NEWSLETTER FOR WEST SOUND DSA
February 19th, 2026
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West Sound Democratic Socialists General Meeting, February 5th, 2026. We welcomed guest DSA Western Regional Organizer David Lefevre (front right) and voted to endorse Kristin Lillegard for her State Legislative race (front middle/left, holding the peace sign)!
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Hello Comrades,
We have a lot coming up for the West Sound chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.
In the face of so much hardship, we feel driven to do something meaningful. Yet, many of us don't know where to even begin. This latest winter was a season of struggle. From the ramping up of fascist paramilitary detention brigades across the country, and just across the sound, to a wildly fluctuating winter with extreme weather exacerbated by climate change.
Even though, for the most part, Kitsap was spared the worst from December's atmospheric-river-induced floods, it was disheartening to see the devastation to infrastructure many of our neighbors across county lines endured. Where we had heavy rain, we also had light snow. Again, here in Kitsap we are more fortunate than most, relying predominantly on groundwater and not at all on snowpack. In fact, only the folks in Bremerton and at the shipyard get water from the county's only surface water reservoir, on Green Mountain. While heavy rain is not always sufficiently recaptured by our aquifers, since much drains into the Sound as runoff, we are in a better spot this upcoming summer than the people along the foothills of the Cascades or Olympics who will be relying on meltwater from an incredibly dwindled snowpack.
As the days get longer, and we transition out of this incredibly warm winter, many folks are eager to get back into the swing of things, if they haven't done so already. Many are motivated into action by the footage we have seen come out of the Twin Cities, Minneapolis - Saint Paul. People recognize the dangers ICE pose not only to marginalized immigrant communities, but also to activists and bystanders alike. There's an opportunity to prepare the county in the ever more likely case that DHS will ramp up their efforts locally, like they have been in Tacoma or Seattle.
If you are looking for an avenue to do some good and get plugged-in, hopefully you will find something while reading this that interests you. We've got lots of great projects with a need for volunteers to help take on some of the tasks ahead. If you are unsure or have your own ideas and suggestions, please reach out or come to our next General Meeting and discuss your ideas with others! West Sound Democratic Socialists of America is a fully democratic organization that functions entirely off the solidarity of individuals, all with the aim to move beyond capitalism and unite the working class.
In Solidarity,
Carlos Yosten
Co-Chair
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What projects are your fellow cadre members working on?
A glimpse into what you will find within this newsletter:
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Kristin for Kitsap (more information below)
- Electoral campaign for State Legislature for our very own comrade!
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Manufactured Home Canvassing
- Join Kitsap Housing 4 All in letting tenants know their rights under a new bill passed last summer.
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Immigration Know Your Rights with WAISN & KIAC
- From hosting trainings to distributing red cards and flyers, we are building Immigrant solidarity.
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Building A Resilient Kitsap (BARK)
- A project going directly to the people, surveying what residents of Kitsap are struggling with today in order to help guide our chapter moving forward.
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Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) Volunteer Picketing & Boycott
- A facet of our national effort to help service industry workers unionize in the face of staggering labor law violations.
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Quarterly special issue of The West Sound Socialist
- Still accepting submissions until the end of the month!
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Get in touch with the organizing working group to learn more about event specifics, like time and location (Or see if the information is available on our events page)!
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March Zine Submission Workshop
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Labor and Mutual Aid Goal Workshop
- Communities Organized in Grassroots Solidarity (COGS)
- February 26th, Poulsbo
- Contact: email [email protected] or on our Discord
- RSVP
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Working Group Meeting
- The West Sound Socialist
- February 28th, Video Call - See event on our calendar
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General Meeting - Quarterly Congress (additional information below)
- March 5th, Poulsbo Public Library, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
- Welcome to all, family friendly, bring snacks!
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Socialize with Socialists
- March 7th, 5:00pm-6:30pm
- Otherwise Society Commons, Poulsbo
- Newcomers and DSA-curious welcome! (See flyer below for more details)
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Bainbridge Island Socialist Meetup
Recurring events
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Socialist SciFi Book Club
- Next meeting February 21st, 9:30am-10:30am
- Otherwise Society Commons, Poulsbo
- Come discuss Manna, by Marshall Brain. Wellp, the robots took the jobs. Now what?
