Planned Parenthood of Western Washington Announces Their Lobby Day Plans

After a successful election season, Planned Parenthood of Western Washington, and a coalition of organizations working on women's health issues, are preparing for the upcoming legislative session. From PPWW we received this notice:

Your chance to make a difference is right around the corner. Mark your calendar for:

Reproductive Health & Rights Lobby Day
Monday, February 23rd, 2009
10 AM to 4 PM
Olympia, Washington

Don't miss this opportunity to be a voice for women's health. Sign up now.

2009 will bring great opportunity for us to expand access to reproductive health care, but it will also pose great challenges, given the economic crisis affecting our communities. This will be a tough year- program cuts are already happening all around us. We need all hands on deck to send a strong message to our legislature: protecting family planning services is critical to the health of our communities.

Join hundreds of citizens from across Washington State for a day of lobbying to ensure access to basic health care services and information. No experience necessary - just a desire to make a difference in your community.

As a special bonus this year, Planned Parenthood has teamed up with a coalition of women's organizations to host a legislative reception immediately following Lobby Day. The reception is free and gives you a great opportunity to meet with your legislators in an informal setting.

Cheers,

Stacy DeLong
Public Affairs Field Organizer
publicaffairs@ppww.org

Lobby Days are a great way to participate in our democracy. What organizations are you working with, this legislative session, to make sure your elected representatives hear about the issues of importance to you? Click the comments link below and tell us!

Washington Democrats "Yes We Cans!" Virtual Food Drive Ends This Friday

Why are you a Democrat? I know there are many answers to that question, but I bet one of them is that you care about people -- black, white, gay, straight, rich, or poor.

During these hard economic times, a lot of people are struggling. Food banks are under strain as they try to keep up with the increased demand.

That's why Democrats Work has stepped in. Democrats Work is a great organization that helps Democrats put their values into action by connecting them with community service projects. This year, Democrats Work has made it easy for you to help those in need through their Yes We Cans Virtual Food Drive.

With the Yes We Cans Virtual Food Drive, you can purchase turkeys, green beens, tuna, and more for families in need from the comfort of your home. You can even specify which food bank you want your donation to go to. Please help make someone's holiday brighter, and visit the Yes We Cans Food Drive website by Friday, December 19th.

It's easy to take part in this great effort. First, go to the Yes We Cans Virtual Food Drive website. You can then fill your shopping cart with food, at a rate lower than you would find at your grocery store, by specifying which items you want to purchase with your donation. If you don't have a preference, you can also make a cash donation.

After you check out, you can choose from over 200 food banks across the country, including two food banks here in Washington. Put turkey on the table in Washington, or fill a child's bowl with mac and cheese in Atlanta.

Here's why Yes We Cans is so effective: Together, by making donations through Yes We Cans, we are giving food banks the power to buy in bulk and provide more food than each of us could donate individually.

This election was about bringing positive change to our country. We don't have to wait for others to act. We can make a difference in our communities year-round. Thanks to you, we are putting our values into action when they are needed the most.

Yes We Cans!


Dwight Pelz
Chair
Washington State Democrats

P.S. If you want to volunteer or deliver goods directly to your local food bank, you can find the location of one near you by visiting Feeding America. And please send an email to info@democratswork.org so Democrats Work can keep track of what the Democratic community is contributing this holiday season.

35th LD Elects New Executive Committee

At our Annual Reorganization Meeting, held this last Saturday, we elected a slate of officers for the new year. They are Daryl Daugs (Chair), Nancy Frank (Vice Chair), Adrienne Amar (State Committee Woman), Dan Roy (State Committee Man), Greg Case (Secretary), and Larry Frank (Treasurer).

Executive Committee Members
From left to right: Dan Roy (State Committee Man), Adrienne Amar (State Committee Woman), Daryl Daugs (Chair), Nancy Frank (Vice Chair), and Greg Case (Secretary). Not in photo: Larry Frank (Treasurer)

Congratulations and thank you, Executive Committee Members, for your service to the Washington 35th Legislative District Democrats.

It's Time to Reorganize the 35th Legislative District

Call To All Elected Precinct Officers Of The 35th Legislative District Democrats!

