May Day Benefit Concert for National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) at the Charleston in Bremerton. Organized in collaboration with Kitsap Industrial Workers of the World.

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)!

• General Meeting
  • June 4^th, Otherwise Society Commons, Poulsbo, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
  • Welcome to all, family friendly, bring snacks!
• Solidarity Day Canvassing
  • With Tacoma DSA - June 6^th
  • Safe Homes For All Ballot Initiative Signature Collection
  • Day of training provided, signup to volunteer for Saturday June 6^th and learn more here!
• Socialize with Socialists
  • June 6^th 5:00pm-6:30pm
  • Otherwise Society Commons
  • Newcomers welcome!
• Community Dinner
  • June 7^th 5:00pm-6:30pm
  • Otherwise Society Collab - @ Poulsbo First Lutheran Church
  • Free dinner, come and join us!
• NAACP Juneteenth Resource Fair
  • Friday June 12^th, Marvin Williams Center, Bremerton WA
  • Tabling setup 11:00am-11:30am
  • Fair from 12:00am-4:00pm
• Kitsap Juneteenth Freedom Festival
  • Saturday June 13^th
  • 10:00am People's March at Norm Dicks Building Steps, Bremerton WA
  • 11:00am - 4:00pm, Evergreen Rotary Park, Bremerton WA
• COGS Labor and Mutual Aid Meeting
  • Sunday, June 21^st 2:30pm -4:00pm 
  • Port Orchard Public Library

Recurring events

• Socialist Reading Group
  • Every Monday, 7:00pm-9:00pm 
  • Cranes Castle, Bremerton
  • We have been reading articles and socialist material lately, keep up with what we are doing on Discord!
• Manufactured Home Canvassing - Kitsap Housing 4 All
  • Canvassing (nearly) every weekend until summer! Saturday and Sunday.
  • Contact: email: kitsapforall@gmail.com, westsounddsa@gmail.com, or on our Discord
• Kristin for Kitsap Canvassing - Leadup to August Primary
  • Canvassing multiple upcoming weekends
  • Reach out on Discord or keep updated on our events tab of our website for upcoming shifts
• General Meeting - first Thursdays of the month (excepting holiday proximity)
  • 7:00pm-8:30pm
  • Future Locations TBD
• Electoral Committee Meeting
  • Second and Fourth Sundays from 4:30pm-5:30pm - meet remotely
  • Next one on June 14^th, 4:30pm-5:30pm
  • Open to all members in good standing

Comrades,

It has been quite a busy month for us all, and not just in terms of our work together bringing socialist principles to Kitsap, but in our daily lives. For some, school has just about ended, and the end of the spring semester has come and gone as well. But for many, this means anything but less work: parents with young kids who can't afford to send them elsewhere while they work; folks in the service industry preparing for their busiest season; laborers feeling the crunch of a summertime construction window or the need to keep their crops fed and alive. But at least the sun is out longer and I no longer have to leave for work in the dark and get home in the dark.

I feel almost guilty asking folks to volunteer more or help us canvass, but ultimately there's work to be done and its the working class who will drive these efforts. It's this unfortunate reality we are faced with as socialists where we must first grapple with the largely capitalist demands of society before getting to the business of overcoming them. It truthfully is a daunting project for those who rarely have energy or time left after working to begin with.

"The trouble with socialism is that it takes up too many evenings." - Oscar Wilde

This is what many consider to be one of the major reasons why capitalism is so successful or stable: our resignation to the frequently lopsided demands of labor by the owner class. To many, this relationship between work and free time is just an unfortunate reality, because at the end of the day we have bills to pay and groceries to buy. The resignation can even tend to grow stronger as material conditions worsen, as we see the results of falling through the cracks constantly in those unhoused or chronically ill. This is also why mutual aid and community building is important as a means to alleviate the stresses that will continue to mount on working class folks over the next few years. They are a means to not only uplift your neighbor in hard times, but to give yourself the breathing room needed not to fall back into the trap of resignation. Though, mutual aid is not enough on its own and should be done in coordination with education on why it was needed in the first place, that the worsening conditions most of us feel currently is directly attributed to capitalism.