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Socialist Reading Group
- Every Monday, 7:00pm-9:00pm
- Cranes Castle, Bremerton
- Settlers by J. Sakai, Week 1 starting February 23rd (see flyer below for more details)
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Manufactured Home Canvassing - Kitsap Housing 4 All
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General Meeting - first Thursdays of the month (excepting holiday proximity)
- 7:00pm-8:30pm
- Future Locations TBD
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Hello, my name is Kristin Lillegard, and I am running for state representative in the 23rd LD, Position1.
I am doing this because I do not believe there is one single path to socialism in our lifetime and there are ways that a campaign and a socialist in office can elevate the cause and further the goal of a government that works for the working class. I am running with the endorsement of the West Sound chapter, and I am proud to say that I am a DSA candidate.
In the early stages of this campaign, I am working on putting together talking points, goals, and solutions. I have a lot of ideas and it’s hard to solidify just a few to run on. If you would like to help with my campaign please reach out to me on the chapter discord and I can get you plugged in.
Endorsement
Link to full document
General Membership Passed Motion: To endorse Kristin Lillegard as a candidate for the state house of representative seat in the 23rd legislative district currently held by Tarra Simmons (D).
The ultimate aim of the campaign would be to aid in fulfilling the shared goals of West Sound DSA. While we acknowledge those shared goals can only partially be met by being elected and legislating for reforms, there is a shared belief that throughout this campaign a lot can be gained not only for this chapter, but in the potential impact we could see in our community.
One major goal in a campaign for office by a comrade is to be democratically elected in order to serve the community. Short of an electoral victory and election of Kristin Lillegard to the 23rd LD as a state representative, the West Sound DSA Electoral Working Group would consider her campaign successful given the continual implementation of the experiences gained, and lessons learned, by our chapter’s membership when undertaking a project of this scale.
The ability to share the values of the chapter and educate the public broadly on democratic socialism and the goals of national DSA is an opportunity that we believe the chapter should seize.
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March 5th General Meeting - Quarterly Congress
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Check out our agenda for the Quarterly Congress here, including all previous General Meetings and Meeting Minutes.
This meeting is going to be a little different! Inspired by Tacoma DSA and their yearly priority voting at convention, we have decided to do something similar but dedicate "Quarterly Congresses" to do so. Once a quarter, on a General Meeting evening, instead of a typical meeting we will be focused on analyzing chapter priorities, assessing existing priorities, coming up with new ones, and in the end having debate and voting on what to establish, maintain, or adjust moving forwards. One of these will fall on the chapter convention in July as well, as with the one after this upcoming one.
Due to how packed we felt at Otherwise, we recognize we may soon outgrow the space (if we haven't already), as such we will be meeting at the Poulsbo Public Library for this upcoming meeting in anticipation of a similar number of members coming.
Attention Parents and Families!
We want to recognize how difficult it can be to attend meetings generally after already working long days. We have members actively working to make it easier to bring your family and would love your input at the next meeting or online! These events are family friendly and so we want to emphasize that all are welcome and we will do our best to accommodate.
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Curious about what's being done or planned by your fellow comrades? Hear from them below!
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The Bodily Autonomy Working Group's "My Body, My Choice" Benefit Concert, held at the Charleston on Feb. 6, was a huge success! Local bands semisoft, Black Viiolet, and Male//Gaze played to an enthusiastic crowd, raising over $1,800 for a billboard that will publicize abortion resources for people in the Kitsap County abortion desert.
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Trans & Queer Gender Affirming Care Drive:
We are proud that hundreds of gender affirming items were donated from all across Kitsap throughout January. We had the community drop off items at Otherwise Society, Ashley’s Pub, and Cafe Corvo. So much clothing, makeup, and jewelry were collected. Two online businesses also kindly donated new clothing.
