Category: Democracy, democratic process

Bellingham City Council At-Large Position

eowynjesse

Earlier this summer, Councilmember Roxanne Murphy announced her resignation from the Bellingham City Council.  This initiated an appointment process to fill the vacancy.  The council will meet on Monday, October 1st to hear from the applicants and vote to appoint an interim council member who will serve out the remainder of the term, ending November 2019.

The Riveters Collective has, with input from a number of community groups, crafted a 10-question questionnaire as a way to collectively get to know the applicants. We are sharing the responses we received so that you can:

  • Learn more about the applicants and their positions.
  • Evaluate how well each applicant aligns with our platform.
  • Email the Bellingham City Council and urge them to vote for the candidate you think would best represent you.  You must do this before 6:00 pm Monday, Oct 1st.

Please note that we did not receive questionnaire responses from all applicants. It was difficult to share our questionnaire with all applicants because the city removed the contact info from their applications before posting them online. Click here to view the 12 responses we received.

You can view more information about all of the applicants, including those who did not complete our questionnaire, by going here and viewing the “special meeting packet”, linked in the Final Candidate Applications section.

Email contacts for Bellingham City Council (use individual emails AND group email for best results).

ccmail@cob.org  (all 6 Council Members)

gknutson@cob.org (2nd ward) Gene Knutson

abarker@cob.org (1st ward) April Barker

mlilliquist@cob.org (6th ward) Michael Lilliquist

ptmvargas@cob.org (4th ward) Pinky Vargas

tbornemann@cob.org (5th ward) Terry Bornemann

dchammill@cob.org (3rd ward) Dan Hammill

Three Vs for Victory!

eowynjesse

We know how to win on November 6th.

Volunteer

  • Knock doors for candidates and campaigns
  • Sign up for phonebanking or textbanking
  • Babysit for candidates or other volunteers
  • Work on a campaign

GiVe

  • Give $ to candidates and campaigns
  • Give $ to grassroots PACs (donate to Riveters PAC here)
  • Attend fundraisers
  • Co-host a fundraising houseparty with your friends
  • Donate your professional services to a campaign (photography, web skills, graphic design, etc.)

Vote

  • Vote the entire ballot in every election
  • Make sure all of your friends and family are registered to vote
  • Register voters in the community
  • Remind your friends and family to vote
  • Have a voting party at your house

We win when we all do our part. We ARE doing it!

Use these social media graphics to remind your friends to get involved. Right click to save images.

Social media profile pic

 

Facebook cover photo

 

Social media profile pic

 

Graphics by Olivia Hahnel.

Wink for the Win

Elizabeth

Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 7:30 PM – 10 PM

At WinkWink, Bellingham’s brand new woman-owned, sex-positive, gender-inclusive sex shop!  1305 Commercial St., Bellingham, Washington 98225

BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE!  Join our event on Facebook for updates.

 

Come Party with Us

The Riveters Collective and WinkWink, Bellingham’s new woman-owned, identity-inclusive sex shop, are teaming up to raise funds to encourage people who don’t usually participate in elections to vote this November! Funds raised will pay for our Pledge-to-Vote campaign to flip the 42nd district!

This is a private party and shopping event with 20% of sales generously donated to the Riveters Collective pledge to vote campaign.

Tickets are available on a sliding scale. Capacity is limited to 90 guests, so get your tickets soon. Please give what you can and come Wink for the Win!

—
About WinkWink:

WinkWink is a woman-owned sex shop in Bellingham, WA. Among our offerings, you’ll find non-toxic sex toys, lingerie, books, menstrual products, and educational classes.

WinkWink is sex-positive, body-positive, and gender-affirming; we aim to help make sexual pleasure, wellness, and health available and accessible to all people.

We believe that normalizing, accepting, and affirming all bodies, identities, and gender experiences is an inherently political act.

Pleasure is our revolution.

Let’s Flip the 42nd in 2018!

Elizabeth

The Riveters Collective is doing it! We have ONE goal for the 2018 campaign season: FLIP THE 42nd DISTRICT by increasing voter turnout with a proven strategy.

