Framingham Democratic Town Committee

Minutes of March 11, 2007 (Breakfast Meeting)

Held at The Green at 10:30 AM.

Attendance

Members: Elsa Avisa, Bob Berman, Rita Blum,Gerard Desilets, Pat Dunne, Esther Hopkins, Donna Howland, Tom Mahoney, Kathie McCarthy, Stephanie Mercandetti, Sarah Micciche, Terene Micciche, Cesar Monzon, Valerie Mulvey, Mary Murphy, Betty Muto, Joan Rastani, Chris Ross, Norma Shulman, Alan Silver, Rochelle Sivan, Cheryl Tully Stoll, Parwez Wahid

Associate Members: Gerry Heng, Beverly Hugo, Laura Medrano, Farooq Mirza, Pamela Roberts

Presentations by Candidates for Town Offices

Reminder – elections this Tuesday, March 27!

The candidates were given 2 minutes to talk about their qualifications and why they were running for office, and then more time to answer questions. Jerry Desilets was the able moderator for the event.

• Adam Blumer – School Committee, 3 years
• Steven Hakar – School Committee, 3 years
• Ceasar Monzon (Incumbent) – School Committee, 3 years
• Adam Blumer – School Committee, 3 years
• Beverly Hugo – School Committee, 2 years
• Charles Sisitsky (Incumbent) – Selectman
• Ginger Esty (Incumbent) – Selectman
• Thomas Leddy – Keefe Tech School Committee
• John Kahn (Incumbent) – Keefe Tech School Committee (John Kahn was absent because of illness, so a statement was read out)
• Elizabeth Fideler – Library Trustee, 3 years (write-in candidate)
• Danielle Barney – Library Trustee, 1 years (write-in candidate)

Business

• Joan Rastani presented the report of the Caucus Committee:
  On Feb. 11 the FTDC had the caucus for the 2007 Democratic Convention which will take place on May 10 at UMASS Amherst. Results – Female delegates: Elsa Avisa, Claire Farragher, Dawn Harkness, Kristin Harkness, Esther Hopkins, Beverly Hugo, Lora McCoy, Dylan McCoy, Laura Medrano, Stephanie Mercandetti, Sarah Micciche, Faith Tolson-Pierce, Joan Rastani, Pam Roberts, Norma Shulman, Rochelle Sivan, Carol Spack. Male delegates: Robert Berman, Carlos Cunningham, Gerard Desilets, Gerald Heng, Stephen Joyce, Lloyd Kaye, Chris Lorant, Michael Magnani, David Magnani, Farooq Mirza, Wesley Ritchie, Alan Silber, John Stefanini. Alternate delegate: Maureen Dunne. Add-on delegate: Kathie McCarthy. Coming as Ex-officio delegates: Parwez Wahid FDTC Chair, and Rep. Pam Richardson.
  Caucus Committee: Parwez, Norma, Joan and Rochelle. Bob Berman assisted with registration.
• Minutes (Rochelle Sivan): Minutes from January 21 accepted.
• The May meeting was moved to May 6^th.
• Elsa Avisa and Norma Shulman volunteered to buy or obtain a canopy which the committee could use for future Flag Days and Concerts on the Green.
• It was moved that the DTC contribute 50$ to sponsor the MW Dems Brunch which will take place at 10am in Hudson, on March 25^th, at the Portuguese Club.
• Sarah Micciche was elected as the new Vice Chair, and Elsa Avisa was elected to fill the vacancy in membership. Congratulations to Sarah and Elsa!
• There will now be beverages and possibly snacks offered at the DTC meetings. The responsibility for providing the refreshments will rotate each meeting, two at a time. 50$ was appropriated for this purpose. The first volunteers for the next DTC meeting – Pam Roberts and Rochelle Sivan.

Other Speakers / Announcements

• Robert Cassidy from the State Committee talked about his efforts to bring about a change in how driver licenses in Massachusetts get revoked in cases of handicaps or disabilities. Currently, a driver license can be revoked within 14 days at a policeman’s request, without even a hearing. Bob wants this policy changed to enable the driver to at least have a hearing. (SD01196, submitted by Sen. Karen Spilka).
• Norma Shulman and Donna Howland talked about the great success of the showing of the movie “An Inconvenient Truth, by Al Gore. It was such a success that there will be another showing, but perhaps this time in a larger venue.

• Rochelle Sivan talked about the committee to save progressive radio in Boston. http://www.bostonprogressivetalk.net

• On April 12, from 8 to 10am, the Metrowest Chamber of Commerce is having a breakfast at the Framingham Sheraton hotel with keynote speaker Gov. Deval Patrick who will talk about civic engagement.

