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.

Framingham Democratic Town Committee

Minutes of October 17, 2004

Held at Framingham Green from 7pm to 9pm.

Attendance

Members: Rita Blum, Debbie Blumer, Rosalie Cotton, Nancy Coville Wallace, Jerry Desilets, Linda Fields, Bill Haberman, Esther Hopkins, Donna Howland, Ruth Litter, Kathie McCarthy, Stephanie Mercandetti, Terene Micciche, Sarah Micciche, Cesar Monzon, Valerie Mulvey, Joan Rastani, Chris Ross, Alan Silver, Rochelle Sivan, Norma Shulman, Chery Tully Stoll, Parwez Wahid

Associate Members: Laura Medrano

Others: Brenda Millotte, Members of the Framingham State College Democratic Committee: Jacob Oliveri, Alan Morash, William Cabral,

Minutes of September 19th were accepted with one correction: to add Tom Mahoney to the attendance.

Cesar Monzon, a past member, expressed some dissatisfaction over having been left out of the DTC membership from the last elections. There appeared to be some confusion between the DTC voting process and the State Convention Delegation process.

Treasurer’s Report: $990.67 in the account with recent dues received and payments made. From the previous meeting $600 was paid to the 3 local candidates for their races. The Treasurer’s report was accepted.

A question was raised to move the January meeting date, currently set for January 9th. The date of January 23rd was suggested as it would be after the Martin Luther King long weekend, however it was also pointed out that with town election deadlines, staying with the 9th of January would be preferable. The January meeting date remains January 9, 2005.

The Program Committee distributed forms to the attendance to collect suggestions and ideas for future programs.

Parwez Wahid announced the fund raiser for Congressman Markey that was being hosted by DTC member Shahid Khan on October 24th.

Debby Blumer announced her event for October 26th at Marconi’s restaurant, the new House Speaker Sal DiMasi would be in attendance. (It was mentioned that Debby’s event coincided with Tom Sannicandro’s event at Catch 22 in Ashland; the Speaker would travel from Debby’s event to Tom’s event.)

Stephanie Mercandetti gave information on the David Magnani Celebration taking place on Friday November 19th at the Sheraton Framingham Hotel. There is a $35 per person cost.

Cheryl Tully Stoll mentioned volunteer opportunities to help the candidates.

Jerry Desilets announced he would be hosting a coffee to help the campaign of Tom Sannicandro on October 25 at 5:30pm.

Elections were held to fill vacancies in the DTC membership. There were 3 seats for men and 3 for women. (Norma Shulman mentioned that some recent information she received stated that having an even split of men and women in the membership was not required. We could review this process for the future.)

Floor was opened for nominations, the following were received:

Tom Mahoney, nominated by Parwez Wahid, seconded by Bill Haberman.

Cesar Monzon, nominated by Joan Rastani, seconded by Nancy Coville Wallace.

Rochelle Sivan, nominated by Nancy Coville Wallace, seconded by Debby Blumer.

A list of 8 names was nominated by Parwez Wahid (people who had submitted their interest to be members prior to the meeting) and seconded by Cheryl Tulley Stoll. These nominees were:

Men: Paul Fahey, Bob Berman, Adam Sisitsky, Bob Edwards, Steve Joyce.

Women: Sarah Micciche, Laura Medrano, Valerie Mulvey.

All candidates present were given an opportunity to address the assembly. Written statements that had been submitted prior to the meeting were read.

Stephanie Mercandetti and Joan Rastani conducted the tallying of the ballots.

Norma Shulman announced the results on the floor as follows:

For the 3 men positions: Tom Mahoney, Cesar Monzon, Bob Berman.

For the 3 women positions: Sarah Micciche, Valerie Mulvey, Rochelle Sivan.

Linda Fields and Terene Micciche will volunteer for Publicity Committee.

Program Committee now has Rochelle, Nancy and Paul Fahey.

The vacancy in Vice Chair was filled by Debby Blumer who was elected without opposition. Debby was nominated by Donna Howland, seconded by Jerry Desilets.