The distribution event was at People’s Exchange (PEX). Unfortunately, we planned it on Superbowl Sunday accidentally and we imagine it impacted the amount of people that could attend or see our event. However, for those that did show up, we made a big difference. We hope to do another drive either for Pride Month or for the Kitsap Pride event. Thank you to all of our partners, especially PEX for your guidance and your space to distribute. All items that were not given out were given to PEX for future distribution events. It was truly a successful event on such a short notice.
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Communities Organized in Grassroots Solidarity (COGS)
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COGS is our labor and mutual aid working group. Why the acronym? Think of cogs in the machine of industry, only together we can leverage labor towards proletarian solidarity.
Folks have been taking some time to volunteer in coordination with Starbucks Workers United in order to boycott and picket non-unionized stores as baristas across the nation participate in rolling strikes. Labor solidarity extends from the shipyard to the cafe. Our renewed efforts to participate more meaningfully in local labor activism, starting by supporting those in the service industry, will help us make meaningful steps in community engagement as well.
Alongside this, we will be discussing goals and priorities as they relate to mutual aid and immigration. Both are essential aspects of supporting the labor movement, as mutual aid offers a community-backed safety net for those contemplating striking or forming a union, and many immigrants, especially brown and latine immigrants, are an all-too-often scapegoated part of the global working class.
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West Sound DSA Enters the Electoral Arena!
We took two big steps at February's General Meeting: we passed a motion to formally create an Electoral Committee, and we voted to endorse Kristin Lillegard's run for Tarra Simmons' house seat in the 23rd LD! The Electoral Committee is our first officially chartered committee, creating a template for future chapter committees to follow. Its mission is to make governing in Kitsap County and beyond more accountable to the populace through democratic socialism. This includes developing an electoral platform, running the endorsement process, supporting the candidacy of endorsed candidates, and working with elected socialists and other state and national DSA bodies to further our shared policy goals. Beginning after the General Meeting in March, the Electoral Committee will take on the tasks managed so far by this working group.
One such body is the Washington State Socialists in Office Committee (SIOC), formed by Seattle DSA to advance DSA's priorities in the state legislature. With representation from DSA chapters statewide including West Sound, SIOC lays the groundwork for increased collaboration between those chapters and the opportunity to expand our impact in Washington state.
West Sound DSA member Johanna Bodnyk was elected as our SIOC representative last summer, and as such is the first member of the Electoral Committee's five-member board. Chapter members interested in running for one of the other four board positions should fill out this self-nomination form! We will be voting to elect nominees into these positions at the next General Meeting.
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A new law passed last year that limits the amount a landlord can raise rent. For mobile home owners, that number is 5% per year. Because mobile home parks often house the most financially vulnerable among us, Kitsap Housing for All is currently on a mission to spread the news to mobile home owners in Kitsap County. We have canvassed around a quarter of the parks in the county, but we still have quite a way to go. If you are interested in helping us, please email [email protected] - training will be provided!
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Our Political Education Working Group is building a welcoming and practical space where community members can learn, connect, and grow together. We will host DSA 101 sessions for new and prospective members, along with Know Your Rights trainings that provide clear and actionable information people can use in real situations.
Our goal is to connect education with practical skills, strengthening shared understanding while helping our community stay informed and safe. We welcome all interested in learning a bit more.
“No one is born fully-formed: it is through self-experience in the world that we become what we are.” -Paulo Freire
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The West Sound Socialist zine exists to spread the good news of socialism throughout Kitsap County! Through the creative, intellectual work of our members, we’re rewriting the tired cultural narrative about socialism and inviting the broader community to reimagine both our current reality and what could be. We embrace complexity and nuance by highlighting varied perspectives on socialist issues. Our dream is a zine that inspires activism, promotes rigorous debate, and tends to the aesthetics of the movement.
We made our first issue debut back in December, centered around mutual aid. If you couldn't get yourself a hardcopy there may still be a couple left at the Otherwise Society Commons or you could check it out online here!
Our next issue is still under works, and we are accepting submissions until February 28th at [email protected]! We accept artwork, poetry, prose, essays, and more. This issue is themed around housing, but feel free to submit what you can! Any artwork submitted will be a contender to be the next cover of the zine, to be voted on at the next meeting!
