October 10, 2023 Meeting — Sheriff Adam Fortney

Kirkland Eagles Sign
Kirkland Eagles Sign

Please join us for the monthly meeting of Eastside Republican Club on Tuesday, October 10, at 6:30 PM. We meet at the Kirkland Eagles club, 258 Central Way in beautiful downtown Kirkland! See the Location page for driving directions, a map, photos, and parking information. Please RSVP if you plan to attend! Note that ERC members can’t enter the Eagles Club until an Eagle is there to sign you in — so please consider not arriving earlier than 6PM or so. 

https://youtu.be/rgwojK3toMk?si=fStpyXSJ_kTMswuH

Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney
Sheriff Adam Fortney

Our special guest speaker this month will be Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney. Sheriff Fortney was sworn in as Snohomish County’s 32nd Sheriff on December 30, 2019, and is running for re-election in 2023. He has been a member of the Sheriff’s Office for 24 years, working in patrol, K-9, and SWAT. He was promoted to sergeant in 2014 and his most recent patrol assignment was to the south precinct graveyard shift, one of the busiest crews in the county. For more information, visit is campaign web site at https://www.reelectadamforsheriff.com

In addition to hearing from Sheriff Fortney, we’ve invited candidates on the November ballot to come and address the club about their races. We look forward to seeing you there!

Please RSVP!

If you plan to attend the meeting, please click RSVP to register, and pay online in advance. The cost is $15 per person ($10 for College Republicans and Young Republicans) to cover the cost of the meeting space. A full bar is available, and the full menu should be available for dinner!

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Register Now for September 12 ERC Meeting!

Kirkland Eagles Sign
Kirkland Eagles Sign

Please join us for the monthly meeting of Eastside Republican Club on Tuesday, September 12, at 6:30 PM. We meet at the Kirkland Eagles club, 258 Central Way in beautiful downtown Kirkland! See the Location page for driving directions, a map, photos, and parking information. Please RSVP if you plan to attend! Note that ERC members can’t enter the Eagles Club until an Eagle is there to sign you in — so please consider not arriving earlier than 6PM or so. 

Our special guest speaker for the September meeting is being confirmed, and we’ll update this post when details are available.

There will be plenty to discuss about the results of the August primary and the November elections for local officials. We invite candidates to come and introduce yourself to the club. We’re also planning on an update oninitiative petitions being circulated now. We look forward to seeing you there!

Please RSVP!

If you plan to attend the meeting, please click RSVP to register, and pay online in advance. The cost is $15 per person ($10 for College Republicans and Young Republicans) to cover the cost of the meeting space. A full bar is available, and the full menu should be available for dinner!

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No August Meeting — and remember to VOTE!

It was great seeing so many of you at the ERC Picnic on July 11! Thanks to everyone who brought desserts and side dishes to share, to our chefs, to our board members and officers who shopped for food and provided the raffle prizes, and to everyone who came early and stayed late for setup and cleanup. We hope you all had a good time hearing from and mingling with the candidates!

As usual, there’s no ERC meeting in August; our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 12. We’re working on confirming availability of speakers, and will have details for you soon.

Don’t forget to vote in the Primary! You should have already received your ballot — be sure to return it by August 1!

Have a great summer!

I Voted - Did You?

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June 13, 2023 Meeting — Sen. Simon Sefzik, Initiatives, and More!

Kirkland Eagles Sign
Kirkland Eagles Sign

Please join us for the monthly meeting of Eastside Republican Club on Tuesday, June 13, at 6:30 PM. We meet at the Kirkland Eagles club, 258 Central Way in beautiful downtown Kirkland! See the Location page for driving directions, a map, photos, and parking information. Please RSVP if you plan to attend! Note that ERC members can’t enter the Eagles Club until an Eagle is there to sign you in — so please consider not arriving earlier than 6PM or so. 

Simon Sefzik
Simon Sefzik

Our special guest speaker this month will be former State Senator Simon Sefzik. He served as senator for the 42nd legislative district (Bellingham and Whatcom County) from January 2022 to January 2023, after being appointed to fulfill the unexpired term of the late Sen. Doug Ericksen. At age 22, Simon was the youngest person to ever serve as a member of the Washington state senate. He served on the senate committees on Higher Education & Workforce Development, Health & Long Term Care, and Housing & Local Government. We look forward to hearing his future plans and thoughts on serving in the senate and politics in Washington.