Discussion on proposed bylaws amendments. These proposed amendments will be taken up for vote at the November meeting. A two-thirds quorum of the Regular Members must be present in order to vote on the proposals. Two thirds of the Members present must vote in favor of any proposal in order for the amendment to pass.

Norma Shulman reviewed the proposed changes. There were some specific comments on the language that reads ” Committee members shall attend at least half of the scheduled meetings. Failure to generally adhere to this standard may

result in the Committee asking for the member’s resignation and/or not recommending that the member go forward for reelection”. It was stated that the wording “scheduled meetings” was vague and needed clarification.

It was suggested to table this discussion for the November meeting.

It was also suggested that the proposed bylaws be listed individually so that voting could be done on either all amendments at once, or separately so that proposals upon which there would agreement would get passed.

The Secretary has already prepared a document listing the proposals as 20 individual amendments. This document will be circulated to the members prior to the November meeting.

Other campaigning opportunities prior to the elections were discussed. Debby Blumer mentioned that help is needed in New Hampshire; Debby could also use help with visibility on election day. Karen Spilka would need help with phone calls on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. There would be visibility in every town every weekend, the campaign office can be contacted for details. In Framingham, there would be visibility from 9:30AM to 11:30AM at the Edgell Road/Rt. 9 overpass. Valerie Mulvey mentioned the Town could use help at the polls, a $100 stipend is offered.

Framingham Democratic Town Committee

Minutes of September 19, 2004

Held at Framingham Green from 7pm to 9pm.

Attendance

Members: Steve Blesofsy, Debbie Blumer, Nancy Coville Wallace, Jerry Desilets, Bill Haberman, Esther Hopkins, Donna Howland, Ruth Litter, Chris Lorant, Waldo Lyon, Kathie McCarthy, Terene Micciche, Betty Muto, Marilyn Safian, Norma Shulman, Chery Tully Stoll, Parwez Wahid

Associate Members: Bob Edwards, Tom Sannicandro, Karen Spilka, Rochelle Sivan, Tom Mahoney.

Others: Herb Chasan, Paul Fahey.

The DTC welcomes members of the Framingham State College Democrats: Alex Morash, Jacob Oliveria.

Congratulations to the Primary winners: Karen Spilka and Tom Sannicandro.  Karen and Tom join Debby Blumer on the November ballot.  (Debby did not have a Primary race.)  Jerry Desilets was also acknowledged for his bid in the Primary Elections.  All candidates were given a few minutes to address the assembly.  One of the Primary candidates, Chesley Oriel, was unable to attend but did offer his support to the Democratic nominee in November.  Ginger Esty was out of state, but also indicated her support.  Adam Sisitsky was expected to attend the meeting.

(Karen Spilka is seeking election to the 2nd Middlesex Norfolk State Senate seat, Tom Sannicandro is seeking election to the 7th Middlesex State Representative seat, and Debby Blumer is seeking re-election to the 6th Middlesex State Representative seat.)

All individuals attending the meeting were asked to briefly introduce themselves.

Former Chair, Steve Blesofsky announced that he and Marilyn are leaving Massachusetts for Florida.  They will remain in Framingham until after the November elections.  He thanked the DTC for all its efforts in the various activities they have done together during his term as Chair.

Steve also mentioned the unity breakfast the day after the Primary Elections and described the gracious concession speech given by Jerry Desilets at the unity breakfast.  In this speech Jerry offered his support to Karen Spilka for the November elections.

Various campaigning activities were announced for state candidates and also for Kerry/Edwards.

The May 23rd minutes were accepted with no corrections needed.

Donna Howland submitted the Treasurer’s Report, the DTC has  $990.67 in its account; dues for 2004-05 have not yet been recorded.  At least $700 is expected to be received from the 35 DTC members, plus any additional from Associates.

Bill Haberman made a motion that the DTC contribute $200 to each of the 3 candidates seeking the state level positions (Karen, Tom and Debby).  An amendment to this was offered by Lyn Safian to contribute $100, and then possibly another $100 later.  It was pointed out that the candidates need as much support possible right away, therefore the amount given at this time would be more helpful than money given towards the end of the race.