Pledge-to-Vote Campaign to Flip the 42nd LD

We will go door to door to ask low turnout voters to pledge to vote. They fill out a postcard promising to vote, we mail it back to them so it arrives with their ballot. The front of the postcard recommends voting for RC-endorsed candidates (Pinky Vargas, Sharon Shewmake, Justin Boneau, Eric Richey and Carol Frazey), initiatives (Yes On 1631, No on I-1634, and Yes on 1639) and the Bellingham Home Fund.  Research has shown that pledge to vote campaigns are more effective than traditional get out the vote strategies, and no other local campaign is targeting infrequent voters. Our goal is to turn out 2,000-3,000 votes that would not have otherwise been cast. Our postcard will include our voting recommendations so that these votes go to our candidates.

Riveters Collective is the only organization doing this work in the 42nd. These are votes that otherwise wouldn’t show up in this election and they could be the difference between winning or having Doug Ericksen (and Vincent Buys and Luanne Van Werven) back in Olympia. This will bring the turnout we need to win. We expect to spend $21k on printing, postage and staffing for this effort.

Want to volunteer?  Send us an email at riveterscollective@gmail.com, we’ll be in touch in September.

DONATE HERE: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/riveterspac

Thanks to Becky Kurle at Liet Unlimited for design work.  We now have tens of thousands of these beauties on hand.

***UPDATE: When we initially published this post, we had two goals, the second being to prompt the PDC to clarify that childcare is an allowable campaign expense.  Since we planned our campaign season activities, the PDC added this to their guidelines!  Given that this goal is now met, we will focus entirely on flipping the 42nd district.***

Letter to Doug Ericksen re: First Amendment Violations

eowynjesse1 Comment

****UPDATE 20 July 2018****

This campaign WORKED.  Doug Ericksen has un-blocked MANY BUT NOT ALL constituents.
{Are you still blocked?  Can you like or comment on posts on Doug’s public figure page? You are NOT blocked. Can you only share posts? You are blocked.}

If you are a constituent in the 42nd district and you are still blocked, please send us an email.

***Original Letter***

17 July 2018
Senator Doug Ericksen
PO Box 748
Ferndale, WA 98248

Dear Senator Ericksen,

You are violating the First Amendment rights of your constituents by blocking them from your social media pages.  As detailed in the letter you received from the ACLU in late 2017, deleting comments and blocking constituents on social media is a form of government censorship that violates the First Amendment.

We, your constituents named below, ask you to open your social media forums to all constituents and discontinue your practice of silencing those presenting opinions or facts that are inconvenient to your propaganda.  If any constituent is still blocked from your social media forums on August 1st or thereafter, you will elevate this matter to legal action.

Sincerely,

Riveters Collective, and your constituents named below.

Your legislative district:
Your name
E-mail:
Are you currently blocked from a Doug Ericksen "public figure" social media page?

{Unsure of your legislative district?  Search your address here}.
{Unsure if you are blocked?  Can you like or comment on posts on Doug’s public figure page? You are NOT blocked. Can you only share posts? You are blocked.}

