As renowned former US House Speaker “Tip” O’Neill once noted, “All politics are local.” And, as evidenced by the content of this “election special” newsletter, I think you’ll agree we can feel pretty good about the state of our local democracy. We have some great candidates running in local races this year, and I commend each and every one of them for their commitment to be active and the many personal sacrifices involved in doing so. Please check our candidate insert and offer them your help.

We can also take pride in our active membership and all in which they’re involved, from helping those less fortunate or TCD fund raising and working to improve our local democracy and the livability of our local community to uniting nationally to speak out against the illegal and unjust war in which our nation is now engaged.

We must now sustain our local involvement and success and carry it to the national level, and we need YOUR help to do it! 2006 offers an opportunity for the Democrats to turn the tide. Not only are most Americans now aware that invading Iraq only jeopardized our security, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have stripped the façade of “economic well being” touted by the Republicans promoting tax cuts and furthering corporate cronyism. Americans are crying out for leadership that offers them a viable opportunity to the massive transfer of assets to a select few and a return to caring for and protecting our citizens and resources.

Next year, we will elect candidates to county, state and national offices. Let’s stand up for what we believe by ensuring we elect or reelect county, state and national Democrats who commit to promote policies providing economic opportunity and security, health care, education, energy efficiency and conservation of resources, the return of our civil liberties, and peace for all citizens.

If you haven’t yet gotten around to becoming a dues-paying member, please consider doing so now. Funds are necessary to sustain and further grassroots organizing, communicating, including widely distributed newsletters such as this, developing coalitions within our local communities and helping elect solid candidates who represent our values. Please also peruse the list of precincts and, if your precinct is without a Precinct Committee Officer, let us know if you’re willing to become one, and be prepared to volunteer for one or more of the many TCD activities you’ll be hearing about over the next year.

Burger Booth Retrospective

The Burger Booth saga of 2005 has to be divided into two parts, the frantic internal reconstruction period and the days of summer fun, which were manifested in Super Saturday, Lakefair, and Harbor Days.

To say I was reluctant when our Chair, John Cusick, asked me to take on the task of getting the Burger Booth ready for this years “months of summer fun” is probably understating my feelings. But, as we all know, John has his ways and wiles and suddenly the job was mine.

When I saw the inside of the Burger Booth my reluctance increased exponentially. Since being handy around tools is definitely not one of my skill sets, I knew I had to pray for an angel and believe it or not my prayers were answered.

I would be among the first to admit that Mike Pelela would not be what most would perceive as what an angel would look like, but Mike is the quintessential handyman. He has all the tools and knows how to use them. Best of all, he introduced me to his brother Paul. I knew that I had a winner when I met Paul and he said, “Not to worry Jerry, we can do this.”

There was an apprentice class going on and it seems that the Burger Booth was made to order for them to practice their welding skills. They made new stainless steel frames for both grills and also helped out with grill and general cleaning. Paul also arranged for the Painting and Associated Trades Union, from Seattle, to donate and install a floor. Next he talked to the Metal Unions and they donated the material and labor for our new stainless steel counter tops. So the “Brothers Pelela” is responsible, in large part, for the successful remodeling of the Burger Booth. We also owe a large thank you to Bernie Miller who came to the rescue just as I thought all was lost and exercised his considerable carpentry skills. We also must thank Mike “the electrician” Watkinson for rewiring the Burger Booth and for his constant support during the fun filled days of summer. I must also thank my friends Ken Schwilk and Harvey Williamson for their constant willingness to come and work with me. They and Mike brightened many otherwise dreary days… and we even got a lot of work done! If I have forgotten any one, and surely I must have, please chalk it up to my advanced age and failing mental acuity.

The Burger Booth was finally ready for Super Saturday at The Evergreen State College on June 11th. We, who were all new to Burger Booth management, thought Super Saturday would be a good rehearsal for Lakefair. Little did we know that one slow Super Saturday did not even come close to getting us ready for five days of the Lakefair gauntlet. However, once Harbor Days was upon us we were “Demo Burger Pros” and those two days were a walk in the park.

Finally the Burger Booth season was over. One wonders how something that lasted only eight days, not all of them consecutive, could take up a whole summer.

