West Seattle Blog… | UPDATE: Next step in Democratic caucusing

Dem1 April 17, 2016 (3:57 pm)

Still at the caucus. Been here since 11:30. Going verrrrrrry long. People not used to this system (mostly Bernie supporters) are getting testy.

CountingCoup April 17, 2016 (10:37 pm)

As a two time caucus delegate, this one was disorganized, extremely long, inefficient and hopefully not the norm… Maybe we need to get rid of the Caucus System for a Primary Vote… I didn’t experience any of the back and forth debate/discussion from past caucuses in this one… I think WA State has outgrown the caucus system for better or worse. But a vote (speaking from the 34th District experience) for your Democratic candidate should not be a 9+ hour affair!

R0b0 April 17, 2016 (4:24 pm)

Yes the chair has lost the room. There have been two attempts to remove her, ruled out of order. 2008 went much more smoothly and that turnout was bonkers! I’d say that dissatisfaction is pretty evenly spread, but Bernie delegates far outnumber Hillary delegates. There is a lot of hand counting going on behind the scenes which takes time. The poor communication from the chair and the disorganization is what is upsetting the crowd.

WSB April 17, 2016 (4:45 pm)

Watching the tweets – and it seems to be a slow-moving afternoon in other districts too – what’s taking so long? We couldn’t go cover this; we’re working on an internal project we absolutely had to get done today after being out covering events for 10 hours yesterday, but figured it was probably a quick process anyway since the first round a few weeks ago didn’t take so long … erroneous assumption, apparently.
CountingCoup April 17, 2016 (10:29 pm)

I completely agree with this! And as sad as it was to elect a very young probably green to the rules replacement, it might have been better in the long run…

JeffK April 17, 2016 (4:47 pm)

Semi-pandemonium at times here. We now are voting for the chair to be replaced with an enthusiastic 18 year old. I’m not making this up!

JanP April 17, 2016 (9:22 pm)

He’s actually 17 and an amazing young man.
- JeffK April 17, 2016 (10:18 pm)
  
  JanP, you’re right. I’m glad I heard Jacob Simmons speak today. I voted for him today. I hope to see him on another ballot in the future.
- sheturnedmeintoanewt April 18, 2016 (12:00 pm)
  
  I’m sure he is but this is an enormous task and he needs at least 1 election cycle under his belt before taking it on. Nothing against the kid and I hope down the road he can step in, but right now he’s too young.
  
  The organization had lots of room for improvement but that was a whimsical, ill-conceived move that wasted a lot of everyone’s time.

Dem1 April 17, 2016 (4:47 pm)

Hard to stay put. We haven’t even split into groups yet to hear from people wanting to be delegates to next level. At this rate we’ll be here til 8pm. This did not happen in 2008.

JeffK April 17, 2016 (4:50 pm)

WSB, there is still plenty of time for you to show up. Counting and seating delegates is taking hours. We are still waiting for all delegates to be seated and then break up into subcaucus to elect next-level delegates, their speeches…

Dem1 April 17, 2016 (5:03 pm)

The delay has been about credentialling delegates. First delay was the first credentials report. Second, so many delegates didn’t show that a long process of seating alternates ensued. Now waiting for the election of the permanent chair which requires hand ballots and signatures and hand counting. Really really ridiculous. No wonder only five percent of voters attend these things. Time for a change in how we elect our candidates.

Liz April 17, 2016 (6:22 pm)

You’re so right. This is nothing but “democracy” by attrition.

Nathan April 17, 2016 (5:13 pm)

The chair lost control of the crowd when she called the Hillary supporter to speak, then said the Bernie speaker wasn’t here. When questioned why she called for candidate speakers when one was not present, she acted as if she misunderstood the question then called for a break. Big surprise she’s a Hillary supporter. She mentioned she’s run unopposed twice before- maybe it’s time for a challenger to step up.

Dem1 April 17, 2016 (5:21 pm)

Funny. I thought she was a Bernie supporter. Making everyone wait for the Bernie speaker who didn’t show up on time. She announced with glee that it would be “worth the wait.” It wasn’t.

Diane April 17, 2016 (5:30 pm)

at the 34th Dems this week, they announced this whole thing was expected to go until 6pm, so with further issues, not surprised; sorry I couldn’t be there to observe what all went on (still going on?)

Liz April 17, 2016 (6:23 pm)

Just saw a tweet that a whole precinct was disqualified? What the $%#*? Which precinct?

JeffK April 17, 2016 (6:34 pm)

34th Dems are a joke. They are still not passing out ballots for delegates so we can’t have the ~400 delegate candidates start speaking. They only have one printer pumping out 1200 ballouts, 3 seconds per ballot. Could they have not started printing hours ago?!

sheturnedmeintoanewt April 18, 2016 (12:05 pm)

That right there was the most mind-boggling move of the day. The table was closed at what, 2PM? Learning it was going to take another hour to print the ballots was what made us finally decide to leave.

BTW I read elsewhere that the HRC group had their ballots printed first. Who made that call and why?

Jeremy April 17, 2016 (6:47 pm)

Sanders campaign just donated twelve pizzas. At least we won’t starve.

R0b0 April 18, 2016 (1:07 am)

Yes thanks to the Bernie volunteers, esp I believe Matthew, who paid for the pizza without being sure of reimbursement. This guy and team were chasing people down from the exits to the parking lot encouraging them to stay. They weren’t trying to advance themselves as delegates, they just tried to help encourage participants to stick longer in the process. Kudos!

Dem1 April 17, 2016 (7:14 pm)

Hillary team is done. Bernie side still voting. Then both sides need to come back together. Crazy.

Jeremy April 17, 2016 (7:26 pm)

Do we really have to come back together? Jesus.

Anne K April 17, 2016 (7:47 pm)

Bernie side just got ballots. The speeches weren’t allowed to start until ballots arrived. There are 189 candidates for the 27 spots and at least 100 people lined up to speak. Their time has been cut to 15 seconds each. It going to be a long night…

Nora April 17, 2016 (7:47 pm)

Sounds like a typical caucus to me. 5 minutes of excitement followed by 2 hours of pure boredom for as many rounds of voting as it takes to seat all of the delegates and alternates to the state convention.

For those attending- don’t be surprised if you’re there until 10.

Charles April 17, 2016 (8:03 pm)

My wife is a delegate, and I was an alternate delegate. I left at 3 when my precinct wasn’t called in need of an alternate delegate. I went back at 7 to check on my wife. In the interim I went to the grocery store and completely redesigned my business’ website. This was the living embodiment of enthusiasm for politics hitting a pack of sclerotic nitwits who weren’t ready to handle this many people. This system absolutely has to change.

Charles April 17, 2016 (8:07 pm)

I would like to apologize for my earlier comment, I shouldn’t have made an ad hominim attack on the organizers.
- david April 18, 2016 (10:06 am)
  
  don’t be, you hit the nail on the head.

JILL April 17, 2016 (8:04 pm)

It was the Vashon Island precinct that was disqualified—both Clinton and Sanders delegates. No explanation was given in the room. I’m assuming it was a decision made prior today since the only mention of it was by the Vashon delegates who raised it as an objection. Would be curious to hear what happened.

Assuming the Sanders voting is still going on. Anyone know if it’s looking like there will be a quorum enough with the Sanders side still there, or do Clinton folks who left need to come back to help with numbers?

Tanya April 17, 2016 (8:28 pm)

I had to leave at 6:15. Had been there for 6 hours and 15 minutes. I couldn’t wait any longer due to parent duties. The whole thing was a hot mess and seemed very poorly organized. I can’t say I’d ever want to do that again.

Keden April 17, 2016 (9:14 pm)

I was there and left after 3 hours. What a mess! Can’t we count delegates on a spreadsheet instead of by hand?

Jan Pagel April 17, 2016 (9:17 pm)

The Chautauqua precinct on Vashon was disqualified because the PCO didn’t write down and submit the names and contact info of the delegates and alternates from the first caucus. They had their credentials, but were denied participation. All of Vashon’s many representatives stood behind Chautauqua on the floor to support them being heard, but they were again denied. These folks came out to participate, and because of poor training and mistakes made by their PCO, they were not allowed to. Not cool.