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Committees and Subcommittees
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Outreach and Communication
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This sub-committee is one established by the steering committee to aid in the roles and responsibilities tasked to our membership coordinator.
We’ve left Slack and moved to Discord! It has already been a great decision. We have seen a lot more activity so please come by and check it out here!We are aware of the upcoming age verification policies that Discord will implement and we will be watching closely to make sure that no one is required to give up too much personal information to be part of our server. So far, we understand that there will only be small restrictions on our accounts if we decide not to do their verification process.
We have been working on a slight logo update so that “Democratic Socialists” is more visible in our design (can be seen in this newsletter!). As we get it finalized we are planning to have a new clothing merch order so please stay tuned. We would also like to have a custom West Sound DSA Flag be made so that we can wave it proudly as we pick up trash on the side of the highway during upcoming events.
We have been posting more frequently on Facebook and Instagram and we plan to keep it going. We’ve noticed more people interacting with us. We plan to increase the frequency of our emails to make sure that members like you can stay up to date on how to get involved
If you have a passion for graphic design and socialism, we are always looking for new hands to help with our projects.
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The Democratic Socialists of America are growing fast, and capturing the enthusiasm in a way that makes a positive impact in our county is a big focus for us on the steering committee.
This has been such a great experience being able to help guide the chapter after our election last July. Since then, chapter members have honestly accomplished so much, and we're doing our best as your Steering Committee to help support you! Since July we have grown by almost 30 dues paying members (totaling 116), incorporated as a non-profit in the state of Washington, created a new Electoral Committee, and endorsed our first candidate for political office - Kristin Lillegard. We are also exploring how we may secure office space through National DSA's $15,000 matching fund for chapters without office space!
We still have more work to do, and we are now more than ever looking to more leaders within the chapter to help us out. We are working with the national DSA tech committee to test out an open-source project management site called Open Project. We are also stepping up in our efforts to engage with members, engage in list work, and make sure the chapter is setup to handle future growth in a way that supports the socialist mission.
Thank you for your trust, and we are looking forward to what's to come!
Your Steering Committee:
Daniel Baca (Co-Chair)
Kristin Lillegard (Membership Coordinator)
Nick Schmitt (Secretary)
Jared Sterling (Treasurer)
Carlos Yosten (Co-Chair)
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Building A Resilient Kitsap (BARK)
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Take the survey and let us know if you are struggling, and help guide future prioritization of chapter goals! Afterwards, send the survey to a couple friends, coworkers, or local family members!
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Take the survey and tell us which of our current projects interests you!
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In closing,
We sincerely hope you enjoyed this deeper dive into our chapter, what we've accomplished, what's ongoing, and what is to be done moving forwards.
Member and Solidarity Dues
Our supplies, tools, organizing costs, and overall budget is entirely supported by your membership dues. Currently, aside from being a non-profit organization, we are also an entirely volunteer run group and are very happy keeping it that way! However, we would like more flexibility when it comes to planning events, hosting meetings, and exploring what it may take to get secure office space. We humbly ask that you consider increasing your monthly dues, and making sure that you have West Sound DSA listed as your local chapter, as this is how we get a portion of these recurring dues from National DSA. If you pay yearly dues, you are still a member of this chapter, but your dues do not contribute to us directly. If you do pay yearly dues, please consider switching to monthly so that our chapter can receive a portion of those dues!
You may also want to consider upping your contribution to Solidarity Dues, where members commit to paying 1% of their annual income.
Check out dues options here.
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West Sound Democratic Socialists of America
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Check out our website for a calendar of events, community resources, our zine and more!
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Democratic Socialists of America
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Check out the site for National DSA!
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Check out the website of our longest standing working group, Kitsap Housing 4 All!
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Kitsap Immigration Assistance Network
Volunteer to help translate, participate in accompaniment programs, or take an extensive training to help out families with legal processes.
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Washington Immigrant Solidarity NetworkDeportation Defense Hotline: 1-844-724-3737
Take a training and join their rapid response team!
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