Resolutions

Approved at the March 10, 2021 membership meeting.

Appointing a BIPOC Director to the City of Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture

Whereas, in 2021, Seattle will celebrate 50 years of cultural appreciation; starting with the founding of the Seattle Arts Commission, which became the City’s Office of Arts & Culture (OAC) in 2001; and

Whereas, the Washington Democratic Party, King County Democrats, House, Washington Senate and House Democratic Committee, King County, City of Seattle, and allied organizations have committed to equitable representation of Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC); and

Whereas, although BIPOC artists and arts administrators are plentiful in Washington state, Seattle’s OAC has never had a BIPOC Director. Continuing into 2021, the Directorship has been maintained in the hands of white people. Although some leadership positions are held by Black women, Black men currently hold no managerial positions in OAC; and

Whereas, we believe that BIPOC leaders are capable of successfully overseeing the department. We also believe a BIPOC Director would improve the artistic and cultural sensitivity  of OAC and demonstrate the City’s commitment to BIPOC representation in leadership; and

Whereas, the current leadership at OAC reflects a deeply broken appointment process that systematically alienates BIPOC candidates from positions of authority;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that we, the 34th Legislative District Democrats, call on Mayor Jenny Durkan to move quickly to resolve the lack of equitable leadership in OAC, by appointing a BIPOC Director to the office.

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call on the Seattle City Council to support equitable leadership in the OAC through the appointment of BIPOC directors and managers.

THEREFORE BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that we call on our Party and public officials to invest the time and resources to ensure that hiring and spending processes yield equitable results in taxpayer funded offices throughout the city and county.

Citations;

https://kingcountynews.org/2020/07/19/seattle-so-white-50-years-of-anglo-saxon-leadership-at-the-office-of-arts-culture/

https://durkan.seattle.gov/2020/12/mayor-durkan-announces-leadership-updates-at-emergency-management-human-services-and-arts-and-culture/#:~:text=Howell%20will%20assume%20the%20Interim,spending%20time%20with%20his%20family.

Submitted by David Toledo for consideration at the membership meeting on March 10, 2021. (Submitted 01/29/2021)

Contact: David Toledo vibrantart206@gmail.com

Approved by the Membership on February 10, 2021.

Resolution Calling for the Resignation of Mike Solan, Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) President

WHEREAS the Democratic Party is a progressive party, committed to Constitutional values, including the right to freedom of speech, press, peaceable assembly, freedom to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures; and to be free from police violence; 

WHEREAS the Seattle Police Department is invested with the power to commit violence on behalf of the state and will reflect white supremacist state power unless checked1; and

WHEREAS all nine members of Seattle City Council have called on Mike Solan to resign, along with the Martin Luther King Jr. County Labor Council, Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County, Black Law Enforcement Association of Washington2; and

WHEREAS Mike Solan has clearly lost the confidence of the residents of the City of Seattle as an officer of the law, and the confidence of Seattle’s leadership to be a good faith partner in contract negotiations; and

WHEREAS Mike Solan has registered to vote at his police precinct3, rather than at his home, demonstrating both a sense of being above the law he is supposed to enforce and a willingness to engage in acts of bad faith; and

WHEREAS under Mike Solan’s union leadership, officers have felt empowered to abuse protesters, to abuse people living unhoused, have failed to take necessary precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including refusing to mask4 in homeless encampments, at protests, and in medical settings5; and

WHEREAS Mike Solan has publicly blamed BLM6 and anti-fascists for the fascist coup attempt on the Capitol on January 6th, 2021, claiming that “Far right and far left are responsible for that sad day”7 and retweeting disinformation from known right wing provocateur “journalist” Andy Ngô; and

WHEREAS Mike Solan maintained an account on the social media site Parler, follows the and Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes, and has not spoken out against the fascist violence endured in our region; and

WHEREAS under his leadership, at least two SPD officers felt empowered to participate in the fascist coup attempt in DC on January 6th8; 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the 34th District Democrats support the calls for Mike Solan to resign from both the position of SPOG president and from the Seattle Police Department; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the 34th District Democrats strongly support City Council and the City’s negotiating team in their pursuit of strong accountability measures in the upcoming round of contract negotiations with the Seattle Police Officers Guild. 

___________________________________________________________________

Submitted by Carla Rogers, District Chair and PCO, for consideration by the 34th Legislative District Democrats at their February 10, 2021 meeting.

