Executive Officers and Committee Chairs for the 31st LD Democrats 2012 - 2014 term

Chair: Mark Boswell

I was born in Bremerton and grew up in Clarkston and Spokane .  I am a graduate of the US Naval Academy at Annapolis with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.  I served six plus years on active duty before leaving for civilian life.  I stayed active with the Navy through the Naval Reserve and retired from it in the mid-1990’s.  I am married and have one child, a grown son.  In Civilian life I work as an engineer.  I worked first for Lockheed Shipbuilding for five years and have worked for Boeing for over twenty years now.  For many years I considered myself an independent, like the vast majority of Washingtonians do.  However, while on active duty I saw many things around the world that caused me to question some of the conditioning we receive during our education and from the media in the United States .  Most of the pivotal questions revolved around economics and its relationship to democracy.  When the SPEEA Union struck Boeing in 2000, I went out on strike for 40 days.  During the strike I decided to stop pretending I was an independent.  I hadn’t voted for a Republican since Ronald Reagan in 1980.  Within 18 months he had broken every promise he had made that caused me to vote for him.  I have always paid attention to what is going on in the world around me and whether politicians keep their promises.  If politicians don’t keep their promises, I find out why?  Sometimes circumstances do demand less desirable solutions for a period of time.  I got active with the Democratic Party in 2000 as a way to stop the Republican Party.  I have been active ever since and expect to be active for the rest of my life.  I want to turn the Democratic Party truly progressive.  Since becoming active I have done many things including licking stamps, telephoning, doorbelling, talking to people at community fairs, writing letters to newspapers, writing newsletters, finding speakers, running caucuses, attending conventions, and a long list of other things.  I have held a number of offices including Chair and State Committee Man.

Brian is one of the founding members of Involved Democracy, a progressive think tank and a Move To Amend partner-affiliate. He is the former Membership Chair of Washington Public Campaigns.  He has organized Democrats Work events for Stream Team/Pierce County Conservation District; Way Back Inn, which provides transitional housing to homeless children and their parents; and Forterra, a land conservancy organization. He has done presentations around the state on Citizens United helping other organizers find support for resolutions for the “We the People” amendment, to establish that corporations are not people and that money is not speech. Brian has a background in theater, and he has done numerous radio interviews and commentary on Citizens United and Move to Amend, has published Op-Eds, and is currently working on a video to promote “Stop the Coal Trains” a looming environmental disaster for the Northwest.

II was born in Los Angeles and spent much of my life in the LA area.  My undergraduate degree was from UCLA, and I received my Masters in Library Science in 1965.  I have lived in Edgewood since 1980, worked as Library Director of the Milton Library for over 15 years, until it became a branch of the Pierce County Library System.  I retired from library work in 2004.

My community activities include being a member of the City of Edgewood Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, North Pierce County Community Coalition Board, which works to improve the community for kids and families, President of Friends of the Milton/Edgewood Library, Treasurer of Edgewood’s Friends of the Parks, and Chair of the Membership Committee of the League of Women Voters of Tacoma/Pierce County.  I also try to work to help Democratic candidates get elected.