Framingham Democratic Town Committee

Minutes of September 18, 2005

Held at Framingham Green from 7:00pm to 9:00pm.

Attendance

Members: Debby Blumer, Rosalie Cotton, Pat Dunne, Bill Haberman, Esther Hopkins, Donna Howland, Chris Lorant, Archie Lyon, Stephanie Mercandetti, Valerie Mulvey, Norma Shulman, Rochelle Sivan, Cheryl Tully Stoll, Parwez Wahid

Associate Members: Pam Roberts, Steve Robinson

Guest speakers: Dr. John McDonough, David Jordan, Steve Hershell

Guests: Alan Frankel, A.J. Mulvey, Alex Moorash (Fram. State College), Kirsten Stienbach (Fram. State College)

Other elected officials: Rep. Tom Sannicandro, Rep. Peter Koutoujian

Treasurer’s report

Previous Balance	$1408.72
Dues received	$40.00
Dividends	$2.43
Other Income	0
Net Income	$42.43
Itemized Expenses	0
(Check #410 has not cleared)	($55.00)
Net Expenses	0
Balance as of 9/18/05	$1451.15 after check 410

There are 2 members who still owe dues for 2003-04, R. Black and Rev. Faith Tolson.

Members owing dues for 2004-05

There are 2 paid associate members.

For clarification the dues were explained as: $20 for Regular Members and $15 for Associate Members.

Treasurer’s report was accepted.

There was a question as to whether Associate members could become Regular members by paying the additional $5. Norma Shulman explained that Regular members are elected every four years on the Presidential Primary ballot. The Committee fills vacancies that occur between the election cycle. (Thus an Associate member interested in Regular membership would have to wait for the next election period or until a vacancy occurred.)

Minutes for the June meeting had two corrections, (1) to the attendance and (2) listing the announcements. The minutes were accepted with the corrections.

The Committee acknowledged State Representative Peter Koutoujian who was in attendance. Debby Blumer mentioned that Representative Koutoujian is a candidate for Middlesex County District Attorney in the 2006 elections.

PROGRAM:

Debby Blumer introduced Dr. John McDonough, Executive Director of Health Care for All. He described the legislative initiative he is undertaking towards health care reform in the state. He called this the Third Wave of health care reform, the previous being in 1988 and 1996. McDonough shared some statistics on how the number of uninsured in the state has risen by some 200,000 while health care premiums have increased by double digits.

He mentioned the discussion at the State House concerning health care reform. He felt this discussion has been mired in jargon and windy talk, making it difficult to get a good grasp on what issues are being debated. Dr. McDonough took a few minutes to clarify some of the discussion that is taking place at the State House.

He stated the most pressing issue with health care is access, particularly for those who are uninsured to soon to become uninsured. Also there are issues of inadequate coverage with huge deductible fees. The situation is placing a burden on individuals and also on businesses, municipal and state governments that provide health coverage to employees.

There are 3 major reform initiative plans currently under consideration:

1. Commonwealth Care – a plan put forward by the Governor that requires everyone to buy health care coverage. Anyone failing to buy coverage would be penalized by the state.

 

1. Senate President Travaglini has introduced a plan to lower the rate of uninsured by 50% over two years.

 

1. ACT campaign, put together by a coalition of consumer groups, interfaith groups, labor organizations, and business leaders among others.

 

Dr. McDonough talked in detail about the 3rd major plan stating that it would save on premiums, expand quality coverage and help small businesses provide coverage to employees. Part of the plan looks to address its costs by increasing cigarette tax. Also the plan creates an assessment on employers who are not providing coverage to their workers. At present employers spend about 15% of payroll for health coverage. Smaller employers who presently do not provide coverage could pay 5% under this assessment.

His organization is pursuing this plan through a ballot initiative because the initiative process will provide legislators with help needed to move the health care reform process forwarded. The ballot initiative would demonstrate the public support for this reform.

Dr. McDonough encouraged all persons interested in this reform effort to get involved. David Jordan, who had accompanied John McDonough circulated a petition to support the reform initiatives that McDonough spoke of. They are looking to collect 200,000 signatures to support the ballot initiative.

Steve Hershell of Common Cause, presented a petition to revise the practices of redistricting known as Gerrymandering. He described the practice as detrimental to democracy as it lends to candidates picking voters rather than voters picking candidates.

He stated that because of redistricting neighborhoods are fractured, potential challengers are cut out of districts, and minorities are underrepresented. The redistricting is often conducted secretively by a few legislative leaders.

