Framingham Democratic Town Committee

Minutes of April 10, 2005

Held at Framingham Green from 7:00pm to 8:30pm.

Attendance

Members: Rita Blum, Debby Blumer, Nancy Coville Wallace, Donna Howland, Shahid Khan, Chris Lorant, Waldo Lyon, Tom Mahoney, Stephanie Mercandetti, Sarah Micciche, Valerie Muvley, Phil Ottaviani, Joan Rastani, Norma Shulman, Parwez Wahid

Associate Members: Farooq Mirza, A. J. Mulvey, Steve Robinson, Shelley Strowman

Guests: William Cabral, Alex Moorash, Pam Roberts

Other elected officials: State Rep. Mike Festa, State Rep. David Linksy, State Rep. Tom Sannicandro

The meeting began with Call To Order by the Chair. A new feature of the Call To Order is to remind members to turn off cell phones and pagers.

Treasurer’s Report:

There are 35 paid members, 2 still owe dues for 2004-05.

There are 12 paid associate members.

REMINDER to all members that the DTC fiscal year starts in May and dues for 2005-06 should be paid at the May meeting. Dues are $20 for regular members and $15 for associates. The May meeting is on May 22 (moved due to the State Convention the week earlier).

Minutes for the March meeting were accepted with one correction to include the name of member Carlos Cunningham in the attendance.

Second reading of the donation policy, the current policy draft was read by Donna Howland.

Motion to accept was moved by Chris Lorant, seconded by Nancy Coville Wallace.

The policy was accepted by unanimous vote.

The text of the new donation policy appears at the end of these minutes.

Norma Shulman announced that Democratic volunteers are needed work the polls on election day. (This is to have a balance of volunteers among the parties.) Archie Lyon and Steve Robinson expressed interest. Volunteers should contact the Town Clerk. There is a $100 stipend for election poll workers.

There was a question on why Town Elections cannot be combined with other elections. (Example was given where in 2004 Primaries were held the first week in March and Town Elections on the last Tuesday.) It was explained that a regular election cannot be combined with a primary.

REPORT FROM THE HILL, State Rep. Sannicandro: The budget is coming up on Wednesday April 13th, local aid will be included. Mike Shaer of the Lottery Commission has indicted that new games will be introduced soon.

It was also mentioned that the DTC should help to increase voter turn out.

Norma announced that Associate Member, Bob Edwards, plans to run for School Committee in 2006 and would appreciate help from the DTC.

Nancy Coville-Wallace announced the Start Framingham Partnership programs and distributed literature about these activities.

Shahid Khan announced an event he is hosting for Attorney General Tom Reilly, on May 1st at his home in Framingham. The Secretary will forward a notification of this event to the DTC members.

Chris Lorant announce that Shelley Strowman was elected to Town Meeting from Precinct 9 and that A.J. Mulvey was elected to the Keefe Tech School Committee. Chris also briefly mentioned his experience from doing campaign visibility. He also announced several events taking place over the next few weeks: April 12 Rt 495 Democrats Meetup; April 21 Democracy for Framingham meetup; April 26 Annual Town Meeting; May 14th the State Convention in Lowell.

Norma stated that anyone who might be needing a carpool ride to the convention should get in touch with her so she can coordinate the carpool.

A.J. Mulvey asked if there are any bills in the State House regarding use of cellular phones by drivers while operating a vehicle. Debby Blumer replied that there are such bills pending from the previous session and similar bills coming in the upcoming session. The Town Government can also pass local ordinances against use of cell phones while driving.

Joan Rastani mentioned she had been receiving calls from a Republican fundraiser collecting for a campaign to defeat Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic Leader! (Joan informed the caller that she is with the Democratic Party.)

PROGRAM:

State Representative Mike Festa (Melrose and Wakefield) was in attendance. He was introduced by Debby Blumer and State Rep. David Linksy. Mike Festa is considering running for the office of District Attorney for Middlesex County. He has not yet officially announced his intention to run. It is expected that Attorney General Reilly will be running for Governor in 2006, opening up the Office of Attorney General. The current Middlesex County District Attorney, Martha Coakley is expected to announce her bid for AG, which in turn would open the office of County DA. Mike Festa will make his announcement official in due time.

While all of this is still to happen, these chain of events are expected, and today Mike Festa is taking the opportunity to introduce himself to people in other parts of Middlesex County.