LKT April 17, 2016 (9:26 pm)

Many pledged delegates did not bother to show up today. A lot of time was taken up trying to fairly fill those spots with alternates, even from other precincts, who would vote for the candidate designated by the absentee. There were many people there who, while enthusiastic, did not have an understanding of the process or how Robert’s Rules of Order work to promote a civil and efficient meeting. Instead, they chose to stand up and yell, attack the chair, and, as seen in comments above, denigrate the volunteers who were doing their best to navigate the process. Obviously, changes need to be made in this system. Let’s all stay involved and work together to make that happen.

Jenny April 17, 2016 (9:26 pm)

I was there for 7 hours, but had to leave to get my kids. I feel horrible that I never got a chance to vote for delegates. We need to make it easier for people to participate in the democratic process, not harder.

Lagartija Nick April 17, 2016 (9:40 pm)

9:30 and just got home. 10 hours to vote for 27 delegates. That was the most amateurish, disorganized and incompetent spectacle I have ever seen. The chairwoman did not seem to understand the proceedings that SHE HAD BEEN WORKING ON FOR THE PAST YEAR AND A HALF. She didn’t know the rules, and when challenged just shut the challengers down without due process or explanation. The worst is that they had the list of delegate nominees at 1:30 but didn’t start printing the ballots until 5:30.

We definitely need a new process for this.

JILL April 17, 2016 (10:05 pm)

I wonder if they did not print the ballots until 5:30 because they had not seated all the delegates before then. Presumably if someone started the day as an alternate, but was bumped up to delegate in the second count (when they were pulling alternates from across districts to fill the no-show spots), that person should have as much opportunity to run for the next round as someone who was originally a delegate. And that person would need their name added to the ballot at the last minute. But could not be added before that last minute, in case they had remained an alternate. Hence not printing ballots until 5:30. So, this part of the day seems more a sign that the process needs an enormous overhaul, and less that our particular caucus was ill managed.
- sheturnedmeintoanewt April 18, 2016 (12:10 pm)
  
  Earlier in the day the chairperson said that alternates who eventually were seated could still speak even if they weren’t on the ballot, so I don’t think that’s the reason.

AD April 17, 2016 (9:48 pm)

Wow. Stayed for 8+ hrs until the bitter end of the caucus. Just to have it end with a volunteer telling me to “f-off” after myself and my partner took too long finally filling out our ballots. My partner volunteered on the fly at the caucus, and as such was running late finishing his ballot after speeches, and asked me for some info to catch him up. I get told to “f-off” after the volunteer climbs bleachers to sit right next to us while we deliberate. There was so much still going on at this point, there was no reason to monitor us. Then a guy in scooter leathers that was totally uninvolved backed up the aggressive bully by saying “words don’t matter, no one got physically hurt.” I hope other people in Seattle don’t stand for being talked to in this manner, and roll over on this kind of disrespect. It’s not okay to talk to your fellow citizens in this way. I don’t want to go back to a caucus or participate at all in a community where this kind of language and offense is defended, or where we would be questioned by others in the room for challenging that the behavior was inappropriate. What an absolute mess.

ChannelingLewisBlack April 18, 2016 (2:25 pm)

You need to post the picture of the 4x ballots for Jacob vs. Marcee. This was a rigged ceremony for the 34dem insiders who seem to enjoy this. Please call them out
- Cait April 18, 2016 (5:14 pm)
  
  If someone has the picture please PLEASE post. There’s no way he lost.
  - Alki Res April 19, 2016 (8:05 am)
    
    I can attest to the fact that Jacob did lose that election as “fair and square” as possible given the botched instructions/process. I observed the entire tallying process and was very skeptical of the “tally committee” because they were all Marcee supporters — so I took it upon myself to really keep an eye on things to try to protect the integrity of the vote. Even though the tally committee only reported the signed ballot count, which I observed and believe to be accurate, they also counted the unsigned and therefore disqualified ballots, which Marcee also won. It would have been great if the rules were more clearly spelled out (“you must sign your ballot” was said, but apparently not enough times) – but as someone who voted for Jacob, I will say that the tally committee did their work with integrity and that the results they reported were accurate.

Suzanne April 17, 2016 (9:49 pm)

This was the most disorganized and out of control event I’ve ever been to. It was disorganized. The chair did not adequately explain the process or the agenda. Many delegates didn’t show up which made the process of appointing the alternates very tedious. And the chair was, at times, just as disrespectful as many of the attendees. A complete mess! The 2004 district caucus was nothing like this.

We definitely need a primary and NOT a caucus.

JeffK April 17, 2016 (10:15 pm)

During the day it became clear that Marcee Stone-Vekich is an incompetent leader of the 34th Dems. She lost the room within about two hours with her complete lack of leadership in getting any movement out of her team on hurrying up the process. It was as if it didn’t matter for the 1000-ish people there whether it took 3 hours or 10 hours.

She also lost points with the crowd on some parliamentary and voting basics – and when questioned just answered what she wanted to say instead of addressing the issue. This all seemed very top-down politicking. At one point she was challenged for the chair and the speaker on her behalf talked about how they had spent the last 1.5 years preparing this event. What a JOKE. The training of the volunteers was clearly an issue as they were confused about the credentialing of delegates and even though it was taking HOURS to figure it all out there didn’t seem to be a peep of leadership from Ms. Stone-Vekich toward the issue, she was happy to sit and chat with whomever.

And it was clearly an amateur event, despite there 1.5 YEARS of planning, in that the ballots were taking HOURS to produce, even though they had the information at 1pm. I think that I’m normally a pretty stoic person, but even I yelled out and got the tech guy’s attention as he left the gym about “use more than one printer next time!” But it was really at every turn there was some hang-up down to there being no way of timekeeping of the delegate speeches.

So here’s the best part of what happened today: The people there to vote were all great. I really mean this. Both Sanders and Clinton people. And it all finished up with the nearly 200 people that had their 15 seconds to speak in the Sanders sub-caucus. They all stepped up and had their moment and kept the room running 100X better than it had run all day up until that point.

Dan April 17, 2016 (11:18 pm)

What a disastrous event. I was an alternate for Sanders for my precinct. I arrived around noon and it was not until 4pm that I was assured that I would not be needed as all of the delegates for my pct were seated, and that it was highly unlikely I’d be needed as an alternate for any other group. After witnessing the chaos under the so-called leadership of the LD Chair, I was unwilling to help out any other groups by being a delegate for them – it had just dragged on too long by then. To learn at 9:30 at night that my brother-in-law had just gotten home from the event was both exasperating and maddening. Why on earth does this need to be so damned complicated and inconvenient? And I really, truly don’t understand why time needs to be made for all of the speeches ahead of the voting in this second round. Seriously – those whose minds weren’t made up had to pick a candidate at the first round. Did anyone come to this event with an undecided vote? Is that even allowed? Now we have to hear 200 more “sales pitches” for Bernie or Hilary? What a bunch of wasted time! If someone swayed my opinion with their speech, it’d just monkey up the works if I chose to change my vote. What. A. Waste!
“Madame Chairperson” needs to be shown the door. She can be reached on Twitter @bluecella When I have gathered my thoughts into something civil, I will be contacting her.
I Hope for Change.
david April 18, 2016 (10:15 am)

preach

Jeannine April 17, 2016 (10:25 pm)

The 34th Dems motto is “All theDemocracy you can handle.” I knew things would be bad when I saw the video they made like a cartoon on Facebook on how a caucus works….The first 5 seconds of the cartoon has “Saturday, April 27th” as a graphic. The disorder at this caucus was as bad as everyone says. Not being able to vote until hours after getting there, that’s why we were there! I have had all I can handle! We need change and a new party!

david April 18, 2016 (10:18 am)

yes!!

