The March 2019 General Business Meeting of the Washington State 21st Legislative District Democratic Party Organization took place on March 20, 2019, at the Lynnwood Public Library.
The meeting opened with a flag salute.
Acceptance of the Minutes
The minutes from the February meeting were posted on the website. There was a motion to accept the minutes, which was seconded. The February minutes were accepted without objection.
Adoption of the Agenda
The agenda for tonight’s meeting were emailed to members. The agenda was amended because only one of the expected featured speakers was able to attend the meeting. There was a motion to adopt the agenda as amended, which was seconded. The agenda as amended was adopted without objection.
Because the Lynnwood Public Library closes at 9:00 PM, some of this month’s business would have to wait until the next meeting.
Featured Speaker
Our featured speaker this month was Arvia Morris, with the Environmental and Climate Caucus of the Washington State Democratic Party (website: https://eccwa.wordpress.com/)
According to the speaker, Washington State’s greenhouse gas emissions increased by 6% between 2012 and 2015, and not enough has been done to control the increase since Initiative 937 was passed in 2006. Much of the increase is the result of economic and population growth.
Ms. Morris recommended that the members of the 21st LD speak with their elected representatives to emphasize that we want to see action on the climate, in particular during the months of November and December when the legislature is deciding what goals to pursue in the next year.
Old Business
There was no Old Business.
New Business
Most of the meeting was taken up by a special presentation from Chair Sharon Holt and State Committeepeople Shaun Olsen and Simone Gomes, regarding pending changes to the Washington State presidential caucus process.
The Democratic Party of Washington State is changing the way that it selects delegates to the Democratic National Convention, where the Democratic Party candidate for president will be selected in 2020. Current proposals are between a caucus system with improvements to the precinct level caucus (removing the requirement to attend in person for a vote to be counted, for example), and a new hybrid primary/caucus system that would replace the precinct level caucus entirely with a mail in primary vote. The proposals are not yet final, and the issue is complex and quickly changing, meaning that there is a lot the state committee members, and the state party itself, don’t yet know about how either system would be implemented. The Chair and state committee members did their best to answer the membership’s questions, given the information available at the time.
Detailed information from the state committee members can be found here:
Following the presentation, an anonymous advisory vote was held, where the members expressed their preference for the two proposed systems, as currently presented. The results of this advisory vote were 13 in favor of the hybrid primary/caucus, 9 in favor of the caucus, and 3 undecided.
During this meeting, the organization also spent time in executive session to discuss an internal matter.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00, due to the closing of the Lynnwood Public Library. Unfinished business will be completed at the next meeting.