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.