This June, we should look towards the leftist, socialist, and revolutionary movements that came before. Juneteenth celebrates the day black people were informed of the emancipation declaration in Texas, over two years after it was signed, and six months before the 13th amendment finally abolished chattel slavery. Black people largely had to fight to free themselves throughout this time, through slave revolts and rebellions. But the defeat of reconstruction and the mass amnesty of Confederate military and political leaders set back most reforms that wouldn't be realized for nearly 100 years during the Civil Rights Movement. Throughout US history, black communities and leaders from W. E. B. Du Bois in the 19th century, to civil rights figures like, Huey P. Newton and the Black Panther Party, Martin Luther King Jr., or Angela Davis have profoundly advanced the cause of socialism, and still do.

June is also Pride month, in which LGBTQIA+ people of all backgrounds can celebrate and reflect on the causes for liberation and how emancipation of one marginalized group can, at the same time, be beneficial for others. This is not a universal rule, but often the systems of oppression that target one group are useful in terms of oppressing another. When looking at how Fascism in Europe attacked marginalized peoples, queer and homosexual individuals as well as socialists and communists were among those targeted. We are seeing today a huge solidarity between LGBTQIA+ communities and socialist causes, like Palestinian Liberation or Abolish ICE. In a place like Washington, we don't need to look far to see the physical manifestation of the relationship between queer spaces and socialist or socialist-adjacent ones. Just go to Cal Anderson Park in the Capital Hill neighborhood of Seattle, or a punk venue like The Charleston on Callow Ave in Bremerton, or third spaces many of us at West Sound love like People's Exchange and the Otherwise Society Commons. This serves as a good time to reflect on what we can do to push back on anti-trans initiatives being espoused by conservative reactionaries in both parties in Washington State.

These examples of history and solidarity are important to lean on in times like this, where the rights that people fought and died for are being challenged and overturn by long standing anti-democratic institutions such as the Supreme Court. How should we go about advocating for positive change in our governments structure, or is the way in which our constitution was written incapable of sufficient reform? For a long time, anti-democratic institutions within our government and our lives have been opposed to popular, socialist, principles. Institutions like the aforementioned Supreme Court, the Senate, or our nation's Executive, who's position has been filled by individuals who lost the popular vote twice now in my lifetime.

As always there is just too much to say and not enough space to write it all out. Please join your fellow comrades in discussions on discord or in person by joining a working group or coming to reading group. Also consider participating in a microcosm of local democracy by attending our general meetings and our upcoming chapter convention, where we will be holding votes on resolutions and elections for chapter positions. If you're not yet a DSA member please sign up here.

Thank you all for your hard work and time. In the words of a rebel, it serves to remind ourselves that "I have friend's everywhere".

In Solidarity, 

Carlos Yosten

Co-Chair

Keep an eye out for an email with the meeting's agenda soon, including all previous general meetings' minutes.

Come and vote on a couple resolutions outlining the creation of a bylaws committee for a proposed statewide DSA organization.

We will also be voting to endorse Whole Washington as an active partner and support their efforts to implement statewide universal healthcare through the Washington Health Trust.

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.

What projects are your fellow cadre members working on?

A glimpse into what you will find within this newsletter:

• Kristin for Kitsap (more information below)
  • Electoral campaign for State Legislature for our very own comrade!
• Manufactured Home Canvassing
  • Join Kitsap Housing 4 All in letting tenants know their rights under the tenants rights bill passed last summer.
  • More volunteers are needed! If you have some free time on these next upcoming weekends please consider volunteering to help us canvas the final parks! More information below in the Member Memorandums portion of the newsletter, under Kitsap Housing for All.
• Immigration, Mutual Aid and Labor Rights
  • Hosting trainings to distributing red cards and know-your-rights flyers, working alongside WAISN and KIAC to promote immigrant solidarity and bring awareness to its intersectionality with the labor movement. Mutual Aid is increasingly an important aspect of both of these, as providing some community resilience can alleviate pressures on working class folks who are engaged in strikes and labor work, as well as affected immigrant communities.
• 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. New updates are happening here, reach out to Brynn with Outreach and Comms!
• 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.
• Quarterly special issue of The West Sound Socialist
  • Ready for print!
• Labor and Mutual Aid Organizing
  • Looking back on May Day and planning next actions.
• Tech
  