In addition to hearing from Sen. Sefzik, we’ll discuss referendum and initiative petitions being circulated, and hope to have copies of them to be signed and distributed. We’ll also receive an update from the Young Republicans. And now that candidate filing is complete for 2023, we’ll talk about the local races and candidates ERC members can support as volunteers and donors. We invite candidates to some and introduce yourself to the club. We look forward to seeing you there!

Please RSVP!

If you plan to attend the meeting, please click RSVP to register, and pay online in advance. The cost is $15 per person ($10 for College Republicans and Young Republicans) to cover the cost of the meeting space. A full bar is available, and the full menu should be available for dinner!

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May 9, 2023 Meeting — Reagan Dunn, and County Republican Chairs

Kirkland Eagles Sign
Kirkland Eagles Sign

Please join us for the monthly meeting of Eastside Republican Club on Tuesday, May 9, at 6:30 PM. We meet at the Kirkland Eagles club, 258 Central Way in beautiful downtown Kirkland! See the Location page for driving directions, a map, photos, and parking information. Please RSVP if you plan to attend! Note that ERC members can’t enter the Eagles Club until an Eagle is there to sign you in — so please consider not arriving until 6PM or so (maybe 5:30). 

Reagan Dunn
Reagan Dunn

Our special guest speakers this month will be King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn, and the chairs of the King, Pierce, and Snohomish County Republican Parties: Mathew Patrick Thomas, Dave McMullan, and Bob Hagglund

Councilmember Dunn represents the 9th district and is currently serving as Vice Chair of the King County Council. He was first elected to the council in 2005. He previously served as Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington, and in many other roles in the Department of Justice. He has previously run for US Congress and for Washington State Attorney General. We look forward to hearing from him on what’s happening in King County government.

With candidate filing week coming up May 15-19, we look forward to hearing from our county chairs regarding hot local issues and races and opportunities to help our candidates win!

Please RSVP!

If you plan to attend the meeting, please click RSVP to register, and pay online in advance. The cost is $15 per person ($10 for College Republicans and Young Republicans) to cover the cost of the meeting space. A full bar is available, and the full menu should be available for dinner!

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April 11, 2023 Meeting — Senator Phil Fortunato

Note: Because of extended action on the floor of the state Senate in Olympia, Sen. Fortunato was not able to come to our meeting in April. Remarks we given by Lenny Chacon (chair of the Snohomish County Young Republicans and ERC board member), KCGOP Vice Chair Michelle Le, and Kirkland City Councilmember Toby Nixon. 

Kirkland Eagles Sign
Kirkland Eagles Sign

Please join us for the monthly meeting of Eastside Republican Club on Tuesday, April 11, at 6:30 PM. We meet at the Kirkland Eagles club, 258 Central Way in beautiful downtown Kirkland! See the Location page for driving directions, a map, photos, and parking information. Please RSVP if you plan to attend! Note that ERC members can’t enter the Eagles Club until an Eagle is there to sign you in — so please consider not arriving until 6PM or so (maybe 5:30). 

Senator Phil Fortunato
Sen. Phil Fortunato

Our special guest speaker this month will be State Senator Phil Fortunato of the 31st Legislative District, who will update us on the current legislative session in Olympia with a focus on bills affecting the right to keep and bear arms.

Senator Fortunato has a wealth of private sector and legislative experience. He has been a contractor for over 30 years, starting his first business at 18, and is currently a recognized expert in Clean Water Act compliance. As a contractor, he understands Davis Bacon Act compliance, Employment Security, Unemployment and business tax issues. In addition, he has done work on the international market in Europe, Asia and Canada and understands international trade and import export issues as well.

He is ranking Republican member of the Senate committee on Housing, and also serves on the Senate Transportation Committee and the State Government & Elections Committee.

Phil and his wife, Suzanne, live in Auburn, and have five children with his first three sons joining the Marine Corps. He has been active in his community, including his church, Knights of Columbus, Buckley Eagles, Sons of Italy, Washington Arms Collectors, National Rifle Association, Renton Fish and Game Club, Black Diamond Gun Club, and charitable activities.

Please RSVP!

If you plan to attend the meeting, please click RSVP to register, and pay online in advance. The cost is $15 per person ($10 for College Republicans and Young Republicans) to cover the cost of the meeting space. A full bar is available, and the full menu should be available for dinner!