1 https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2011/12/16/spd_findletter_12-16-11.pdf

2 https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/president-of-seattle-police-union-lambasted-for-comments-blaming-black-lives-matter-liberal-activists-for-u-s-capitol-siege/ 

3 https://southseattleemerald.com/2020/07/23/two-more-spd-officers-appear-to-break-election-law-by-using-non-residential-address-to-vote/

4 https://twitter.com/SeattlePD/status/1350927929522483209

5 https://twitter.com/B20e/status/1350600576552247298

6 https://twitter.com/realmikesolan/status/1347435354895179776

7 https://twitter.com/realmikesolan/status/1347755874626859010

 8https://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2021/01/08/spd-officers-in-d-c-referred-to-opa/

Approved at the November 9, 2020 membership meeting.

Resolution to Remove the Name Maury from Maury Island and Vashon-Maury Island

Whereas, the 34th Legislative District jurisdiction contains Maury Island, named after the treasonous William Lewis Maury (“WL Maury”); and

Whereas, WL Maury was born in Virginia and became a Midshipman in the U.S. Navy in 1829, and served in the U.S. Exploring Expedition under Charles Wilkes from 1838-1842. During this expedition’s survey of Puget Sound, Wilkes named Maury Island after WL Maury; and

Whereas, when the American Civil War began, WL Maury resigned his commission with the U.S. Navy and joined the Confederate States Navy, commanded by his cousin Matthew Fontaine Maury, where WL Maury was assigned to the Confederate Torpedo Service, and as Commander of the warship CSS Georgia, a commercial raider, he captured and sank several Union ships carrying war materials, in armed open rebellion against the United States; and

Whereas, the Black Lives Matter (“BLM”) movement has focused attention on the removal of Confederate statues and memorials, including in Seattle; and

Whereas, in 1986, the King County Council approved a motion to rename the County to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. (the name previously honored a slaveholder), but because the state charters counties, the legislature had to authorize the name change which took 8 years to pass, and then signed into law in 2005 by Governor Christine Gregoire; and

Whereas, in 2002, the marker bearing the name of Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway (US 99) was removed in Blaine, Washington; and

Whereas, in 2017, Clark County, WA removed the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway Marker from the Historic Registry of Clark County, which resides now on private property along I-5; and

Whereas, in 2020, the United Confederate Veterans Memorial in Lakeside Cemetery erected in 1926 by the Seattle Chapter of United Daughters of the Confederacy, was torn down by BLM supporters; and

Whereas, his cousin, Matthew Fontaine Maury, commander of the Confederate States Navy, a pall bearer to Robert E. Lee, with a statue on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, which was removed on July 2, 2020 by order of Richmond’s mayor; and

Whereas, there continues to be public concern regarding the name of our own state due to the slaveholding of George Washington; and

Whereas, the enormous efforts of retired Senator Sharon Nelson, Preserve Our Islands, Dow Constantine, and many other citizens of Vashon-Maury Island to reclaim Maury Island for future generations, from corporate greed and the environmental exploitation by a mining company, the island deserves a name worthy of its beauty, and of that effort; and 

Whereas, this island is ancestral land lived on by many others before the colonizing of Euro-Americans, we do not presume to suggest a new name as the voices of many constituencies, with more standing than the writers of this resolution, should be heard; and

Whereas, Democratic Party organizations all over the country are striving to be more inclusive of BIPOC and LGBTQ persons, the 34th District Democrats can begin our own work right here at home.

Therefore, we respectfully submit this resolution to the 34th District Democrats, to urge Democrats who are residents of the 34th Legislative District, especially those from Vashon-Maury Island, to establish a working group to evaluate removing the traitor’s name from the Islands. 

Submitted and authored by Marcee Stone-Vekich, former Chair of the 34th District Democrats, and member Max Vekich

Membership approved with one amendment at the September 9 general membership meeting. 

Resolution on the Black Lives Matter Movement

Whereas, this body acknowledges that racism is defined as the patterns of privilege, power and authority granted to one group over others based on race; and

Whereas, this body acknowledges that the United States was founded on the genocide of native people and appropriation of native land and the exploitation, dehumanization and oppression of Black people whom were descended from Africans who were kidnapped and forced into the system of chattel slavery; and

Whereas, this body acknowledges that systematic racism exists and is included in the police and institutions of governance in our country.  We also acknowledge that the American police force developed in large part based on slave patrols in the South. Moreover, that anti-Black and racist practices have been embedded in the training and institutional culture of many police departments; and

Whereas, this body acknowledges that racist policies in America’s past and present involved distributing resources in a discriminatory manner, thus depriving Black, Indigenous and other Communities of Color (hereafter ‘BIPOC’) of a decent standard of living and depriving them of the ability to develop and full enjoy the promise of freedom and equality in America; and

Whereas, this body acknowledges our own political parties history of defending slavery and establishing Jim Crow laws; and

