Benton County Democratic Central Committee

By Judi Johannesen

The Blue Wave energy was palpable at the Washington State Democrats convention last weekend!  I attended as a state platform committee member for the 8th LD, and as a Bencodems delegate.

Allison Dabler, Bonnie Kendall, and I rode up together Thursday night.  Due to Bonnie’s quick response, she got a room at the convention hotel which she shared with us.  That freed us up to focus on the convention rather than logistics.  We lived, breathed, ate, and slept Democrat both days of the convention.

On Friday, I went to the Hispanic/Latino caucus, where Christine Brown for congress 4th CD and Leo Perales for state senate 8th LD were endorsed, as well as Susan Soto Palmer for Yakima Council position 3, a leader in the fight to de-gerrymander Yakima County.  I also went to the Women’s Caucus.

The rest of the day was spent in the state platform committee meeting, working on recommendations for the sixty-some-odd resolutions submitted.  Allison Dabler was a co-chair.  By the end of the day, we had a platform and resolutions all ready for the plenum meeting on Saturday.

Friday night, I went to the Progressives Caucus and Socialist Pizza Party, where Shir Regev got an endorsement for Position 1 of the 8th LD.

Benton County was seated in the FRONT ROW of the convention hall.  Due to malfunctioning microphones, ALL the action was taking place at the mics right in front of our seats.  Like when the members of 3 tribes requested time to welcome us to their land. Initially, Tina wanted to stick to the agenda, but when she asked for whether the body wanted to allow the tribes time, it was a BIG affirmative.  A song about unity, love, and peace was sung, and it was very touching.  Tina later apologized and promised to include tribal welcome in future convention agendas.  Our Kate Moran was one of the Sargent at Arms keeping the unruly in line, and our tally counter was Jeffrey Robinson.

First, we dealt with a bylaws change to move the beginning of the year to December 1 to coincide with the new PCOs taking office, which passed.  After going through the platform and tagging the sections with questions or objections, I moved to adopt the balance of the platform, which passed.  We then addressed the questions and motions to amend.  There weren’t many changes, and none I would characterize as substantive.  I then moved that we approve the balance of the platform as amended, which carried.  On to the resolutions, which were handled in a similar fashion.  A resolution against the use of superdelegates to the national convention was initially ruled out of order because it wasn’t in proper format (the first therefore isn’t an action).  A motion was made to overrule the chair.  Before that could go to a vote (thank goodness), another motion was made to send the resolution back to the makers to fix and then take up at the September meeting, which carried.  I was feeling pretty naked there for a while, sitting in the front row in full view of a chair I like and admire, but feeling very strongly about the ill effects of superdelegates.  I was very relieved at the solution that carried.  At the end, we had the bylaws amendment, platform, and resolutions all dispositioned, almost all as recommended by the platform committee.

Allison brought us home through a deluge, and the beauty of the Wenatchee area farmland, the Columbia basalt cliffs and Rattlesnake Mountain made me glad for where I’m planted.  Thank you all for the opportunity to represent us at the state convention!

The Legislative District Caucuses/County Convention was held March 24, 2018 at Desert Hills Middle School.  The platform was adopted.  In addition the resolution supporting the initiative to create the nation’s first universal single payer health insurance system, originally passed at the March 15 General Membership Meeting, was adopted.

Resolution Supporting Whole Washington State Universal Healthcare Initiative (I-1600)

WHEREAS Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control establishes a fundamental right to healthcare”

WHEREAS the Declaration of Independence declares the responsibility of government to protect universal and “unalienable” rights to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,” and health care is essential to life and to the pursuit of happiness

WHEREAS more than half a million people in our state are uninsured, more are underinsured, and lives could be saved by ensuring access to healthcare

WHEREAS the 2016 Platform of the Washington State Democratic Party affirms that “Health care is a basic human right,” and states that we must establish “An affordable universal single-payer system to provide the most equitable and effective health care, serving both individual and public health needs;

WHEREAS a single-payer resolution was adopted by the Washington State Democratic Central Committee in April of 2017

WHEREAS people of color, people with disabilities, and low-income people are the most likely to lack affordable, comprehensive healthcare

WHEREAS Whole Washington has crafted a ballot initiative guaranteeing universal healthcare to all Washingtonians, with a funding mechanism devised by a noted economist, which demonstrates that Washington state residents will save over $10 billion dollars annually when universal healthcare is implemented;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Whatcom County Democrats support Whole Washington state universal healthcare initiative (I-1600);

THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Whatcom County Democrats will use its mailing list and online presence to mobilize voters and collect signatures;

THEREFORE, BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED THAT upon adoption of this resolution, Whatcom Democrats will publicize.

Adopted by unanimous vote at March 15, 2018 General Membership Meeting