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March 14, 2023 Meeting — Glen Morgan of We The Governed

 

Kirkland Eagles Sign
Kirkland Eagles Sign

Please join us for the monthly meeting of Eastside Republican Club on Tuesday, March 14, at 6:30 PM. Note that this is our usual second Tuesday of the month. We meet at the Kirkland Eagles club, 258 Central Way in beautiful downtown Kirkland! See the Location page for driving directions, a map, photos, and parking information. Please RSVP if you plan to attend! Note that ERC members can’t enter the Eagles Club until an Eagle is there to sign you in — so please consider not arriving until 6PM or so (maybe 5:30). The Eagles have hired two new chefs, so the full menu should be available for dinner!

Glen Morgan
Glen Morgan

Our special guest speaker this month will be Glen Morgan of We The Governed. to update us on his many activities to protect our rights and expose government corruption.

Glen founded We the Governed in 2016.  He is currently the volunteer Executive Director for the Citizens Alliance for Property Rights. Glen Morgan was the Grassroots Director and the Property Rights Director at the Freedom Foundation 2011-2015. He enjoys creating videos documenting Big Government’s abuses of citizens – particularly on property rights issues.  

Glen is a frequent writer and speaker on property rights, the environmental movement, Big Government, and the importance of citizen activism. In 2014, Bill Whittle called Glen “The ascended high master of political messaging.” Glen doesn’t consider himself a high master of anything, but he enjoys exploring policy issues in local government and exposing government corruption and incompetence which impacts everyone.

Glen is often attacked by the Left for daring to expose corruption in government.  He frequently testifies on property rights issues at local government hearings and at the Washington State Legislature.  Glen is also known for writing opposition statements in the official voter’s guide for voter-approved tax increases, challenging inaccurate and misleading ballot titles created by Washington State’s Attorney General and local county prosecutors and auditors for some initiatives and tax increase propositions, among other civic activity.

Glen has also been involved in attempting to address campaign finance reforms to make the process easier and simpler for political beginners.  As part of his effort to study Washington State’s campaign finance laws, he has filed over 665 Public Disclosure Campaign Finance and Ethics complaints (from late 2016-2022).  These complaints have resulted in over 79 lawsuits, fines, settlements, or forfeiture of contributions against state legislators, state senators, Democratic Party committees, labor unions,  judges, and other politicians who violated the Washington State’s campaign finance laws.  This includes 19 lawsuits filed by the Washington State Attorney General resulting in 21 judgements based on Glen’s reporting.  The Democrats grew so frustrated over Glen’s success that they passed a law to make it more difficult for citizens to file lawsuits over PDC violations.

Glen is also an investigative citizen journalist who frequently meets with anonymous whistleblowers from various state agencies, local governments, and political parties who want to expose wrongdoing where they work.  Glen has been repeatedly sued by Yelm, Washington based cult leader JZ Knight after he helped expose her racist speeches from 2011 which caused the Washington State Democratic Party to divest themselves from her donations at the time.  Glen has also exposed tax fraud committed by State Senators, homeless camps causing environmental pollution – ignored by environmentalists, and even created alternative logos for Evergreen College.  Glen also published Governor Inslee’s “snitch list” – a public record of citizens encouraged to spy on and report their neighbors for their failure to comply with Inslee’s Civilian Covid Compliance Program.

Glen helped launch the Washington Voter Research Project, a Washington State non-profit organization that helps concerned volunteer activists canvass Washington State’s voter rolls and help local auditors clean up problematic and sloppy voter rolls.  He has repeatedly been attacked by the corporate media, angry politicians, and the Democratic Party for daring to look at elections, a project he has been involved in long before Trump decided to run for public office.

Glen graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in Federal Way.  After graduating from college with a BA in political science from Columbia College in New York City, Glen returned home and worked for small start-up companies and local manufacturing businesses.  He currently lives on a small tree farm in Thurston County with his wife and their flock of free-range children.  They also have a large flock of free-range Icelandic chickens, peafowl and other helpful farm animals.

Please RSVP!

If you plan to attend the meeting, please click RSVP to register, and pay online in advance. The cost is $15 per person ($10 for College Republicans and Young Republicans) to cover the cost of the meeting space, and includes dessert and coffee service. The Eagles have hired two new chefs, so the full menu should be available for dinner!

Time to Renew Membership!

If you have not already done so, please go to the Join page and renew your ERC membership for 2023. Of course if you aren’t yet a member, we invite you to join! There are three membership levels: Basic $25, Silver $50, and Gold $100. We look forward to seeing you at our meetings!

