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THE KITSAP REPUBLICAN

January 2024

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common Defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR for MEETINGS & EVENTS!

 

Issues & Board Meeting

1st Monday of every month

6:00pm Social and Issues

7:00pm Executive Board Meeting

Next Meeting: Monday, February 3, 2025

KCRP Headquarters, 6610 Kitsap Way, Bremerton, WA 98312


Precinct Committee Officer (PCO) & Volunteer Meeting

Last Wednesday of every month @ 6pm

Next Meeting: Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Cloverleaf Grill, 1240 Hollis St, Bremerton, WA 98310


This month we will be hearing from Christie Schultz with a presentation on PCO 101 followed at 7pm by special speaker Joy Gjersvold of the Conservative Ladies of Washington State. She will be giving a Legislation 101 presentation. This is your opportunity to learn more about how things work in Olympia.


Visit our calendar to see more opportunities to meet with Republicans!


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Join Kitsap Republicans at one or more events!

https://www.kitsaprepublicans.com/event-signup


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Attention South Kitsap Voters


Ballots were sent out last week to voters in the South Kitsap School District for the February levy election. If you live in South Kitsap, be sure your voice is heard by turning in your ballot as soon as possible. Below are some ways you can educate yourself on this levy proposal.


You can read the voter's guide arguments for and against the levy here:

https://www.kitsap.gov/auditor/Documents/LVP%20South%20Kitsap%20SE%20Feb%202025%20Web.pdf


If you want to hear about what the South Kitsap School Board had to say about their budget, you can watch their meeting at the link below. The budget report begins during the January 16, 2025 Meeting beginning at the 35 minutes mark.

https://vimeo.com/sksd


In addition, the SKSD had a special meeting where the superintendent made some very interesting comments about what would change if the levy passed. His comments begin at the 7:45 minute mark.

https://www.facebook.com/100056190301113/videos/1136359024788235


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Welcome to the new 2025-2026 KCRP Executive Board!

L-R: Mary Lou Long, Lance Byrd, Linda Popp, Rosemary Schuessler, Sean Murphy, Cerina Murphy, Rick Kuss, Marcus Hoffman, Juliana McMahan, Hannah Chadha (not pictured), Alice Tawresey (not pictured)

Executive Board Member Reports


Juliana McMahan, Chair

A heartfelt thank you to all the PCOs who voted me in for another term as Chair of KCRP. Every year I learn something new, and I am humbled by all those who have worked to help make KCRP more successful. We still have a long way to go before Kitsap County is red, but we have made progress and are building tools and a foundation for future victories.


Congratulations to Republican Oran Root on his swearing-in as your new Kitsap County Commissioner. He has assured me that he wants to help make our county government more open and transparent to the citizens. Please reach out to him if you have concerns (orroot@kitsap.gov).

Last week I gathered together with around 60 local Republicans to watch the Inauguration of President Donald Trump. Special thanks to Marty Mioni for putting together this great event! Everyone had a lot of fun and it was great to celebrate with like-minded neighbors. It was a momentous and memorable occasion! Our new President immediately got to work to turn-back many of the social engineering programs which the Democrats had put in place via Executive Order and secure our borders. It is nice to see common sense getting a turn!

There are many local elections which will be on the ballot this year. Please take a look at the list of elected offices in Kitsap County in 2025 and consider if you might be the right person to run for one of these positions. 2025 Kitsap Offices on the Ballot


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Lance Byrd, Vice Chair

I have found a qualified candidate for the upcoming Bremerton School District race, who also happens to have previous political experience.


We are looking for volunteers who are willing to fill roles such as:

• Campaign Managers

• Campaign Treasurers

• Social Media Watchdogs and Content Creators

• Campaign Sign Maintenance

• Those who have trucks that are willing to drive around with 8x4 signs

• Door Knockers (for party and specific candidates)

• Write letters to editors

• Appointment setters for candidates

• Opposition research


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Cerina Murphy, State Committeewoman

I will be attending the WSRP Organization Meeting at end of month in Vancouver. I plan to focus on the candidate support both at the county and state levels.


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Alice Tawresey, Bainbridge Island

WSDOT is in love with roundabouts. In the last year, they have constructed three on SR 305 in the 12 miles between Winslow and Poulsbo. (Thank you Joe Biden!) WSDOT apparently still has money to burn and has determined that another roundabout should be built at the intersection of High School Road and 305, just one mile from the ferry dock. Islanders fear complete gridlock when the ferry is unloading at certain hours of the day when the crosswalks are full. Commuters who daily experience 20-30 minute delays say that a roundabout at the intersection at Day Road is desperately needed instead to clear out the backup at that intersection. Did WSDOT ask any commuters for their input? Do they know or care about these important considerations?


KCRP wants to inform voters about local board decisions that affect their taxes, their property, their kids, etc. I have found someone who will monitor the Bainbridge School Board meetings. We will be letting you know what your elected board members are deciding that may or may not be in the best interest of our kids and our taxpayers. I am looking for volunteers to monitor the Bainbridge City Council meetings on Tuesday nights at 6:00 PM. It can be done from the comfort of your own home on Zoom. Please volunteer if you can do this even once a month. Leave a message on the KCRP website.