Whereas, this body acknowledges that the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Giovonn Joseph-McDade and Charleena Lyles were unjustified killings of American citizens by police officers and vigilantes. These murders reflect a four-hundred-year history, that has been largely ignored or mischaracterized, of state and non-state sponsored aggression against Black people. Furthermore, this body demands justice pursuant to the standards laid out in the U.S. Constitution, and equal to what white victims receive, for each murder; and

Whereas, since 2014, millions of people have risen to demand that America acknowledges that BLACK LIVES MATTER and that policy, legal and cultural change must occur to reflect that; and

Whereas, this body acknowledges and embraces the wisdom of Rev. Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. that moderation and telling communities facing oppressive conditions that “waiting” is fundamentally unjust, and counter-productive to our values as Democrats; and

Whereas, this body acknowledges that as of the 2010 census, many majority BIPOC communities have emerged and have a diverse population from various racial and ethnic backgrounds within them;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE 34TH LD DEMOCRATS:

1. Fully supports the Black Lives Matter movement and stands in solidarity with the Black community against attack.
2. Commit themselves to supporting, recruiting and developing candidates of color whom share our values, and reflect a deep concern for our community.
3. Stands against gerrymandering which dilutes or intentionally excludes our BIPOC neighbors from being a part of our district.
4. Support allocating resources and changing policies on a local, state and national level to address systemic racism and repair the damage that has been done to our communities.

Original Author: Clifford  Cawthon PCO, 47th LD

LDs approved: 47th   and pending in the  33rd , with 36th and 43rd with similar resolutions 

Membership approved as submitted at the September 9 general membership meeting. 

Resolution to Efficiently Establish Sustainable Means of Travel to and from West Seattle

Whereas, the Jeanette Williams Memorial Bridge (“West Seattle Bridge”) was closed on March 23, 2020 due to critical structural issues; and

Whereas, the West Seattle Bridge functioned as the primary avenue of travel to and from West Seattle for more than 100,000 residents and guests every day; and

Whereas, the forthcoming reopening and expansion of industries in and near West Seattle will increase the need for effective and sustainable means of travel to and from West Seattle; and

Whereas, to meet current and future demand for such means, our government must efficiently develop and implement community-driven solutions; and

Whereas, the actions necessary for success require means which (1) at least maintain commute duration with equivalent traffic volumes, (2) incorporate safe traffic flow practices, (3) minimize environmental and socioeconomic impacts, and (4) complete projects before they are needed; and

Whereas, the ways in which we move forward should maximize positive impacts, such as convenience, safety, availability, accessibility, diversity of use, and accommodation of planned population growth; and

Whereas, the ways in which we move forward should minimize negative direct impacts, such as excessive cost, extended timelines, displacement of residential lot occupants, displacement of commercial lot occupants, removal of green space, unavailability or inaccessibility of transportation options, and excessive fines (tolls, tab fees, bus fares, etc.).

Whereas, the ways in which we move forward should minimize negative indirect impacts, such as environmental impact, economic impact, interference with activity in the vicinity of Harbor Island, the Duwamish River, and peripheral communities, disruption to local communities (road work, detours, and closures), and avoidance of increased property taxes which affect housing affordability; and

Whereas, including and empowering a diverse set of stakeholders from impacted communities as well as means to amplify the collective community voice will ensure solutions are aligned with community priorities and needs;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE 34TH LD DEMOCRATS:

1. Recognize the urgent need for the stabilization and repair or, if structural or financial circumstances dictate, replacement of the West Seattle Bridge (especially as the economy reopens further);
2. Understand that West Seattle communities must be included and empowered in the process of developing solutions;
3. Understand the need for transparency in the process of developing solutions;
4. Will work to amplify community voices, especially those of marginalized communities; and 
5. Will partner with West Seattle Bridge Now in communicating community priorities and needs to entities involved in the decision-making process.

WHEREAS President Franklin Roosevelt used the “New Deal” to raise the country out of its greatest challenge, a debilitating depression;

WHEREAS the greatest challenge we now face is the specter of global destruction from climate change and the disruptions it is causing;

WHEREAS a Green New Deal is proposed at the federal level within House Resolution (HR) 109 and Senate Resolution (SR) 59 that would:

• Secure for all people clean air and water, housing, climate resiliency, healthy food, access to nature and a sustainable environment,
• Invest in the infrastructure and industry of the United States and sustainably meet the challenges of the 21^st century.
• Promote justice and equity by stopping current, preventing future and repairing historic oppression of frontline and vulnerable communities,
• Eliminate pollution and greenhouse gas emissions as much as technologically feasible through a fair and just transition for all communities and workers, and
• Create millions of high-quality union jobs that hire local workers and pay prevailing wages.

