Chair Response to the Snohomish County Democrats Recordings

Hello 44th LD Democrats,

As chair of a democratic organization, you hope there are times in which you are not disappointed by the actions of other leadership within your party. Party politics is only as strong as the trust our volunteers and voters place in us to do the right thing, whether that be to vet candidates thoroughly, or to protect voter integrity, or in this most recent case to protect the privacy of our membership. 

These past few months, I have been tasked with investigating the release of a recorded private meeting of the Snohomish County Democrat’s PCO coordination committee that has since resulted in the retaliatory removal of a member of their executive board and the threat of income and job loss to a member of the 44th LD Democrats. Over the course of my investigation and discussion with both the chair and parliamentarian of the Snohomish County Democrats, and the Chair of the WA State Democrats, as well as the two affected parties of these actions, it has become clear to me that there is no intent from either the leadership that they see an problem with the actions, or a reason to change their actions in the future. 

While the case appears closed, with no responses being provided any more from either organization on what actions will be taken going forward, I am less than satisfied with this conclusion. The general consensus is that the video was released, without the knowledge or consent of the other 3 people in the video, simply because there is no rule against it. There are consequently, no rules that state what will be done with these recordings once they are downloaded. How long they will be kept. Who can access them once they’ve been put onto a personal device, and may more concerning privacy factors. 

I have come to the conclusion that there will be no easy resolution to this issue, and it comes down to ethics. Is it okay to release video footage of a private meeting without letting the others in the meeting know about it? The Snohomish County Democrat’s chair has made her thoughts clear on the matter, and in transparency with all of you I will make my own clear.

I believe it is wrong. I have urged the Snohomish County Democrats chair and parliamentarian to create and adopt a strict code of ethics and policy regarding how their recordings are used and stored and kept. I want this document to be public, and easy to find, because I think you, the public, deserve to know how this information could be used.

I will ensure, come reorganization, that the 44th LD Democrats to adopt our own code and policy as well, so we put into clear words our values, our commitment to privacy, and repercussions if that pact is broken. 

This may seem trivial to some of you. Some of you may think “well, don’t say something you don’t want recorded and played back”. I urge every person here to resist the urge to victim blame and instead think of the very real threat posed by unrestricted and unregulated access to recordings of membership. This has a very real, very personal meaning to me. 

When I was in my 20’s, I became the target of a vicious hate campaign by a former elected official. During which, my personal social media posts were screen shot, recorded, and shared with him without my consent. People, on behalf of this person, reached out to me on his behalf to harass me, blame me, and tell me to engage with a man who had a proven history of violence against women. I was recorded at meetings without my consent. I was photographed while I was out shopping, while I was out volunteering, while I was with friends, without my consent, and these were shared and used by this man to further his harassment of me. It got to the point that my job was in jeopardy, my health was at risk, and I sought help and support from my family and the Snohomish county justice system. 

The Democratic Party did nothing to protect me, and in many instances, placed me in direct contact with my abuser, victim blamed me, and to this day has never held him accountable. 

That is why what may seem like a little thing to some, matters. Because small actions lead to big actions and if our volunteers cannot feel safe, cannot trust us, then they should not be trusted with their vote, their labor, and their voice. We can, and should, be better than this, and I believe we are committed to ensuring this going forward. I hope that our actions will encourage other LD’s and the Snohomish County Democrats and more to do the same. 

Nobody deserves to have their image, their likeness, or videos of them shared without their consent. If a person’s behavior during a recording is problematic, then it should be dealt with within the organization following the processes allowed by things such as mediation, codes of conduct, and by just being adults who talk to one another instead of using the recorded media to encourage harassment, threaten livelihoods, and spread malicious gossip and hate. 

That is my final statement on the matter, as it is clear that the Snohomish County Democrats and the WA State Democrats have closed the book on this issue and will not be taking actions to change at this time.

Thank you,

Hillary Moralez, Chair of the 44th LD Democrats