Ian April 17, 2016 (10:34 pm)

Was there from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm. This is the most disorganization I’ve ever seen at a publicpublic event, and I’m including outdoor music festivals organized by burnouts and hippies. Marcee Stone-Vekich, 34th chair is an embarrassment. She was imperious, rude, condescending, dismissive, and generally didn’t have her s–t together. We were given incorrect and conflicting direction and information consistently throughout the night. The Bernie subcaucus was not allowed to elect a chair as instructed – some 34th party apparatchik just took over. Things took so long, that it was after 7:30pm before ballots were available and delegate candidates were all allowed to speak. By this point, huge numbers of candidates for delegate seats had had to leave, mostly women, and weren’t able to speak towards their candidacy. Meanwhile, those who were still standing were given fifteen seconds each. Fifteen seconds.

Then they collected ballots and released delegates. Many left. Then they’re hollering at people to stay, telling us we have to stay to make a quorum of 290. So many left, it’s not clear if a quorum is possible.

Finally we were told that the quorum issue was resolved, without any sort of count taking place, or a closing of business, and sent home. We don’t know what happened to our ballots, who has them in their possession, what the final apportionment totals were, nothing. If this was massive incompetence, it couldn’t have been any more effective than a deliberate attempt to obfuscate and confound the process. I’m highly suspicious of the outcome.

david April 18, 2016 (10:31 am)

it was shameful. time for a new chair or a new party.

SeaDude April 17, 2016 (10:44 pm)

OMGosh. Just got home from the LD Caucus (10PM!!),

Very unprofessional, completely unorganized, pretentious, unaccessible, this caucus would be nearly impossible for all but the most flexible to attend, held hostage until the very end, and at the end…. the moderator said “adjourned” and after ~25% of the people bailed, the (34th Dist Dem) moderator said…”I never told everyone to go home, we still need to me sure we have 290 people here for quorum.” And when pressed further to address that fact on the microphone, he said…”I’ll have to check on that.”

Completely bogus, disenchanted with the process, wackest possible way to spend a day. This style of politics will only further exclude the masses and all but the staunchest political wierdos. You have to be nuts to sign up for what just happened.

It felt like the 34th Dist Dems were punishing participants. Minimal information was being shared with the crowd. There were many times where we were told by the moderator to “take a break”…500 people in an unstructured meeting told to “take a break”…you don’t do that! Not without giving a time to come back, or an explanation of what is happening “behind the scenes”. It was like they were asking to lose control of the event.

The “Madame” chairperson as she repeatedly demanded being referred to as, was trained more in Roberts Rules of BS than in facilitation of large groups. Due to her specific moderation, she easily added 2 hours to the event.

At the very end, 9+ hours, there was epic confusion whether we could all go home or we had to stay and wait for the delegate ballots to be counted. The end of the process should be very clear if indeed it “has been organized for a year and a half.”

Because the moderator said the meeting was “adjourned” people started leaving in droves. At the door, we were being told that we had to stay to “reach a quorum of 290 people”. I went back in, asked the moderator “what gives” and he gave no clear answer.

I had to yell at the top of my lungs “NOBODY MOVE. DO NOT MOVE UNTIL THEY ANNOUNCE WE CAN GO.” If I hadn’t yelled, everyone would have left!

Terrible Experience….And i’m an optimist!!!

“All the Democracy you could possibly stomach”

Militant_Moderate April 17, 2016 (11:25 pm)

This was my first LD caucus. I didn’t know much about the 34th District chairperson other than she was an avid Clinton supporter, and that she referred to Sanders supporters as “Bernie Bros” in a since-removed (and very classless) Tweet.

I felt that she was unnecessarily rude, terse, and confrontational with speakers. The vote for a new chair in which it was announced AFTER the ballots had already been cast that the slips of paper without a signature would be discarded and then the refusal of granting a re-vote was disgusting. And then the obstinate refusal to address what happened to the Vashon Island precinct was absolutely beyond belief.

As suggested by Nathan up above, Ms. Marcee Stone-Vekich is in desperate need of a challenger during the next chair election. No, What’s good for the Clintons is good! is not a moral code to live by, and the politics of situational ethics are increasingly being rejected. And BTW, no more Whatever it takes to win! that has been the trademark of Hillary Clinton and her surrogates. We’re electing the next President of the United States, not a football coach in the Southeastern Conference.

Maybe when we do this again in four years, there should be UN election inspectors on site?

I’ll continue being a liberal, a progressive, and very devout Bernie-crat. But today did not convince me to become a Democrat. At all.

Howard April 18, 2016 (12:12 am)

I was there. I would like to thank all the volunteers for their hard work and free labor they donated to the cause. Also to all my Duwamish Peninsula neighbors, new and old, Clinton and Sanders supporters, though your patience was tried time and time again, you cared enough to come and enough to stick around. If only I had you as an army.

Were there problems today? Indeed, many. Would a primary be better? Well it would allow more people to vote and I’m all about that however I do enjoy engaging with my fellow Cascadians, even you Hillary supporters who can’t be helped or saved. ;-) Oh come on, it’s a joke……but not really. =-)

To all those who find themselves disillusioned by the party or process I would plead with you not to give up, stay involved. Don’t form a new party but change this one from within. Do not give up, the revolution continues!

I’m glad I took some time before I wrote this, I was practically enraged when I left, but you know what, different peoples ideas will do that to you sometimes. The important thing is to voice your ideas, you might just help somebody or even yourself.

Hot damn am I glad weed is legal.

Dont_waste_my_time! April 18, 2016 (12:15 am)

The 34th district Democrats damn well better issue a HUGE public apology for today’s events…. This was the biggest DISASTER I have ever participated in. I was a delegate, and I walked out in disgust after several hours… I took my credentials with me…. They don’t respect my time, so they lose a delegate…. I didn’t sign out or notify them to get an alternate…. I just left. I will never donate or be involved with them again…. Huge FAIL!

Julia April 18, 2016 (12:35 am)

The way this caucus was handled was truly just awful. After a relatively smooth round of precinct caucuses, I’d hoped that this one might follow suit, but no. A quick and clear rundown of the rules and procedures at the beginning would have been enormously helpful. When asked who had never attended a Legislative District caucus before, virtually every hand was in the air, so District Chair Marcee Stone-Vekich’s obvious frustration that everyone in attendance wasn’t intimately familiar with Robert’s Rules of Order seemed entirely uncalled for.

Throughout, she was brusque bordering on rude to attendees with questions or comments. When asked quite plainly why she had prompted the Clinton spokesperson to give her speech when the Sanders spokesperson was not yet present, she acted as though she didn’t understand the question, then called for a break. I have no doubt that running a caucus is a difficult and probably rather thankless task, but I could find no excuse for her dismissal of participants who wanted to clarify points or ask questions, and I wasn’t surprised that the crowd turned confrontational in the face of her obfuscation.

I lost track of how many times Stone-Vekich or another District official told us that this event had been a year and a half in the planning, but it certainly wasn’t the confidence-booster they obviously intended it to be.

Cait April 18, 2016 (12:38 am)

Don’t count on a fair comment from them – their Twitter has been full of flippant responses all evening. Their canned response is to attend their meetings – as if today was any great argument to attend their clown show.

JanS April 18, 2016 (12:53 am)

how very sad…time for a primary. The caucus way of doing things is antiquated. One person , one vote !

Barbara Mason April 18, 2016 (3:16 am)

I stayed and volunteered to count ballots. We finished counting them at around 1am, and by 1:30 am the list of delegates was announced. Congrats to everyone who was elected. I know there were times today I was frustrated with the lack of information, conflicting information, and just all around confusion, but I learned a lot today and will be better prepared in the future. Thank you to all the volunteers.

ChannelingLewisBlack April 18, 2016 (2:30 pm)

Interesting, I don’t see an announcement of the delegates on the website. I’m sure the effort was there, but have no faith that it just didn’t go to the 27 most favored people….

mdeh April 18, 2016 (6:15 am)

Absolutely disgusting. I suggest we push for an enquiry about how this happened. It certainly means that I would have NO incentive to run for a delegate position. Period

Julia April 18, 2016 (7:45 am)

There’s a new statement about yesterday’s caucus on the 34th Distric Dems’ website: http://www.34dems.org/news-clips/frustrations-and-legislative-district-caucus

In my opinion, it is defensive and doesn’t address many of the concerns attendees had about the proceedings yesterday. This excerpt represents the tone of the entire statement: “So: cut us some slack. And show up to help.”