Mary Lou Longenbaugh deserves special thanks from all of us for the many dozens of hours she worked on the shift schedules that never seemed to be filled with enough workers, as well as procuring necessary supplies and materials. Our Chair John Cusick and his wife Christi McGinley also deserve special thanks for always being early and making sure everything was clean and ready to open each day. Thanks to Roger Erskine for always being there and always being willing to do the onions when no one else would. There are so many people to thank that this piece might never be finished, so let me just thank all of you who so willingly volunteered, some many times.

We had a good run and it was a learning experience for many of us. Next year will be even better!

TCD and Thousands of Others March for Peace

Scores of Thurston County Democrats marched for peace in Olympia, Seattle and Washington, DC on Saturday, Sept. 24. Democrats from Thurston County marching in DC included Wes Hamilton (PCO Pleasant Glade 109), and Judy Linehan (Olympia 23) who flew from England, where they have been active in the peace movement. Wes and Judy brought UK Gold Star Mother for Peace, Rose Gentle, who spoke at several events with US Gold Star Mother for Peace, Cindy Sheehan. Ken Schwilk (PCO Lacey 31) led the Veterans for Peace-Rachel Corrie Chapter 109 color guard, along with Jim James (Olympia 40), and marched with Dennis Mansker (Olympia 48), Molly Gibbs (South Bay), Debby Pattin (PCO French 174), and Jody Tiller (Olympia 49) an Air Force veteran who was arrested on Monday, Sept. 26 while trying to meet with President Bush.

Ewan Hughes (former PCO Olympia 44; past chair of SPSCC Young Democrats) now attending American University in Washington, DC, joined in the march. Jane Johnson (PCO Bigelow, Treasurer TCD), who took part in the 1968 anti-war demonstration during the Democratic National Convention, was back for this peace march, estimated to be the largest anti-war event in DC since the Vietnam war.

The huge crowd was filled with veterans, from WWII vets in wheel chairs to recently returned Iraq vets. A comment frequently heard from one Vietnam veteran to another was that when they marched for peace before, they never thought that they would have to march again. If only that were the case.

Upcoming peace events here in Thurston County include “Arlington NW,” a memorial tribute to the US military service men and women who have died in Iraq and who represent the ultimate cost of war. “Arlington NW” will be held on the Capitol campus from 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16 through 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 17.

“Two Thousand is Two Thousand Too Many”: US military deaths in Iraq are nearing 2,000. A vigil will be held in Olympia on Saturday Oct. 29 from 12-1 p.m., lining the sidewalks from the 4th and 5th Avenue bridge towards Percival Landing. This will be a peaceful vigil mourning all the dead in Iraq (American, Iraqi, and others). For information, contact Florence Vincent at 446-1230 or florence@northwestbarter.com.

State Central Committee Meeting

By Elizabeth Shepard
State Committeewoman and Precinct Committee Officer, Zangle 101

The State Central Committee meeting was it’s usual hive of activity in September. We had plus or minus 60 resolutions to review. Also presented was the draft Washington State Outreach Plan targeting ethnic and minority communities.

We elected a new member to replace Patsy Whitefoot representing Washington State on the DNC: Pat Notter from Chelan County.

There were eight caucus meetings, and eight committee meetings, a chair’s meeting, and the Young Democrats of Washington Officer’s Retreat. The Resolution Committee held a marathon meeting and got through almost all of the resolutions. One of the most important concerns the fact there is no active focus group opposing Tim Eyman’s Resolution I-912 and his “no new tax” crusade. Money this initiative is trying to eliminate is vital to the infrastructure of this state both on the east side and west side. The proposed gasoline taxes will support services that have not been supported adequately in the past. We must maintain our roads, provide access to ports for commerce, and ensure safety of those who use the roads. Please help oppose I-912 by telling others the truth about what it would mean if it passes.

If you are interested in reading more about the initiatives that we worked on at the State Central Committee meeting, I would be happy to share them with you. You can contact me at jemn1@earthlink.net or 943-9448. They cover a plethora of ideas and issues. If you are interested in such things, it would be worthwhile to take a look.

Precinct 201

In the interest of building a stronger party organization, I would like to set down what our precinct has done so far.

*What is a Caretaker PCO?

A Caretaker PCO is someone who serves as the acting PCO for a precinct without a precinct committee officer. The primary duty of the Caretaker is to recruit a PCO who lives within the boundaries of that precinct. The Caretaker PCO will contact Democrats residing within the precinct and try to put together a Precinct Committee to help with canvassing the precinct.