35th Legislative District Democrats
Reorganization Meeting
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Shelton Public Library

AGENDA:

I. Call to order by Chair

II. Pledge of Allegiance

III. Recognition of Elected Officials.

IV. Election of Chairperson pro tem

V. Election of Officers:

a. Chair, nominations and election

b. Vice-Chair, nominations and election

c. Secretary, nominations and election

d. Treasurer, nominations and election

e. State Committeeman, nominations and election

f. State Committeewoman, nominations and election

VI. Elected Chairperson presides

VII. Adoption of bylaws

VIII. 2009 Calendar, newsletter items, fundraising.

IX. Good of the order

X. Adjournment

Daryl Daugs: Candidate for Chair of the 35th LD Democrats

I was born and raised in Washington State. I know and understand issues that are important to Washingtonians.

I hold an A.A.S from Olympic College and a Bachelors Degree in Organizational Management from Northwest University. The first ten years of my adult life were spent in the business world. I then spent several years as a director in the non-profit arena. During the last couple, I have worked with the labor community and child welfare experts drafting legislation.

My primary focus has been issues around education and child welfare reform. My wife Leslie and I have been foster parents to more than 50 kids in our district.

I believe in public service. That's one of the reasons I ran for State Representative for the 35th LD in the last election cycle. I don't take commitment lightly. Whether it is disaster relief, families, children in need, or support for the Democratic Party. As they say in poker, "I'M ALL IN!"

When my bid for State Representative ended on primary night I immediately become fully involved in the Obama and Gregoire campaigns. I helped coordinated an eclectic team of labor community volunteers that ranged from electricians, to engineers, to social workers, and others. I was honored to be part of a team that first registered thousands of new and returning voters then made sure everyone voted.

I bring a unique set of qualities to the table. I have been employed by large companies, run my own insurance business and directed a state agency to recruit and support foster parents. I recently became the executive director of Community for Youth, a non-profit organization that has a volunteer core of ninety (90) mentors for "at risk" teens in three public high schools.

We need to find a way to blend the wisdom and knowledge of those who have volunteered in local politics for years . . . with the passion and excitement of the thousands of new people that have joined us. I want to help lead the 35th LD through these exciting times and I ask for your support.

Nancy Frank: Candidate for Vice Chair

Nancy moved to Bremerton from Saratoga Springs, NY in January, 2003. Thanks to the miracle of the internet (and Delta Airlines) Nancy continues her work as a professor for Empire State College's Saratoga Springs-based MBA program. This somewhat recent academic career came about when, after working in the field of Information Systems for nearly twenty years, she decided to build on her MBA by obtaining a PhD in Management Studies from the State University of New York, Albany, in 1996. In academic mode, she studies personality traits and their influence on work and managerial behaviors. She loves to do the number crunching statistical analyses required for writing research journal papers and has presented several papers at conference in addition to co-authoring published papers and book chapters.

Previous exciting academic activities include participating in Empire State's International Program which involved travels to Lebanon, the Island of Cyprus, and Istanbul.

In non-academic mode, she is relatively new to organized politics, but has recently been very active in 35th legislative district politics in various roles. These roles include serving as a delegate to the past two state conventions - most recently an Obama delegate for the 1st Congressional District, working as an "expert" with the state’s VoteBuilder data base, and weekly volunteering at the 2006 Kitsap County Democratic Headquarters. Additionally, she helped out in the 2006 Kyle Taylor Lucas campaign and, more recently, in Fred Finn's 2008 campaign for State Representative.

Dan Roy: Candidate for State Committeeman

I was an administrator at the University of California, Davis for 34 years and retired about 3 1/2 years ago. I live with my wife, Ann Cacciari on Hood Canal in Belfair.

I was greatly influenced by my father. He was an immigrant who never finished elementary school, but was a union activist and John F. Kennedy campaign worker. He taught me about the importance of service to community and country.

I’m a long-time political activist who has worked on electing Democrats at the city council, school board, legislative, congressional, state and Presidential levels for over 30 years, including active involvement in the passage of significant "One Sky Washington" environmental legislation and most recently on the election of Barack Obama.

