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 · [email protected]