Common Cause is proposing what it calls the Fair Districts Initiative Petition that would call for legislators to place a redistricting reform constitutional amendment on the ballot for 2008.

To advance this effort Steve mentioned that Framingham area volunteers are needed. Petitions can be downloaded from www.MassFairDistricts.org. The Common Cause organization’s website is: commoncause.org/ma.

BUSINESS:

There was interest to have a joint program (with the area’s Democratic Committees) for the 2006 gubernatorial candidates. The MNW Alliance has actually planned an event with Deval Patrick on September 27 and will have another one with Tom Reilly on October 25.

The 2006 Democratic Town Caucus has been scheduled for February 5, 2006 with a snow-date of February 12. This fits into the caucus window established by the State Committee. February 5 is the date of next year’s Super Bowl, however the caucus is expected to end well before the start of the game (6:18pm kickoff).

Donna Howland mentioned a program on October 27, an education forum on how Town Government works. It will be in the Public Hearing Room of the Memorial Building.

Volunteers are also needed for outreach efforts. This would be called the Membership Committee that would work with the still vacant Affirmative Action and Outreach Advisor position.

Norma Shulman read the proposed program schedule for 2005-06 as prepared by the Program Committee (this scheduled is subject to change):

October 16, 2005

Candidates for Lt. Governor

Sam Kelley & Tim Murray

November 13,2005

Candidate for Attorney General, Martha Coakley

January 22, 2005

Candidate for Secretary of State, Cameron Kerry

February 5, 2006

Caucuses for Democratic State Convention Delegate Selection

SNOW DATE: February 12, 2006

Saturday, March 11, 2006 (9AM)

Pancake Breakfast with Framingham Town Election Candidates

April 9, 2006

Federal and State Legislative Briefing with Cong. Markey, Sen. Spilka, Reps. Blumer and Sannicandro

May 21, 2006

Community Supper with Democratic Primary Candidates

June 3, 2006

Democratic State Convention

June 11, 2006

Post-Convention Wrap-Up and Discussion of 2006 Ballot Questions

Saturday, July 29th (2PM)

Summer Cookout at Debby Blumer’s Home

 

Framingham Democratic Town Committee

Minutes of June 19, 2005

Held at Framingham Green from 7:00pm to 9:00pm.

Attendance

Members: Debby Blumer, Nancy Coville Wallace, Bill Haberman, Shahid Khan, Dave Magnani, Stephanie Mercandetti, Cesar Monzon, Phil Ottaviani, Joan Rastani, Norma Shulman, Rochelle Sivan, Parwez Wahid

Associate Members: Pam Roberts

Recent associates members: Paul Fahey, Laura Medrano

Guest speakers: Senator Jarrett Barrios, Andrea Silbert

Guests: Ruth Barlow, Melquirdes Carvellio, Kate Donaghue, Nancy Engel, Kerry Johnson, Ed Mills, Ilma Paxicon

Other elected officials: Rep. Tom Sannicandro

Treasurer’s report

Previous Balance	$1138.72
Dues received	$270.00
Expenses	$0.00
Balance as of 6/19/05	$1408.72

There are 2 members who still owe dues for 2004-05.

There were 12 paid associate members during 2004-05.

Treasurer’s report was accepted.

Minutes for the May meeting had several corrections made to the attendance. Parwez Wahid read the corrected attendance for May. The minutes were accepted with the corrections.

The schedule for 2005-06 that was distributed with the June agenda will be published. The schedule shows September 18th as the next DTC meeting.

Announcements:

Event for Tom Sannicandro, June 20 at TJs Spirits in Ashland at 5:30pm.

Public Forum on Health Care, with John McDonough and Debby Blumer. Memorial Builidng, June 21 7pm.

PROGRAM:

Andrea Silbert, candidate for Lt. Governor was introduced by Kerry Johnson and Ilma Paxicon. Kerry mentioned her business that Andrea helped to establish.

Andrea has helped thousands of individuals establish businesses in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. If elected to the office of Lt. Governor, she hopes to re-energize the state through job creation and innovation; an area in which she offers a great deal of experience and expertise. Through organizations that she has co-founded she knows aspects of small business very well. She has established offices for Center for Women & Enterprise (CWE) in Boston, Worcester and Providence, RI. From these offices she has engaged some 10,000 entrepreneurs who have created some 14,000 jobs resulting in $400,000,000 in good wages. Many of her clients were single mothers. She helped the establishment of the IRobot company in Framingham. (Most known for automated vacuum cleaners, IRobot technology is also being used in the war in Afghanistan to detect land mines.)