  • Join members in implementing nationally provided programs and improving our own chapter's functionality.
• Outreach and Communications
  • Expanding our social media outreach, new member orientation events, and political education. Elections for committee officers coming up next month!

Kristin had her campaign launch party and first canvasser training this last month, stay tuned for canvassing opportunities!

Curious about what's being done or planned by your fellow comrades? Hear from them below!

The Bodily Autonomy group is working on billboard logistics to publicize abortion resources in Kitsap County. We’re also focusing our efforts to combat the upcoming anti-trans ballot initiative with a Trans Alliance Group.

It takes a village!

Members have rustled up some toys, trays, and coloring supplies for the kids of DSA to play with at meetings! We are also excited to see how shifting the format of the General Meeting to a communal, potluck-style affair helps encourage the attendance of whole families.

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.

We have just finished our May Day activities, raising ~$850 dollars alongside Kitsap IWW at the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) Benefit Concert/ Resources Fair on May Day. We also worked with People's Exchange (PEX) in Bremerton to hold a free brake-light clinic where comrades worked to cook food and fix peoples brake lights, hopefully preventing future costly tickets or unwanted interactions with state patrol.

We have an upcoming meeting in Port Orchard on the 21st at the library, hope to see you there!

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 kitsapforall@gmail.com - training will be provided!

We’ve been busy canvassing nearly every weekend this year. Out of 40 mobile home parks in the county, we’ve visited 32. Only 8 left! However, these last 8 account for about half of the total lots we aim to canvass. We are looking for more volunteers to help us finish this goal!

We’ve gotten some incredible feedback from our efforts. Residents of the parks are generally happy and grateful that we’re out there talking to them. We’ve gathered so many stories about egregious park policies, past rent hikes, fee changes, potential illegal changes to rent, poor water quality, and generally greedy land owners. Every person we talk to helps us shape the path we take forward and guide us in helping our community. Come join us! 

Reach out to Emily Barnett on discord or email kitsapforall@gmail.com

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

As a reflection of education's centrality in the socialist movement, DSA now requires chapters to have a Political Education officer. If you're interested in building Kitsap County's collective understanding of capitalism and socialism, please nominate yourself for the position at our 2026 Chapter Convention in July! For political education resources, check out https://education.dsausa.org/.

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!

We are just waiting on a final print order but the zine is available for view on or Discord today!

Our Outreach and Communications committee was formally created by the general membership through a vote at the last general meeting. For now, a working group is taking up the committees responsibilities until officers are elected at the 2026 chapter convention later next month. The goal for this committee is to ensure our message is received by as many people in the West Sound region as possible. This committee will also hold the responsibility of working with other organizations in events and actions in the foreseeable future.

We're always looking to have more hands involved, so if you have graphic design, social media and/ or community outreach experience at any level, please reach out! 

Our committee is currently working on helping our comrade, Kristin, run for local state legislative office in any way we can, while also working on getting an electoral platform put together in the form of a voter guide for this upcoming election.

Wow, it has been a busy year. We are nearing our full year as the current Steering Committee and we are working diligently on planning the chapter convention while keeping us on top of what's happening locally this Summer.

We've mentioned this a few times now, but a few folks are not going to be pursuing reelection this go-around, so if you are interested in being a member of the chapter's steering committee please consider nominating yourself!

The Chapter Convention will be held on July 25th, after our regular chapter general meeting on the 2nd of July.

Thanks for a great year, and here's to a brighter future.