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February 7, 2023 Meeting — Legislative Session Update from Rep. Jim Walsh and Tim Eyman

Kirkland Eagles Sign
Kirkland Eagles Sign

Please join us for the monthly meeting of Eastside Republican Club on Tuesday, February 7, at 6:30 PM. Note that this is the first Tuesday of the month rather than the usual second Tuesday, to allow club members to celebrate Valentine’s Day with their spouses or significant others and also enable the Kirkland Eagles to hold their annual Valentine’s Day Dinner on the traditional date.

We meet at the Kirkland Eagles club, 258 Central Way in beautiful downtown Kirkland! See the Location page for driving directions, a map, photos, and parking information. Please RSVP if you plan to attend! Note that ERC members can’t enter the Eagles Club until an Eagle is there to sign you in — so please consider not arriving until 6PM or so (maybe 5:30). Thanks!

Rep. Jim Walsh
Rep. Jim Walsh

Our special guest speakers will be Representative Jim Walsh of the 19th Legislative District, and Tim Eyman, who will update us on hot issues in Olympia. 

Rep. Walsh is in his 4th term in the state House. His legislative priorities are creating family-wage jobs, adequately funding schools, and protecting taxpayers, property rights and gun rights. He is ranking member of the House Civil Rights and Judiciary Committee, and also serves on the Transportation Committee and the Regulated Substances and Gaming Committee.

Jim graduated cum laude from Amherst College in 1986. He formed a small publishing company in 1998 that he continues to operate today. Jim has also written columns for the Aberdeen Daily World newspaper, coached boys’ and girls’ basketball teams, and held leadership roles with local and state Republican groups. Jim lives in Aberdeen and has five children.

Tim Eyman
Tim Eyman

Tim Eyman is best known for sponsoring many conservative ballot initiatives in Washington, including I-695 (“$30 Car Tabs”), I-747 (1% limit on property tax levy increases), I-18 (reducing the King County Council from 13 members to 9), I-900 (government performance audits), I-960 (2/3rd legislative vote to raise taxes), and many others. He has stood strong in the face of legal persecution by the Washington State Attorney General. His web site is http://www.permanentoffense.com/.

Please RSVP!

If you plan to attend the meeting, please click RSVP to register, and pay online in advance. The cost is $15 per person ($10 for College Republicans and Young Republicans) to cover the cost of the meeting space, and includes dessert and coffee service. As of this posting the Eagles’ chef continues to be on leave and they’re looking for a second chef, so it’s not certain that the full food menu will be available — but we’ll definitely have something to eat!

Time to Renew Membership!

If you have not already done so, please go to the Join page and renew your ERC membership for 2023. Of course if you aren’t yet a member, we invite you to join! There are three membership levels: Basic $25, Silver $50, and Gold $100. We look forward to seeing you at our meetings!

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ERC Announces New Officers and Board Members, February Meeting Date Change

Doug Basler
Doug Basler

At our Annual Business Meeting on January 10, Eastside Republican Club thanked Doug Basler for his excellent service as President for the past three years, guiding the Club during the very trying times of the Covid-19 pandemic. Fortunately, Doug will continue to serve as a board member and immediate past president!

Derek Chartrand
Derek Chartrand

Our new Club president for 2023 is Derek Chartrand; he had previously served as ERC Vice President. Ruphina Nord was elected as our new Vice President, and Kathleen Strong and Michael Scheele were re-elected as Secretary and Treasurer respectively.

Five board members whose terms were ending in 2023 were re-elected to another two-year term on the board: Doug Basler, Derek Chartrand, Kerry French, Michael Scheele, and Kathleen Strong. Ruphina Nord was elected to a new two-year term on the board. Continuing board members whose terms end in 2024 are Donna Barr, Lenny Chacon, and Ted Reinhart. Thanks to all for your willingness to serve!

Mark Your Calendar!

The February 2023 meeting of Eastside Republican Club will be held on the first Tuesday of the month, February 7, rather than the usual second Tuesday, February 14. This will allow club members to celebrate Valentine’s Day with their spouses or significant others, and will also enable the Kirkland Eagles to hold their traditional Valentine’s Day Dinner on the traditional date. We’ll announce the program for the February 7 meeting in the near future!

Time to Renew Membership!

If you have not already done so, please go to the Join page and renew your ERC membership for 2023. Of course if you aren’t yet a member, we invite you to join! There are three membership levels: Basic $25, Silver $50, and Gold $100. We look forward to seeing you at our meetings!

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