic Central Committee passed a resolution giving guidance for legislative districts on how to handle the upcoming changes due to Redistricting.  Here's the language, from a letter sent by Jaxon Ravens, WSDCC Executive Director, on November 4th, 2011:

• The State Central Committee directs legislative district organizations to begin meeting within their new geographic boundaries from the redistricting commission within 30 days of adoption of the redistricting plan by the legislature.  This means that either your January or your February legislative district (LD) meeting will be the first to correspond to the new LD boundaries.  This meeting will be convened by leadership the LD had prior to redistricting, and shall be conducted according to the by‐laws of the “Old Legislative District” (OLD).  This “New Legislative District” (NLD) can decide to elect new leaders, under the provisions of its by‐laws; and it can choose to amend its by‐laws.

So, the assumption from this language was that the Redistricting Commission would be submitting their final plan to the legislature, and that the legislature would be adopting the plan.  I told attendees at the meet and greet at the Kenmore Library that the new boundaries take effect "when the legislature acts", and that the currently open at-large position would not be open for persons who reside within LFP/K unless the legislature acts prior to the 19th.

Which opened up a question, when was the legislature going to act?  To find out, Sarajane and I reached out to Rep. Sam Hunt (D-22), chair of the State Government & Tribal Affairs committee in the Olympia House of Representatives.  His answer was a surprise:

• The Redistricting Commission adopted the plan on January 1.  It does not have to be adopted by the Legislature; we can only make technical changes, but we do not have to adopt the plan.

To confirm that, I went back to the Redistricting Commission website, and looked at their Frequently Asked Questions page.  This is what I found:

• A redistricting plan must be approved by three of the four voting Commission members. This plan becomes final unless it is amended by the Legislature within 30 days after the beginning of the next regular or special legislative session.

So, I was wrong on Tuesday night.  The legislature doesn't "act" exactly.  Todd Nichols, chair of the WSDCC Rules Committee nuanced it this way this morning via email:

• ... I would say that the legislature will "act" to seal the plan by its inaction after 30 days. There is no indication that the legislature has any plans to amend the Commission's plan that I'm aware of.  We want everyone to be able to get a jump on the new organizations given the nature of this election year.

What is all this leading to?  I'm going to rule that all members of the "New 46th Legislative District", which includes the precincts in Lake Forest Park and Kenmore, are eligible to run for the currently open At-Large position on the Executive Board, even BEFORE the district membership considers amendments to our bylaws that would increase the number of At-Large members and require that one of the top four positions be held by someone from LFP/K.

If anyone has any questions, please let me know.

Chad Lupkes
Chair, 46th District Democrats

Dean Fournier has resigned as KCDCC Male Representative

Due to the 46th losing his precinct to the 32nd, Dean Fournier has resigned as KCDCC Male Rep from the 46th District Democrats.

Dean came into the 46th LD in 2001 when his neighborhood was moved by the 2001 Redistricting Commission from the 32nd, and immediately got to work reviewing our bylaws and platform.  He had worked on the 2000 platform for the 32nd District, and over the past 10 years has been an invaluable member of the 46th Executive Board in his role as KCDCC Male Rep, chair or co-chair of our Platform and Resolutions Committee, as well as being tapped numerous times to chair the Rules Committee for Bylaws Review and Operating Rules for the district.

Dean is already engaging with the 32nd District Democrats to continue acting in support of the party and our shared values and platforms.  The 46th District will survive his leaving, but we will miss him terribly.  I'm grateful that he will be continuing his role as KCDCC Platform and Resolutions co-chair, and I look forward to seeing him at future events.  Thanks, Dean, we wouldn't be the same without you.

The position of KCDCC Male Rep will be officially announced as vacant at the January meeting, published in the February Demogram and will be filled at the February meeting.

Bylaws Amendment Proposal

With the changes in the district coming in 2012 thanks to the work of the Redistricting Commission, we have some challenges and opportunities before us. The Executive Board considered two alternatives to how we could adjust our bylaws to encourage activists from all over our district to get involved within our district organization.

You can see the results of our debate on our website, where we have posted a Tracked Changes version of the bylaws showing the changes we are proposing.

The first change is increasing the number of At-Large members from five to seven. Our district has grown in size, and we need to open up more positions.

The second change is to require that at least one member of the eboard is from each of our three municipal jurisdictions (Seattle, Lake Forest Park and Kenmore). We also wanted to ensure that at least one of our top four positions (Chair, 1st Vice Chair, 2nd Vice Chairs (2)) is opened to someone from either Lake Forest Park or Kenmore. Those two Northshore cities make up close to 25% of our total district population, so it makes sense to make sure one of the top four positions is from that area. We also wanted to make it clear that the language we will present on January 19th is, as we say in the industry, a "shoehorn" to make it fit through the 2012 election year, and that the language will be reviewed and likely revised after the January 2013 Reorganization.

The third change is a change to our Endorsement articles so that we have the opportunity to express our voices and declare preferences in special elections that occur beyond the Primary and General Elections managed by King County Elections. We have an election for the King Conservation District coming in late February, and we're not going to miss it this year.

Please review the language we have posted on our website. The bylaws can only be amended by the full membership at a general meeting, and we will present this proposal on January 19th.

Chad Lupkes
Chair, 46th District Democrats

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