Your Steering Committee:

Daniel Baca (Co-Chair)

Ryan Cale (Electoral Committee)

Sergio De Freitas Gomes (Electoral Committee)

Kristin Lillegard (Membership Coordinator)

Nick Schmitt (Secretary)

Jared Sterling (Treasurer)

Carlos Yosten (Co-Chair)

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!

Take the survey and tell us which of our current projects interests you!

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.

Altar for those lost and still detained at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, maintained by La Resistencia with vigils held in support of hunger striking detainees inside.

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)!

• May Day Resource Fair & Benefit Concert
  • Join us this Friday, May 1st, from 7:00pm-8:00pm for a resource fair, followed by a benefit concert at 8:00pm, see imbeded flyer for more info!
• Kristin for Kitsap Campaign Launch Party!
  • May 4^th, 6:30pm-8:00pm
  • Otherwise Society Commons, Poulsbo
• General Meeting
  • May 7^th, Otherwise Society Commons, Poulsbo, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
  • Welcome to all, family friendly, bring snacks!
• Socialize with Socialists
  • May 9^th 5:00pm-6:30pm
  • Otherwise Society Commons
  • Newcomers welcome!
• Veterans for Peace Benefit Concert
  
  • May 15^th, 7:00pm doors open, 8:00 show start at the Charleston in Bremerton (Flyer below!)
• Brake Light Clinic
  • May 16^th 10:00am-5:00pm at the People's Exchange on Callow Ave in Bremerton.
  • Contact Daniel on Discord in the COGS channel, help appreciated or come get your dead brake lights changed out!

Recurring events

• Socialist Reading Group
  • Every Monday, 7:00pm-9:00pm (except May 7^th)
  • Cranes Castle, Bremerton
  • We have recently finished J. Sakai's book "Settlers: The Mythology of the White Proletariat" and have moved on to reading and discussing articles from a socialist perspective for now.  If anyone would be interested in joining us, there is always room at the table.  We meet Mondays at Crane's Castle at 19:00.
• Manufactured Home Canvassing - Kitsap Housing 4 All
  • Canvassing every weekend until summer! Saturday and Sunday.
  • Contact: email: kitsapforall@gmail.com, westsounddsa@gmail.com, or on our Discord
• General Meeting - first Thursdays of the month (excepting holiday proximity)
  • 7:00pm-8:30pm
  • Future Locations TBD
• Electoral Committee Meeting
  • Second and Fourth Sundays from 4:30pm-5:30pm - meet remotely
  • May 10^th, 4:30pm-5:30pm
  • Open to all members in good standing

Comrades,

As always, thank you for being part of the West Sound chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, and thank you especially for all the work you've each contributed. Without these efforts, we wouldn't be in the position we find ourselves in today. We are gaining recognition within our community and the county, while poised to make meaningful strides in helping reinvigorate the labor movement locally. Overcoming the ways in which capitalism promotes feelings and attitudes of resignation among the working class will continually be a key component to our short and long-term success as democratic socialists.

As May Day approaches, it's a good moment to reflect on the tumultuous history of labor movements in this country and what we should be striving for in the present. Throughout our nation's past, labor victories rarely included everyone, often times leaving out marginalized groups. From women to black and brown people, indigenous peoples, and immigrants. Historic concessions to this country's working class largely served to placate the labor movement as a whole in an effort to sedate or pacify it. Now, we've witnessed decades of the erosion to those very concessions, with wealth inequality now rivaling the times of the 1920's and 30's.

To achieve longer-term success, and not just for select peoples, we can look back at what Marx and Engels believed: that to truly have the lasting radical shift in society we desire, we'll need to dismantle all tools of oppression. Systemic inequalities serve not just to punish those seen by the right-wing as "unamerican", but also aid in preventing the formation of a class consciousness by pitting us against one-another. We'll need to think beyond just clawing back lost worker protections, towards ensuring everyone benefits and has their rights protected. Achieving a sustainable labor front requires a solid baseline of mutual respect and cooperation among all members of the global working class. 

