Category: Annual Business Meeting

We had a great turnout for the January 9 meeting of Eastside Republican Club, with excellent speakers including Brian Heywood of Let’s Go Washington (who just got six excellent initiatives on the 2024 ballot!), Glen Morgan of We The Governed, and chair of the Washington State Republican Party, State Rep. Jim Walsh! If you weren’t there, you missed a great meeting!

We also held our Annual Business Meeting, at which ERC thanked Derek Chartrand for his service as ERC President for 2023. Derek has announced his candidacy for U.S. Congress in the 1st District, and we wish him success in that endeavour! We elected a new president and board members as well.

Our Club president for 2024 is Doug Basler, who previously served as ERC President for 2020-2022. Ruphina Nord, National Committeewoman for Washington State Young Republicans, was re-elected as ERC Vice President, and Kathleen Strong and Michael Scheele were re-elected as Secretary and Treasurer respectively.

Lenny Chacon, who serves as Chair of the Washington State Young Republicans, was re-elected to another two-year term on the ERC Board of Directors. Rick Jacobs was elected to his first term on the Board, and former state representative and Kirkland city councilmember Toby Nixon returned to the Board, having previously served several terms (Toby also manages the ERC web site and email lists). The club thanked Donna Barr and Ted Reinhart, who stepped down from the Board, for their faithful service.

We look forward to all the great things ahead for the club in 2024!

Mark Your Calendar!

The February 2024 meeting of Eastside Republican Club will be on our usual Second Tuesday, February 13, since it doesn’t collide with Valentine’s Day this year. The location and program will be announced soon.

We also take this opportunity to remind you to attend your Republican precinct caucuses this Saturday, January 13. For more information on locations and times, visit https://kcgop.org/2024caucus/ and https://wsrp.org/convention/

Time to Renew Your Membership!

If you have not already done so, please go to the Join page and renew your ERC membership for 2024. 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. Your dues help cover the cost of meeting location rental and other expenses of operating the club. We look forward to seeing you at our meetings!

Please join us for the monthly meeting of Eastside Republican Club on Tuesday, January 9, at 6:30 PM. We’ll meet at the Barn at Willowcrest Stables (note new location!), 12053 154th Place NE in Redmond. See the Location page for driving directions, a map, photos, and parking information. Please RSVP if you plan to attend!  

Annual Business Meeting

We’ll start with the Annual Business Meeting to elect the ERC president and board members for 2024. If you’re interested in serving, please email us at info@eastsiderepublicanclub.org and let us know!

To be eligible to vote for our officers and board members during the business meeting, you will need to be a dues-paying member of the club either by registering and paying by January 9 or having been a paid member for 2023. It’s time for everyone to renew your membership for 2024 as well. Membership prices are still only $25 Basic, $50 Silver, and $100 Gold. Please renew today so you don’t forget! You can join or renew your membership on the Join page.

Glen Morgan of We The Governed

Unfortunately, WSRP Chair Jim Walsh is unable to make it to our meeting this month as previously announced. But we’re very pleased to announce that our special guest speaker will be Glen Morgan of We The Governed. to update us on his many activities to protect our rights and expose government corruption and the initiatives to the legislature in 2024.

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.

In October, 2023, Glen was awarded the Washington State GOP “Volunteer of the Year.” In June, 2019, Glen was awarded the “Citizen Activist of the Year 2019” award by the Olympic Conference.  In 2015, Glen was also honored with the annual Rodney & Laurel McFarland Award presented by the Citizens Alliance for Property Rights (CAPR) “for exemplary performance in preserving and protecting property rights for the year 2014.”  

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.

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 food. Please register in advance so we know how much pizza and beverages to bring!

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!

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!

Happy New Year!

Please join us for the first Eastside Republican Club meeting of 2023 on Tuesday, January 10, at 6:30 PM at the Kirkland Eagles Club. And please RSVP if you plan to attend!

We’ll start with the Annual Business Meeting to elect ERC officers and board members for 2023. If you’re interested in serving, please email us at info@eastsiderepublicanclub.org and let us know!