Gus has been very active in building the Democratic Party here in Thurston County. Our sincere welcome and appreciation goes out to all PCOs and Caretaker PCOs for doing a tough but very important job!

Importance of Becoming a PCO

Precinct Committee Officers are the foundation of the Democratic Party — they are the grass roots which grow the entire organization. PCOs help inform their neighbors about causes and candidates, listen to their concerns, register voters, lead caucuses, recruit election board workers, and get out the vote. Additionally, PCOs have the opportunity to take part in the local Democratic Party, voting on policy, the platform, and endorsing candidates. At the monthly central committee meetings, PCOs have the chance to network with one another and to learn new skills to help them fulfill their duties.

PCOs also have the opportunity to contribute their talents to committees, party events, and philanthropic activities, such as the Food Bank. If you would like to take an active role, please volunteer to serve as a PCO. If your precinct’s PCO position is currently filled, join the Precinct Committee to share your views.

How to locate your precinct

How to determine if your precinct has a PCO vacancy

Adam Smith Meets with PCOs

Congressman Smith came to Thurston County September 10th to meet with our PCOs. About 20 of us showed up to the meeting. He spoke to us about the importance of maintaining our base and suggested that a key method is to give volunteers something to do: phone banks, letter writing, sign waving, walking precincts with flyers. He really encouraged us to make a flyer or door hanger. That way everyone is invested in the party and feels a part of our victory.

Representative Smith spoke about the need to reach out to other progressive groups. He said he’s surprised some of them don’t consider themselves Democrats. He offered as an explanation that we Democrats sometimes become so firm in our stance on “pet” issues that we don’t always appear to have the “big tent.” He suggested we reach out to other progressive organizations, but they and we need to understand that we won’t always be 100% working on their or our issue. The greater good is to stick with the Party and be patient concerning your “pet” issue. He reminded us that the Republicans have learned how to do this very well, and we should take a lesson from their playbook. Smith encouraged us to let go of being dogmatic on issues and encourage Party unity.

He also gave us an opportunity to ask questions and many of us thanked him for some of his recent votes. Some chastised him (gently) for misspeaking about supporting the war (he said he meant support the troops). We had great discussions on framing a core philosophy, and working on appearing less hostile to faith. Some of the core value frames we discussed were: energy independence, the Party of ethics, and support of faith. He suggested we look at the Center for American Progress Web site www.americanprogress.org for talking points and ideas. It’s great to have this access to our Representative! I think most of us enjoyed discussing larger Party issues and feeling like our voices were heard.

TCD Begins Offering Candidate Endorsements

This September, the Thurston County Democratic Central Committee voted to offer its endorsement to candidates who had earlier been approved to receive campaign services and now requested its endorsement. The addition of endorsements to the services TCD offers approved candidates is new. Each candidate listed below applied and was approved for TCD campaign services and subsequent endorsement.

There may be other worthy Democrat candidates who did not request services from TCD and thus are not listed. Because a candidate is not listed as being endorsed by TCD does not mean he or she is not a Democrat or would not be supported by TCD. It simply means that the candidate did not request services from TCD.

As the next campaign season approaches, we will ensure all our Democrat candidates know about TCD’s new campaign services and endorsement policy.

Please visit the candidate page on our website to review more information about each of the TCD endorsed candidates.

Initiatives on November Ballot

There are five initiatives on the 2005 ballot, and each would have important implications for our state if passed.

I-900 concerns performance audits of governmental entities, something that initially seems easy to support. But a PDC report reveals that major financial backing for I-900 comes from Michael Dunmire, an enthusiastic supporter of Tim Eyman’s past initiatives. He claims he got the idea for I-900 while listening to conservative talk radio program, and then consulted with the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a conservative think tank. All of this makes us, as Democrats, a bit uneasy.

I-901 would expand indoor smoking bans to include all vehicles and buildings open to the public and places of employment. Backers include the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association and the American Lung Association. This initiative has been endorsed by the Washington State Democrats.

I-912 would repeal the gas tax passed by the legislature in the last session. Repeal of the tax would translate into a negligible drop in gas prices, but essentially guarantee that nothing will be done about the Alaskan Way Viaduct, and other pressing transportation needs in our state. Though we all feel the pain at the pump right now due to the oil companies’ significant price increases, as Democrats we want to carefully consider the implications of this repeal, and whether we will pay more in the long run.