Mr. Festa described himself as a Democrat, first and foremost. He was first elected to public office in 1973 while a college freshman, to his local school committee. Later was elected Alderman. He had chaired the Melrose City Committee by age 25. He earned his law degree in 1979 from Suffolk, interned at the Middlesex County District Attorney where he worked for John Kerry. He worked as prosecutor for two years then was also hired by F. Leigh Bailey and briefly did criminal law. Mr. Festa presently has a law practice in Melrose.

He lost a race for State Rep. in 1986 and then won election as State Rep. in 1998 after serving 6 years in city government.

For Mike Festa, the Office of District Attorney is political to the extent that one must get elected to serve this position. This requires campaigning so people will know this person. He mentioned the importance of the professionalism behind the Office of the DA, of knowing the criminal justice system, the courts, the police, all of which is important to be able to carry out the duties effectively. As a prosecutor, an Assistant District Attorney and also as a criminal attorney, Mike Festa believes he has the experience and skills to fulfill the duties of District Attorney.

Also Mr. Festa believes that a District Attorney should be constitutionally capable of making difficult decisions that have political and personal consequences on people’s lives. He believes that dealing with criminal behavior goes far beyond just locking up deviants. To be effect he states there is a broad range of responsibilities and he believes he is well versed with those responsibilities. For the past six years Mike Festa has served with a national organization called the Criminal Justice Board of Directors of the Council of State Governments. This groups examines innovative crime fighting policies from a bipartisan point of view. Mike Festa hopes to become Chair of this group in the near future. From his experience it is not only important to be tough on crime, but also important to be smart on crime.

Mike Festa is married for nearly 25 years and has two children who are attending college. He also mentioned his website: mikefesta.com

Donation Policy of the

Framingham Democratic Committee

It shall be the policy of the Framingham Democratic Committee that donations from the treasury may be made to support the purpose of the Committee as set forth in Article 1 of the By-Laws. The following expenditures conform to Article 1 and are allowed by this policy:

1. Educational or informational programs that connect to the Democratic Party political activities.
2. Organizational efforts to get out the vote.
3. Donations to the campaigns of Democratic candidates in general elections.
4. Sponsorship of public debates on topics that concern both the Democratic party and the entire community.

This policy shall also permit a donation in the event of a member’s death or hospitalization for a major illness.

Expenditure of funds for any of these purposes shall require a majority vote at a regular meeting of the Committee.

Expenditures for regular operating expenses or unforeseen catastrophic events are provided for by Article 3 Section 5 of the by-laws and do not fall within this policy statement.

The Committee approved this policy by unanimous vote at the April DTC meeting.

Framingham Democratic Town Committee

Minutes of March 13, 2005

Held at Framingham Green from 7:00pm to 8:45pm.

Attendance

Members: Debby Blumer, Nancy Coville Wallace, Carlos Cunningham, Pat Dunne, Donna Howland, Chris Lorant, Stephanie Mercandetti, Sarah Micciche, Terene Micciche, Valerie Muvley, Phil Ottaviani, Norma Shulman, Cheryl Tully Stoll, Parwez Wahid

Associate Members: Alan Frankel, John Stasik

Guests: Maureen Dunne, Pam Roberts

The meeting began with a program item featuring a presentation by John Stasik, candidate for Selectman. (John needed to leave early so his presentation was done at the start of the meeting.)

John Stasik is formerly a State Legislature and is seeking election to the Framingham Town Board of Selectmen. He described his local involvement in the community during recent years, such as Friends of Saxonville. He has served as Transportation Chair for the Metrowest Planning Committee where he has been working to establish a new LIFT bus service for Framingham. He is running for Board of Selectmen because he feels the Town is facing important decisions that need to be clarified and the Selectmen must take charge of the Town’s agenda, formulate the agenda and move the planning activities in such direction.

John feels there are critical areas the Town must address and he believes the Town is just not adequately assessing subjects such as traffic, diminishing availability of land, the types of economic development that will be promoted. He believes his experience over the past 20 years would be valuable in helping the Town to resolve these critical issues.

Donna Howland presented the Treasurer’s report:

There are 34 paid members for the current year, 3 still owe dues. There are 11 paid associate members

Previous bal: $1222.42

Income: $50.00

Expenses: -$0.00

=======

Current bal: $1272.14

Minutes of the February meeting were accepted with one correction to the figure reported for the treasury. (The figure shown above as Previous bal is the correct amount.)