The 34th Dems should be working on sending an email to all of the delegates and alternates who participated yesterday, and it should first and foremost offer an apology for, rather than a defense of, the chaotic proceedings. The bottom line is that it should not take nine hours to have your voice heard in the democratic process, and I have yet to see any statement from the Dems acknowledging that. A sincere apology, a thank-you for your patience, and a promise to do better next time would go much further in convincing people that they want to attend more meetings run by the 34th District and become involved in the process to help make the changes that are so obviously needed.

WSB April 18, 2016 (8:05 am)

The post has been linked in our story since just after midnight.
Suzanne April 18, 2016 (8:15 am)

If they want and need more volunteers, they lost quite a few yesterday. I will never be a delegate again and will not contribute money to the Dems until they switch to a primary. If they can’t get enough volunteers to efficiently run a caucus, then that is a clear signal that maybe the current system isn’t working.

I am not only frustrated by the inefficiency yesterday, but am also really angry with all of the delegates that didn’t show up yesterday. Why volunteer to be a delegate if you aren’t going to show up? Yes, there may be last minute emergencies for some people, but there were a LOT of no shows. Again, another reason to switch to a primary.
- AMD April 18, 2016 (8:39 am)
  
  I can’t speak for delegates in any other precincts, but in mine the election of delegates was pretty chaotic as well on March 26th. I volunteered, was given a slip, then told we were doing it wrong, then I’m not a delegate? A bunch of people were leaving while we were trying to “elect” delegates, which didn’t help. So at least for my precinct the chaos and confusion started weeks ago and probably carried into (and contributed to) yesterday.
  This is the first year I’ve participated in caucuses in my life and what I have learned is that democracy can be a little messy.
- newnative April 18, 2016 (2:20 pm)
  
  I was surprised to hear that too, my precinct created an email group for the sole purpose of keeping each other informed and up to date, including passing along “informative” messages from the 34th, Sanders campaign and the DNC. Nothing in any of these campaign emails mentioned being understaffed or needing help, supplies.
  - Cait April 18, 2016 (5:22 pm)
    
    I looked through all my emails from them too for this supposed email they sent out asking for help. Nothing. Many many emails asking for money though!
- ChannelingLewisBlack April 18, 2016 (2:31 pm)
  
  Amen brother. Cutoff for delegate registration should have been noon, with alternates populated between noon and one. Get the meeting going at that point.

Suzanne April 18, 2016 (8:06 am)

For all of you who are just as frustrated by the debacle that occurred yesterday, please join me in contacting the WA State Democratic Party and tell them we should switch to a more inclusive primary. The caucus system is disenfranchising, as well as a waste of time and money.

http://www.wa-democrats.org/contact

JS April 18, 2016 (8:06 am)

Primaries favor the connected “brand name” candidate rather than a candidate supported by the grass roots or informed movers and shakers. (see the last couple of nominations in 2008 and 2012). If people cannot make last minute arrangements with employers, babysitters, neighbors, etc., they have no business making a commitment of such grave import: Delegates and their alternates must be both reliable and passionate about supporting their candidate, even all the way to a 4000 dollar crowd-funded trip to Philly.

As confusing and chaotic as it was, I was gratified to see earnest teens too young to vote until November-and folks with gray in their hair and chronic health issues but with scrappy healthy attitudes- still waiting for the Sanders tally after midnight. ‘Put a lump in my throat, actually.

Could it have been run better? Absolutely, if more Dems and delegate hopefuls had understood that democracy is a hands on responsibility (vs. a right, or a one-off rock festival), and had discovered that fact a couple years ago or more and volunteered to participate. And if more precinct delegates had either shown up or hung in there, there wouldn’t have been such a lengthy scramble to seat alternates. The volunteers worked hard regardless.

Maybe it’s a good thing that the inflexible uncommitted “11th hour citizens” were winnowed out by the infuriating, mind-numbing chaos and drama. Maybe that’s why we have these quaint, old timey caucuses in the first place.

Hot damn am I glad booze is legal.

Dustin April 18, 2016 (8:16 am)

I am disappointed in the comments I see here. It seems to me that others are quick to point out candidate affiliation as an excuse for behavior. Do not blame the chair for the lack of decorum, it was created through lack of understanding in the rules. Lack of patience in the process and mostly lack of attendance by delegates.

You want to make it better, next time volunteer. Help District 34, be there before hand and get active in the process above being just a caucus attendee.

There are a few comments here calling out the Chair Woman and calling the proceedings disgusting. This is how it works, and due to turn out, due to constant interruptions and recounts, and challenges the process was delayed. Decorum would have moved this along faster. You don’t want to be a delegate next time around, you don’t have to be, it was something we all ran for there, it was voluntary.

And finally, calling the Chair Woman a Hillary Supporter is unnecessary and an inaccurate attack, and to state that shows the divide in the process. This should not have been a “Us Vs. Them” situation, yet, the chanting, the yelling, the swearing and ad hominem attacks showed that it became just that. The caucus is over, you didn’t need to pull more votes over to the Sanders’ Campaign. What you needed to do, was be civil and move the process forward.

To the volunteers there. Thank you for the work you did in a stressful environment and for as long as you did.

newnative April 18, 2016 (9:22 am)

The agenda changed several times during the proceeding, the rules were referred to several times, though they were never distributed or posted. The Chair was unclear about the order of things, changing her reasoning for breaks, why proceedings were taking so long, etc. The lack of clarity and professionalism certainly clashed with her demand for formal address (you can’t speak until you draw my attention, I can’t hear you, I’m turning the microphone off…).

The most time consuming issue was the ballot printing, that could have been started as early as 1-1:30 though it was not announced that there was a problem with printing until after 5pm. Total chaos. The comments that it’s lack of participation to blame for the chaos clashes with the repeated remarks from the Chair that this was a year and a half in the making. If there was a lack of volunteers, help-she had plenty of time to request assistance.
Cait April 18, 2016 (5:25 pm)

The rules were never posted – they were read to half a crowd while delegates were being seated. No copies were provided and if they were the guy who was signing us in didn’t provide or offer them. Nor did he offer the agenda they supposedly had ahead of time. Because he was too busy hitting on my mother. Seems like a pretty good description of the day as a whole as far as I was concerned. But it’s OUR fault for not knowing these rules that were changed at the 11th hour to help Clinton. And now they want our time and our money.

Jc April 18, 2016 (8:18 am)

So how did the voting come out?

Dustin April 18, 2016 (8:30 am)

27 Delegates for Bernie, 11 for Hillary.

WSB April 18, 2016 (8:35 am)

That count was determined relatively early. What they were counting well into the early hours were votes for specific delegates – *who* those 27 Sanders delegates would be.

JTB April 18, 2016 (8:37 am)

As is clear from BIll Schrier’s explanation in the link Julia provides above, that one of the primary reasons for having a caucus system is it enables the political parties to retain control over the voting process. To then attempt to lay the responsibility for the debacle last night on a lack of volunteers is entirely disingenuous and cynical in my opinion. The parties have created this system primarily for their own benefit and they should have the integrity to commit the resources necessary to assure a minimally competent process.

I strongly regret the $10 donation I made at registration time. Mmm, if half of the people who participated made a similar contribution, that would mean the 34th LD picked up $5,000 yesterday.

Chris April 18, 2016 (9:45 am)

What
was funny/sad/odd to me was that they spent all this time credentialing
people – but then when votes were taken in the caucus as a whole there
was no process to make sure only credentialed delegates were voting.
Same thing happened in the sub-caucus. I
get that you need to credential folks to get the proportionality
correct – but let’s at least have an honest process that’s transparent
with clear expectations. I had the audacity to ask a very active member
of the 34th LD how we were ensuring that only delegates were voting for
caucus chair. The response: “you can go bring that up and when you cause
this process to be even longer we’ll [I can’t remember what it was they
said they’d do to me but it was something terrible to my carcas].”

Karen April 18, 2016 (9:49 am)

I have to say that the Caucus could have gotten off to a better start if this had happened:

At the beginning after the chair welcomed everyone, she could have asked to see a show of hands of who was attending for the first time. (This did not happen until much later in the day after people were getting frustrated and she had banged her gavel and said something like: You must address me as Madam Chairman and you can talk only if I recognize you to do so.)