Finally, there are the competing I-300 and I-336, both of which purport to address the issue of medical malpractice. The insurance industry and (some) doctors support I-300, while I-336 enjoys backing from consumer groups and trial attorneys (and some doctors). The TCD endorsed I-336, and encourages a “yes” vote it, while recommending a “no” vote on I-330. A forum on both initiatives was held September 26, 2005, at the monthly Central Committee Meeting.

Do Big Box Stores Help Or Hurt?

By Karen Valenzuela
Tumwater City Councilmember and Precinct Committee Officer, Tumwater 6

Small communities like Tumwater must balance a host of what can seem at times like competing priorities: public health and safety, environmental protection and preservation, vibrant neighborhoods with adequate, afford able housing, an engaged citizenry, and enough business and commerce to sustain economic vitality. At the same time Tumwater citizens desire to retain our “small town feel,” we also welcome being able to live, work, shop and recreate all within our city boundaries. Oh, and we want it all to be walkable and bike-able and save all our trees! So the recent influx of larger retail establishments like Fred Meyer, Costco, Home Depot and possibly Wal-Mart is seen by some as fulfillment of every thing we need in our immediate environs, by others as no less than a threat to a way of life we don’t want to lose.

In the mid-to-late ‘90’s, as a member of the Planning Commission, I spent an immensely satisfying period of time helping to craft Tumwater’s Littlerock Road sub-area plan. With the help of people living in the area, we dreamed, zoned and set development standards for an area that, at that time, was largely vacant save the lone big-box Costco. The main question by everyone involved in the process then was how to attract the kind of commercial development to the area the plan envisioned, while creating an attractive, pedestrian friendly area that retained its country road look and feel. Fast forward a mere six or seven years, and the area begins to look like big-box haven, at which point those neighbors who had helped develop the sub-area plan were starting to ask “What just happened here? This isn’t how we imagined it.”

When Wal-Mart approached the City with a request to vacate Kingswood Drive (the road leading from Littlerock Rd. to Home Depot) in order to accommodate a 207,000 square foot development with more than 1000 parking spaces, alarmed citizens quickly organized to protest. Tumwater City Council responded by putting an emergency moratorium in place prohibiting retail establishments in excess of 125,000 square feet while it re-examined the Littlerock Road sub-area plan for possible revisions. The moratorium will expire in spring 2006, lacking an extension. Ironically, it may be that the moratorium doesn’t apply to Wal-Mart, since its development application arrived at City Hall about 3 hours prior to enactment of the moratorium.

Large retail establishments like Costcos and Wal-Marts contribute much needed sales tax revenues to a city’s coffers, critical to a budget as small as Tumwater’s. From an economic point of view, a moratorium prohibiting any new developments like these can be thought of as doing harm to the vitality and growth of a city’s economy.

Another point of view holds that these kinds of developments cause greater long term harm and costs to a community in that they contribute to sprawl, hire legions of part-time low-wage workers who must rely on public programs for health care and housing and child care, and cause job losses in the community due to out-sourcing and out-competing smaller local businesses. They are considered to have a ‘homogenizing’ effect, destroying the unique character and history of a community. They make a community more economically vulnerable if the large retailer should suddenly leave town, as has happened frequently with Wal-Mart. Additionally, Wal-Mart in particular but some other large retailers as well, routinely violate what many citizens consider basic human values, bolstering the need for adopting a community values ordinance that could deny licenses to those businesses that fail to meet certain minimum standards relating to wages and benefits, unionizing, hiring locally and buying from local businesses.

In Tumwater’s case, the City Council and Planning Commission, along with input from citizens, will continue to ponder the quandary of how to best plan for our future while honoring our past and serving as best we can in the present, given the competing interests we must consider and accommodate.

Community Values Ordinance:
Holding Wal-Mart accountable to community values and vision

Many local people want a healthy local economy in which hard-working people, operating within a free market, can succeed. They want good jobs paying a living wage and providing health-care benefits. They do not want companies to violate environmental or labor laws or to infringe on employees’ and customers’ civil rights. Further, they like, and want to support local and independent family-owned businesses. They believe in democracy — in a system in which those affected by the rules make the rules. They believe in the right of self determination — in a community’s right to decide what it will look like in 50 years, not in the right of some large corporation to come in and make these decisions for them.

