When I asked him to elaborate on who he meant by "some people," he mentioned "several leaders within the party including several folks running for leadership positions" before finally giving me a quote about Shasti Conrad and her slate of vice chairs, who are all vying to lead the indebted, crumbling Democratic institution out of the drama-swirled hell it's swimming in.
Before we get going, you should know the two opposing factions here. On one side, you have Reber for chair, Chris Porter for first vice chair, Lisa Weber as second vice chair. On the other, you have Conrad for chair, David Fleetwood for first vice chair, Julia Reed for second vice chair, Josh Vaughn for third vice chair, and Jen Carter for fourth vice chair.
"When I was Chair my experience with Shasti was she was more concerned with spreading rumors and involving herself in other people’s drama than she was interested in delivering anything for the county party or her LD," Stober wrote via Facebook Messenger. "I presented her with several opportunities to help the county party and none of which she took advantage of. And again, her choice for vice chair [David Fleetwood] says everything. It’s an LD Chair who helped drive his LD into bankruptcy and had to dissolve and turn over their assets to the state party. This year Shasti was tasked with hosting the county party holiday party—it’s now been canceled. Last year I hosted the same party with over 250 guests. These aren’t hard tasks."
Over the phone, Conrad told me the only opportunity Stober offered her was the position of state committeewoman for the King County Democrats, but she had to decline that offer due to her mother's health issues. Conrad defends her holiday party cancellation decision as a matter of frugality and timing, as the date they were considering conflicted with a number of LD reorganization meetings. After speaking to "the planning coordinator of last year’s holiday party," Conrad was told the group lost money on the party last year anyway, and so decided they didn't have the funds to be able to throw a proper party this year. Conrad added that her decision not to work under Stober "is a sign of good judgment."
Fleetwood, chair of the 11th Legislative District Democrats, said he was disappointed to hear Stober's comment about the LD being driven to "bankruptcy."
"He's talking about the LD's former political action committee, which is separate from the LD as an organization. The PAC was one of hundreds of the victims of Glen Morgan's campaign finance lawsuits," Fleetwood said, adding that the complaint with the PAC relates to filing issues dated before Fleetwood became chair. The LD "chose not to continue that liability because we weren't really using that PAC," Fleetwood said. "The actual LD has remained functional completely throughout the process. And for the record," Fleetwood added, "We have thousands of dollars. We're not broke."
"I’m not trying to be negative," Stober wrote. "Instead I’d rather focus on the fact that Natalie is experienced, focused and doing a great job—she hasn’t given voters a reason to fire her. Chris Porter is a highly engaged activist who’s already delivered real results for his LD and the County Party and has demonstrated his leadership abilities. Those two deserve a full term."
Charlie Webster, a KCDCC representative for the 36th LD, also thinks Reber is the way forward, saying she "currently" has his support. He commended Reber for her role in planning and moderating a debate between former King County Prosecutor candidate Daron Morris and current King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg, and especially praised her decision to move the debate location to Federal Way, which he said spoke to one of Reber's core strengths as a leader. "She thought it was critical to host the debate in a city that is underrepresented and to involve the legislative districts there," he said.
"She’s humble," Webster added. "A lot of people say that she’s not in the trenches, but she works hard behind the scenes to highlight other people."
In an e-mail to the precinct committee officers of the 30th LD Democrats, chair Allison Taylor said Reber and her slate have her "full-throated endorsement." She credited Reber with recruiting a treasurer, Eric Valpey, "who helped clean up the books and make the financials more clear to the body" and for reassuring "elected officials who were concerned about the solvency of KCDCC."
Meanwhile, Conrad has endorsements from 9 state senators, including representatives from the northern and southern reaches of the county. Other members of the party lauded Conrad for turning the ship around following Stober's resignation.
