At the February meeting, this organization will be asked to approve a Code of Conduct (Code), which describes how members are expected to behave towards each other and describes a mechanism to punish members who violate these prescribed norms. I intend to speak against this Code but will not be able to present my concerns in the allotted 2-minute speech. I beg your indulgence.
I believe whole heartedly that we should all treat each other with respect and dignity. I try to live my life with that as a guiding principal. That said I don’t want to force my ideals upon others by codifying it.
Most of us are here because we are passionate about an issue, or many issues. Being passionate about issues, we hold strong opinions and we don’t always agree. We often debate how to achieve our goals and who should be elected. Several of our most active and passionate members use social media and our meetings to speak “their truth”. Sometimes that truth is hard to hear or counter to the beliefs of others. I think that is OK, even good. If someone says something that makes you angry or hurt, good. Use that to motivate you to do more and express your own opinions.
I have three primary concerns with this Code. First, if a grievance is filed, the board will use a bunch of it’s precious and limited time to investigate and potentially try the complaint. Second, it will stifle the free expression of thoughts and ideas, and third, it could be weaponized to remove some of our most passionate and active members.
Board time: I was elected as one of our delegates to King County Democrats in January of 2017. In January of 2018, they adopted a similar Code of Conduct. Three days later, a grievance was filed against the Chair, and we spent until August resolving the issue. That board spent almost all of every meeting in between, often running late, litigating the complaint. In that period, the only substantial work done towards their mission, was getting the candidates questionnaire assembled so that endorsements could be made. There was tremendous turnover on the board including 3 of 4 vice chairs, the treasurer and eventually the Chair. The January, 2018 meeting had almost all 48 delegates in attendance. By August, barely half were attending. They raised only enough money that year to keep the lights on and distributed none to candidates. It also alienated everyone on the board from each other.
Last year, here in the 34th, there was an incident at our endorsement meeting involving some of our most passionate members. The Board spent two meetings, one 6 hours long and one 3 hours, figuring out how to resolve the complaint. We spent about 200 volunteer hours in meetings for this instead of working to elect Democrats. There were countless other hours spent in communications and discussions. In the end we suspended 3 of our most active members until after the election in November. I suggest that our board has more useful tasks to attend to.
Stifling free speech: This year, during our City Council race, one of our members posted comments on social media that were unflattering to towards one of the candidates (both candidates are members). A grievance was filed by one of our other members citing ad homonym arguments, cyberbullying, harassment and other conducts. The board spent much of another meeting on this grievance. I had seen those posts and while the member used verbiage I would not, I saw it as a member speaking their truth. I felt it was OK and frankly, I wish more folks would speak their truths. I worry that, if the Code passes, fewer will speak, in fear of reprimand.
Weaponization: I fear the code will be used to drive some of our most active and passionate members out of the party and to discourage them from running for office. I felt it was used that way in the case of the King County Democrats Chair and I felt it was used that way in our Council race last year.
In summery. I want everyone to treat each other with respect and dignity but I don’t think this is how you do it. I also understand that our members can be passionate about an issue or a candidate. I understand how one’s passion can overcome judgement and that we are not all friends all of the time. I have also witnessed members being really upset at another member about something said or done and then seen them call the same person seeking advice a year later. I’ve done it myself. We can move on.
We already have mechanisms in the bylaws to address serious misconduct. We can censure a member; we can suspend a member and we can remove officers from the board. If there should be a serious misconduct, we can refer it to the police and/or the courts. We do not have the time, or energy to manage every member’s personal behavior. I ask that you use the Code to model your behavior but that you not codify it in the bylaws.
Finally: Politics is all about conflict and the resolution of conflict. Don’t run and hide from it. Stand your ground and speak your thoughts as best you can to defend your values. In the end, come together and move on.
Les Treall, PCO SEA 34-1498