The Community Values Ordinance (CVO), introduced in Olympia and Tumwater, is all about achieving these values and a democratic system of citizen self-determination. Under the ordinance, large corporations above a certain size threshold would be unable to obtain a local business license needed to enter or remain in the city if their demonstrated business practices are inconsistent with our values — supporting local independent businesses, good U.S. manufacturing jobs, thriving local economies, living family wages and fair worker treatment, and upholding labor and environmental laws and citizen civil rights.

The ordinance creates a community values report card to score businesses to determine if they meet our minimum standards and community values. The corporation must complete a questionnaire that is plugged into the report card. If a passing score is achieved, the license is granted. If not, the company would either be denied the opportunity to locate here or, if already here, forced to leave town. The program’s administrative expense would be paid by the corporations through a fee structure. In addition, a citizen-suit provision would allow local citizens to assure their ordinance is being properly administered.

A perfect example of the kind of corporation the CVO will target is Wal-Mart. In contrast to locally-owned businesses, having owners that live in and value the community from which they profit, Wal-Mart has a net balance of zero values. It possesses one singular goal — to make money. By design, corporations like Wal-Mart are money-making machines, accountable solely to shareholders. They are not accountable to their workers, the environment, local economies, or communities. The nationally embraced corporate governance principle of “shareholder primacy” ensures this; Company managers must focus on maximizing shareholder profit, regardless of the societal costs (environmental hazards, lack of healthcare, poverty wages…) that are a direct result of their management decisions. This is why corporations lobby government for weaker labor and environmental laws. It’s also why corporations break these laws when they can get away with it. They have no values — no conscience. If they were people, they would be diagnosed

Wal-Mart’s record proves it is the best of the best at increasing shareholder profit to the detriment of the environment, working Americans, and even the American economy. Wal-Mart does not pay a living wage or provide meaningful health care benefits. It teaches its employees how to get on welfare. It has a no-tolerance union policy. It has taught managers nationwide how to cheat employees out of overtime pay. It sells mostly cheap goods made in communist China where workers cannot organize and demand fair wages. It refuses to pay U.S. manufacturers a fair price, forcing them to locate overseas. Due to this record, many communities call Wal-Mart the worst of the worst and refuse to let Wal-Mart into their town.

Unfortunately, these communities have chosen to fight Wal-Mart with methods that are often ineffective and usually miss the point. Communities often challenge Wal-Mart with zoning, traffic, or retail-size limits and quickly drain their financial reserves litigating in a complex regulatory arena over traffic, for example. This may work in round one. But what happens the next year when Wal-Mart updates its application with improved traffic mitigation? Wal-Mart wins. This scenario has played itself out time and again across our nation.

The approach used in the traffic scenario is a “harms-based” approach — where the question being asked is “how much must we let the corporation harm us — how much traffic must we endure?” This approach is often unsuccessful in the long term, and it also misses the point. Most communities do not fight Wal-Mart due to traffic impacts. They fight because Wal-Mart’s business practices are in extreme conflict with the community’s values.

Citizen activists nationwide are changing their approach from “harm based” to “rights based”. They are demanding to exercise their democratic right of self-determination by holding corporations accountable to the values and vision of the communities from which they profit. This not-so-new approach, which was used by the founding fathers in the declaration of independence, was re-born in rural Pennsylvania. There community organizers protected their quality of life by passing similar CVO’s that successfully stopped industrial hog farms, sewage sludge spreading on farmland, and gargantuan rock quarries.

The Community Values Ordinance is quintessential rights-based activism. , The battle is framed in favor of local communities seeking to protect their way of life, and boils down to the citizens’ right of self-governance versus the corporation’s privilege to plunder for profit. Wal-Mart may challenge the ordinance using the legal doctrine of “corporate personhood.” Under this claim, corporations argue they have the same civil rights we do- free speech, free association, equal protection, unimpeded interstate commerce, or due process. Wal-Mart may argue that it is beyond our democratic authority to curb its bad actor status in our communities. Unfortunately for democracy and most of America, Wal-Mart’s corporate civil rights supercede citizen civil rights.

In an era where federal and state governments are “of, by, and for the corporations” instead of “of, by and for ‘the people’”, local government is now the last stand. Citizens still have a measure of influence in local government, so it is here we must draw the line. Ask your city council to pass the Community Values Ordinance. Request that it stand up for local independent businesses, the worker next door, and pleasant neighborhoods, instead of company-managed towns. Insist that government protects and serves democracy, its local citizens, and their vitally important community values.