It is divisions within the working class along the lines of traditional "identity politics" that is a useful tool for how capitalism sustains itself. To address bigotry and systemic inequalities is to fight corporate propaganda and the disinformation machine. It provides many with a lens as to why so many in the working class are succumb to fascist ideology and conspiratorial thinking as a mechanism to explain their struggles within capitalism. 

Through education and community building, along with the work all of you are already doing, can we begin to create frameworks for a resilient socialist society capable of tackling the biggest challenges facing humans, from climate change to endless war. 

"Workers of the world, unite!" - Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto.

We will need all able hands and minds in our work to come, so if you haven't yet gotten plugged in and are wanting to, please reach out! Join in discussions with your comrades on discord and join a working group, and especially ask for help if you need and if you're not yet a DSA member please sign up here! 

In Solidarity, 

Carlos Yosten

Co-Chair

Keep an eye out for an email with the meeting's agenda soon, including all previous General Meetings minutes.

Come and vote on the proposed establishment of the Outreach and Communications committee! We will also have some other amendments present to consider which we touched on in the last GM.

We will also be voting to endorse Whole Washington as an active partner and support their efforts to implement statewide universal healthcare through the Washington Health Trust.

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.

What projects are your fellow cadre members working on?

A glimpse into what you will find within this newsletter:

• Kristin for Kitsap (more information below)
  • Electoral campaign for State Legislature for our very own comrade!
• Manufactured Home Canvassing
  • Join Kitsap Housing 4 All in letting tenants know their rights under the tenants rights bill passed last summer.
  • More volunteers are needed! If you have some free time on these next upcoming weekends please consider volunteering to help us canvas the final parks! More information below in the Member Memorandums portion of the newsletter, under Kitsap Housing for All.
• Immigration Know Your Rights with WAISN & KIAC
  • From hosting trainings to distributing red cards and flyers, we are building Immigrant solidarity.
• 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.
• 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.
• Quarterly special issue of The West Sound Socialist
  • Ready for print!
• Labor and Mutual Aid Organizing
  • Prepping for May Day, a break light clinic, and more!

The campaign launch party is on Monday May 4th at 630 pm at the Otherwise Society. Please come help support the campaign and let Kitsap County know the socialist message is popular and we mean business.

Curious about what's being done or planned by your fellow comrades? Hear from them below!

The Bodily Autonomy group is working on billboard logistics to publicize abortion resources in Kitsap County. We’re also focusing our efforts to combat the upcoming anti-trans ballot initiative with a Trans Alliance Group.

It takes a village!

Members have rustled up some toys, trays, and coloring supplies for the kids of DSA to play with at meetings! We are also excited to see how shifting the format of the General Meeting to a communal, potluck-style affair helps encourage the attendance of whole families.

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 are working on our upcoming Brake Light Clinic and planning for May Day's fair in collaboration with Kitsap Industrial Workers of the World, People's Exchange and Food Not Bombs.

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 kitsapforall@gmail.com - training will be provided!

We’ve been busy canvassing nearly every weekend this year. Out of 40 mobile home parks in the county, we’ve visited 32. Only 8 left! However, these last 8 account for about half of the total lots we aim to canvass. We are looking for more volunteers to help us finish this goal!

We’ve gotten some incredible feedback from our efforts. Residents of the parks are generally happy and grateful that we’re out there talking to them. We’ve gathered so many stories about egregious park policies, past rent hikes, fee changes, potential illegal changes to rent, poor water quality, and generally greedy land owners. Every person we talk to helps us shape the path we take forward and guide us in helping our community. Come join us! 

Reach out to Emily Barnett on discord or email kitsapforall@gmail.com

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

As a reflection of education's centrality in the socialist movement, DSA now requires chapters to have a Political Education officer. If you're interested in building Kitsap County's collective understanding of capitalism and socialism, please nominate yourself for the position at our 2026 Chapter Convention in July! For political education resources, check out https://education.dsausa.org/.

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!