WHEREAS local groups are joining together to urge the passage of the federal Green New Deal; and

WHEREAS our 7^th Congressional District Representative, Pramila Jayapal, is a co-sponsor of HR 109,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED the 34^th Legislative District Democratic Organization joins with other local groups in supporting passage of the federal Green New Deal and agrees to be listed among the groups in the Green New Deal Coalition and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED this resolution be sent to the Green New Deal Coalition and to Representative Pramila Jayapal for their information and use.

Passed on August 12, 2020. 

This resolution will be debated and voted on at the March 2020 meeting.

WHEREAS the Trump Administration’s immigration enforcement policies are restrictionist, prioritizing deportation of legal immigrants, restriction of the visa process, and rejection of asylum claims; and

WHEREAS the Trump Administration’s designs its immigration enforcement policies to intimidate immigrants and deter immigration through fear, pain, suffering, and trauma – making them cruel by definition; and

WHEREAS these policies permit arrests in courthouses and the State Clemency Board, effectively excluding immigrants from participating in our justice system and public life; and

WHEREAS the executive branch, having authority over US immigration courts, has been allowed to deny due process and hold people indefinitely without charges or bail; and

WHEREAS when arrested, immigrants face extensive detention without access to legal representation and separation of children from their parents; and

WHEREAS these policies damage communities and tear apart American families – frequently target documented, law-abiding immigrants and refugees; and

WHEREAS life-long American residents are deported to countries they have never known and often do not speak the language; and

WHEREAS interacting with the court system is one of the only methods of relief for immigrants targeted by the Trump Administration; and

WHEREAS applying for clemency is one of the only methods of relief for immigrants charged with crimes targeted by the Trump Administration; and

WHEREAS the Trump Administration’s intimidating tactics and Washington’s overloaded State Clemency Board are insurmountable obstacles for our immigrant communities; and

WHEREAS Washington’s House Bill 2567 and its companion Senate Bill 6522, Courts Open to All Act, would prohibit civil arrests inside or near state courts, prohibit inquiries into or collection of immigration or citizenship status information, prohibit disclosure of nonpublic personal information about individuals to immigration authorities, and establish processes in the event of law enforcement action at court facilities; and

WHEREAS the US House Resolution 5383, New Way Forward Act, would end mandatory immigration detention, end automatic deportation and summary proceedings for people who have had contact with the criminal legal system, end local police engagement in immigration enforcement and over-policing of communities of color, and decriminalize illegal entry and reentry into the US; and

WHEREAS expansion of the Washington State Clemency Board would improve relief for Washington’s immigrant communities and increase assistance for those people facing deportation;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE 34^TH DEMOCRATS:

1. Reaffirm our support for immigrant communities; and
2. Call on the Washington Legislature to pass the Courts Open to All Act, defending the rights of immigrants to freely access our justice system; and
3. Call on the US House of Representatives to pass the New Way Forward Act; and
4. Call on the US Senate to turn away from the injustices imposed by the current administration, support and pass the New Way Forward Act; and
5. Call on our Governor to expand the Washington State Clemency Board to improve assistance for Washington’s immigrants who have had contact with the criminal justice system.

Passed at the August 12, 2020 general membership meeting. 

Resolution in Support of Washington Democrats’ Commitment to Israeli-Palestinian Peace, and in Opposition to any Further Occupation, Settlement Expansion, or Other Unilateral Annexation of West Bank Territory

WHEREAS the Washington Democratic Party’s 2018 platform rightly states support for serious negotiations between Israel and Palestine in order to evolve a solution that would include a sovereign state of Palestine and a sovereign state of Israel; and
 
WHEREAS the Trump administration has upended decades of bipartisan support for such a two-state solution, and the Israeli government has accelerated settlement expansion and implemented several steps toward annexation of much of the West Bank, seriously threatening a peaceful two-state solution; and 
 
WHEREAS the U.S. State Department issued an opinion in 1978, defining Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention – an official position in effect for over 40 years, until reversed by the Trump administration on November 18, 2019; and
 
WHEREAS, in response to the above reversal by the Trump administration, 106 members of Congress wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on November 21, 2019, expressing their vehement opposition to the State Department’s decision to consider Israeli settlements legal – a decision that greenlights further annexations and threatens any genuine two-state solution; and 