To learn more about the Community Values Ordinance and about local citizen democracy, visit www.reclaimdemocracy.org/Olympia and click on item number 10.3.

If every day seems to bring some new outrage when you hear the news, and you’re feeling like you want to do something to make a difference, please consider volunteering with your Thurston County Democrats!

TCD is an all-volunteer organization run by people, just like you, who are passionate about making a difference. TCD owes its success to the dedication of its hard-working volunteers who give an hour, two hours, or a day here and there. Here are two perfect opportunities to help make TCD a strong and enduring partner in electing good Democrats.

Precinct leadership

Our PCO coordinator needs several people to help set appointments for her to speak to groups where we might find new PCOs. Contact Jeanne Passarelli at 455-0422, or j.passarelli@comcast.net.

Help our candidates

Many great candidates are running for office this November and they need your help! They need “sign wavers” and people to make phone calls to remind people to vote. Contacts Helen Wheatley at 753-7065, or hwheatley@zhonka.net, or Jerry Muchmore at 413-9729, or bigdogjerry@comcast.net.

TCD Contributes to Thurston County Food Bank

Democrats volunteer at the Thurston County Food Bank on the first Monday of every month. This is a busy time for the Food Bank with holidays coming and the weather getting colder.

This is a fantastic opportunity for us Democrats to help those in need and to act on the values we promote. There are two shifts to work, so if morning isn’t good for you then you have another opportunity in the afternoon!

The next volunteer opportunity is November 7, and the shifts are 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. and 12:30 p.m.- 4:30 p.m.

If you plan to volunteer, you’ll need to complete a form that the Food Bank requires of all its volunteers. You can download the form at the Thurston County Democrats’ Website www.thurstondemocrats.org/newdocs/FoodBankVolunteerForm.pdf. This form is important because OSHA will cover workers while volunteering there.

If you would like to help make Thanksgiving Baskets, two shifts are available: Saturday, November 19 from 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. and Sunday, November 20 from 1:00 p.m. until completion.

If you are interested in helping at the Food Bank, please contact Elizabeth Shepard at jemn1@earthlink.net or 943-9448, or call Betty Rose, the volunteer coordinator at the Food Bank, at volunteers@thurstoncountyfoodbank.org or 352-8597.

Bring your friends, family or co-workers and make a party of it! Nothing makes you feel better than helping others in need.

If you can donate items to the Food Bank, they need paper grocery bags, plastic bags with handles, egg cartons, mayonnaise, canned chicken, tuna, Spam, deviled ham, chili and stew. So why not add some extra things in your shopping cart? Donations are tax deductible.

TCD Committees

Help us be the the best county Democrat organization in the state!

Burger Booth Support - Help us keep the Burger Booth in good repair for fundraising events.
Roger Erskine 709-2445 rogererskine35@hotmail.com

Campaign Services/Support - Have you ever been a candidate or worked on a campaign? This is the committee for you. Come help us develop and implement a plan that will support the needs of candidates, Democrats, and others involved in getting Democrats elected to local office.
Jerry Muchmore 413-9729 bigdogjerry@comcast.net or
Helen Wheatley hwheatley@zhonka.net

Volunteers - Are you an organized person who likes to motivate and engage people? These are the committees for you!
Elizabeth Shepard 943-9448 jemn1@earthlink.net

PCO Support - Develop training, strategies, and other supports to make our PCOs the best trained and best prepared PCOs in the state.
Rhenda Strubb 943-1913 rhenda@irisassociates.net
Jeanne Passarelli 455-0422 j.passarelli@comcast.net

Education and Forums - Develop and manage events and forums that will help educate the Thurston County Democrats and our community on issues that are important to Democrats.
Roger Erskine 709-2445 rogererskine35@hotmail.com

Sunshine Fund - Donate a monthly door prize to be given away at each Thurston County Democrat Central Committee meeting. Funds collected will be used for condolence cards, flowers and other appropriate recognitions for Democrats in our community who have experienced a loss, illness or other event.
Chris Garst 491-4969 cbgarst@aol.com

