Mr. Chairman (Official)
I was unanimously elected last night by the 12 of our 23 PCOs in attendance to be the chair of the 39th Legislative District Republican Committee of Snohomish County.
The meeting was called by the county party. They sent out a call letter in December notifying all the PCOs (Precinct Committee Officers, people elected by the public during the primary election every two years to serve as the precinct's representative in the party) of the reorganization meeting.
I arrived with the credentials report in hand. This listed all the PCOs and required signatures from 30 percent of them. We have 120 precincts in the district, but only 23 of those spots are filled. Three members couldn't attend, but notified us. So we had well over fifty percent participation, which is a nice start.
As the county-chair-appointed temporary chair, I called the meeting to order. The first order of business was the election. No one else wanted to do it, and I was elected unanimously. Next up, we also had a vacancy for vice chair. The former executive director of the county party -- who is taking a break, and was not in attendance -- agreed to be the vice chair, and she was the only nomination, and was elected unanimously.
She had worked for her county councilman after leaving the county party last year, but then he lost reelection, so "lucky" for us, she's now got the time to do more for the district.
The new vice chair had been the treasurer, so now we needed to elect a new one. Two PCOs are close neighbors and friends, and agreed to be co-treasurers. They were elected unanimously.
I listed a bunch of areas where we needed volunteers, and we had lots of people help. One of the co-treasurers will call members before meetings (and any other time they need calling); the secretary will handle meeting location arrangements; another gentleman is handling maintenance of our group web site (calendar, mailing list, etc.); and another is going to work getting us guest speakers.
I mentioned county committees -- platform, events, campaign, and so on -- that need participation from our county, and no one immediately stepped forward, but I'll hit them up again next meeting when they've had a chance for it all to sink in.
The most pressing issue is that Washington has the precinct caucuses (at which we select delegates to the county convention) on March 7, and the state needs our precinct caucus locations by the end of the month. Another PCO said she would contact our previous county chair (who remains involved at the county office) about which locations we used the last time (two years ago), and she and one of the co-treasurers volunteered to help secure locations (for now, one in Arlington, and one in Monroe).
I don't know that two locations is enough for 120 precincts, but then again, turnout has not been great in election years where there is no seriously contested position, such as President (my precinct of some 800 or so voters had only two voters attend the caucus in 2004, as Bush was running for re-election).
So, that's the long and short of it.
Oh, and I got some huge precinct maps of the district from the county to put on my wall.
The meeting was called by the county party. They sent out a call letter in December notifying all the PCOs (Precinct Committee Officers, people elected by the public during the primary election every two years to serve as the precinct's representative in the party) of the reorganization meeting.
I arrived with the credentials report in hand. This listed all the PCOs and required signatures from 30 percent of them. We have 120 precincts in the district, but only 23 of those spots are filled. Three members couldn't attend, but notified us. So we had well over fifty percent participation, which is a nice start.
As the county-chair-appointed temporary chair, I called the meeting to order. The first order of business was the election. No one else wanted to do it, and I was elected unanimously. Next up, we also had a vacancy for vice chair. The former executive director of the county party -- who is taking a break, and was not in attendance -- agreed to be the vice chair, and she was the only nomination, and was elected unanimously.
She had worked for her county councilman after leaving the county party last year, but then he lost reelection, so "lucky" for us, she's now got the time to do more for the district.
The new vice chair had been the treasurer, so now we needed to elect a new one. Two PCOs are close neighbors and friends, and agreed to be co-treasurers. They were elected unanimously.
I listed a bunch of areas where we needed volunteers, and we had lots of people help. One of the co-treasurers will call members before meetings (and any other time they need calling); the secretary will handle meeting location arrangements; another gentleman is handling maintenance of our group web site (calendar, mailing list, etc.); and another is going to work getting us guest speakers.
I mentioned county committees -- platform, events, campaign, and so on -- that need participation from our county, and no one immediately stepped forward, but I'll hit them up again next meeting when they've had a chance for it all to sink in.
The most pressing issue is that Washington has the precinct caucuses (at which we select delegates to the county convention) on March 7, and the state needs our precinct caucus locations by the end of the month. Another PCO said she would contact our previous county chair (who remains involved at the county office) about which locations we used the last time (two years ago), and she and one of the co-treasurers volunteered to help secure locations (for now, one in Arlington, and one in Monroe).
I don't know that two locations is enough for 120 precincts, but then again, turnout has not been great in election years where there is no seriously contested position, such as President (my precinct of some 800 or so voters had only two voters attend the caucus in 2004, as Bush was running for re-election).
So, that's the long and short of it.
Oh, and I got some huge precinct maps of the district from the county to put on my wall.
"It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt."
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