The West Sound Socialist received fantastic submissions from our members. We’ve completed initial copy-editing, and Glynnis has valiantly spearheaded the design process. A print issue coming to a 3rd space near you soon!

This sub-committee is one established by the steering committee to aid in the roles and responsibilities tasked to our membership coordinator. Work is ongoing to make this a full committee of its own.

Our Outreach and Communications committee is nearing it's formal creation! The reason this committee is being formed is to ensure our message is received by as many people in the West Sound region as possible. This committee will also hold the responsibility of working with other organizations in events and actions in the foreseeable future.

We're always looking to have more hands involved, so if you have graphic design, social media and/ or community outreach experience at any level, please reach out! 

Our committee is currently working on helping our comrade, Kristin, run for local state legislative office in any way we can, while also working on getting an electoral platform put together in the form of a voter guide for this upcoming election.

Thank you all for your continued support as we get into some busy planning times!

We appreciate all the folks who have stepped up in leadership roles, we are looking forward to planning the upcoming chapter convention. A few of our members are looking to pass the torch of their role, so if you are wanting to take on the responsibilities of a chapter officer on the steering committee, please consider nominating yourself at the chapter convention!

Your Steering Committee:

Daniel Baca (Co-Chair)

Ryan Cale (Electoral Committee)

Sergio De Freitas Gomes (Electoral Committee)

Kristin Lillegard (Membership Coordinator)

Nick Schmitt (Secretary)

Jared Sterling (Treasurer)

Carlos Yosten (Co-Chair)

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!

Take the survey and tell us which of our current projects interests you!

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.

West Sound Democratic Socialists General Meeting, March 5^th, 2026. First Quarterly Congress to discuss chapter priorities at the Poulsbo Public Library!

Hey Comrades,

First off, thank you for being part of the West Sound chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Now is a critical time in the country. The federal government is embroiled in an ever-escalating war on Iran, just a few short months after kidnapping the sitting president and first lady of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores. These blatant acts of aggression occurring while Palestinians and Cubans alike are continually facing extreme and inhumane conditions due to a lack of essential resources and facilities as a result of actions by the US and its allies. The empire is also squeezing our local communities economically to fund their dystopian imperialist goals, while increasingly diverting money to only the wealthiest individuals. It still tries to keep the American proletariat isolated, disorganized, and at odds with each other. It relies on sustaining and expanding systemic bigotries in an effort to keep us from uniting against the capitalist hegemony.

However, it is this very squeezing that is forcing many to open their eyes and question long held truths about "American Exceptionalism" and who among us truly benefits from this long standing exploitation. So, as democratic socialists, we find ourselves at the cusp of a new working class movement. One being pulled in two directions: class consciousness or fascism. The flailing neoliberal status quo is the driving force behind this shift, and the ownership class has already indicated which new direction it would prefer to steer the working class towards. Many moderates of both parties have moved towards a passive acceptance of this new fascist ideology, offering nothing more than stern words. An ideology espousing evangelical christo-zionism and white supremacy, economically funded by the military industrial complex and the growing AI surveillance state. It's telling that many of these moderates see compromise with this ideology as more acceptable than democratic socialism. This is the class war.

It is our role as leftists broadly to enable the mass reorganization of the working class to fight back against the dangerous narrative from the right that excludes and demonizes those who don't fit their narrow view of patriotism and citizenry. Part of this opposition is education as well as grassroots organizing. Where our chapter fits within this greater movement is going to be through our work locally and how we can empower those in our community to think more critically about the role of government and who gets to be involved. It's a busy time for us, now more than ever, and we appreciate all of the folks who've stepped up recently. With all going on in the world, it's been inspiring to see what we've been able to accomplish so far. We will need all able hands and minds in our work to come, so if you haven't yet gotten plugged in and are wanting to, please reach out! Join in discussions with your comrades on discord and join a working group, and especially ask for help if you need and if you're not yet a DSA member please sign up here!

In Solidarity, 

Carlos Yosten

Co-Chair

What projects are your fellow cadre members working on?