Communications - Do you have experience writing for publication? Do you have experience producing a regular newsletter? Do you know how to do publicity for events? Are you interested in working on websites? This is the committee for you. We're looking for folks to help pull together the monthly newsletter, keep the website up-to-date and help us publicize Thurston County Democrat events and activities.
Christi McGinley 459-4024 christi@beaudesigns.com

Data & Information - This committee will be looking at what data is needed, where data is coming from, and how it should be used to further Thurston County Democrat goals and objectives.
Jeff Holcomb 943-7939 mapmaker98502@yahoo.com

Historical Records - This committee will begin the important task of documenting the "institutional knowledge" within the Thurston County Democrat organization. There are many who have been around the organization for years who have valuable information that should be collected for current and future reference so we don't unnecessarily reinvent the wheel.
Jeff Holcomb 943-7939 mapmaker98502@yahoo.com

Calendar and Events

October 19	Mike Kreidler’s 26th Annual Oktoberfest – 5:30pm, Woman’s Club, 1002 Washington St SE
October 19	Campaign Services Committee meeting, Thurston County Courthouse, Bldg. 2, Room 149
October 24	TCD Central Committee meeting – 7:00pm, TC Courthouse, Bldg. 2, Room 129
October 26	Thurston County Young Democrats, 7:00 p.m., Apollo’s Pizza, 2010 Harrison Ave. NW, (Olympia’s Westside)
November 7	Food Bank Volunteer Opportunity, 8:30am and 12:30pm shifts available, 220 Thurston St NE
November 7	TCD Executive Committee meeting – 6:00pm, TC Courthouse, Bldg. 1, Room 152
November 8	GENERAL ELECTION
November 8	Democrat Meetup, 7:00-9:00 p.m., Olympia Center, 222 Columbia St NW.
November 19	TCD Strategic Planning Session, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Washington Education Association, 5220 Capitol Blvd, Tumwater
November 19	Food Bank Volunteer Opportunity, Thanksgiving Basket preparation, 8:30am-Noon, 220 Thurston St NE
November 20	Food Bank Volunteer Opportunity, Thanksgiving Basket preparation, 1:00pm to completion, 220 Thurston St NE
November 28	TCD Central Committee meeting, 6:30pm social time, 7:00pm meeting, Thurston County Courthouse, Bldg 1, Room 152
December 5	Food Bank Volunteer Opportunity, 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. shifts available, 220 Thurston St NE
December 13	Democrat Meetup, 7:00-9:00 p.m., Olympia Center, 222 Columbia St NW

Thurston County Democrats

www.thurstondemocrats.org

Highlights from last TCD Central Committee Meeting

Next TCD Central Committee Meeting

Leg. District 2

Leg. District 20

Leg. District 22

Leg. District 35

TCD Chair's Message

Burger Booth Retrospective

TCD and Thousands of Others March for Peace

State Central Committee Meeting

Precinct 201

*What is a Caretaker PCO?

Importance of Becoming a PCO

How to locate your precinct

How to determine if your precinct has a PCO vacancy

Adam Smith Meets with PCOs

TCD Begins Offering Candidate Endorsements

Initiatives on November Ballot

Do Big Box Stores Help Or Hurt?

Community Values Ordinance:
Holding Wal-Mart accountable to community values and vision

Precinct leadership

Help our candidates

TCD Contributes to Thurston County Food Bank

TCD Committees

Help us be the the best county Democrat organization in the state!

It's a good day to exercise...democracy!

Thurston County Democrats

www.thurstondemocrats.org

Highlights from last TCD Central Committee Meeting

Next TCD Central Committee Meeting

Leg. District 2

Leg. District 20

Leg. District 22

Leg. District 35

TCD Chair's Message

Burger Booth Retrospective

TCD and Thousands of Others March for Peace

State Central Committee Meeting

Precinct 201

*What is a Caretaker PCO?

Importance of Becoming a PCO

How to locate your precinct

How to determine if your precinct has a PCO vacancy

Adam Smith Meets with PCOs

TCD Begins Offering Candidate Endorsements

Initiatives on November Ballot

Do Big Box Stores Help Or Hurt?

Community Values Ordinance: Holding Wal-Mart accountable to community values and vision

Precinct leadership

Help our candidates

TCD Contributes to Thurston County Food Bank

TCD Committees

Help us be the the best county Democrat organization in the state!

It's a good day to exercise...democracy!

Community Values Ordinance:
Holding Wal-Mart accountable to community values and vision