I got involved in my local community, was selected PCO for Belfair 1 (Mason County), have participated in local and state-wide training sessions, coordinated monthly "Democratic Chats," and hosted various programs in my home, including a "Live Earth" Event, an Obama Unity Day Party, an annual County fund raiser, and all four Debate Watches. I chaired my precinct caucus and served on the County/LD credentials committee. I also spent time in Olympia on lobbying efforts directed at education, health care and environmental issues.

Since last February, I was actively involved in Barack Obama's campaign and was elected a delegate at my precinct caucus. I worked at communicating Obama's message of change and hope to potential voters at the local and state levels through the Internet, media and phone calling. It became apparent to me, particularly after making phone calls to voters in Texas, that older voters were not always "comfortable" with Obama. In order to change that perception, I organized a national "Grandparents for Obama" campaign that spread to over 30 states. In that effort, I attended the Democratic National Convention in Denver and the national AARP Convention in Washington D.C.

Adrienne Amar: Candidate for State Committeewoman

I come from a working class family with a strong sense of social justice and fairness. I came of age in the sixties and was active in political movements of that time. As a student I worked with others to establish a chapter of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee on our campus to support civil rights struggles of that time.

A union supporter and member all my working life, I worked my way up from laborer to supervisor in the City of Seattle Department of Transportation. I was among the first women to work in non-traditional positions within the department, helping to educate and inspire others in breaking down barriers to equal employment. I moved to Shelton from King County a little over three years ago after retirement.

Throughout my life I've believed in helping others, which has propelled me to be involved in my community as a volunteer. Working to defeat discriminatory measures and supporting community groups that promote equal opportunity. I served on the boards of Pacific Woman's Resource Center and Seattle Lesbian and Gay Chorus.

After the primary caucuses last February, I became involved with Mason County Democrats, working at the local level to help bring about Democratic success in November. I was elected PCO for Dayton Precinct. I also serve as a Fire Commissioner in Mason County for District 16.

As we move forward after Obama's historic win, we face challenges that call for people at all levels of government and politics to work together to bring recovery and healing to our communities.

I am offering my years of experience and training in working with others to help the 35th LD Democrats accomplish change and reach the goals set before us.

I’m currently PCO for Dayton Precinct. I have the time and energy to devote to working with the state party to represent the 35th LD.

Larry Frank: Candidate for Treasurer

Larry Frank is in Program Management with General Dynamics, Electric Boat Corp, managing subcontract submarine maintenance and modernization work at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. He has served the Navy’s submarine program throughout his career - starting as a Navy submarine reactor operator, then as a reactor plant engineer and supervisor with the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory. For the past 22 years he has served in various management positions within Electric Boat, including payroll, accounts payable, contracts, purchasing, finance, strategic planning, program management and acquisition integration.

He has both a BBA and an MBA from Idaho State University and was licensed by Idaho as a CPA (currently inactive).

Larry moved to Bremerton from upstate New York in 2003, and has served as Treasurer of the 35th LD Democrats since July 2006. For the past 6 months, however, he has been in absentia due to an extended work assignment in Honolulu, which is expected to end in January 2009.

As a high school student Larry volunteered for Barry Goldwater, and once voted for Ronald Reagan; but he has since matured.

Mobile Phone Numbers Go Public Today - What You Can Do

Just in time for the holidays, the Federal Trade Commission is allowing cell phone numbers to be released to telemarketers today.

The FTC has provided a DoNotCall program, for our use. Call 888-382-1222 from the phone you wish to put on the do not call list. Or, you can go to www.ftc.gov/donotcall and register up to three numbers at a time. You will receive an email for each number and you must respond within 72 hours to complete the registration, which is good for five years.

Non-profit organizations and political parties are exempt from the Do Not Call list. Also, those companies which can claim they have an "established business relationship" with you are also exempt.

Telemarketing firms are supposed to register and download a list of do not call numbers so that they can eliminate the do not calls from their calling lists.

You can file a complaint against a telemarketer you think may have broken the rules online by going to https://www.donotcall.gov/Complaint/ComplaintCheck.aspx. But, your phone number must have been in the registry for at least 31 days.

If you would like to read about a case in which a telemarketing company failed to give an accurate call back number so that consumers could complain, go to http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/05/scorpio.shtm. Each of the defendants in the case received a $530,000 fine, but they only had to pay a small fraction of it, and they were then free to continue with their pestering calls.