The position of Affirmative Action and Outreach Advisor was opened for nominations. No nominations were presented; Norma Shulman will solicit the membership for a candidate. Also Norma added that if there were members interested in helping with the Affirmative Action projects but were not willing to serve as the officer, such people should state their interest. Norma believes that a candidate may step forward knowing that more help is available from within the Committee.

Donna Howland presented the proposed policy on making donations from the DTC’s treasury. The final paragraph of the policy would cover the DTC’s making a donation to the Framingham Green tenant’s association, as such a donation would be for regular operating expenses. Item number two of the proposal was amended to read:

“Organizational efforts to get out the vote.”

The words “memorial tribute” were replaced with “donation”.

The entire draft proposal has been attached to the end of these minutes.

Pat Dunne made motion to accept the proposal for first reading and place this proposal on the agenda for the April meeting to allow a second reading prior to taking vote. Motion seconded by Chris Lorant. The motion passed unanimously.

Norma Shulman attended the Democratic Activist Day events the previous week at Roxbury Community College; she reported on the programs. Also in relation to the vacant Affirmative Action officer post, she stated that there is assistance available from the State Committee to help organize relevant programs and activities.

The Activist Day featured various breakout sessions during the morning during which representatives of various Committees could talk about their efforts in areas such as programs, funding and membership. In the afternoon there was a Platform Hearing and a 2 1-hour sessions on topics for chairs and regional groups.

Norma talked about Party Chair Phil Johnston’s presentation in which he described the importance of the off-year between the Presidential and Gubernatorial elections. Johnston stated that the campaigns are “permanent”. The Party has learned that the opposition does not stop between elections, therefore the Democrats must keep their efforts going as well. National Chair Howard Dean is expected to appear at the State Convention in May.

There was also talk of the Field Organization that existed in 1982 and how the Party needs to re-establish such an organization. The Party is seeking to strengthen its grass-roots efforts as part of the plan to regain the Corner Office in 2006.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Town elections are on April 5th. Chris Lorant is running for a seat in the Town Meeting from Precinct 1.

Valerie Mulvey announced the following Candidate’s Forums:

Mar 22 – at the Civic League, organized by the League of Women Voters.

Mar 23 – at Hemenway School, organized by FIMBY.

Mar 29 – organized by an immigrant advocacy group.

Also Valerie announced that election officers are needed to help conduct the election proceedings. There is a $100 stipend offered. Hours are from 6:00am to 9:30pm with breaks for lunch and to go vote.

On Sunday March 20 at 2pm there is an event at Cushing Hospital to honor veterans returning from overseas.

REPORT FROM THE HILL:

Debby Blumer stated that the House would soon be addressing legislation on stem cell research. Also the Ways and Means Committee

The Program Committee stated that the April meeting would feature candidates for state-wide offices in 2006.

Due to the distraction caused by cell phones and pagers, it was suggested to begin all future meetings with a general announcement to have such devices turned off.

Donation Policy of the

Framingham Democratic Committee

Second Draft

It shall be the policy of the Framingham Democratic Committee that donations from the treasury may be made to support the purpose of the Committee as set forth in Article 1 of the By-Laws. The following expenditures conform to Article 1 and are allowed by this policy:

Educational or informational programs that connect to the Democratic Party political activities.

Organizational efforts to get out the vote.

Donations to the campaigns of Democratic candidates in general elections.

Sponsorship of public debates on topics that concern both the Democratic party and the entire community.

This policy shall also permit a donation in the event of a member’s death or hospitalization for a major illness.

Expenditure of funds for any of these purposes shall require a majority vote at a regular meeting of the Committee.

Expenditures for regular operating expenses or unforeseen catastrophic events are provided for by Article 3 Section 5 of the by-laws and do not fall within this policy statement.

The Committee will vote on this policy at the April meeting.

Framingham Democratic Town Committee

Minutes of February 13, 2005

Held at Framingham Green from 7:00pm to 8:30pm.

Attendance

Members: Debby Blumer, Jerry Desilets, Donna Howland, Ruth Litter, Chris Lorant, Waldo Lyon, Terene Micciche, Valerie Muvley, Phil Ottaviani, Joan Rastani Norma Shulman, Alan Silver, Rochelle Sivan, Cheryl Tully Stoll, Parwez Wahid

Associate Members: Bob Edwards, Steve Robinson

Guests: Denis Black, Dennis Giombetti, A.J. Mulvey, Pam Roberts

Donna Howland presented the Treasurer’s report:

Dues of $130 received. All members for 2003-04 have paid.

