FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Nils Robbins
Tel: 202-770-8053
Email: Nils.Robbins@nationaldmo.org

ROBERTS HONORED AT NATIONAL MUNICIPAL OFFICIAL CELEBRATION

Shoreline Council Member Christopher Roberts given award for exemplary leadership at Democratic Municipal Officials’ National meeting

Washington, DC, March 16, 2022 –

Shoreline, WA Council Member Christopher Roberts received the Susan Burgess President’s Award for Exemplary Leadership yesterday morning during the Democratic Municipal Officials’ (DMO) “Oh So Blue” Celebration. Named in honor of the late Charlotte Mayor Pro Tem and DMO President Susan Burgess, the award honors one member of DMO for their outstanding service to the organization.

DMO National President and Philadelphia At-Large Council Member Derek Green presented the award to Roberts. “It is the nature of local elected Democrats to work tirelessly, and not always receive due recognition for that hard work. We wanted to shine the spotlight on a leader whose efforts behind the scenes have led to incredible success for our organization on the national stage.”

A member of the Choctaw nation, Roberts accepted the award with a surprised, “Yakoke” (Thank you). He was joined at the event by several of the previous recipients of the Susan Burgess President’s Award, including Detroit Council Member Scott Benson, former Chicago Alderman Joe Moore, Northfield Council Member Suzie Nakasian, and former Rome, GA Commissioner Wendy Davis.

Held during the National League of Cities (NLC) annual Congressional City Conference, the DMO “Oh So Blue” National Breakfast gathers mayors, council members, and other local elected Democrats comprising the membership of DMO for their biannual meeting. The crowd heard from guest speakers including a video greeting from Stacey Abrams, the DNC’s Reyna Walters-Morgan, Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence, Roberts’ own Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, and keynote speaker Doug Emhoff. Also on stage were some of Robert’s fellow DMO Board Members, including Savannah, GA Mayor Van Johnson and Detroit, MI Council Member Scott Benson.

Democratic Municipal Officials (DMO) is the DNC Association for municipal elected officials who personally identify as members of the Democratic Party. The organization holds three seats on the DNC, and advocates for the thousands of local elected Democrats across the United States.

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For more information, please call 202-770-8053 or email Nils.Robbins@nationaldmo.org

President Joe Biden has taken his first step in keeping a promise he made to the voters in 2020 on the campaign trail. He has nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson to be our next Supreme Court Justice. When confirmed, she will be the first African American woman to serve on the Supreme Court in our nation’s history.

Our country was established on the belief that we can make our union more perfect. In 2020 this is precisely why so many of us voted for President Biden. Now we must now stand up collectively in every city and speak our truth to power. Republicans began tearing down Ketanji Brown Jackson before she was even nominated. Now our voices must be so loud and amplified that those in the United States Senate hear our demand that Ketanji Brown Jackson be confirmed to the Supreme Court and make history!

This is our moment to demonstrate the power of local Democrats; by writing op-eds, holding press conferences with other elected officials and community groups, interviews with media, social media campaigns, and any other way you and your community can support our Supreme Court nominee. 

Social Media Tips

• Only share positive and factual information – let’s focus on building up Ketanji Brown Jackson

• Tag @NationalDMO, @POTUS, and @VP 

• Suggested posts

  • “@ [your senator] Vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson. The Supreme Court needs her voice to make sure our people are reflected in our laws.  @NationalDMO @POTUS @VP @[local media]”

  • “@ [your senator] Now is the time to do what is right and vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson. As elected officials, we have the moral obligation to represent every member of our constituency. Let’s make history together. @NationalDMO @POTUS @VP @[local media]”

Talking Points

• President Biden is nominating Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, one of our nation’s brightest legal minds, to the Supreme Court.
• President Biden sought a candidate with exceptional credentials, unimpeachable character, and unwavering dedication to the rule of law.
• A former clerk for Justice Breyer, whom she is nominated to replace, Judge Jackson is a top jurist with strong experience on the federal bench, currently serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
• Judge Jackson has broad experience across the legal profession – as a federal appellate judge, a federal district court judge, a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, an attorney in private practice, and as a federal public defender.
• Judge Jackson has been confirmed by the Senate on a bipartisan basis three times – most recently last year for her current seat.
• If confirmed, Jackson will be the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
• Judge Jackson is an outstanding nominee for Supreme Court, and the Senate should move forward with a fair and timely confirmation and hearing.

Bio – Ketanji Brown Jackson: Who is she?

— Jackson studied government at Harvard University, graduating in 1992. She also received her law degree from Harvard in 1996.

— Jackson clerked for three federal jurists, including a district court judge in Massachusetts, an appellate judge in the 1st Circuit and Breyer himself.

— Earlier in her legal career, Jackson worked as an assistant federal public defender in Washington, D.C., where she worked on appellate cases, and served as vice chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission for several years.

— President Barack Obama nominated Jackson for a district court judgeship in D.C. near the end of his first term as president, and she was confirmed in early 2013. He also interviewed her as a potential nominee after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016.

— Biden nominated her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in March 2021, as part of one of his early slates of nominees, and she was formally elevated last summer.

— As a district court judge, Jackson issued several high-profile rulings. In 2019 she ruled against the Trump administration’s attempt to shield former White House counsel Don McGahn from testifying before Congress, writing that “presidents are not kings.”