To be eligible to vote for our officers and board members during the business meeting, you will need to be a paying member of the club either by registering and paying by January 10 or having been a paid member for 2022. It’s time for everyone to renew your membership for 2023 as well. Membership prices are still only $25 Basic, $50 Silver, and $100 Gold. Please renew today so you don’t forget! You can join or renew your membership on the Join page.

Dann Mead Smith – Project 42

After the short business meeting, we’ll have the pleasure of hearing from Dann Mead Smith, who will tell as all about Project 42, which “is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization created to change the course of Washington state to prioritize free markets, personal liberty and an individual’s right to prosper.”

Dann was President and CEO of Washington Policy Center for 20 years before stepping down in fall 2021 to start his own firm, The Mead Smith Group. His main client is Project 42, a 501c4 advocacy, capacity building, nonprofit organization, that he co-founded in 2020. Some of the nonprofit groups launched or supported by Project 42 over the last year include Change Washington, League of Our Own Washington, The Center Square Washington, and Future 42.

As President of Washington Policy Center, Dann testified by invitation before dozens of legislative committees in Olympia and appeared on numerous radio and TV newscasts and programs around the state promoting the Center’s work. He also appeared on the national PBS “Debates Debates” television program. Dann is a member of Seattle Rotary #4 and the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition’s Washington Advisory Committee; serves as board chairman of Citizen Action Defense Fund, a public interest law group in our state; former board member of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, and founding board member of the Worker Rights Alliance.

He also served on the Advisory Group of the Washington State Tax Structure Study Committee and the Citizen Performance Audit Oversight Board after being appointed by Gov. Gregoire. Before becoming President of WPC, he worked for the Washington Institute for Policy Studies, was Vice President of the Washington Institute Foundation, and worked on two statewide campaigns (for a statewide ballot measure and a candidate for governor).

He is a graduate of Western Washington University and lives with his wife in Seattle and has two daughters.

Happy New Year!

Please join us for this month’s meeting of Eastside Republican Club on Tuesday, January 11, at 6:30 PM. This meeting will be held in the loft of the big barn at Willowcrest Stables in Redmond, 12053 154th Place NE, hosted by our good friend Brian Heywood. Please go to the Location page for driving directions, a map, and photos to help you get there. And please RSVP if you plan to attend!

We’ll start with the Annual Business Meeting to elect ERC officers and board members for 2022. If you’re interested in serving, please email us at info@eastsiderepublicanclub.org and let us know!

After the short business meeting, we’ll have the pleasure of hearing from chair of the Pierce County Republican Party Dave McMullan, and Executive Director of the King County GOP Jeff Harvey. We’ll have a great discussion on this year’s legislative session (which starts on January 10) and what will be an amazing political year for all of us! 

About the Annual Business Meeting

To be eligible to vote for our officers and board members during the business meeting, you will need to be a paying member of the club either by registering and paying by January 11 or being a paid member from 2021.
It is time for everyone to renew your membership as well. Membership prices are still only $25 Basic, $50 Silver, and $100 Gold. Please renew today so you don’t forget! You can join or renew your membership on the Join page.

Happy New Year!

Please join us for the next meeting of Eastside Republican Club on Tuesday, January 12, at 7:00 PM via Zoom and Facebook Live. There’s no cost to attend!

We’ll start with the Annual Business Meeting to elect ERC officers and board members for 2021. If you’re interested in serving, please email us at info@eastsiderepublicanclub.org and let us know!

After the short business meeting, we’ll hear from two fantastic guests: State Representative Jim Walsh (R-Aberdeen, 19th District) and former State Senator Mark Miloscia (R-Federal Way, 30th District) who is now the head of the Family Policy Institute of Washington. They will give us the inside information we need to be prepared for this year’s legislative session.

Please click RSVP to register, and we’ll email you the link to attend the Zoom meeting so you can ask questions of our guests and participate in voting. If you just want to watch, you can view the live stream of the meeting on the ERC Facebook page. You don’t need to be a member of Facebook to watch!

About the Annual Business Meeting

To be eligible to vote for our officers and board members during the business meeting, you will need to be a paying member of the club either by registering and paying by January 12 or being a paid member from 2020.
It is time for everyone to renew your membership as well. Membership prices are still only $25 Basic, $50 Silver, and $100 Gold. Please renew today so you don’t forget! You can join or renew your membership on the Join page.