There 4 members owing dues for 2004-05 (33 paid members)

There are 8 paid associate members.

No recent expenses, treasury now has $1222.14.

Norma Shulman asked the DTC to consider making a donation to the Framingham Green Tenants Association in lieu of the DTC not having to pay any fee for holding its meetings at the Green.

Suggestion was also made to make a donation to the Framingham Flag Day Celebration Committee. This suggestion would be placed on a future agenda item, as well as considering policy for making other donations.

Alan Silver suggested establishing a committee that would set the policy for making donations from DTC’s treasury. The following members were appointed to this committee:

Linda Fields

Bob Edwards

Donna Howland

Minutes for the January 30th meeting were accepted with no corrections needed.

Norma Shulman mentioned the passing of the bylaws amendments at the January meeting and thanks the members who attended that night to establish quorum making it possible to vote on the amendments. Also Norma thanked the Bylaws Committee and the Officers for their efforts in the amendment process.

Also Norma mentioned the 35 delegate positions have been filled, opportunity for Add-On delegates and alternates is available to anyone interested.

The Framingham DTC was asked to name three members to represent the DTC at the meeting of the Democratic Alliance. Norma Shulman, Valerie Mulvey and Joan Rastani were nominated by Debby Blumer and seconded by Chris Lorant.

The meeting for May has been rescheduled to May 22nd. The previous date was falling the day after the State Democratic Convention. It was felt that moving the DTC meeting to the weekend after the Convention would be preferable.

The floor was opened for nominations to fill the position of Affirmative Action and Outreach Advisor. No nominations were submitted; this agenda item will be moved to the March meeting.

Announcements:

Bob Edwards announced that he has been asked to help in the drafting of federal legislation dealing with persons suffering brain injuries. Bob stated that in this capacity he would be working to alert Congress on legislation for people with brain injuries. Also Bob added that he would like to see the Framingham DTC support better services from the state government for people with brain injuries. Bob had brought literature to hand out on this subject.

It was also mentioned the Congressman Ed Markey has worked to establish the National Commission on Sports Related Injuries.

The post-inaugural event, also called “Inaugural Bawl” as well as “Brew & Stew” was rescheduled for March 5 at the Tin Alley Grill in Framingham.

On Monday February 14 a videoconference in Maynard featuring George Lakoff, author of “Don’t Think Of An Elephant”. (Contact Kate Donaghue for more information.)

Meetups:

Feb 15 – Impeach Bush

Feb 17 – Democracy for America

Feb 28 – Democratic Alliance

Mar 8 – Democratic Party Meetup

Program:

Democratic candidates seeking position in the Town government were invited to address the assembly.

The following candidates gave presentations: Valerie Mulvey, Denis Black, Dennis Giombetti, A.J. Mulvey. Debby Blumer moderated the panel.

Valerie Mulvey is running for Town Clerk, she is unopposed. She first became Clerk in the year 2000. She described her efforts to keep her office running efficiently despite budget cuts.

Denis Black: Seeking a position on the Planning Board. He has been a Town Meeting Member, served on the Charter Commission, Zoning Board and has generally been very active in Town Government. He was a founding member of the Friends of Saxonville and President of Mills Falls Village. He is running to watch Planning Board meetings. Neighborhoods in Framingham stand to be affected by upcoming major development, impacts on traffic etc. He has previous experience to handle such issues. Denis expressed his concern for environment, conservation, open space. He has been a negotiator for unions. He is opposed by incumbent Ann Wells. If elected he hopes to bring more diversity to the Board’s voting and engage more discussions prior to voting.

Dennis Giombetti: Seeking position on Board of Selectment. He grew up in Framingham. Holds a Bachelors and Masters in Psychology and an MBA from Bentley College. He has been a Town Committee member and currently Finance Committee Chair. He would like to see:

New Style to leadership in the Town agenda, more assertive.

Be pro-active rather than re-active

Instill the notion of teamwork

He talked of forming strategic alliances, fostering trust and respect among peers. He described himself as an independent voice, taking on issues individually.

A.J. Mulvey: Candidate for Keefe Tech School Committee. Currently a Town Meeting Member. A.J. was a Division I athlete at the University of Denver, where he played lacrosse. He expressed his interest to see Keefe Tech reach its full potential so as to serve its students better.

He hopes to:

Raise expectations – students should not just succeed, but excel.