A glimpse into what you will find within this newsletter:

• Kristin for Kitsap (more information below)
  • Electoral campaign for State Legislature for our very own comrade!
• Manufactured Home Canvassing
  • Join Kitsap Housing 4 All in letting tenants know their rights under a new bill passed last summer.
• Immigration Know Your Rights with WAISN & KIAC
  • From hosting trainings to distributing red cards and flyers, we are building Immigrant solidarity.
• 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.
• 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.
• Quarterly special issue of The West Sound Socialist
  • Final copy-editing underway!
• Labor and Mutual Aid Organizing
  • Planning for May Day, a break light clinic, and more!

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)!

• No Kings Rally
  • All over Kitsap, tabling at Port Orchard rally on the intersection of Bethel and Lund starting at noon!
• Electoral Committee Meeting
  • March 29^th, 4:00pm-5:00pm
  • Open to all members in good standing
• General Meeting
  • April 2^nd, Poulsbo Public Library, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
  • Welcome to all, family friendly, bring snacks!
• Socialize with Socialists
  • April 4^th, 5:00pm-6:30pm
  • Otherwise Society Commons, Poulsbo
  • New members and DSA-curious welcome! (See flyer below for more details)
• Seeds for Liberation
  • Benefit Screening, Bainbridge Island
  • Saturday April 18^th, 1pm at the historic Lynwood Theatre
• May Day Fair and Benefit Concert
  • May 1^st at the Charleston in Bremerton
  • May Day Fair from 7:00pm-8:00pm (help setup at 6:00pm!)
  • Concert at 8:00pm
  • Contact: email westsounddsa@gmail.com or on our Discord
• Veterans for Peace Benefit Concert
  
  • May 15^th, 7:00pm doors open, 8:00 show start at the Charleston in Bremerton (Flyer below!)
• Brake Light Clinic
  • May 16^th

Recurring events

• Socialist Reading Group
  • Every Monday, 7:00pm-9:00pm
  • Cranes Castle, Bremerton
  • Next book TBD! Come discuss some articles as shared on the Discord!
• Manufactured Home Canvassing - Kitsap Housing 4 All
  • Canvassing every weekend until summer! Saturday and Sunday.
  • Contact: email: kitsapforall@gmail.com, westsounddsa@gmail.com, or on our Discord
• General Meeting - first Thursdays of the month (excepting holiday proximity)
  • 7:00pm-8:30pm
  • Future Locations TBD

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.

Check out our agenda for the General Meeting 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.

Curious about what's being done or planned by your fellow comrades? Hear from them below!

The Bodily Autonomy group is working on billboard logistics to publicize abortion resources in Kitsap County. We’re also focusing our efforts to combat the upcoming anti-trans ballot initiative with a Trans Alliance Group.

It takes a village!

Members have rustled up some toys, trays, and coloring supplies for the kids of DSA to play with at meetings! We are also excited to see how shifting the format of the General Meeting to a communal, potluck-style affair helps encourage the attendance of whole families.

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 are working on our upcoming Brake Light Clinic and planning for May Day's fair in collaboration with People's Exchange and Food Not Bombs, keep an eye on the calendar for our next working group meeting!

The Washington State Socialists in Office Committee (SIOC), formed by Seattle DSA to advance DSA's priorities in the state legislature, just finished it's hard work analyzing bills during the latest legislative session! 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 is our elected SIOC representative and spent countless evenings and nights organizing with the SIOC.

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 kitsapforall@gmail.com - training will be provided!

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

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!

The West Sound Socialist received fantastic submissions from our members. We’ve completed initial copy-editing, and Glynnis has valiantly spearheaded the design process. Our target is an April printing – stay tuned!

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!
Discord has so far halted its plans for implementing age verification, but we continue to keep an eye on any developments that may inpact how we communicate as a chapter.

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.

Thank you all for your continued support as we get into some busy planning times!