Eowyn Savela – constituent – blocked
Elizabeth Hartsoch – constituent – blocked
Michael Peñuelas – constituent
Dena Jensen / Dena Louise FB – constituent – blocked
Brenda Bentley
Treasure Samuel
Cory Blackwood – constituent – blocked
Maria DeMars – constituent
Rebecca
Judy Pratt – constituent
Susan Mulligan – constituent
Leigh woody – constituent
Margie Overhauser – constituent
Jillian Naccache – constituent
Tina McKim – constituent
Loretta Sheldon – constituent – blocked
Jennifer Hampton – constituent – blocked
Ann Mulvey – constituent
Jessica Tupper – constituent
Paula Rotondi – constituent
Christine Smith – constituent
Bob Burr – constituent
Carrie bullock – constituent
Ashley DeLatour – constituent
Greg Verbarendse – constituent
Frances Badgett – constituent
Kathleen Rielly – constituent
Candice Lankhaar – constituent – blocked
Sarah Watts – constituent
Maggie Barry – constituent
Mary Marshall
Juli Evangelista – constituent
Stephanie A Trasoff – constituent
Eve Smason-Marcus – constituent
Krista Rome – constituent
Lois Holub – constituent
Jaime Arnett – constituent – blocked
Gina Fagan Kley – constituent
Jennifer LeSchander – constituent
Beccy Bayne – constituent
Dale Johnson – constituent
Stephanie Oppelaar – constituent – blocked
Cat Carnell – constituent
Darcy Allen – constituent
Sarah Kirkish – constituent
Dave Bishop – constituent – blocked
Teizeen Mohamedali
Kristina Van Ness – constituent – blocked
Jennifer Hoover – constituent
Wendy Fanello – constituent
Dan Murphy
Stephanie Allen – constituent
Suzanne Gray – constituent
David Butenschoen
Stephen Jackson – constituent – blocked
Kathleen Pate – constituent
Megen Porter – constituent
Shannon Parsons
Ameina – blocked
Sarah Kellogg – constituent
Jamie Chambers – constituent
Diane Smith – constituent
Julie Hunter – constituent
Barbara TROSKE – constituent
Amber Hixson – constituent
Lisa Van Doren – constituent – blocked
Liz Isaly
Alisa Sachs – constituent
Rowena Donelson – constituent – blocked
Amy Glasser

 

2018 Endorsement Process

eowynjesse

Riveters Collective 2018 Endorsement Process and Information

  • Riveters Collective has Washington Nonprofit Corporation status, which allows electoral activity, including endorsements.
  • RC Member Jae Heidenreich volunteered to be the Endorsements Committee Chair.
  • RC recruited endorsement committee members by an open call to members through Facebook and email.
    • RC excluded anyone from the committee who had already begun working on a campaign, is a candidate for a local office, or has a formal leadership role in a major political party. For this reason, RC board members Lisa McShane and Stephen Jackson were excluded from the Endorsement Committee, and abstained from involvement in the process.  Michael Peñuelas began working on Tim Ballew’s campaign halfway through the endorsement process and excluded himself from participating in the 42nd district senate race endorsement work. Elizabeth Hartsoch and Eowyn Savela supported the committee’s work, but did not serve on the committee. Elizabeth actively worked on the campaigns of Tim Ballew and Carol Frazey, and excluded herself from assisting the committee’s work on the 42nd district senate race and the county council race.
    • Eleven people responded to the call, met the criteria, completed the application and were appointed to the endorsement committee.  Three of the eleven committee members, also serve on the RC board: Lisa Van Doren, Michael Peñuelas, and Towhee Wean. The other committee members were: Jae Heidenreich, Arlene Feld, Julie Batten (who had to resign from the committee early for personal reasons), Debbi Anderson-Frey, Galen Herz, Amy Rydel, Mehar Singh, and Maggie Davis-Bower.
  • Endorsement committee members formed sub-groups to work on the six different positions.
  • Recognizing that the RC leadership team and endorsement committee are not sufficiently representative of the larger community–and more importantly the more marginalized and vulnerable members of the community–and recognizing that many local progressive groups are prohibited from making candidate endorsements, RC solicited feedback from groups representing diverse interests.  We received and incorporated input from Recreation Northwest, Susan Marks, Whatcom Peace & Justice Center, the Lummi Nation, Racial Justice Coalition, Gender Diversity, Bellingham Tenants Union, and NAMI Whatcom.
  • The Endorsement Committee built questionnaires based on responses from community groups and RC’s platform.
  • The RC board invited the following candidates to participate in our endorsement process:
    • All progressive candidates who filed to run for 40th district representative, 42nd district representative, 42nd district senator, and Whatcom County prosecutor.
    • All candidates who filed to run for Whatcom County council (except Eric Bostrom, due to his hateful and discriminatory public statements and actions).
  • Final questionnaires were shared on the RC website and in the facebook group.
  • Declared candidates were sent RC endorsement questionnaires on May 10th and others were sent at the end of filing week.  Questionnaires were due May 25th.
  • The endorsement committee developed a rubric to rate how well each candidate’s questionnaire responses aligned with the RC platform.
  • The endorsement committee developed candidate interview questions and rubrics.
  • Eleven candidates submitted materials to the endorsement committee by the May 25th deadline.
  • The endorsement committee interviewed candidates June 4-7.  The interviews were recorded on video and will be made available to the public, along with the questionnaire responses.
  • Each endorsement committee member scored candidate written and interview responses.
  • Following extensive conversation, the endorsement committee recommended endorsements  to the RC Board on June 10th.
  • The RC Board used the recommendation of the endorsement committee to vote on the final endorsements.