WHEREAS the U.S. House of Representatives, on December 6, 2019 – with 192 cosponsors, including all seven Washington Democrats – adopted H. Res. 326, expressly supporting a two-state solution and opposing settlement
expansion, drawing a red line against unilateral annexation of West Bank territory and declaring that such roadblocks to a peace agreement “pose a threat to the ability to maintain a Jewish and democratic state of Israel and [to] the establishment of a viable, democratic Palestinian state”; and
 
WHEREAS Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-7) has endorsed J Street U’s #ChangeThePlatform campaign to add to the Democratic Party’s national platform a statement of opposition to the Israeli occupation, illegal settlements, and annexation, calling such a statement “essential”;
 
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that we support the right of both Israelis and Palestinians to govern themselves, each in their own viable state, and we oppose any further occupation of Palestinian territory in the West Bank or Gaza, whether by settlement expansion or unilateral annexation; and 
 
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we support adding to the national Democratic platform a statement opposing occupation, settlement construction, annexation, and demolitions of Palestinian communities in the West Bank; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution be sent to the Chair and Co-Chair of the Democratic National Committee, our state’s members of the DNC, and Washington’s Democratic Party Chair. 

Previously adopted by LDs 32, 36, 37 and 43;
Originated by Jeremy Voss, Co-Chair, J Street U at UW; co-sponsored by the Young Democrats of UW.

References:

1. UN Security Council, “Special Coordinator Reports Largest Expansion of West Bank Settlements in 2 Years”
   (June 20, 2019), https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/sc13853.doc.htm
2. David M. Halbfinger, “Netanyahu, Facing Tough Israel Election, Pledges to Annex a Third of West Bank,”
   New York Times, (September 23, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/10/world/middleeast/netanyahu-
   israel-west-bank.html
3. Letter of the State Department Legal Advisor concerning the Legality of Israeli Settlements in the Occupied
   Territories, 21 April 1978, https://www.hlrn.org/img/documents/USSDLegalAdvisorHansell_ltr.pdf
4. The United States Congress, “Letter to the Honorable Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State,”
   https://andylevin.house.gov/sites/andylevin.house.gov/files/112119%20Letter%20to%20SecState%20on%20Israel
   i%20settlements%20FINAL.pdf

Whereas Seattle is losing not only its biggest trees, but much more of its green cover, as developers frequently scrape properties clean of trees to maximize their buildable area; and  

Whereas Seattle has failed to require developers to replace all “exceptional” trees and trees over 24” DBH (diameter at 54” high) as prescribed by SMC 25.11.090; and 

Whereas Seattle, unlike Portland and other major cities, has not instituted a permit system to govern tree removal on developed property or property being developed, but relies instead on a complaint-based system that is applicable only to already-developed property and does not protect trees even there; and  

Whereas the Seattle City Council voted in 2009, and again by Resolution 31870 in March 2019, to support an updating of its Tree Protection Ordinance; and  

Whereas the City concluded, in its 2017 Tree Regulations Research Report, that “Current code is not supporting tree protection” and that “we are losing exceptional trees (and groves) in general”; and 

Whereas Seattle’s trees and urban forest comprise a vital green infrastructure that (a) reduces air pollution, stormwater runoff, and climate change impacts like heat-island effects, while providing essential habitat for birds and other wildlife, and (b) is important for the physical and mental health of Seattle residents: and  

Whereas the Seattle Urban Forestry Commission has drafted, at the suggestion of several City Council members, an updated Tree and Urban Forest Protection Ordinance consistent with the eight recommendations specified by the Council in Section 6 of its Resolution 31870, which would:  

a. increase protections for Seattle trees and tree canopy volume by requiring, in each land-use zone in the city, a permit for removal and replacement of any tree over 6” DBH, whether on developed property or property being developed; 

b. require two-week on-site posting of tree removal and replacement applications (as SDOT already requires); 

c. require on-site tree replacement equivalent, in 25 years, to the tree canopy volume removed, or payment of a fee into a Tree Replacement and Preservation Fund for planting and 5-year maintenance of trees elsewhere in the city; 

d. retain current protections for exceptional trees and reduce the definitional upper threshold for exceptional trees to 24” DBH; 

e. allow no more than two significant non-exceptional trees to be removed over 3 years on developed property; 

f. require registration of all tree services providers with the city; 

g. track all significant tree loss and replacement; and 

h. provide adequate funds to administer and enforce the ordinance. 

Therefore, be it resolved that, in recognition of the environmental importance of trees and the urgent need to update and strengthen Seattle’s current ordinance, the 34th District Democrats urge the Seattle City Council to enact, and the Mayor to sign and enforce, the Seattle Urban Forestry Commission’s June 14, 2019 draft Tree and Urban Forest Protection Ordinance. 

Adopted 9/11/19 by 34th District Democratic Organization