SEVERAL NEW features marked this year’s Legislative Weekend, the annual event that provides Council 2 members with the opportunity to see the legislative process in action.

For the first time, Council 28 leaders participated in the Weekend. Council 28 officers, members of the executive board and local leadership joined the almost 150 Council 2 members who attended.

During the weekend, Council 2’s Executive Board unanimously passed a resolution supporting Council 28 in negotiating its first contract since it achieved collective bargaining rights. Council 2 President/Executive Director Chris Dugovich and Vice President Ron Fredin submitted the resolution.



Council 2 Vice President Ron Fredin shakes hands with Council 28 Treasurer Bruce Zeller after presenting him with a copy of the resolution passed by Council 2.

Fredin presented the resolution to Bruce Zeller, Treasurer of Council 28, who outlined the stage that the negotiations had reached. The Weekend included a special workshop on how to participate in the Washington Democratic primary caucus, which was held on the weekend after the event. The two-hour workshop was led by Jeff Smith, representing Washington Democrats, and Don Craig, AFSCME’s Education Coordinator.

The Weekend was held in Seattle rather than in Olympia this year. The reason for the move was that the Washington caucus for the Democratic primary was scheduled for February 7, one of the days on which the Legislative Weekend originally was to be held. The organizers moved the event to the previous weekend, January 30 to February 1, but found that insufficient rooms were available in Olympia on those days.

Jay Inslee

This was not the first time that the event was moved to Seattle, however. A similar move was made in 2001 when the facilities in Olympia were damaged in an earthquake that struck the region a couple of weeks earlier.

Among the elected officials who attended this year’s event were Congressman Jay Inslee, who was the lunch speaker on Saturday, King County Executive Ron Sims, King County Council members Dow Constantine and Dwight Pelz, and City of Seattle Council members Jan Drago, Jean Godden and Tom Rasmussen.

Head of Council 28’s Women’s Committee, Cheri Garrett addresses attendees. Left is Lois Clement and right Alpha O’Laughlin.