Framingham Democratic Town Committee

Minutes of November 13, 2005

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

Meeting was chaired by Debby Blumer as Norma Shulman was not in attendance.

Attendance

Members: Debby Blumer, Jerry Desilets, Donna Howard, Chris Lorant, Waldo Lyon, Tom Mahoney, Kathie McCarthy, Sarah Micciche, Terene Micciche, Valerie Mulvey, Mary Murphy, Joan Rastani, Chris Ross, Alan Silver, Rochelle Sivan, John Stefanini, Cheryl Tully Stoll, Parwez Wahid

Associate Members: Pam Roberts, Steve Robinson, Sue Elwyn, Carrie Daley,

Recent Associates: AJ Mulvey

Guest speakers: Rep. Peter Koutoujian, District Attorney Martha Coakley

Elected Officials: Senator Karen Spilka

Guests: Bob Cassidy (DSC), Martin Mulvey, Ilma Paxicon

Treasurer’s report

Previous Balance	$1549.98
Dues received	$40.00
Dividends	0
Other Income	0
Net Income	$40.00
Itemized Expenses	0
Net Expenses	0
Balance as of 10/16/05	$1588.98

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

There are 20 paid regular members.

17 members owing dues for 2004-05: R. Berman, R. Black, R. Blum, C. Cunningham, L. Fields, E. Hopkins, R. Litter, D. Magnani, T. Mahoney, S. Mercandetti, T. Micciche, C. Monzon, M Murphy, B Muto, C. Ross, J. Stefanini, F. Tolson

(Several of the members owing dues paid during the November meeting.)

There are 3 paid associate members.

Treasurer’s report was accepted.

Concerning the overdue membership fees, Jerry Desilets motioned to authorize the Treasurer to issue reminder notices to those members still owing dues. Motion was passed with the understanding there will be mailing expenses incurred.

Minutes for the October meeting were accepted with one correction to include Joan Rastani in the attendance.

PROGRAM:

Martha Coakley, candidate for Attorney General, introduced by Rochelle Sivan.

Originally from North Adams, Ms. Coakley resides in Medford. She began her presentation by promising to be brief and quipping that “a lecture is a long answer to a question that was never asked”! She regards herself as an “accidental politician”. After several years as a prosecutor, she made the decision to try for the office of District Attorney. Middlesex County has about 25% of the state’s population making the job of District Attorney all the more challenging. An important lesson she learned as the County DA was that after offenders have been caught many of the cases show that there were lost opportunities for earlier intervention that might have prevented the individual from going the path of criminal offense.

Coakley stated her experiences in serving as the District Attorney now position her to be the next Attorney General for the Commonwealth. Addressing the needs of homeland security, assuring the preparedness of the local police and fire departments and working with Federal agencies. Also the need to be prepared for potential disasters such as the hurricane in the Gulf or locally, the dam in Taunton.

Through her experience in the DA office, Ms. Coakley feels she can work with other departments of government in addressing the most pressing issues that citizens face. Identifying a matter as legislative or needing financial support are the types of questions that Ms. Coakley believes she is capable of handling. She states that she has been successful in working with the state’s legislators on subjects such as sex offenders and child/elderly safety.

Consumer protection, assuring health insurance coverage, fair credit protection, environmental concerns are all areas where the Attorney General’s office becomes the voice for the people. On the subject of environmental protection, Ms. Coakley commented that the Federal Government had nearly abrogated this responsibility to the states; as such the Attorney General’s office becomes a key agent in addressing environmental issues. The AG’s office address civil rights issues concerning discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender and gender orientation.

Another area for the Attorney General’s office concerns business development. Ms. Coakley described how Massachusetts has one foot in the 21st century and one in the 20th century. By this she meant that new businesses pursuing bio-tech often encounter archaic laws that are not directly applicable. Until recently the District Attorney would decide on such matters, however that was not the true function of the DA and it requires that the Attorney General be able to intervene and provide the leadership needed.

Ms. Coakley commented that all of these areas that the Attorney General addresses become vital for the on-going development of the state. Massachusetts has become an expensive state to live in and the Attorney General can play an important regulatory role in making the state more affordable so that population and jobs do not leave the state. Keeping the hi-tech jobs in Massachusetts would be vital to take advantage of the state’s tremendous education and research base.

