Seattle Democratic Socialists of America

In August, the City Council started to chip away at the Seattle Police Department’s budget. For the first time in decades, they voted to cut SPD’s budget rather than increase it. They also voted to begin civilianizing the 911 call center, and earmarked $17 million for new systems of community safety. But Democratic Mayor Jenny Durkan vetoed these cuts.

We won’t stand for that. This week, our City Council has the opportunity to stand on the right side of history and back up their initial vote by overriding the Mayor’s veto. But some of them are sitting on the fence. Seattle law requires six out of nine city councilmembers to override a mayor’s veto, and previously seven councilmembers had pledged to cut the SPD budget by 50%. However, many Democrats on the city council are backsliding.

We need you! Call and email these councilmembers today and tell them: vote to override Durkan's veto and enforce the cuts to the SPD.

They will likely vote tomorrow, Tuesday morning: can you contact these fence-sitters today?

Andrew Lewis, District 7 | 206-684-8807 | [email protected]

Dan Strauss, District 6 | 206-684-8806 | [email protected]

Lisa Herbold, District 1 | 206-684-8801 | [email protected]

Lorena González, At-Large | 206-684-8809 | [email protected]

Juarez and Pedersen were the only two councilmembers who did not pledge to defund SPD by 50%. However, we want to make sure they know we’re still watching them. Contact them here to and tell them to override the Mayor’s veto:

Debora Juarez, District 5 | 206-684-8805 | [email protected]

Alex Pedersen, District 4 | 206-684-8804 | [email protected]

DSA FOR SHERAE KICKS OFF

Last week we were pleased to announce Seattle DSA’s endorsement of Sherae Lascelles, grassroots, People’s Party candidate for State House. Let’s help Sherae kick out establishment Democrat Frank Chopp and tax the hell out of the rich! First, come to our online Meet and Greet with Sherae and volunteer training on Tuesday at 6 PM! Then, come on out to our lit drop on Saturday, September 26 at 11 AM. If you’re interested in being involved in our campaign for Sherae, head over to the DSA Slack!

SUPREME COURT BATTLE

The death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg has sent shockwaves into this election season. With six weeks to go until the general election, the Republicans are gearing up to try to ram a right-wing justice through the Senate.

The Supreme Court is a fundamentally ruling-class institution, and has only ever stood on the side of the working class through immense grassroots pressure and mass movements. For example, Roe v. Wade was passed in 1973 by a Court with a majority of Republican appointees as a result of mass organizing and protests. Yet the threat of an extreme right-wing justice cementing an ultra-conservative majority on the court poses a real danger to the working class and our movements. A conservative court represents a serious threat to abortion rights and reproductive rights, the Affordable Care Act, environmental protections, as well as civil rights, workers rights, and LGBTQ rights.

If the Democrats were a true opposition party, they would do everything they could in the Senate to shut down the nomination, and organize mass protests in the streets to surround the Senate. Instead, Nancy Pelosi has said she will not leverage a government shutdown, instead telling people to “get out there and vote.”

We need a mass, multiracial working-class movement to stand up against Trump as well as the establishment Democrats. If you’re not a member already, join DSA and help us fight for free abortion on demand, Medicare for All, and a Green New Deal.

The Supreme Court fight highlights how undemocratic this society is. Republicans have lost the popular vote in six of the last seven presidential elections, yet they appointed the majority of the current Supreme Court. The Senate is structurally unrepresentative, a legacy of slavery. We don’t want to live in a society in which decisions which affect millions of people are made by nine lifetime-appointed judges. Instead, we’re fighting for genuine democracy at all levels of society—democratic socialism. Join us.

DSA RECRUITMENT DRIVE: KICKOFF & TRAINING

At the last DSA convention, our members voted on a goal of growing our multi-racial, working-class socialist organization to 100,000 members by 2021. To achieve this, the DSA’s National Political Committee voted to establish an ambitious five-week Recruitment Drive running from October 1st to November 7th — to bring in 5,000 new members, grow every chapter by 10%, and plug these new members into existing campaigns.

We will be kicking off this drive with a national training call on September 27 at 5 PM, to help every DSA member talk with three people in their social network about joining DSA. All DSA members interested in building the socialist movement are encouraged to join! No experience needed. Please RSVP here.

ODDS AND ENDS

Congrats to our DivestSPD team for organizing a kick-ass rally last Saturday to demand that the Seattle Foundation divest from the police. Follow them for more research and updates on Twitter.

We’re so glad the smoke has cleared, but our fight for a Green New Deal continues. Join the Green New Deal and Ecosocialist working group on Sunday, September 27 at 1:30 PM to continue fighting against the fossil fuel industry and for an eco-socialist future.

And as COVID-19 deaths in the US reach or surpass 200,000 (by different counts), we mourn and grieve collectively with you. We also reaffirm our fight against the Trump administration, which has overseen such a disastrous response to the coronavirus, as well as global capitalism, which, in its endless search for increasing profit, has turned a respiratory illness into an unstoppable global pandemic.

Stay safe, comrades. We’ll see you in the streets.

In solidarity,

Seattle DSA