Legislative Sendoff event allows community to interact with representatives

Gig Harbor citizens and business owners are invited to attend the 2016 Annual Legislative Sendoff to meet the representatives of the state’s 26th District before the new Legislative session begins for the year.

The event is hosted by the Gig Harbor Chamber of Commerce as a way to provide citizens an opportunity to engage with their legislators, said Warren Zimmerman, president and CEO of the Chamber.

“We’re trying to make our reps available to people who may not have an opportunity to talk to them,” Zimmerman said. “It’s more of a meet and greet kind of scenario. We try to keep it formatted so that it’s casual conversation.”

Sen. Jan Angel, Rep. Michelle Caldier and Rep. Jesse Young will all attend the event, which runs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday (Jan. 8) at the Gig Harbor branch of Tacoma Community College.

Janine Mott, continuing education director and executive director of TCC’s Gig Harbor campus, said that the Chamber also invites local government officials and community leaders to the event to provide an casual opportunity for citizens to interact with them.

“It’s a popular event,” Mott said. “It’s really a good opportunity (to meet) and have a chance to hear from (our) representatives.”

The event will be catered by the Devoted Kiss Cafe, which has catered the sendoff for several years, Zimmerman said.

The evening will begin with a meet-and-greet session, followed by introductions from the Chamber and a representative from TCC.

Attendees are encouraged to bring their questions and concerns to discuss with the representatives, who Zimmerman says are very approachable and come prepared to interact with the community.

At the event, the representatives will provide an overview of their work in the previous session and a plan of what they will be working on in the upcoming session.

“Often they have particular bills that impact the local community that they make people aware of (during the event),” Zimmerman said. “(That’s the) biggest reason we do this: The intent is to get people involved in politics.”

Community members interested in attending the event are asked to RSVP to the Chamber at (253) 851-6865 or online at www.gigharborchamber.net.

TCC’s Gig Harbor campus is located at 3993 Hunt St. NW.

This story was originally published January 6, 2016 at 1:38 PM with the headline "Legislative Sendoff event allows community to interact with representatives."