If she had asked for the show of hands first, then she could have said something like. Well, welcome, new people and here’s what you can expect today. We are going to be doing a lot of waiting today so please be prepared for that. We are staffed by volunteers and the job today will be to ensure that each of the delegates are properly credentialed and seated. After the first count, we will then sit the alternates. This will take some time. So be prepared to wait and spend time with your fellow democracts.

Also, when she called for a “5-minute” break, that went on for an hour, if she had only provided an update as to what was going on, it would have been helpful.

The other thing is that it would have been GREAT to have some music plugged into the laptop (certainly someone has an iphone with some music they could have played?) Having some up beat music would have helped.

The Sanders speaker (Primila) was delayed. This also was not conveyed in a very positive way and made some Bernie people (who are already suspicious of the process) feel like Bernie was being dissed. I think if the chair had said something along the lines of: The schedule speaker that the Sanders campaign designated to speak has not yet arrived. If she does not arrive, we will allow an alternate speaker.

There were some Bernie people who were not well behaved, but the majority of us were. I think the Chair could have been more welcoming to the new people. But alas, it just seemed as if the people leading the caucus were antagonistic to Bernie and his people from the beginning. And this is why there will be a third progressive party formed no matter if it is Bernie or Hillary who wins the nomination.

The Dems missed an opportunity to bring many new, energized people into their organization.

Ann April 18, 2016 (10:29 am)

So, perhaps a comment from someone who was there from the very beginning to the very end… having arrived at the school at 8 AM and leaving at about 1:45 AM the next day. Thank you to all those who helped make the day happen – volunteers from the Bernie and Hillary campaigns working together despite their differences in policy and approach. We are much closer than the media and some others would depict. (And a special thanks to the custodian who was there even earlier and later and who had to return only about 4 hours later to start his next workday!)

Yesterday was the culmination of months of work made more difficult by the proximity in time of the precinct caucuses on March 26 and this event, which relied heavily on data that had to be culled from the volunteer, and sometime last minute recruitment, of individuals who had varying levels of understanding of the rules and process. This unintended consequence led to many problems with little time for resolution, particularly given the need to notify people of the next level of the nomination process, the legislative district caucus. And these issues led to a slow-down in the processing of delegates and alternates who wanted to sign in at the event.

Another twist was thrown at the districts when an interpretation of a rule that had been in place for many years changed and alternate delegates were allowed to be seated in delegate vacancies outside their own precincts. In the end that delay was made moot by the fact that the election of a permanent chair was contested, something that id a perfect right of the full caucus. Democracy can be messy, but in the end it is important to realize that it is a critical part of our system of representative government and the election of our leaders.

I think it is important to recognize and thank the people who participated in yesterday’s caucuses. They were elected by their neighbors from the precincts to carry their political messages and passions forward as we move forward to nominate our presidential candidate and, we all hope, the next president. So despite the bumps, bruises and disagreements, we survived, if a little tired and sore and perhaps not totally satisfied with the process. We always hope to do better and learn from our problems, but it’s usually a new cast of characters and, as they say, results may vary!

R April 18, 2016 (11:15 am)

Hello.

I stayed until the end yesterday. It was a wild ride.

I was lucky enough to have the time (as we had lots of time) to talk to supporters of both candidates yesterday. It was really interesting to hear more about why everyone was there and part of the Party and about their families .. a lot of people with a lot of emotion and heart for being there, on all sides. I think that deep passion and lack of clarity is what made it such a challenge.

I, like many, relatively new to the system found it fairly challenging to get answers when we needed them. I’ve decided to ask to be a PCO in my local district and hopefully next time around I can be there supporting others and assisting in elimination of confusion if I can. I appreciate the volunteers who were doing what they could and hope to help everyone down the road if we continue to Caucus… there is so much to learn about and understand.

Dont_waste_my_time! April 18, 2016 (11:18 am)

… They keep stating that they are all VOLUNTEERS….. That’s supposed to explain yesterday’s disaster?!?

Dont belittle volunteerism by using it to justify dismal planning and performance.

Pat Murakami April 18, 2016 (12:07 pm)

The 37th LD Caucus wasn’t much better. Sanders folks that wanted to move on as delegates didn’t get out until 10:30pm.

The LD leadership needed to count the number of delegates attending and work back from there. We needed AT LEAST 3 times as many check-in stations. At 1 pm (when we were supposed to start) HUNDREDS of people were still outside trying to sign-in. That alone would have the entire day run smoother.

I have already acted on Suzanne’s suggestion, and contacted the WA State Dems regarding a primary. I also requested a date earlier in the election cycle. Over 30 states thin the pack before we have our say in Washington State.

WSB April 18, 2016 (12:16 pm)

I don’t think anyone has noted this yet but since several have brought up the matter of who would serve next as chair – Marcee Stone-Vekich announced a couple of meetings ago that she is not running for re-election. We often cover the 34th DDs’ meeting but not this past Wednesday so I don’t know where they are in terms of candidates to serve next as chair.

L. Ellis April 18, 2016 (6:28 pm)

That’s a relief.

sheturnedmeintoanewt April 18, 2016 (12:35 pm)

I feel like some of my fellow Sanders supporters entered the event with a chip on their shoulders and that contributed to the contention between them and the chairperson. There was a lot that should have been handled better/differently but being rude doesn’t help anything.

I also don’t blame the organizers for the snafu with Primala Jayapal’s speaking time. That was on the Sanders campaign and made us look bad. I don’t know what went down but someone screwed that up and added unnecessary chaos to an already chaotic day.

Whoever suggested that an initial review of basic rules of order would have helped was right, but regardless you still have to follow the rules. They were available for a long time so ignorance is not an excuse.

It’s event organization 101 to have more than one printer on hand. And they should have been printing much sooner than they started. That was the blow that pushed more people out the door than anything.

With respect to the Vashon thing- was this new information to them? I heard they knew it was a problem well beforehand but I don’t really know. If it was something they learned about yesterday then they absolutely had the right to contest the results.

But I want to make one point clear above everything else. If you volunteered to be a delegate or an alternate and didn’t show up, shame on you. Don’t say you didn’t have the information because I got 3 calls from the Sanders campaign and my wife got multiple emails. And anyway you shouldn’t throw your hat in the ring if you’re going to be too lazy to look for information on the next steps. You suck, and you were the biggest reason 1000+ people wasted a good part of their day.

Cait April 18, 2016 (5:30 pm)

To the point regarding the Sanders campaign and their speaker – they were heard saying that they were not asked to provide a speaker and a last minute call had to be made. Just what I heard – it may not all be as it seems. But the net result? It looked bad on Sanders and on the still-up-for-election Jayapal.
- sheturnedmeintoanewt April 18, 2016 (8:26 pm)
  
  I dunno, I doubt that’s the case. Jayapal had been scheduled to speak at other events in the area. The lady who spoke for Clinton certainly appeared to have prepared.

SJW April 18, 2016 (1:23 pm)

I came to the 34th District caucus purely as an observer, and to get information on the candidates so I can make an informed decision. I attended the general meeting, then sat in on each candidates sub-caucus.

Although the deluge of messages on this board shows that the Sanders people are well versed in social media, it absolutely does not tell the full story. Definitely, the process could have been improved. However, from what I witnessed, the vast majority of the delays were caused by a segment of the Sanders people that appeared bent on delaying the process where possible. The 34th District chair tried to keep the process going to avoid having excessive delays, but was met with repeated interruptions by this segment of the Sanders people. Although the Sanders people were organized enough to distribute their campaign material, and wear lots of Sanders t-shirt, they apparently didn’t feel that the existing rules or distributed agenda applied to them…..or they just didn’t think it was important.

Regarding the candidate that some Sanders people tried to use to take over the caucus, it should be noted that the gentleman lost by over 100 votes (which was verified by both campaigns). Remember, the Sanders people were 2/3 of the total delegated at the caucus, which means that a majority of the Sanders delegates voted for the current chairperson. It does show that even Sander delegates felt that they were being duped by this segment of their own group.

