I want to thank all of the members that have come up to on the recent rides and thanked me and told me I was doing a good job. I am proud of the members that are stepping up and getting the job done. It is you, the members of ABATE of Washington that are doing a good job. All ABATE of members should be proud of the direction we are going. We are getting more and more members involved; we are getting more positions filled. Our Chapters are turning in reports and making an impact in the Community, with the various projects and rides we are doing. With the Chapters getting the job done, this opens up new opportunities for us to get potential grant money and increased insurance protection.
“Breeze” Landsman, our State LAO, has been getting feedback from all over the country wanting to know how we are doing and what we doing. Our Legislative program is growing, Breeze has been out encouraging and coaching new Chapter LAO’s, working with other Motorcycle organizations and working with all parties involved in our Lobbying of our issues. We can be proud of the progress made with the anti-profiling bill. Double “D” from the Confederation of Clubs, US Defenders and Breeze, our ABATE LAO, made an intelligent and articulate presentation, to our Legislator’s. It looked like we were going in to a 5 to 3 against and the final result was 7 to 1 in favor. One of the legislators stated, to caucus and send out of committee after a presentation is very rare. When it made it to the floor of the House, the Vote was 96 to 2.
At the last COC meeting a big round of applause was given to recognize this achievement.
Please look at our website and see a new button for citations. Scott “Rev” Major is our new Citations chair. Please encourage all members to report all citations and Stops. We are expanding this area to get more documentation on profiling and we will be providing information to help those folks getting stopped. We will be working with other organizations to share what we learn. We discovered that Legislation helps, but we need to know how the laws are being enforced.
Currently we have bylaws and policies. Mike Campbell is working on special project to create a S.O.P. (Standard Operating Procedure’s) for ABATE of Washington. We do many functions to operate, however a lot of these things are not written down... It will be a work in progress. It will be of great value to new Officers and members as to the operation of ABATE of Washington. We currently have 3 individuals working on by-laws committee. We are looking for others to work on the committee and someone to become Chair.
Riding season has begun. I have attended 3 Chapter rides recently. ABATE of Washington Rat City, (Freeze your butt off) South King County (Dart Run) and the TRI Chapter Event, (Tacoma Foster Care Resource Center- Bunny Hop Run) East Pierce County, SKCC and Tacoma. The Chapters all worked together to make this a great success. It was heart warming to see the children come out and offer water to all the riders and present the riders with a thank-you and a certificate of Appreciation. I would like to encourage more events with the Chapters working together.
Be safe, and get in some riding to get back in shape, if you did not ride through the winter. Again, Thanks to all of the members of ABATE of Washington for getting the job done. We have a lot more to do so,
Lets “Get Er done,
Mick Gillispie
State Coordinator, ABATE of Washington