Her last remark was concerning the Corner Office at the State House. As the Democratic Party has not won a gubernatorial election in almost 20 years, Ms. Coakley feels this is because most voters see the opposing party as more “competent”. She felt it important that Democrats demonstrate their competence in order to win the Corner Office in 2006.

Peter Koutoujian, candidate for Middlesex County District Attorney, introduced by Debby Blumer.

Mr. Koutoujian, currently State Rep for the 10th Middlesex, is from Waltham and grew up in a family that took pride in public service. His mother was a teacher and his father a city clerk for over 30 years. He graduated from Bridgewater State and New England School of Law and earned an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government. As a former prosecutor he has handled thousands of cases, many in the Framingham District Court.

Mr. Koutoujian believes his career path has prepared him to be the County’s next District Attorney. In his estimate the District Attorney’s office can impact peoples lives more than any other elected office in the state, in particular where it comes to dealing with offenders and predators. He feels the DA should have 3 priorities: (1) Public Safety, (2) Working with victims and families, and (3) Work with local police authorities.

His background as a experienced legislator, trained manager and proven legislator has made him ready to be the next District Attorney for Middlesex County; he asked the Committee members for their support in his campaign.

BUSINESS:

The Democratic Caucus in Framingham will be on February 5th at Cameron Middle School. Registration is at 12noon, the caucus proceedings commence at 1:15pm. There was some discussion to move the caucus date to February 4th since the Super Bowl would be on the 5th, thus potentially reducing participation. Donna Howland, who had attended a caucus training session earlier that day, reported that the State Committee prefers all caucus across the state to occur on the same date. (Contrary to the caucus window of Feb 4 to Feb 12 announced several months ago.)

The decision to hold the caucus on the 5th was a Committee decision made at a previous meeting as an agenda item. Also the date was selected within the established window. Debby Blumer took a poll of the members in attendance to get a sense of the date preferred. (This was not an official vote to change the caucus date.) More members indicated preference to go with February 4th.

Further reporting on the training, Donna stated that following the caucus the DTC Chair would be able to enter the caucus results information on-line (speeding up the reporting process). The number of delegates remains at 35 for Framingham with the DTC Chair as an automatic (included in the count of 35). Alternates is reduced to 3. Those who wish to participate in the caucus must be registered by December 31, 2005 unless the individual is serving in the armed forces.

There will be a roll call vote for delegates at 11am on the Saturday of the convention. Delegates must be present in the area designated for their Senate district. Delegates who may be working for a candidate can be excused from the roll call by checking with the teller upon arriving at the convention hall. There will be simultaneous voting for more than one office. If there remain only 2 candidates for Governor, then the voting will first be for Governor and Lt. Governor. If there are more than 2 candidates for governor, the voting will first be for Lt. Governor and Secretary of State, followed by voting for Governor. Convention registration fee is $75.

Alan Silver mentioned how during the last nominating caucus there were questions on how the proceedings were being conducted with regards to slates. He asked if there would be any attempt to form a unity slate at the caucus and if so would there be any efforts to clarify such a process ahead of time. Debby Blumer replied that a special meeting would be needed for the purpose of forming a unity slate, however there had been no such discussion among the DTC on this subject. She added that a sub-committee will be needed to organize the logistics of conducting the caucus itself. Those interested in serving on the caucus organizing sub-committee should express their interest to the DTC Chair.

The nominating committee to fill the Affirmative Action/Outreach Advisor position currently has only one person serving: Archie Lyon who was appointed at the October meeting. No additional volunteers were willing to serve this committee. The Chair will be asked to approach the membership.

Bob Cassidy announced the MNW Alliance meeting for November 29th in Ashland, with Mike Festa (candidate for DA) and Andrea Silbert (candidate for Lt. Gov) as the guest speakers.

Also Bob Cassidy announced that a House Bill on health care is being considered. This is a bill similar to what had been proposed during the Dukakis Administration during the 1980s but was dismantled by the Weld Administration during the 90s. Bob urged the Committee to become familiar with the bill and ask their legislators to support it.

In connection to this bill, Senator Karen Spilka announced a health-fair taking place at Keefe Tech.