Lastly, the reason that the 34th District caucus ran into the wee hours, was not the fault of the District chairperson. Each campaign went into their sub-caucus at the same time. Each of these sub-caucuses were run by each campaign (not the District chairperson). The Clinton sub-caucus took maybe 1 1/2 hours to complete. The Sanders sub-caucus barely started their main business at the time the Clinton sub-caucus had finished their sub-caucus.

I went into the 34th District caucus not really decided. When I finally left, the Sanders campaign made my decision for me, by their disorganization and wasting of my time through needless delays. If the Sanders group is reflective of their candidate, then I understand why Clinton is leading.

Governing is much more than soundbites and complaining. The President must have concrete plans to implement solutions to a myriad of issues. Although important, the country must address more that just “Wall Street” and “minumum wage”. The youth that are backing Sanders may not understand that yet. The more mature supporters of Sanders should.

sheturnedmeintoanewt April 18, 2016 (2:36 pm)

The Sanders sub-caucus couldn’t start anything because we didn’t have any freaking ballots! For some reason the Clinton camp got theirs printed first.
- SJW April 18, 2016 (5:41 pm)
  
  That’s exactly my point. If the Sanders people can’t even print their ballots, how can they run a country?
  - sheturnedmeintoanewt April 18, 2016 (8:28 pm)
    
    You’re kidding right? None of that was in the hands of the Sanders sub-caucus, it was in the hands of the 34th district Democratic party.
Militant_Moderate April 18, 2016 (4:25 pm)

1) I question whether you actually “…sat in on each candidates sub-caucus.” Because if you had, then you would know that the Sanders delegates didn’t get their ballots until WELL AFTER 7pm.

2) Regarding “…Sanders people that appeared bent on delaying the process where possible…” one of those “process delays” involve an entire Vashon Island precinct whose caucus vote was nullified because of some clerical error, and the chairperson’s absolute refusal to even acknowledge the problem in the first place, let alone outline a course to address the grievance. The fact that you don’t seem to find this absolutely disgusting makes me question whether you truly went to yesterday’s event “…purely as an observer, and to get information on the candidates so I can make an informed decision” and “…not really decided….” I believe you’re engaging in some Concern Trolling. You won’t be very successful, but hey! An effort was made.

And, no. The delays were not caused by Sanders’ supporters. Having one or two very slow printers for printing 1200 or 1300 ballots and not starting printing much earlier was the biggest culprit.

3) Taking over the caucus “…it should be noted that the gentleman lost by over 100 votes (which was verified by both campaigns).” You mean AFTER all ballots without signatures were thrown out and the chair prohibited a re-vote with the rules clearly stated before hand? I had already handed in my ballot and, at the first mention of the signature requirement that I heard, chased down the person who I’d given it to, looked through the stack, got mine out, and signed it. Not everyone present yesterday could’ve done that.

Nice try. But not gonna work.
- SJW April 18, 2016 (6:01 pm)
  
  You can question all you want, as I arrived their about 12:30 PM and left around 8:30 PM.
  
  It’s time that the Sanders people stop deflecting and take ownership of what I witnessed with my own eyes. Whining about ballots you couldn’t print, or a District Chair election that you lost (certified by both campaigns) is childish. That’s the difference between complaining and governing. If Sanders happens to win the nomination, he will have his butt handed to him by the Republicans who know how to execute campaigns. Once the Republican’s focus on Bernie (and not Hillary), his poll numbers will drop like a rock in the Midwest, South, and elsewhere. I understand, and appreciate, the Sander’s people’s enthusiasm; but right now they are drinking their own Kool-Aid. The goal is the keep the White House. Bernie’s negative Clinton ads will only help the Republicans. I understand that Bernie is getting more desperate as the reality sets in, but his recent negative strategy smacks of a Trump campaign…..and should be beneath him. Don’t be delusional. Time to put your big boy pants on. All hands on deck as we get ready for the Republicans.
  - sheturnedmeintoanewt April 18, 2016 (8:30 pm)
    
    Again, the printing of the ballots was out of the sub-caucus’ hands.
    
    Let me ask again, why were the Clinton ballots printed first (using the only printer available)?
  - Militant_Moderate April 19, 2016 (7:00 am)
    
    At least you ceased pretending to have been “impartial.” No one was buying it anyway. Trying to be something that you’re aren’t is best left to pros such as the Clintons.
    
    Please take that angst of yours and funnel it into something that is productive, and actually helps further democracy and transparency. I recommend organizing a writing a letter campaign to your preferred presidential candidate asking her to release the transcripts of the paid speeches to Goldman Sachs, UBS, Citi, et al. Hillary Clinton’s prospective employers, We the people, have a right to know what she told the corporations whom we’re hiring her to regulate.

Capesta April 18, 2016 (2:48 pm)

Why didn’t they just have ballots preprinted with the #1-200 on it and then put up the names on the PowerPoint and then people could have just checked the # that corresponded to the candidate?

Problem solved.

ChannelingLewisBlack April 18, 2016 (2:48 pm)

I was a delegate to this debacle. It was my first experience, an earnest attempt to be part of democracy. And likely my last. I find the posting on 34dems to be truly disingenuous and defensive and serves no purpose in justifying what we went through yesterday. I planned on 4 hours, spent 10, had to rearrange flights and cancel business meetings today due to the utter incompetence that was displayed yesterday. I’m not apologetic in saying that – I don’t care if you’re volunteers, you showed complete disregard – from the Madame Chair on down – for our time and created a process that would discourage even the most ardent supporters from ever voting – much less contributing – to a democratic process again.

Volunteer? Get involved? Did ANYONE ever put out a notice that we are “short on printers or computers” and please volunteer that? No!!! I could’ve gone back to my house multiple times to contribute 2 laptops, 2 printers, 3 iPads and additional resources. Instead, I killed time at PCC, went home twice to get newspapers and refresh, all the while the caucus tried valiantly to convert a 2 hour task into a 10-12 hour epic. Get organized enough to ask – in advance -what you need specifically – and you will get it. Don’t ask me to blanket volunteer my time (seen how you manage that, no thanks) or my money (no, you don’t get any more). I’m flabbergasted and convinced that none of you have ever run something in a for-profit company and how you would plan for it.

It’s pretty simple – need to seat delegates? They there by noon or they lose. Use 12-1 to seat delegates. Start the meeting at 1. Speakers are ready with two alternates, so there’s no delay. And we are the most tech-savvy county in the country – we can’t put an app together for all this? Why do we even need paper? Couldn’t this have been accomplished via an app? Secure tokens for delegates, survey monkey or equivalent for voting.

15 seconds for a speech was a disservice. I argue vehemently with the woman who said this is America, if you can’t sell your idea in 15 seconds… I’m sorry, but my life, my principles, can’t be summed in a quick infomercial for rubber spray coating, and your idea of democracy sickens me.

Weekday political bromance meetings are problematic for my work schedule, but I’m going to make every attempt to be at the next meeting to help articulate the need for housecleaning? Want me to donate? Ring Doorbells? Show me that Madame Marcee never sees the light of day in this caucus again. Show me that we will have some professionalism in how we execute. Most importantly, show me that we will work towards an inclusive process that encourages participation by all, not just those lucky enough to have the money, time and physical endurance to live through a horrific, and likely staged, process.

At the end of the day, are we really worried about a few GOPers coming over and tainting the gene pool? Far less worse than discouraging 95% of the democrat electorate by such a charade.

Still waiting for the delegate list to be posted on the website btw……

Julia April 18, 2016 (6:08 pm)

Kind of late to this party (a different Julia), but I’m wondering how the other LD’s fared. Somebody said the 37th also ran into the evening. Was the 34th responsible for the fiasco or was it top-down? (I’ve attended 34th Dems meetings and know Marcee can be unpleasant; I don’t go anymore, and that’s one reason.)