Please join ERC at the Sheraton Bellevue Hotel (Note New Location for 2020!) at 6PM on January 7 when our speaker will be Caleb Heimlich, chairman of the Washington State Republican Party, for a look ahead to the 2020 legislative session and elections. 

Caleb Heimlich has served as chair of the Washington State Republican Party since the beginning of 2018. Born and raised in Puyallup, the third of eight children, Caleb was home educated until he enrolled at age 17 in Running Start at Pierce Community College. He went on to graduate Hillsdale College Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Political Economy. Upon graduation, he worked for Americans for Prosperity in Washington DC and then for AFP in Washington State organizing grass-roots activists. That led to being hired as the Political Director of the WSRP in 2011, promoted to Executive Director in 2013 with the additional title of Chief of Staff in 2016. Caleb’s political experience includes running for office at the age of 23 in LD 25. Though unsuccessful in the primary, he immediately worked on the field team for the Pierce County Republican Party. 

On January 7, ERC will also hold our Annual Business Meeting, electing board members as well as officers for 2020. Individuals who have been ERC members for at least the three months preceding the meeting will be eligible to vote. If you are interested in serving on the board, please email info@eastsiderepublicanclub.org.

Eastside Republican Club’s monthly meetings are held at Sheraton Bellevue Hotel (Note New Location for 2020!); click here for location information and directions. Monthly meetings cost $25 per person and include dinner (but you get a $2 discount for paying online in advance). Food and networking are at 6:00PM, and the program begins at 6:30PM. Please RSVP online if you plan to attend the upcoming meeting.

Please join ERC at the Red Lion Bellevue at 6PM on January 8 when our speaker will be Kirby Wilbur for a retrospective on 2018 and the lessons learned. He will also offer a look ahead in 2019, including the latest on heroin-injection sites and gun rights in Washington (I-1639 and Ferguson’s Wish List). Join us for a light dinner buffet at 6:00 at the Bellevue Red Lion.

Kirby Wilbur moved to Seattle from Washington DC at the age of 8 and graduated from Queen Anne High School and the University of Washington with a degree in history. He has been active in politics since high school. He was state chairman of the Young Republicans (1979-1981), and has been a delegate or alternate delegate to eight national Republican conventions. Kirby was a familiar voice on talk radio on KVI between 1993 and 2009. After leaving KVI, he became state director of Americans for Prosperity, and then was elected chairman of the Washington State Republican Party in 2011. He left that position in July, 2013, to become executive director of the National Journalism Center in Reston, Virginia. Kirby returned to KVI in 2016. Kirby and his wife Trina met working on Ronald Reagan’s campaign and have two sons.

On January 8, ERC will also hold our Annual Business Meeting, electing board members as well as officers for 2019. Individuals who have been ERC members for at least the three months preceding the meeting will be eligible to vote. If you are interested in serving on the board, please email info@eastsiderepublicanclub.org.

Eastside Republican Club’s monthly meetings are held at Red Lion Hotel Bellevue; click here for location information and directions. Monthly meetings cost $20 per person and include a light buffet. Food and networking are at 6:00PM, and the program begins at 6:30PM. Please RSVP online if you plan to attend the upcoming meeting.

The Eastside Republican Club will proudly welcome Dino Rossi, Republican candidate for 8th Congressional District to replace the retiring Congressman Dave Reichert, as the keynote speaker at our first meeting of 2018!

The meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 9 at 6:00PM (NOTE: the second Tuesday) due to proximity of the usual date to the New Year’s holiday. This will be the first meeting at our new monthly dinner location, at the Red Lion Bellevue Hotel.

This meeting will also be the Annual Business Meeting for the Club, at which we elect board members as well as officers for 2018. Individuals who have been ERC members for at least the three months preceding the meeting will be eligible to vote. If you are interested in serving on the board, please email info@eastsiderepublicanclub.org.

Eastside Republican Club’s monthly dinner meetings are held at Red Lion Hotel Bellevue; click here for location information and directions. Dinner is served at 6:00PM, and the program begins at 6:30PM. Please RSVP online if you plan to attend the upcoming meeting. Monthly dinner meetings cost $20 per person.