Report from the Hill – Sen. Karen Spilka

• The budget came out. Framingham got more than before – more from the state lottery; transportation will now be included in the special ed. budget; E.S.L. got more funds; and the Chapter 70 school funding formula now weighs each district’s aggregate income and aggregate property wealth equally in calculating its target local contribution, and this benefits Framingham.
• The committees structures were finalized. Sen. Spilka is chair of the Children & Families Committee.
• Sen. Spilka is pushing to allow municipalities other means of raising money, such as a meals tax.

Report from the Hill – Rep. Pam Richardson

• Despite what’s in the newspapers there’s support for Gov. Patrick in the Legislature, and the Governor shows an active interest and attends meetings and asks questions.
• The 2 Framingham reps (Tom Sannicandro and Pam Richardson) are looking at public housing. Framingham has 1000 units.
• Tom Sannicandro and Pam Richardson are going to meet with the Ways and Means Chair.

Next Meeting – April 1, 7:00pm, The Framingham Green

Rochelle Sivan · (508) 333-5698 · shellyis@gmail.com

Framingham Democratic Town Committee

Minutes of January 21, 2007

Held at The Green at 4:00 PM.

Attendance

Members:Bob Berman, Randy Black, Rita Blum, Rosalie Cotton, Nancy Coville Wallace, Gerard Desilets, Pat Dunne, Kathie McCarthy, Stephanie Mercandetti, Sarah Micciche, Terene Micciche, Valerie Mulvey, Joan Rastani, Norma Shulman, Alan Silver, Rochelle Sivan, Cheryl Tully Stoll, Parwez Wahid

Associate Members: Elsa Aviza, Maureen Dunne (new), Kristin Harkness (new), Jerry Heng, Beverly Hugo (new), Steve Joyce, Laura Medrano

Guests: Adam Blumer, Kate Donaghue, Claire Farragher, Rep. Pam Richardson, Wes Ritchie, Steve Robinson, Sen. Karen Spilka

Business

• Treasurer’s Report (Nancy Coville-Wallace):

Members with paid dues 2006-2007: 34 Members paid: R. Berman, R. Black, R. Blum ,D. Blumer, R. Cotton, N. Coville Wallace, G. Desilets, P. Dunne, L. Fields, W. Haberman, E. Hopkins, D. Howland, S. Kahn, R. Litter, C. Lorant, K. McCarthy, S. Mercandetti, D. Magnani, T. Mahoney, S. Micciche, T. Micciche ,C. Monzon, V. Mulvey, M. Murphy, B. Muto, P. Ottaviani, J. Rastani, C. Ross, N. Shulman, A. Silver, R. Sivan,J. Steffanini, C. Tully Stoll, P. Wahid

• Minutes (Rochelle Sivan): Minutes from Sep. 17, Oct. 15-17, Oct. 29, Nov. 12 accepted.
• Holiday Party Report (Elsa Aviza):

Parwez Wahid initiated a FDTC holiday party, which was held at Summerville on Farm Pond on Dec. 10, and was planned and executed by the party committee which consisted of Donna Howland, Sarah Micciche, Laura Medrano, Pam Roberts, Elsa Aviza and Parwez Wahid. The committee thanked the FDTC members for their help, with special thanks to Clare Kelly for donating autographed photos of Deval Patrick and Tim Murray and to Norma Shulman who besides being her usual helpful self, contributed prizes for the raffle and sold tickets totaling $100!

The planned guest of honor Lt. Governor-Elect Tim Murray unfortunately couldn’t attend, but Sen. Karen Spilka, Rep Pam Richardson, Clerk of Courts Mike Sullivan, Rep. Tom Conroy, Clare Kelly from the Metrowest Campaign Field Office, and State Party Committee members Kate Donaghue, Robert Cassidy, James McGowan, Mel and Tina Poindexter did attend, as well as potential candidates for the upcoming local elections, who used the opportunity to mingle and collect signatures.

The party gave us all a chance to share good food and conversation and to remember an extraordinary year and to celebrate and congratulate ourselves for all of our activities during the campaign, which helped bring about the historic victories of Deval Patrick and Tim Murray, to say nothing of the Democratic victories throughout the state and country. All in all, it was a huge success. Congratulations to the committee and to everyone who was involved!

4. Parwez mentioned the Middlesex Worcester and Norfolk Alliance meetings where the FDTC is represented by Chris Lorant, Stephanie Mercandetti and Parwez Wahid.
5. There was a suggestion to hold a breakfast at 10:30AM at the Green for the March meeting, with $5 tickets being sold to the general public, and with invitations for all of the Democratic candidates for the upcoming Town elections. Jerry Desilets moved to have the Chair make the final decision about the breakfast and the motion passed. A committee was formed: Sarah Micciche, Laura Medrano, Rochelle Sivan.
6. There was no voting for the vacancies (DTC member, Vice Chair). It was felt that not enough time was given for potential candidates to come forward. Jerry Desilets moved to delay the voting until the next business meeting (March), and the motion passed.
7. The caucus meeting is going to be held in February. A committee was formed: Joan Rastani, Norma Shulman, Rochelle Sivan.