Diane April 18, 2016 (6:22 pm)

thank you Ann for your wonderful comment, and for your dedicated service, always with a smile

L. Ellis April 18, 2016 (6:25 pm)

In all honesty, it felt very much like the people who are regularly involved in the 34th Dems felt like any new face was an unwelcome guest at their little club. Unfortunately, I don’t think they took into consideration how many new people are moving to this area (and to Seattle in general). Just because a face might be new to them does not mean that that new face is new to the Democratic Party or to the political system/process, in general. I encountered so many rude attitudes and unwelcoming comments that I’m not sure I would choose to participate in anything to do with this district again unless I arrived with people en masse to try to vote those people out of their positions. For a district that is desperate for volunteers and funds, they sure had a funny way of asking…

ChannelingLewisBlack April 18, 2016 (8:15 pm)

L – being here 18 months, totally felt the same way. It seemed like their little slumber party that they had to invite the new kid in class to. I don’t think they understand how important driving comprehensive change is and how inclusive it must be.
Free Range Democrat April 19, 2016 (10:48 am)

I think you nailed it, it is a private club. I went to a few 34 Dems meetings when I moved to West Seattle years ago. Several members were openly distrusting anyone they didn’t know. Not categorically; some of them are very friendly and welcoming, but I those were a minority. Others were mistrusting and cold, or just indifferent, they came to hang with their friends pretty much. One man openly didn’t like me after I told him I’m not a union member (first thing he asked, even before my name).

My advise for the 34 Dems if they really want more poeple to get involved and aren’t just giving lip service to it:

– Be welcoming. Not just in words, but in acts. Questioning the motives of new members (as some did to me) will drive them away. Seriously, did you people think I was some kind of spy or what? That’s what if felt like.

– Drop the parliamentary procedure at the meetings. It’s ridiculous. At the meetings I attended there was a more discussion of Roberts Rules of Order than of any substantial issues. I observed that many attendees didn’t seem to understand what was going on most of the time.

– Don’t expect everyone to toe the party line. I shouldn’t be looked down on just because I’m not a union member and don’t want to be. Not all Democrats are baked in the same oven.

– Stop making people pay dues to attend meetings. I had to pay dues to be let in, but then was shunned for the most part. Give people a pass to find out if they want to be a member instead of making them pay up front. If I’d been able to attend a couple of meetings before paying, I could have saved my money.

Dont_waste_my_time! April 18, 2016 (8:13 pm)

… And STILL no substantial apology from the 34th District Dems….. Pathetic…. Good luck getting people to support you in the future.

Les Treall April 18, 2016 (8:35 pm)

This is my personal comment and I do not intend to speak for the 34th Dems organization.

Sorry folks, I didn’t read all of your comments but could have written them all down by late last week. I knew what was coming but had to just slog through it and get it done. There was no other way, it was going to be messy and I knew it. We are very aware of our shortfalls and don’t need negative feedback. We need your participation. We are all just citizens like you, with lives to live, jobs to work and families to raise and care for. The only difference is that we stepped up to run our organization and you did not.

To all of you who complained, I must say, if you didn’t get involved with us and help us put this together, some of the fault is on you. Some is on us, some on the WA State Dems and some inherent with the caucus system. We plain just needed more people helping at the caucus and helping to plan for the caucuses. We were still recruiting people to help with credentials from the early arrivals. We needed more folks with lap tops registering nominations for delegate. We needed more folks to provide us copiers to speed up the production of ballots. And frankly, we needed more cooperation and patience from folks attending, and a lot less impugning the integrity of the folks doing their best to get this caucus done. Many participants seemed to think that we were there to serve them quickly, efficiently and always with a smile. That was not our purpose. Our purpose was to elect delegates to the next level of the process and to do it as best we could given the constraints of time, people and money. The credentialing took so long because we were trying to seat as many delegates as we could possibly justify under the rules. We felt bad enough that one precinct had been disqualified (at the recommendation of State Party officials) due to a reported oversight at the precinct caucus, we didn’t want to eliminate any other qualified delegates if we could avoid it. It took time and effort.

That said, there is a simple way to change who runs the 34th Dems organization. You can get all of your friends together and file to run for PCO in their local precincts. If you get elected, you can elect your own slate for the executive board in the January meeting, and just take over. As WSB commented, Marcee Stone-Vekich has stated many times that she has no interest in being Chair after this term, and we have no clue who our next Chair will be. You can file for PCO online through King County Elections during the week of May 16th through May 20. Check our web site for more info as the date nears. If it is a contested election, you will actually be on the ballot for the August primary. In the mean time, if you live in a precinct that has no PCO, you can be appointed to fill the position, or you can just show up and help on any activity or committee you wish.

Cait April 18, 2016 (9:58 pm)

What are you not understanding about the fact that the things you said here are the exact problem with what happened yesterday. Especially the tone, which I’m sure isn’t a surprise to you. You had a gymnasium full of new, enthused democrats ready and willing to participate. But they came, as you may know, skeptical of proceedings based upon caucuses in other districts all over the country. They were not given copies of the rules. They were not given agendas. Everyone in my section (a handful of college educated women) were still confused after the rules were announced and questions were disregarded! And you expect us to know based on some phantom email that no one can seem to find (or may not even be signed up for) that there are meetings we seem to be required to attend in order to have a voice? Did you expect all of those people to be in-the-know? Especially the Bernie supporters who already feel alienated by the democratic party? I’m sorry but you do need our criticism and you can guarantee you’re going to hear about it at your next meeting now that I know where they are. You need to hear it and you need to understand where it comes from because it does not have anything to do with a lack of effort on the part of your intrepid volunteers it has everything to do with the actions of the chairwoman.
Suzanne April 19, 2016 (6:07 pm)

A simple apology from a rep from the 34th Dems would go a long way. You obviously were concerned that it would be chaotic and it was. But if someone just said, “Look, we are really sorry about what happened at the caucus. We are not happy that it turned out the way it did, but we would like you to know that we all did the best that we could. We are reading your comments and suggestions, and will work toward making improvements so that the next caucus will operate more smoothly.” You will still get criticism, but it would help to start to move things forward in a more positive direction.

Based on some of the comments I am seeing, it also seems that the 34th Dems may need to examine how the monthly meetings are run and make sure that they are truly welcoming any new members who want to get involved, no matter their experience or age. If, as you say, the main problem at the caucus was a lack of volunteers, you need to accept any and all willing people into your organization and make them feel welcome so they want to stick around.

Julia April 18, 2016 (8:45 pm)

I tried to be part of the group (34th Dist. Dems) for several years, but I’ve never felt so unwelcome and ignored. I signed up to volunteer for things but was never contacted. Very uncomfortable. The only people who’d acknowledge me were other newcomers.

Julia April 18, 2016 (9:19 pm)

(Different Julia here – apparently there are at least two of us.) I attended 34th District meetings regularly for about a year and a half years ago. At that time, I felt that it was a very unwelcoming group; I was 20 and very enthusiastic to be engaged in politics, but I felt that I was condescended to or ignored because of my youth. There was virtually no effort made to include people who were new to the process, which I noted again yesterday when rules were not explained (or made available – they said copies were out there, but I was there for hours and was never able to find them; I also tried to find this information prior to the caucus in any of the five emails I received and didn’t) and terms (PCO jumps to mind) were used frequently with the apparent assumption that everyone there would already know what they meant.

People who were new to the process yesterday felt unwelcome and alienated, which is exactly how I felt at the meetings. If the 34th District is seeking more volunteers and more active participation, they should start by ensuring that everyone present has the information they need to keep up with the conversation.
- WSB April 18, 2016 (9:31 pm)
  
  For those who asked about the disqualification of a Vashon precinct – this has just been published on the 34th District Democrats’ website, and was called to our attention via Twitter:
  
  http://34dems.ngpvanhost.com/news-clips/disqualification-delegates-chautauqua-precinct-vashon

Wild One April 18, 2016 (8:58 pm)

Well that was a cluster! But thanks
to everyone that showed up, volunteered, and/or stayed until the end.

One thing that stood out was
somewhere towards the beginning of the caucus, the Madame Chair made
a comment about a future point in time in which the caucus would
conclude and referred to that time as “The Bitter End.” It was at
that point that I decided I would stay until “The Bitter
End”…
Ended up staying until there was what seemed to be
confirmation (although there was a lot of back-and-forth sketchiness)
that we did not in fact have to conduct a final quorum. A 9.5 hour
endurance session.