 

Policy on Ethical Behavior for Campaigns

Elizabeth

Our endorsement process is underway! This is one of the main ways that our collective shows solidarity with a specific candidate or issue. In other words, an endorsement is our way of saying “Hey, we like your vision for our community, we want to align ourselves with the actions you will take to achieve that vision, and we respect the way you conduct yourself as a candidate.”

In that vein, we think it’s important to be clear and open about our zero-tolerance policy for some behaviors. These are behaviors that will automatically disqualify a candidate from being eligible for, or may result in the withdrawal of a Riveters’ endorsement.  If a candidate or affiliated campaign employee, consultant or volunteer:

  • Engages in sexual harassment or sexual abuse;
  • Makes hateful or negative comments based on race, gender, sexuality, ability, or any other personal characteristic;
  • Engages in clearly unethical, illegal, or manipulative behavior.

We believe in a political environment and community where people are respectful of one another. We believe in a political environment and community where people are free to be themselves without fear of harm. We will work for a future that reflects those values. We will stand with candidates who believe in that same future. We are doing it!

Whatcom Conservation District 2018 Supervisor Election

Elizabeth

The Whatcom Conservation District holds an election for one supervisor each year.  Unlike all other elections, WCD supervisor elections are not held by the Whatcom County Auditors office, and you will not automatically receive a ballot.

Here’s what you need to do:

  1. DEADLINE PASSED: Before February 7th at 4 p.m.: request a ballot.  Fill out this online form before February 7th at 4pm.
  2. Mid-February: receive your ballot in the mail (we’re not sure when they will be mailed, but you can bet there will be chatter about this in our Facebook group).
  3. Also Mid-February: Read about the candidates.  Our recruiting committee sent these questions to the candidates and received responses from Alan Chapman and David Kroontje.
  4. Ballot return deadline is Tuesday, March 13th at 6p.m. (as far as I can tell from the WCD page).  If you are worried your ballot will be delayed in the mail, you can vote in-person at the WCD on Tuesday March 13th between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Candidate Information

Riveters Collective has officially endorsed Alan B. Chapman.

  1. Alan B. Chapman
    Responses to RC Questions
  2. Larry Helm
  3. David M. Kroontje
    Responses to RC Questions

Candidate statements to the WCD

Still have questions?  Send us an email!

#TaxScamBill Response

Elizabeth

Rally on 2 December 2017, 5pm, Bellingham City Hall

The GOP just passed a Tax Scam bill that will forever change the United States. But the fight is NOT OVER!  The house and senate bills still need to be reconciled.

The Tax Scam bill is a giveaway to the rich and an attack on the most vulnerable among us. It’s designed to take from our communities and line the pockets of the wealthy. At the same time it makes irreversible changes by opening up the Arctic to drilling and classifying fetuses as people.

Americans across the country are taking to the streets and need us to join them. Today at 5:00 p.m. in Whatcom County we are taking to the steps of Bellingham City Hall to make our voices heard.

Stand up today. Together. Take a stand for our health care, our environment, our neighbors, our community.

Join us today at 5:00 p.m. at Bellingham City Hall.

Come with signs. Come without signs.

Come with your friends, neighbors, family. Come alone to know that you aren’t.

Come to stand shoulder to shoulder for our country.

#RESIST