Assess “Life After Keefe” – track how students do after graduation in the job market.

Introduce 2-year exploratory program versus the current 1 year, then 3 years of trade study.

(A.J. is the son of Valerie Mulvey.)

Another candidate, John Stasik, could not attend. A prepared statement was read on his behalf by Gerard Desilets. John Stasik, a former State Rep, is seeking a position on the Board of Selectmen.

Debby Blumer mentioned the names several other candidates who were unable to participate in the program.

The candidates took questions from the members.

Framingham Democratic Town Committee

Minutes of November 21, 2004

Held at Framingham Green from 7pm to 9pm.

Attendance

Members: Bob Berman, Debby Blumer, Jerry Desilets, Esther Hopkins, Donna Howland, Chris Lorant, Waldo Lyon, Dave Magnani, Tom Mahoney, Stephanie Mercandetti, Sarah Micciche, Joan Rastani, Norma Shulman, Rochelle Sivan, John Stefanini, Cheryl Tully Stoll, Parwez Wahid

Associate Members: Farooq Mirza

Others: Pamela Roberts, Jacob Oliveri, Alex Morash, Kate Donaghue

Attendance at start of the meeting was 13 and 17 by the end of the meeting. The quorum needed to consider by-laws amendments was not met. The issue of the bylaws amendments will be placed on the agenda for the January meeting.

Donna Howland submitted the Treasurer’s Report, the DTC has $1012.63 in its account. The only transactions since October 17 was income of $240 in membership dues. There are 25 paid members, with 12 members still owing dues for 2004-05. There are 7 paid associate members. Treasurer’s report was accepted.

The minutes of the October meeting were accepted with one correction needed on the spelling of a member’s name.

Norma Shulman stated that Parwez Wahid has been serving as acting-webmaster since Mat Helman left Framingham. Although Mat had indicated he could continue to perform webmaster duties, he has not replied to any recent messages, his whereabouts is not known.

The DTC website has two new features called “ARTICLES” and “TAKE ACTION”. The “ARTICLES” page will contain articles of interest to the DTC membership. Members are welcome to submit articles they might find on the Internet, the Officers will determine if the article is suitable for the DTC website.

The “TAKE ACTION” page will have information on various activities that DTC members can participate in. (At present this page has a message from Common Cause, nonprofit advocacy organization that is requesting help to support a recount of the Ohio vote.) DTC members can also submit suggestions for posting on this page.

It was suggested to send a letter of congratulations to Phil Johnston, who was recently re-elected to chair the State Democratic Party for four years. Norma Shulman will send a letter on behalf of the DTC.

There is a need to create a phone-tree to allow fast dissemination of information on short notice. During the past week there was an urgent need to advise the membership of a change in room location for the November 15th post-election program. (A signup sheet was circulated; those interested in the phone-tree were asked to mark their names accordingly.)

There was also a request to make the contact information of the DTC members available to the membership. Norma advised that this can be done, however the information is for the use of the members for DTC and related interest; the contact information may not be forwarded or shared in anyway.

A brief report from the Program Committee stated their planning is being revised due to the outcome of the Presidential Elections.

Jerry Desilets stated that the DTC should become more involved in the Town Elections. He stated there are individuals and even groups that are become active in the municipal government who harbor negative sentiments against the under-privileged and minorities. He felt their influence on Town affairs would be disturbing.

Waldo Lyons added support for Jerry’s statement for DTC to be more involved in Town Elections.

There was discussion on usage of Town building space. The Framingham DTC had reserved the Ablondi Room in the Memorial Building for its post-election meeting on November 15th. The Friday before the event, the Town advised the DTC that the reservation had been a mistake and the DTC could not use the Ablondi Room. The DTC was able to hold its post-election meeting in Nevin Hall. The DTC had once been advised that Town meeting space is available to the DTC as the DTC is an elected body where its members are elected on the Presidential ballot. Further clarification from the Town is needed.

It was also mentioned that a citizen’s group in Framingham had blocked the DTC’s access for November 15th. Esther Hopkins mentioned the Town is reviewing its policies on meeting space.

In addition to Program Committee Rochelle Sivan stated that a Membership Committee is needed to bring more members into the DTC.

There was interest expressed in expanding Associate Membership by permitting college, and voting age high school students to join the Framingham DTC as associate members with fees waived.