It was a frustrating ordeal and at
the end, I may have loudly voiced an expletive into the general area.
A wise, Elder-to-Me and totally awesome woman exclaimed that she
understood my frustration and wanted me to know that the
dis-functionality was not intentional. I replied that I was not
ruling anything out. She went on to kind of scold me and then we
hugged and she said that what we are really here for is compassion.
THANK YOU for that exchange! You are absolutely right.

The point of our democracy is to have
a government by and for the people. The only way for this to truly
work the way it is intended is if people are informed of the process
and take it upon themselves to participate. Therefore the goal for
facilitating a caucus should ultimately be to make it as smooth and
as easy for the majority of people to get through. I know… Easier
said than done! Just ask the volunteers. But what we need to
recognize is that last night’s event was nothing less than a failure.

There is a lot of room for improvement.

A few constructive criticisms:

The reason we were there was to
elect delegates. All the time we spent waiting on other things only
to end up with 15 second speeches is completely unacceptable.

Knowledge of the rules, and
conveyance in a reasonable and simplified way, should be a top
priority for all facilitators. You
need to know the rules clearly before hand. If that’s too big of a
task, what you
need is a quick reference.

Clear
and respectful communication goes a long way! Do
not talk down to people or in any other way denigrate other
attendees. Even if they are
entirely new to the process. We need more people to get involved, not
less.

Respecful
communication goes for
BOTH sides. If you were there, you know exactly what I mean.
When
there is a delay for
whatever reason, take the
time to clearly and respectfully explain why the delay is happening.

Breaks
should be given a set time for conclusion. Not just random 5 minute
breaks that turn into a half hour.

The
alternates needed to be seated in a more orderly fasion. For
instance, it
could
have been called out not only by precinct but also by candidate. I
believe that may have sped up the process.

The
ballot sheets should have been organized by last name and presenters
should have gone in an organized fashion so as to avoid the nightmare
bingo game we played in the last hours.

There
are a lot of ways that technology could have sped up the
process:
Renting or
borrowing multiple extra
printers (for the ballots), to
be all printing at the same time, could
have saved some time.
If cost is a factor, accepting
donated surplus B/W printers would
do just fine
to speed up that process.
A
projector or multiple projectors
could have
been
on hand to display time schedules, current processes, speakers’
names and ballot numbers. Any
pertinent
information. Cost? Borrowed,
surplus or used. We don’t need anything fancy.
Spreadsheets like
Excel or LibreOffice(free) could have
been
used to organize candidates on
the ballots and tallies.
It’s really easy to organize
things alphabetically or by some other reasonable method.

Ian April 18, 2016 (9:41 pm)

Meanwhile…

https://youtu.be/rwDJmCD6iDA

Cait April 18, 2016 (10:48 pm)

I’d love to know why, if she wasn’t interested in running for chair, did she didn’t give the position to the person who was nominated. She certainly seemed more than willing to tell us about who endorsed her and even took (between her and her friend) more time to plead her case for election than Jacob was allowed.

Barbara April 18, 2016 (11:54 pm)

Via Facebook:

34th District Democrats

24 mins

The tallying in the Sanders subcaucus finished last night at 2:00 a.m. The list of delegates and alternates has now been compiled. It will be posted on the website by tomorrow. Many of the Sanders delegates and alternates left before the announcement of who won. Neglecting to fill out a Delegate or Alternate Report Form. The forms must be completed & returned via 34demscaucus@gmail.com as soon as possible. The forms will be posted at the same time that the list is posted. All forms must be turned into the state party by the chair by Friday.

Julia April 19, 2016 (7:48 am)

My initial question has been answered by a front page story in the Times today — the 34th was not the only area with a chaotic caucus. (Although it was the first example, including a quote from this thread.)

Julia April 19, 2016 (7:52 am)

Oops, I see the quote was from Twitter, not here.

Max April 19, 2016 (11:56 am)

Just a few quick points: to those of you pretending the chair was not a Clinton supporter, note that her name is prominent near the top of elected Clinton delegates on the list posted on the 34th LD Democrats webpage. Regarding the issue of needing more volunteers, there were no announcements requesting volunteers, no requests for technological assistance, no indication of where willing volunteers might go to be put to good use. There were nearly 2000 motivated people who were never encouraged to do anything but wait. I spent my time looking for opportunities to help, and spent most of 4 hours assisting a table captain manage the alternate assignment process for about 15 precinct sheets that had been dumped on her without support. Whenever I tried to communicate information from the table captain to the people managing the alternate assignment process, I was met with suspicion, as if by asking that a lottery be drawn to assign an alternate to an open delegate seat in one of our many precincts might somehow be perpetrating a fraud. How, I don’t know, but I was clearly not welcomed or encouraged as a volunteer, except by the very gracious table captain with whom I was volunteering. I have been a registered Democrat for over 4 decades, and have previously served as a delegate to the county convention. I have never seen anything as screwed up and mismanaged as this 34th LD Democratic caucus.

Cait April 19, 2016 (4:04 pm)

How is it not a conflict of interest for her to do that?! I get that she’s a volunteer herself but she’s elected (or rather NOT elected) to that position.

Cait April 19, 2016 (4:21 pm)

For anyone claiming that the rules were on the website ahead of time – they were posted on April 5th to the district website. THEY DID NOT INCLUDE THE CHANGE ON 4/12 STATING THAT ALTERNATE DELEGATES COULD BE SEATED IN OTHER PRECINCT. That is a move that directly benefited the Clinton campaign and they didn’t update it on their website.

Iamanonymous April 20, 2016 (7:27 pm)

I was there from 12:15 to 8:45pm on a beautiful Sunday. For starters.. when I got there I heard a man say… you will see the Clinton Suporters at McDonalds. I tried to remain upbeat and positive… happy to have the honor of participating in government. A lot of people do not have this right and a lot are not physically able to do so. I will say that my patience and stamina were tested many times.

What I observed was shocking to me and really made me see supporters of Sanders in a different light than I expected.. I will note that some where well behaved.

I unexpectedly became a delegate for Clinton at last caucus…the lack of Sanders no shows was no surprise after what I observed.

Overall…I saw Sanders supporters being incredibly disruptive and disrespectful. This bothered me because it was disrespect to the speaker, the party, all who were there but most importantly to USA and our democratic process. I saw people laying down on the floor of the gym taking a nap, some reeking of marijuana, people dancing together as if it were a greatful dead show, thoroughly obnoxious cat calls to the speaker, microphone needing to be turned off multiple times due to speaking out of order, some man throwing bags of nuts and water bottles into the stands, Sanders speaker showing up 40 minutes late, overall unruly ness. Also tons of talk about the 99 percent vs the 1 percent. I was nervous to wear jeans to this event! I have served many veterens… they fight for these whatever you want to call thems to express their rights.. but really it was a bit too much. To top it all off … I found an American flag on the floor. My overall impression was disbelief at the level of disrespect for America and American processes. I understand that not all people have the experience in life to behave professionally but at the same time I believe that all of us, despite our backgrounds, should have the common sense to behave respectfully. It was embarrassing to see such behavior. I was quite frankly disgusted by much of the behavior I saw and hope to never see it again. I did go to McDonalds and got a cheeseburger and fries…sorry disrupters .. I was hungry and don’t care what your opinion of me is. It was a great meal.

Ian April 21, 2016 (6:10 pm)

Further asinine shenanigans from the 34 LD.

PLEASE READ!!! Seriously, please.

There was a mishap with the WA caucus on Sunday in the 34th LD that could affect the number of Bernie delegates seated. Here’s the deal. PLEASE click on this link, scan all the names. If you know anyone on this list with an asterisk by their name, please contact them immediately! If their delegate paperwork is not submitted by TOMORROW, they WILL NOT BE SEATED. Note, ALMOST THE ENTIRE LIST IS ASTERISKED!!!!

http://www.34dems.org/sites/34dems/files/34th-LD-Sanders-Delegates-Alternates.pdf

Directions to update info so they can be seated can be found here: http://www.34dems.org/news-clips/delegate-lists-now-posted

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