Hi all,

I hope this finds you and your family looking forward to an enjoyable weekend full of good company and food . Traditionally, it is a time where we reflect upon our lives, what has gone well in our day-to-day living and how fortune has smiled upon us. Certainly, we can view the past year for the 23rd Legislative District (LD) the same way. To that end, I am thankful for:

**The 136 members of our LD.

Dues from members provide the funds from which we are able to make good-sized financial contributions to our endorsed candidates. Our members also support our candidates individually with both financial contributions and their time in volunteering for their campaigns. Thanks to these efforts we had a very successful results in our local campaigns: Bainbridge Island City Council members Joe Deets, Brenda Fantroy-Johnson and Clarence Moriwaki and Bremerton Mayor Greg Wheeler and City Council member Jennifer Chamberlin won their races.

**That our LD helped lead the way in getting support for, and passage of, a Washington State Democratic Central Committee (WSDCC) resolution on orca and salmon recovery which includes the removal of the Snake River dams.

Our very own Kathy Canderle, State Committee Member (SCM) and member of the WSDCC Resolutions Committee, was the point person for our LD. As Marc Sullivan of Save Our Wild Salmon and the Sierra Club stated, "It's worth mentioning that the original initiative for this resolution did not come from SOS or the Sierra Club. The 23rd LD Democrats and the state Democrats' Environment and Climate Caucus had each already drafted a resolution for submittal to the state party when we first contacted them. We've provided some support in herding the resolutions along, but this was organic, bubbling up from the Democratic base."

**That Bainbridge Island will likely stay within the 23rd LD when the redistricting is finished.

Our other SCM, Ted Jones, served on the WSDCC’s committee on redistricting. He was assigned to review the map proposed by Redistricting Commissioner April Sims. This meant examining the demographics of the areas and how the proposed map aligned with the Commission’s concerns: protecting fair and effective representation, maintaining and creating communities of interest, respecting Tribal sovereignty and the government-to-government relationship with Tribal partners and centering and engaging communities that have been historically underrepresented. Ted learned how to manipulate the mapping tool and created a power point to explain the process. His work was lauded by Ed Martinez, co-chair of the WSDCC Redistricting committee. The proposal to remove Bainbridge Island from the 23rd was panned by virtually everyone and people shared that opinion with the Redistricting Commission either through testimony or emails.

**That our Precinct Committee Officers (PCOs) are active and  involved and our past chairs have been replaced by an equally dynamic duo.

Our former PCO chairs, Debbie Hollyer and Carollynn Zimmers, did a tremendous job all year keeping our PCOs informed and active on issues concerning our LD as they arose through weekly and monthly meetings. Debbie was also instrumental in organizing the appointment process for the recently vacated positions of County Sheriff and County Clerk. She insured that as many people as possible were involved in developing the candidate questions and other information needed by the resident PCOs who would be choosing and rank ordering the top three people for the county commissioners to consider. People commented positively on how well done it was. Laurie Kadet and Cam Keeble have taken over with support from Carollynn as needed.

**That our Events committee did an amazing job with our annual Salmon Dinner and Auction despite the pandemic.

Chaired by Erin Phillips and Ginny Bell, the event raised more than the live auction held two years ago! That $25,000+ will provide a good basis for us as we get into the 2022 election cycle where keeping our Democrats in office will be paramount.

**That our LD is ably supported by folks whose ongoing work enables the LD to function:

Our Communications committee led by Doug MacKenzie and Colleen Hogan Taylor for getting out the 23rd messages and event/meeting invites all year long;

Our Treasurer, Hallette Salazar, who keeps us kosher with the PDC and makes sure we have the funds available for the work we do;

Our Secretary, Chris Cancailosi, whose minutes remind us what we need to do;

The Executive Board who provides the necessary support and advice to direct the LD work.

I am thankful for all the work our LD members do – as it is said, I couldn’t have done it without you!

Be safe and have a great Thanksgiving!

Val