Guest Speaker – Kate Donaghue Member of the State Committee

• New caucus rules for the upcoming Issues Convention being held on May 19 in Amherst:

• The 15 minute grace period after the official caucus start has been abolished – attendees must be present at designated time.
• You have to be physically present to be elected.
• The Committee Chair at the time of the caucus is the ex-officio Delegate to the Convention, instead of the Chair at the time of the convention.

2. There will be 10 hearings held in March, titled “March for Democratic Action” where there’ll be discussions about the grass roots activities that took place and about what worked (the high level of activism in Framingham / Metrowest; Pam Richardson’s election), and what didn’t. The best ideas will be presented at the convention.
3. This will be a one day convention and nothing will take place the preceding Friday, in contrast to previous years, to make it easier to attend.
4. The breakout sessions will be identical in content to each other.
5. Kate discussed her dinner with Deval Patrick, which she won by getting 500 signed green cards of support. Unsurprisingly, her report of event was very complimentary.
6. Kate mentioned the upcoming Roosevelt dinner, the party’s main fundraising tool. The 500,000$ the State Committee donated to the Patrick campaign after the primaries was an important piece to the victory, and was given based on lessons learned from Shannon O’Brien’s campaign, which was silenced at a crucial moment when the money ran out just after the primary.
7. A FDR’s 125th Birthday Celebration at FDR Museum in Worcester will take place on January 30.
8. The DTC membership does not have to be gender balanced, but the positions of Chair and Vice Chair do. A loophole is to have 2 Vice Chair positions open and to leave one of them unfilled.

Report from the Hill – Rep. Pam Richardson

• There have been no formal meetings, but they were all sworn in.
• The 2 Framingham reps (Tom Sannicandro and Pam Richardson) are holding meetings in the near future with the Town Manager and Superintendent and with the town Selectmen to discuss priorities.

Report from the Hill – Sen. Karen Spilka

• There’s a new atmosphere of partnership and respect between the executive and legislative branches. Her name is remembered by the governor and her phone calls are returned, a refreshing change from the previous administration.
• The Middlesex Worcester and Norfolk Alliance is being revived. The kick-off meeting is on Monday, January 29, 7 PM at Mickey Cassidy’s, Route 109 in Medway. John Walsh will be the guest speaker. Karen urged everyone to attend.
• The committees should be determined by the end of the month, and not many structural changes are anticipated.

Next Meeting – February 11 (Caucus)

Rochelle Sivan · (508) 333-5698 · shellyis@gmail.com

Framingham Democratic Town Committee

Minutes of November 12, 2006

Held at The Green from 7:00pm to 9:30pm.

Attendance

Members:Bob Berman, Randy Black, Nancy Coville Wallace, Gerard Desilets, Esther Hopkins, Donna Howland, Chris Lorant, Archie Lyon, Stephanie Mercandetti, Sarah Micciche, Terene Micciche, Valerie Mulvey, Joan Rastani, Chris Ross, Norma Shulman, Alan Silver, Rochelle Sivan, Cheryl Tully Stoll, Parwez Wahid

Associate Members: Elsa Aviza, Laura Medrano, Pam Roberts

Guests: John Walsh, Sen. Karen Spilka, Rep. Elect Pam Richardson

Business

1. Treasurer’s Report:

Members with paid dues 2006-2007: 33 Members paid: R. Berman, R. Black, R. Blum ,D. Blumer, R. Cotton, N. Coville Wallace, G. Desilets, L. Fields, W. Haberman, E. Hopkins, D. Howland, S. Khan, R. Litter, C. Lorant, K. McCarthy, S. Mercandetti, D. Magnani, T. Mahoney, S. Micciche, T. Micciche ,C. Monzon, V. Mulvey, M. Murphy, B. Muto, P. Ottaviani, J. Rastani, C. Ross, N. Shulman, A. Silver, R. Sivan,J. Steffanini, C. Tully Stoll, P. Wahid

1. Report from the Emergency October “Caucus” committee that disbanded October 24, 2006:

It was a smashing success.  There were 182 registered Democrats from the 6th District in attendance as well as approximately 100 spectators many of whom are 6th District voters.