One of KCRP’s goals is to fill vacant slots on county and local boards and commissions, and there are over 100 openings. Use the link below to research vacancies. I found a vacancy that I was qualified to fill so I applied and was confirmed by the Kitsap County Commissioners to the Assessor’s Board of Equalization starting this January. The Equalization Board's goal is to provide an impartial hearing environment for tax and assessment issues brought up by property owners. I’m excited to begin this work. I urge you to take a look at the link below and to apply for any vacancy for which you are qualified. Advisory Boards, Councils & Commissions


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Rosemary Schuessler, Central Kitsap

As a Board Member I have a primary responsibility in keeping KCRP up to date on what is happening in Central Kitsap government and school board meetings. I will be attending these meetings on a regular basis, but I am new to this role. I also need other people to attend these meetings. If you are interested in or know of someone who might be interested in helping us boost attendance at these meetings, please contact me. We need at least one person at each meeting to work with me to summarize key items from these meetings.


In addition to my role on the board, I am also the Website & Social Media Committee Chair. I, along with other volunteers, maintain the website, calendar(s) of events, find/create/post content (e.g. videos, flyers, posts), and keep the website current. Our social media presence is predominantly on Facebook. Twitter and Nextdoor.com are ramping up. Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube will follow. We need volunteers to post, like, comment, and perform social media sharing. Please contact me if you are interested in helping. If you are comfortable with computers and are already using these platforms or something similar, I can train you.


It has been my honor to help make improvements within our organization these past two years. I am excited to be working with the new Board and to be included in KCRP Strategic Plan, KCRP Marketing Plan, and other discussions. 


I am looking forward to working with all of you to continue to take back our County and State!


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Linda Popp, North Kitsap

I'll try and do my best to keep you all up-to-date with what's going on in our North Kitsap Community. As part of that I want to share with you the schedule of the meetings in North Kitsap that it'd be nice to get a KCRP representative at, and I'm hoping I can get some of you to go to just one of these meetings a month, and report back to me.


• The Poulsbo City Council meets the 1st three Wednesdays of the month starting at 5pm, held at the Poulsbo City Hall in the Council Chambers

• The North Kitsap School Board meets the 2nd and 4th Thursday starting at 5:30pm, held at the NK Administration Building


Thank you for your confidence. I'll do my best.


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Sean Murphy, South Kitsap

Looking to schedule volunteers to help report on:

• South Kitsap School Board Meetings

• Port Orchard City Council Meetings

• County Commissioner Meetings


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Jessica Rice, Kitsap County Field Director

In December we wanted to do something that allowed us to give back to the community, so I worked with Events Committee to organize a Toy Drive at KCRP. From our donations from KCRP members we were able to donate to Kitsap Rescue Mission, St, Vincent De Paul's Women & Children's Shelter in Bremerton, and 10 individual families in need. I also organized a Santa meet & greet at Kitsap Rescue Mission's family shelter in Bremerton with Ed Reyman (Santa) and Joni Wilson. It was a huge success with lots of smiles and Christmas cheer! 


One of my purposes as Field Director is to develop a volunteer recruitment program. Our goal is to funnel new volunteers into areas with the most needs. Right now, that is canvassing, marketing, and events. 


I am also in charge of the voter outreach program. I am working with others to develop a Legislative Campaign to get voters vested in issues and prime them for the upcoming election cycle. We can't show up to someone's door three weeks before an election and expect them to care about what our candidates are saying. Our job starts now with educating them, and hopefully persuading them, on issues that matter to all of us and the solutions that Republicans are trying to push. The process is very successful if done properly. This work is moving rapidly so expect some outreach from me very soon. 


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Volunteers Needed!


We are preparing to take action for the upcoming Legislative Session. Please volunteer if you would like to help educate voters on what their elected officials are doing!


Volunteer to help on one of the many KCRP Committees. Learn more about them at https://www.kitsaprepublicans.com/committees.


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Homelessness Resources

Veterans Affairs Homeless Programs: www.va.gov/homeless

VA Homelessness Hotline: Dial 877-424-3838 and Press 1

Narcotics Anonymous: www.kitsapgov.com/pubdef/Pages/AA-and-NA-Meeting-info.aspx

NA help line: 360-215-2616


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Kitsap County Auditor's Office - Elections Information

www.kitsap.gov/auditor/Pages/elections.aspx


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School Board and City Council Notes


KCRP School District Information Page

www.kitsaprepublicans.com/school-districts


Bainbridge Island School District

School board website: www.bisd303.org/40415_3


Bremerton Bremerton School District

School board website: www.bremertonschools.org/SchoolBoard

Documents link: go.boarddocs.com/wa/wabrsd/board.nsf/public


Central Kitsap School District

School board website: www.ckschools.org/administration/c_k_s_d_school_board/school_board


North Kitsap School District

School board website: www.nkschools.org/about-us/school-board

Advisory board website: www.nkschools.org/get-involved/advisory-committees


South Kitsap School District

School board website: www.skschools.org/school-board

Watch school board meetings: vimeo.com/sksd

Board meetings recap: www.smore.com/gp6t2


Many parents in the South Kitsap district have found the "Parent Square" app/link to be very helpful in "being connected" with their district. See www.skschools.org for more information. 


City Council

Video archives of city council meetings from all over Kitsap County can be found at: 

bremerton.vod.castus.tv/vod/?live=ch1&nav=recent

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KCRP Executive Board Contact Info:

www.kitsaprepublicans.com/board


Contact other conservative groups in our area: www.kitsaprepublicans.com/local-groups

 

Contact Newsletter Editor: josiec5150@gmail.com

Note: Please put your topic in your tag line and source your articles. Thank you!


YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

 

Do you have 1-2 hours a week or month to volunteer in person, at home, or virtually? KCRP needs volunteers in many areas for any skill level.


Volunteer Now!

Check out our website


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