FDTC Minutes of June 10, 2007

Framingham Democratic Town Committee

Minutes of June 10, 2007

Attendance

Members: Elsa Aviza, Nancy Coville Wallace, Pat Dunne, Stephanie Mercandetti, Sarah Micciche, Terene Micciche, Valerie Mulvey, Norma Shulman, Alan Silver, Rochelle Sivan, Cheryl Tully Stoll, Parwez Wahid

Associate Members: Christopher Broyles, Kristin Harkness, Beverly Hugo, Lloyd Kaye, Farooq Mirza, Rep. Pam Richardson, Pamela Roberts

Guests: Phil Dinsky, Claire Farragher, Dawn Harkness

Guest Speaker: Lee Gartenberg

Business

  • Treasurer’s Report from Nancy Coville-Wallace):
Cash on Hand as of 5/06/07 1466.86
Dues Received 20.00
Dividends
Other Income:
Net Income 20.00
Itemized Expenses
Net Expenses  
Balance as of 6/10/07 1486.86

 

 

Dues as of June 9:

  • Members owing dues for 2006-07: 3 unpaid members; 34 paid. Paid up members: E. Aviza, B. Berman, R. Black, R. Blum, R. Cotton, N. Coville Wallace, G. Desilets, P. Dunne, L. Fields, B. Haberman, E. Hopkins, D. Howland, S. Khan, R. Litter, C. Lorant, D. Magnani, T. Mahoney, K. McCarthy, S. Mercandetti, S. Micciche, T. Micciche, C. Monzon, V. Mulvey, B. Muto, P. Ottaviani, J. Rastani, C. Ross, N. Shulman, A. Silver, R. Sivan, J. Stefanini, C. Tully Stoll, P. Wahid
  • Members owing dues for 2007-08: 26 unpaid; 11 paid. Paid up Members: E. Aviza, N. Coville Wallace, E. Hopkins, D. Howland, S. Khan, C. Lorant, S. Micciche, N. Shulman, A. Silber, R. Sivan, P. Wahid
  • Associate Members owing dues for 2006-07: 15 paid
  • Associate Members owing dues for 2007-08: 6 paid, 10 unpaid.
  • Minutes (Rochelle Sivan): Minutes from May 7 accepted.
  • Impressions from the Convention:
  • It was noted that there was no real discussion about the pros and cons of the resolutions that were voted on, and barely any time was given for debate.
  • There was a lack of handicapped parking
  1. The proposed FDTC meeting schedule was voted on, and was accepted with one amendment – the October meeting will be on October 14 instead of the 7th.
  2. Parwez discussed putting the 35 members of the FDTC on the ballot for the primary election. There are more people interested than the number of available slots. Valerie Mulvey suggested checking if any members are approaching 20 years of membership. Members of twenty years or more are eligible to become members for life, and are not counted as part of the DTC allowed 35 allotment.
  3. There was a discussion about how appropriate it for an announcement about a fundraiser for Nikki Tsongas, one of the candidates running for the fifth Congressional district, to have been sent to the FDTC mailing list, although it was clear from the email that no endorsement was being given. Points made:
  • The FDTC mailing list is a valuable commodity to candidates
  • The FDTC cannot be seen as endorsing one or another primary candidate
  • Framingham residents can’t vote for the 5th district.
  • John Walsh, the Mass. Party chair, thinks that as long as there’s a uniform, known policy, it’s OK to send out information.

The following motion proposed by Alan Silver was passed with 10 ayes and 2 opposed: The FDTC will distribute primary campaign information only in the case where the primary is in a Framingham district, and in that case all Democratic candidates for the primary will be informed about the policy so that nobody will get an unfair advantage.

  1. A request was made for volunteers to man the FDTC tent at the Friday Concerts on the Green.
  2. A letter was read from Donna Howland, who sadly is resigning from the FDTC because of a move to North Hampton.

Announcements:

  • Rev. Faith C. Tolson is changing her status from a full member to an associate member, because of lack of time.
  • Hospitality for next meeting – Pam Richardson and Claire Farragher.

Program:

Lee Gartenberg, the Director Of Inmate Legal Services for the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office, talked about sentencing and CORI Reform. Brief Summary:

Mandatory sentencing is widely seen now as a mistake, as it doesn’t take into consideration the individual’s circumstances, and it overrides judges’ discretion. There are also unintended consequences. For example, the statue against selling drugs in the vicinity of even closed schools has a disproportional effect on minorities who tend to live in more urban and dense neighborhoods where almost every street is close to a school. Mandatory sentencing prevents effective rehabilitation methods such as parole and work release programs. It’s also expensive – it costs 40,000$ a year to lock somebody up and only 5000 – 10000$ for work release programs.

CORI (Criminal record information) needs reform because:

  • It includes court appearances even if the defendant is found innocent
  • It isn’t accurate – the name matching algorithm is not exact, and wrong results aren‘t infrequent.
  • The burden is on the individual to prove himself innocent even in the case of mistaken identity.
  • The information should be more limited in time, and not so widely available.

Next Meeting – September 9, 2007

Rochelle Sivan · (508) 333-5698 · [email protected]