Given her experience Andrea feels that as Lt. Governor she can play a significant role in economic development by creating jobs that pay well and offer good benefits.

Andrea Silbert lives in Harwich and this gives her the perspective of life outside of the metropolitan area. She describes her family as middle-class, she is married with 3 children and is her family’s primary wage-earner. She pays her family health care through COBRA.

Given her backgound in job creation and with the issues faced by the regular middle-class families who are working hard for their livelihoods, Andrea Silbert believes she has the experience and the concern to be effective as Lt. Governor of Massachusetts.

Issues such as environment, education and higher education are just as important to Andrea. However she places job creation as paramount as she sees this as an area most critical for Massachusetts at present. She describes jobs as a “mega-issue” and she states that she is the best candidate on the ticket to tackle this issue. Simply stated: more jobs, better paying jobs create more revenue that in turn pays for the services.

At CWE she operated with a staff of 30 in three offices with a $2 million budget (that she fund raised). Given the resources of the state, a larger budget and a larger staff, she can make effective use of her skills and expertise to boost job creation. Where the Romney Administration states figures showing how jobs have declined in the state, Andrea Silbert believes she can bring jobs back to Massachusetts.

Senator Jarrett Barrios, candidate for Middlesex County District attorney was introduced by Cesar Monzon and David Magnani. (Dave also announced his support for Mr. Barrio’s campaign.)

Senator Barrios began first by mentioning his apprehension as a parent when his elder son reached his 13th birthday and felt he was old enough to walk to school with his younger brother on their own. The boys finally convinced their father to let them go on their own and as they did, Jarrett described how he watched them go past the corner, and then he followed them in his car. The simple point he was making is that all parents are naturally concerned for the safety of their children. Jarrett stated he was running for District Attorney to address that concern of safety, to assure that our communities are safe for everyone.

Jarrett recognizes the prosecutors’ duties of a District Attorney but also stresses the responsibility of assuring the county is safe for its residents. He feels it is not enough to be tough on crime, but it is just as important to be smart on the causes of crime.

Jarrett Barrios came to Massachusetts from Florida and attended Havard College and Georgetown law school. He practiced law for several years. He was elected to the State House of Representatives in 1998 and was elected to the State Senate in 2002. He has been the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Safety.

He has addressed the issues of gang violence, which is a major issue in parts of the district. It is a serious issue that is impacted through misunderstanding of language and culture. Senator Barrios described a sad incident in which a New Bedford resident came to testify at the State House on a gang violence incident that resulted in the death of that man’s son. When asked if he wanted to see the death penalty for those responsible for the murder of his son, the man replied that he was more concerned for his surviving children and that their neighborhood would be safe for them. Senator Barrios stated it was the DA’s duty to make the communities safer for its residents.

In describing his candidacy Jarrett Barrio stated that he offers a record of leadership and achievement in the area of Public Safety. He mentioned how the state spends $44K per year to house convicts in the jails. He believes money should be spent on programs to keep youth and teens away from criminal activities so they do not end up in jail. He described how the higher percentage of convicts end up back in jail because there are not enough adequate parole programs to monitor them after their release. Programs such as drug testing and job training are needed to keep the released convicts from returning to jail.

The County used to be able to address hate-crimes, white-collar crimes and complaints on violations of civil rights. Barrios believes these should be re-established.

Framingham Democratic Town Committee

Minutes of May 22, 2005

Held at Framingham Green from 7:00pm to 9:00pm.

Attendance

Members: Debby Blumer, Nancy Coville Wallace, Jerry Desilets, Esther Hopkins, Donna Howland, Chris Lorant, 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: Pam Roberts, Shelley Strowman

Guests: Deborah Goldberg, Jonathan Sclerzic, Stacy Schwartz

Other elected officials: Senator Karen Spilka

 

 

Treasurer’s report

Previous Balance

 

$1222.14

 

Dues received

 

$0.00

 

Dividends

 

$2.22

 

Postage

 

-$14.04

 

Webpage

 

-$71.60

 

Bal as of 4/10/05

 

$1138.72

 

 

There are 2 members who still owe dues for 2004-05.

There were 12 paid associate members during 2004-05.

All members should pay dues for 2005-06 starting with the May 2005 meeting. (Several members paid their dues during the meeting.)

Minutes for the March meeting were accepted with corrections to include the names Joan Rastani and Shelley Strowman in the attendance.