One sentiment expressed was that fees should be reduced for college students but not waived altogether. Concern was raised that reducing fees could require a bylaws change. Others felt that $5 would not be a great deal for anyone to pay and would emphasize that “nothing is for free”.

Motion was made by Cheryl Tully Stoll to have fees waived for students, seconded by John Stefanini. Motion passed 13 to 3 with 1 abstention.

A volunteer would be needed to record the January 9th minutes as Parwez Wahid is expected to be away. (This request was later withdrawn as the January meeting date was rescheduled, and Parwez would return by that time.)

The State Committee has set the dates for the caucuses starting January 29th and to run for two weeks. Delegates to the State Democratic Convention will be selected at the caucus. The State Convention will take place on May 14, 2005 in Lowell

The Town Caucus has been scheduled for January 30th. The January 9th meeting will be taken off the schedule and replaced with the caucus and business meeting. The bylaws amendments will be taken up for consideration following the caucus on January 30th.

A regular DTC meeting will be scheduled for February 13th.

John Stefanini had brought some left over t-shirts and campaign buttons from the Kerry campaign. These items were made available to any one interested at the meeting.

There was interest expressed in further understanding the interest in holding earlier primaries for the state elections. (State primaries are held in September – there is an effort to move this to June.) The Program Committee will investigate this subject.

Proposed amendment #20 was discussed for modification, as it is not in compliance with the State Party’s charter. The amendment states that two-thirds of the membership is required for quorum in order to amend the DTC bylaws and would allow proxy ballots. The State charter does not permit proxy voting. Norma Shulman proposed the quorum requirement be reduced to 50% and the language on proxy voting be removed. It was also pointed out that the new language was not clear in emphasizing a 50% quorum and also a 2/3 vote of the attendance. Jerry Desilets made motion for a change to the amendment’s language that would remove any ambiguity. Motion was seconded by Donna Howland and passed unanimously.

PROGRAM:

Kate Donaghue of the State Committee, Field Services Sub-Committee, talked about the function of the Field Services Sub-Committee and how Democrats can get involved and how the State Committee relates to the Town Committee.

Among the state’s Town Committees the perception has emerged that the State Committee is a separate or foreign group and locally people have been referring to the State Committee as “Them”. It is the hopes of Field Services to bring the State Committee and the Towns closer and bring a feeling of “Us”.

Most important would be the goal of electing a Democratic governor in 2006. For this the State Party would need to work more closely with Town Committees. The teamwork that had developed among Democrats during the Kerry campaign (such as Massachusetts Democrats going out-of-state to campaign) needed to be sustained to strengthen the State Party.

Technology should be taken advantage of, such as emailing and the ability to participate in phone banks from home by getting all the information needed to make calls off the Internet. (This has proven effective during the Presidential campaign.) Massachusetts Democrats could also be helpful in races in other parts of the county for Congressional and Senate seats.

The State Party has only 2 paid full-time staff members (compared to 13 for the Republicans) and some part-time members. The State Democratic Party relies heavily on volunteers.

Kate emphasized that the Party is much more than the State Committee and Ward/Town Committees. Campaign volunteers, registered Democrats and even unenrolled voters figure significantly into the Democratic Party. It would be important to involve more and more people to pursue the Party’s goals. This can be achieved in several ways. For example the Kerry campaign invested heavily in Massachusetts to get its message out to the rest of the country. Kate pointed out how volunteers helped win New Hampshire for Kerry and also elect that state a Democratic governor.

Where good legislation comes from good legislators, Kate stated that it was the duty of all active Democrats to carry forward the Party’s message and point out how many of the good initiatives that have come forward are linked to the Democratic Party’s principles. Getting more Democrats into various elected offices and many different levels is an important function towards this mission.

During the presentation, a visitor, Pamela Roberts, commented that un-enrolled (independent) voters tend to be consumers of the election process rather than contributors. There was a need to make voters be more involved in the issues, for these voters to understand their position as stakeholders.

Also Kate talked of regional groups, the area group being the Middlesex Norfolk and Worcester Regional Democratic Alliance. This group is having an event on December 12th, co-sponsoring the Westboro Democratic Town Committee holiday party at 17 Gary Circle, Westboro, 2pm.

Regional groups and also Town Committees should have events that focus on issues. There is need to bring forward people who are interested in getting involved. Issues will help get people involved. The Field Services Committee’s goal is to share technique and be a resource for the Town Committees. The Field Service Committee acts as an advocate for the Town and Ward Committees to the State Committee.