Four out of five candidates filled out a 27 question (some with multiple parts) questionnaire in time for a compiled version to be distributed at the caucus. The candidates were asked five questions which Parwez had them answer in random order. Pam Richardson won the caucus with 59% of the vote on the third ballot and afterwards all Democratic candidates except for Tom Hanson dropped out of the race.

Credit goes to the committee members: Adam Blumer, Cheryl Tully Stoll, Helen Lemoine, Mike Dineen, Nancy Coville Wallace, Parwez Wahid, Steve Joyce; To the moderator Gerry Desilets who did a stellar job; To John Stefanini who worked hard to bring this about; To all of the volunteers who worked so hard under tight deadline; To the check-in team headed by Debby Tosti, the security team and the counting team. Laura Medrano for video-taping the caucus. Good job!

3. Pam Richardson was congratulated on winning the general election for State Rep.
4. The December 10th holiday party was discussed and a planning committee created. Members:Donna Howland, Elsa Aviza, Laura Medrano, Pam Roberts, Parwez Wahid
5. A possible change of location and time of the FDTC meetings was discussed but no changes were made.
6. Inclement weather policy: Motion passed to have the officers decide on cancellations. Notification to be done via the web site, the phone list, and emails. Sarah Micciche suggested notifying WBZ.
7. A discussion took place on filling Debby Blumer’s place on the committee and her position as Vice Chair (do the Chair and Vice Chair have to be of different genders?) and how to deal with inactive members of the FDTC, some of whom have not been heard from for years. Sen. Karen Spilka suggested writing letters to the inactive associates and suggesting they switch places with our associate members, many of whom are very active and very involved and who deserve a place on the FDTC. Valerie Mulvey stated that the current FDTC is the best of any she had seen in her years in Framingham – the most active, and strongest in volunteering, the most involved. It was decided to defer voting until the next meeting.

Guest Speaker – John Walsh, Campaign Manager for Deval Patrick’s successful run for Governor:

Main Points:

• Framingham was throughout one of the bright spots in the campaign, and it had a great leadership team – Clare Kelly, Rob Boutwell, and the local coordinators: Bob Berman and Valerie Mulvey and Gerry Desilets (at the Senate District level).
• The keys to the success were the grassroots campaign, the hopeful message, the inclusiveness (“Ive never felt so welcomed after working for an opponent”), and most of all Deval Patrick himself, with his charisma, courage and strength. John Walsh also assured us that Deval is sincere and really means what he says.
• John has been touring the state and wants the same sense of community to continue. Basically doing what we were doing during the FDTC meeting – discussing how to get people involved, going to people where they lived, talking about issues of importance to them.
• The inclusiveness was key. He discussed the Transition teams and the instructions they were given to do the utmost to reach out to the communities, to the point that a good report without a written outreach strategy would be valued less than a “strange” report where extensive community participation occurred.
• Tim Murray was going to play an important role, but he wasn’t going to be the co-governor.
• John Walsh then discussed the upcoming Inauguration, and the criticism of the expense and the funding mechanism. He explained that making the celebration inclusive couldn’t be done on the cheap.

Report from the Hill – Sen. Karen Spilka

• The vote to ban Gay marriage was a vote to change the constitution and not simply a vote to have the electorate vote on it.
• Debby Blumer spoke the day before she died at the Metrowest Chamber of Commerce about the importance of civic engagement. A fund raiser was going to be held in her memory in April with the goal of raising $100,000 to encourage civic engagement, especially among women and youth.

Next Meeting – January 21

Rochelle Sivan · (508) 333-5698 · shellyis@gmail.com

Framingham Democratic Town Committee

Minutes of October 29, 2006

Held at The Meadows from 7:00pm to 9:30pm.

Attendance

Members: Randy Black, Gerard Desilets, Donna Howland, Sarah Micciche, Betty Muto, Norma Shulman, Rochelle Sivan, John Stefanini, Parwez Wahid

Associate Members: Pam Roberts

Guests: Rob Arcangeli, Pam Richardson’s campaign manager

Special Meeting to discuss how to help Pam Richardson’s campaign

Rob described the strategy – phone calls, an event at Parwez Wahid’s house, 2 mailings of postcards, one with stickers that could be used on the ballot. 10,000 postcards were also being sent out by the State Committee, explaining the situation. The Pam Richardson campaign needed volunteers for making phone calls and for the election day itself, in shifts of 2 hours, with identifying purple sweatshirts, ready to hand out more stickers. Rob asked us to call neighbors and friends and stress the fact that Pam was the elected Democratic nominee. The mechanism of write-in voting was discussed. All that was required was that the intent of the voter be clear, so filling the bubble next to the write-in wasn’t essential, but it would facilitate the counting. Norma Shulman suggested the election day volunteers bring flashlights.

Rochelle Sivan · (508) 333-5698 · shellyis@gmail.com