After discussion the amendment to the motion was voted on first, this being to contribute $100 to the 3 candidates.  The amendment to the motion did not pass, 3 to 12.  The original motion was then voted on, for the DTC to contribute $200 to the 3 candidates.  The motion passed 12 to 3.  (Donna issued checks to all three candidates before the conclusion of the meeting.)

The proposed amendment to the DTC by-laws were presented.  Norma acknowledged the by-laws committee for their efforts.  Norma also gave mention to Nancy Coville Wallace and Rochelle Sivan for their role in the program committee.  Norma also expressed her thanks to Donna and Parwez for keeping up with the business of DTC as Norma herself had been busy with some personal matters during the summer.

Norma summarized the proposed amendments to the by-laws.  These would be brought forth for discussion at the October meeting and then voted upon at the November meeting.  A two-thirds quorum is needed to amend the by-laws.

Some other items mentioned were the vacancies on the DTC Board.  There are presently 3 vacancies (Mat Helman, Barbara Gray and Barbara Magovsky) and 2 more positions will open after Steve and Lyn move to Florida.  One of the vacancies is also an officer position, that Vice-Chair.  These will be filled at the October meeting, nominations are requested from the members for all vacancies.  Norma Shulman should be contacted by anyone who is interested in becoming a regular member of the DTC.

Mat Helman had indicated he would be able to continue to serve as webmaster for the DTC website.  Parwez has been able to make some changes to the webpage and can handle posting minutes and agenda.  The State Committee has offered to host the DTC’s website.

E-mail buddies are needed for the 3 members who do not keep an email account.  An e-mail buddy is a DTC member who assumes responsibility for contacting their “buddy” with any email updates that the DTC issues to its members.  The e-mail buddy would typically call or write to their respective assigned contact to inform them of the updated announcement.

Norma also mentioned the Juniper Bank credit card that makes contributions to the Democratic Party from purchases on the credit card.  If the application form is filled out with code “F07” then the Framingham DTC will get $10 for the first purchase on that credit card.  Norma can be contacted for application forms.

Additional volunteers are needed for the program committee.  The October program might feature a showing of one of the several election related documentary films.  A hospitality committee would also be needed to arrange for refreshments at meetings.

Another need is that of publicity and volunteers are very much needed to address this area.  It was also suggested that a press release be issued to announce the DTC vacancies.

During the Unity Gathering portion of the meeting, all candidates present made a brief address to the assembly; they thanked everyone for their support.  Suggestions were offered with regards to seeking more campaign visibility over the next month and half to the elections.  Debby Blumer reminded that the support available to the Republican candidates from their party should not be under estimated.  There is a link on the John Kerry website that will help instruct how to write and respond to conservative views that are often heard on radio and in editorials.

Primary candidate Jerry Desliets thanked the assembly members for their support to the Democratic candidates.  He emphasized the belief shared by the other Democratic candidates that government is a positive force, that health care is a right for people, that public education is critical for children, that local aid should be fair.  He expressed his support Karen Spilka in the November elections, and urged everyone to give their best support to Tom, Debby and Karen.

Finally Karen Spilka addressed the assembly, also giving thanks for the support received and she acknowledged Jerry for his kind words.  She felt the race did well to bring the important issues to the surface.  The November elections, she described would be a very hard, tough battle.  She also stressed the importance of retaining the three local seats in the Democratic column, and keep the conservative Republican agenda out of the district.

Jessica Kemp, Karen Spilka’s campaign manager, also addressed the assembly, requesting assistance in many different areas for Karen’s campaign.

Herb Chasan was recognized to talk about the Stop Bush meet-up that he has been conducting for several months.  Herb described the activities of the group, which involve registering voters in battleground states.

Last item, a proposal was made to handout Kerry items (bumper stickers, buttons) at the Columbus Day parade, a cost of about $200.  Vote was taken to authorize the Committee to investigate this proposal, passed 14-2