The Tenth Annual White Center CDA Dinner & Auction will feature Keynote Speaker King County Councilmember Larry Gossett. Born and raised in Seattle, Larry Gossett has been a dedicated servant of the people for over 40 years. He is currently serving his seventh term on the Metropolitan King County Council and serves on several committees including Law, Justice, Health and Human Services; Government Accountability, Oversight and Financial Performance; and Growth Management Planning Council.

In 1993 he was elected to the King County Council, representing District Ten (currently District Two), which encompasses most inner-city neighborhoods in Seattle and unincorporated King County in the Skyway neighborhood. He was overwhelmingly reelected in 1995, 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007. In 2007 Gossett became just the second African American elected to be chair of the King County Council.

In 1999, 13 years after the 1986 change of the County’s name to honor the slain civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Councilmember Gossett spearheaded the campaign to change the King County logo from an imperial crown to an image of Dr. King. In 2007, the King County Council unanimously adopted the change, becoming the only governmental entity in the nation to have as its logo the likeness of Dr. King.

Councilmember Gossett is a highly respected community leader who has advocated for the underrepresented and underprivileged in King County for his entire career. He has long been an advocate for programs that help inner-city youth and reduce racial and class disparities in our local criminal justice system. He has also led efforts to eliminate black-on-black violence and other manifestations of self-hatred by poor and disenfranchised populations. White Center CDA Executive Director Sili Savusa is excited to welcome Gossett saying, “We feel it is fitting that Councilmember Gossett is our keynote speaker with our theme of ‘10 Years of Action,’  his actions over his career are what we as an organization aspire to!”

This year’s dinner & auction will take place on Friday, September 21, 2012 from 6pm-9pm at South Seattle Community College. Tickets are $65, buy yours at wccda.org/tickets.

For more information on King County Councilmember Larry Gossett, please visit: http://www.kingcounty.gov/Gossett/Biography.aspx

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