By Colin Maycock, President AFSCME Local 1849
On the 19th of September, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 1849 held regular general meeting and a candidates forum. The forum provided the opportunity for members to meet and ask questions of the candidates running for San Juan County Council seats.
Following the forum, the local’s Executive Board was polled and decided to hold a Special Meeting to discuss the whether the Local should endorse candidates and if so, who and how that endorsement should be made. The Special Meeting was held on the 29th of September.
At the special meeting on the 29th of September, the members present discussed the issues surrounding endorsing any of the candidates and voted on motions made from the floor.
At that meeting, the members decided that the Local would endorse Marc Forlenza for the seat in District 3 (Friday Harbor) and Rick Hughes for the seat in District 4 (Orcas West). Based on their performances at the Candidates Forum and other available information, the members determined that both of these candidates represented our best hopes for responsible and practical county leadership.
The members decided that no financial contribution would be made to the candidates.
AFSCME and Local 1849 is a democratic organization that incorporates a wide variety of views. The endorsement decisions were not taken lightly, and do not reflect the preferences of all of the members, however the decisions were made by polling those members who attended the Special Meeting.
