I was impressed after hearing Mike Chapman, 24th Legislative District representative, speak at a legislators’ round-table event in Port Ludlow March 12, sponsored by the Jefferson County Democrats.

Chapman’s political career should be interesting to follow as he seems to be a fast learner and has hit the ground running.

In his past career, he, along with three other U.S. Customs employees, worked together in apprehending a suspected terrorist in Port Angeles (December 1999). The tackle, by hero Chapman, thwarted a potential attack targeting our country.

On the local level, at February’s Jefferson County Democrats’ board meeting, it was exciting to observe positive interaction among newly elected precinct committee officers and newly elected board members.

Like Chapman, this group has hit the ground running. The new communications committee has done a fantastic job expanding the JeffCo Democrats website, Facebook and Twitter to communicate more regularly with the community. In the last 30 days, there were 75,000 hits on the website.

Membership has more than doubled in the past few years. During last year’s campaign, it was a huge deal to reach 500 members. Presently, the number is nearly 700.

To accommodate renewed interest and larger attendance, the Tuesday, March 28 membership meeting is 6-9 p.m. at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Port Townsend.

As young families are becoming more involved, the membership committee has quickly responded by providing a supervised, child-friendly activities area for the “very young Democrats” as mom or dad takes part in the political process during membership meetings.

Our state committee person has formed a JeffCo Young Democrats group for ages 14-36.

Maybe someday, one of these young Democrats, some future leader, will be at the side of (who knows?) possibly a President Mike Chapman, tackling our country’s problems together.

DIANE JERICH-DOMIN

Port Ludlow