At the last general meeting, our first Quarterly Congress, we opened up the floor to broad discussion on chapter goals, summarized here:

• Kristin For Kitsap
  • August 4th Primary
    Top 2 go to general election
    Campaigning, canvassing, combined with KH4A
    Goal: Canvassing at least twice a month
• Outreach & Communications
  • Create the committee at April GM
    Define responsibilities (write charter)
    Build credibility
    Networking with other leftist organizations
• Internal
  • Meet national DSA guidelines (Democracy Commission)
    Electing political education + outreach officers
    Identifying convention officer roles
• Electoral
  • Flock, City Council meetings
• Mutual Aid
  • COGS - centralize efforts (labor and mutual aid WG)

These priorities are so helpful for both affirming and guiding what we tackle next as a chapter, and confidently enable our chapter members to pursue. Thank you again for your trust, we are always here and available if you need support for anything you'd like to do or accomplish in the chapter.

Your Steering Committee:

Daniel Baca (Co-Chair)

Kristin Lillegard (Membership Coordinator)

Nick Schmitt (Secretary)

Jared Sterling (Treasurer)

Carlos Yosten (Co-Chair)

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!

Take the survey and tell us which of our current projects interests you!

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.

West Sound Democratic Socialists General Meeting, February 5^th, 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)!

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

What projects are your fellow cadre members working on?

A glimpse into what you will find within this newsletter:

• Kristin for Kitsap (more information below)
  • Electoral campaign for State Legislature for our very own comrade!
• Manufactured Home Canvassing
  • Join Kitsap Housing 4 All in letting tenants know their rights under a new bill passed last summer.
• Immigration Know Your Rights with WAISN & KIAC
  • From hosting trainings to distributing red cards and flyers, we are building Immigrant solidarity.
• 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.
• 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.
• Quarterly special issue of The West Sound Socialist
  • Still accepting submissions until the end of the month!

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)!

• March Zine Submission Workshop
  • The West Sound Socialist
  • February 23^rd, Bremerton
  • Contact: email westsoundsocialist@gmail.com, westsounddsa@gmail.com, or on our Discord
• Labor and Mutual Aid Goal Workshop
  • Communities Organized in Grassroots Solidarity (COGS)
  • February 26th, Poulsbo
  • Contact: email westsounddsa@gmail.com or on our Discord
  • RSVP
• Working Group Meeting
  • The West Sound Socialist
  • February 28^th, Video Call - See event on our calendar
• General Meeting - Quarterly Congress (additional information below)
  • March 5^th, Poulsbo Public Library, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
  • Welcome to all, family friendly, bring snacks!
• Socialize with Socialists
  • March 7^th, 5:00pm-6:30pm
  • Otherwise Society Commons, Poulsbo
  • Newcomers and DSA-curious welcome! (See flyer below for more details)
• Bainbridge Island Socialist Meetup
  • March 14^th
  • Contact: email westsounddsa@gmail.com or on our Discord

Recurring events

• Socialist SciFi Book Club
  • Next meeting February 21^st, 9:30am-10:30am
  • Otherwise Society Commons, Poulsbo
  • Come discuss Manna, by Marshall Brain. Wellp, the robots took the jobs. Now what?
• Socialist Reading Group
  • Every Monday, 7:00pm-9:00pm
  • Cranes Castle, Bremerton
  • Settlers by J. Sakai, Week 1 starting February 23^rd (see flyer below for more details)
• Manufactured Home Canvassing - Kitsap Housing 4 All
  • Canvassing every weekend until summer! Saturday and Sunday.
  • Contact: email: kitsapforall@gmail.com, westsounddsa@gmail.com, or on our Discord
• General Meeting - first Thursdays of the month (excepting holiday proximity)
  • 7:00pm-8:30pm
  • Future Locations TBD

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.

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.

Curious about what's being done or planned by your fellow comrades? Hear from them below!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 kitsapforall@gmail.com - training will be provided!

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

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 28^th at westsoundsocialist@gmail.com! 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!

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.

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)

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!

Take the survey and tell us which of our current projects interests you!

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.