Washblog || First African-American Woman Elected to Conservation Board

First African-American Woman Elected to Conservation Board

By Israelhand
Thu Apr 20, 2006 at 05:39:56 PM PST
Section: Diary Topic: Building the base

[ED: Front Paged: NM]

Another first in Washington State! After a hard and unusual campaign, my wife was able to send this letter to her supporters:

Friends,
Thank you for your support! I am pleased to announce that I won my race for Pierce Conservation District Supervisor. Because of you, I won against a 20-year incumbent.
For the next three years, I will be working hard performing my duties as Supervisor. In addition, I will continue my personal crusade of raising public awareness about the District and I will work on getting the public involved more.
These results are unofficial and won't be certified until sometime in May by the Washington State Conservation District. I will attend meetings as Supervisor elect until the June meeting where I will be sworn into office. I will keep everyone posted on this event for those who would like to be there.
Sincerely,
Rose Ehart
PCD Supervisor Elect

She is the first woman elected to this position, and the first african-american. This is a very under the radar board, with a special election procedure that allows any registered voter in the county to vote, but only if they request a ballot.

She campaigned hard, with the handicap that with such poor awareness of even the existance of the position (odd, with a 2 million dollar annual budget, and in such an environmentally sensitive area) she spent much of her time explaining what the position was, then hounding people to get their ballots back in time.
It is her first elected position, and I could not be prouder of her.
(cross-posted on Kos)

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First African-American Woman Elected to Conservation Board | 3 comments (3 topical)

congratulations, Isrealhand and Mrs. Hand! ;-)

This is great news! You're right about these conservation districts; their elections are very weird. The King County Conservation Board elections are always sneaking up, so activists find out about them at 7:00 the night before the election and suddenly have to mobilize people (since our counterparts make a friggin' science of targeting races like this to get their anti-science crusaders in office)(just noticed the dichotomy of how I used "science" in that last parenthetical...interesting). Now, you have to come to Seattle for a Not-a-Meetup so we can meet the new Supervisor-elect.

Switzerblog'll knock you out!

by switzerblog on Thu Apr 20, 2006 at 05:56:26 PM PST

* 1 5.00 2 *

Congratulations!

This is great news. I'd love to see updates from the new Conservation District Supervisor on Pierce Co. environmental issues here on this forum.

by noemie maxwell on Thu Apr 20, 2006 at 07:34:34 PM PST

* 2 5.00 2 *

Thanks!

Thank you Switzer. I am glad someone else knows how persnickety these elections are. One thing I will be working on these next three years is getting more people interested in running for this board. With what I learned this round, I know I can help others win in Pierce County. I think I did all right for learning about this a day and a half before the deadline to get on the ballot. Then I had about a week to drum up as much support as I could find to vote for me. I am proud to say the grassroots efforts paid off. I would love to stop in at a not-a-meetup.
Noemie, I am working on my own weblog to keep people apprised of what's going on in the District. I see no reason why I can't report on this board as well. Thanks for the interest and for your well wishes!

by Rose Ehart on Thu Apr 20, 2006 at 09:29:07 PM PST

* 3 5.00 2 *

First African-American Woman Elected to Conservation Board | 3 comments (3 topical)

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