Over the years, many of us in leadership have heard the concerns voiced about endorsement meetings. This vitally important activity of the district can be difficult for some of our members to fully participate in, as the meetings tend to be long, and they are also at times on weird dates that aren’t our normal meeting schedule, which can make child care a scramble.

Unfortunately, some of the disagreeable aspects of these critical meetings cannot be completely eliminated. For example, the meetings are very long in the odd years due to the fact that there are many races and many candidates. Our district has taken steps to keep the meetings moving as quickly as possible with compact amounts of time for nominating speeches, timing out the total maximum time each race should take, appointing fast and accurate tally teams, making pre-contact with candidates so they and their staff know what to expect, and so forth. But no amount of pre-planning can reduce the number of candidates in a race, and to be fair, some races take a long time.

Thus, in the odd years, we have very long endorsement meetings. One year, we spent over eight hours on a Saturday in our endorsement meeting. Even in the even numbered years, if we start at 6:30 pm, on a Thursday, we MAY wrap up by 10:30pm. But there are no guarantees.

So what have we done to try to make the process more bearable?

For starters, this year, we are dividing the district’s races into two groups: King County and Seattle, and Lake Forest Park and Kenmore. We are hoping two shorter endorsement meetings will be more bearable for all involved. I’ll share more specifics about those two meetings below.

Nevertheless, the meetings will be a long haul – possibly as much as four hours apiece. Mentally preparing for a meeting of that length will actually help you stay “in the game” the whole meeting. There’s nothing worse than a meeting you thought would be two hours stretching to four. But a meeting you thought would be four hours wrapping up at the three-hour mark is heaven!

Although we try to have some concessions at each meeting, it is always a good idea to bring a pocket-sized snack and a water bottle to stay hydrated. There is nothing worse than sitting in a meeting feeling like you are going to be ill for want of some energy or a beverage.

Childcare is an issue, and while we are exploring ways to address this, please know that kids are always welcome at 46th district meetings. We do recommend toys, or coloring pages to give younger kids something to do, but it’s always pleasantly surprising to learn how interested kids are in knowing who “The Sheriff” or “the Mayor” is and meeting them in person.

How the Two Meetings Will Work

All members in good standing are welcome to come and vote in either endorsement meeting. But we are holding the LFP/Kenmore races endorsement meeting up north in Kenmore on Saturday, May 20th, with the hope that we will see a healthy and dominant turnout from the residents of those two cities. The endorsement meeting at our regular location in Lake City on the evening of the 25th will be structured so that LFP/Kenmore residents can come for the first part and vote for the county races, and then get home or back to LFP for the City’s budget meeting at city hall. Both should be shorter than in past years by splitting up the races.

See you at the meetings!