A letter will be sent to the Town Election Board containing the names of 3 members from which the Board will select 1 as the Democratic member serving on the Election Board. Linda Fields, who had served in this capacity the previous four years, expressed interest in continuing. The DTC will send the names of Linda Fields, Norma Shulman and Parwez Wahid with a strong suggestion to that Linda Fields be the selection.

Valerie Mulvey added that Precinct 18 needs clerks and wards for the Town Elections.

Schedule for 2005-06: Parwez Wahid will prepare a draft of proposed dates for meetings during the 2005-06, this will be presented during the June meeting for approval by the Committee.

Parwez Wahid read announcements for the May 24th MW Dems meeting with Martha Coakley and Charlie Murphy taking place at the Nixon School in Sudbury. Also State Rep. Peter Koutoujian will be holding a public hearing on May 23rd at Framingham State College, Dwight Auditorium. This hearing is for the special commission established to better understand the size and scope of OxyContin drug addiction.

Chris Lorant announced the following:

May 23rd, Metrowest Singles meetup, 8pm at Tin Alley Grill

May 25th, Democracy for America meetup, 7pm Framingham Library

May 31st, Metrowest Alliance meeting in Ashland

Jun 18th, Coffee for Mike Festa, hosted by Parwez Wahid

Jun 2-3, 2006, State Convention in Worcester

(Parwez added that the coffee he is hosting will be at 10:30AM on Saturday morning 6/18 and his home is about 2 miles away from the Framingham Green at 14 Waveney Road.)

Chris also mentioned supporting efforts like Flag Day in Framingham.

 

PROGRAM:

Stacy Swartz from SEIU (Service Employees International Union) that represents healthcare workers. They are currently working on a project to improve the Personal Care Attendant (PCA) program. This program provides elderly and disabled persons with personal care in their homes. There are about 20,000 PCAs in the state who are paid $10.64 per hour through the Mass Health Care Program. There are few benefits to these workers, they have no health insurance through their employer. The PCAs have never had a collective voice to speak our for better work conditions. SEIU is hoping to partner with Disability Rights organizations and organizations for the elderly to have a collective voice in the state house that can speak for the rights of PCAs.

The program has other problems such as placement and matching PCAs with clients. A potential client has to advertise their need for a PCA in the newspaper. The SEIU would like to create a work force council that could identify PCAs from a centralize list to a requesting individual.

The SEIU represents about 11,000 health care workers. The have not yet formally had PCAs join the union as they are in the early planning of their programs.

 

Deborah Goldberg, candidate for Lt. Governor, was in attendance. Ms. Goldberg was Chair of the Brookline Board of Selectmen and had worked for the Stop&Shop company. She attended Boston College and Harvard University. Deborah described her candidacy as being about “all the communities of Massachusetts”. She stated how the current Lt. Governor had missed opportunities to establish ties between the State House and the cities and towns of Massachusetts. She described her own efforts to meet with Lt. Governor Healy and how Healy canceled the meeting after it had been arranged.

Ms. Goldberg stated that the Lt. Governor should be the direct link for cities and towns so that local governments can have clear access to the Corner Office at the State House. She feels Lt. Governor Healy has not fulfilled this obligation adequately. Ms. Goldberg believes she can be the voice in the Corner Office for the state’s cities and towns because she has already been traveling across the state and establishing contact with the various communities of Massachusetts.

Deborah feels the role of government is to help the people, not manage wealth, of which she criticizes the current Republican administration. She feels that as Lt. Governor, it would be her role to bring together conservatives and progressives to form an agenda that serves the greater people. She believes that lack of leadership from the current Governor and his staff has prevented the legislature from working effectively. As an example, Goldberg cited how the Governor claimed the state had a surplus (as mentioned in his State of the State Address), yet cities and towns were not getting the funding needed for their budgets.

When she was on the Brookline Selectmen Board, Ms. Goldberg described how the Board has prepared a list of proposals to the Lt. Governor that would allow the town to get funding relief from the mandates issued by the Governor. These proposals were never heard. Deborah Goldberg stated this was another example of missed opportunities on the part of the Romeny Administration.

In closing she described the state from when she was growing up as one that presented opportunity. Today she reflected on how many, especially young professionals are leaving the state. She hopes to restore Massachusetts to become a place that again offers opportunity and a bright future to its young and talented people. She is prepared to work with any Democratic nominee for the Governor’s office.

 

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:

Previous Balance	$1272.14
Dues received	$50.00
Donation to Fram. Green	$100.00
Bal as of 4/10/05	$1222.14

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.