Framingham Green 136 Maynard Road, Framingham, MA 01701

Minutes – Sunday, November 9, 2014 at 7 PM

Jerry thanked all of the members who assisted with the recent campaigns, and most notably Norma Shulman and Anne Manning, for their many hours of hard work! Framingham did very well (as did Natick) for the Coakley campaign, but all of the towns to the west of Framingham voted for the Republican candidate.  We must now start building a foundation for the Presidential campaign.

1.  Attendance:  Members: Elsa Aviza, Jeanne Bullock, Carmen Chico, Jeffrey Cox, Jerry Desilets, Jack Duffy, Patrick Dunne, Jeanne Eversley, Adam Freudberg, Beverly Hugo, Michael Hugo, Steve Joyce, Lloyd Kaye, Barbara LeDuc, Christopher Lorant, Tom Mahoney, Kathie McCarthy, Stephanie Mercandetti, Ilma Paixao, Ram Raagas, Norma Shulman, P. Nandi Varris, Parwez Wahid,  Mel Warshaw. Lifetime Members: none. Associate Members: none. Guests: Robert Cassidy, Kate Donaghue, Maria Lucia Evangelista, Robin Lin, Anne Manning, Brenda Sheehan, Donna Smith,       Sheri Thomas.

2. Candidate/Guest Forum:

·         Sen. Karen Spilka thanked the FDTC for all of the work done by committee members.  She reminded the members that the TEA party is still present in MA, and thus our future activities should include minorities and youth education. 

·         Bob Cassidy spoke on behalf of Treasurer-elect Deb Goldberg to thank Framingham for the 61% vote (equaling 10,955 votes), and thanking the Framingham coordinators: Phil Ottaviani, State Rep. Chris Walsh, and Chris Lorant for their hard work.

·         Jerry Desilets congratulated our local officials, all of whom were re-elected: Rep. Chris Walsh, Rep. Tom Sannicandro, and Sen. Karen Spilka.

3.  10/19/2014 Minutes: Secretary Barbara LeDuc                          Approved unanimously

4. Treasurer’s Report:  Treasurer Mel Warshaw                            Approved unanimously

A total income of $20.34, less total expenses of $276.62 decreased the 10-19-2014 balance of $2,461.45 to $2,225.49.  Two members have yet to pay their dues.

Thus far this year, the Treasurer has filed three Campaign Finance Reports and three more detailed Income and Expense Statements with the Office of Political and Campaign Finance.

5. Report on Election Results:

·         Jack Duffy noted that democrats do well with GOTV, but we need to focus on voter education.

·         Norma Shulman stated there were substantial differences between Framingham precincts, for example Precinct 17, which was heavily canvassed. (A table appears below listing the unofficial gubernatorial votes in Framingham precincts [thanks to Stephanie Mercandetti]).

·         Anne Manning reported that Coakley won in Natick by 61 votes.

·         Bev Hugo attended an Advocacy meeting on Saturday with Chris Horan of Horan Communications, an advisor to Mayor Menino. He recommended that all town committees have a Communication Subcommittee giving weekly output.

·         Other comments regarding the campaign:

·         The Democratic Party nominating process needs changing; we need to add an education arm to this committee.

·         A lot of PAC money came into MA to provide misinformation; there was no response to it by democrats.

·         A new political party, the United Independent Party, has plans to put forward progressive candidates in MetroWest, and will compete with Democrats for votes.

·         The Coakley campaign was disorganized, but only lost by 1.8% of the vote.

·         To learn for the future, we need to distinguish between shortcomings of the candidates and the shortcomings of the campaign management.

Motion: Mel Warshaw made a motion to create a Public Education Subcommittee with the purpose of educating voters about government and politics. The motion was seconded, discussed, and passed unanimously.  FDTC members Carmen Chico, Jeff Cox, Pat Dunne, Jack Duffy, Bev Hugo, Mike Hugo, Lloyd Kaye, Barbara LeDuc, Kathie McCarthy, and Mel Warshaw volunteered to serve on this subcommittee. An invitation to additional FDTC members will be sent by the Secretary.

6. Report on Outreach:

·         Karen Spilka reminded the committee that 16 and 17 year-olds can now be registered to vote, although they cannot vote until they are 18 years old.

·         Bob Cassidy noted that consistently only 14% of 18-25 year-olds actually vote.

·         Jeff Cox has found difficulty getting responses from Party officials.  Kate Donaghue offered to assist.

·         Anne Manning suggested that many colleges now use TurboVote to remind students to vote.

·         Ilma Paixao has had several meetings with the Brazilian community

7. Subcommittees:  Mel Warshaw will convene a meeting of the Legislative Subcommittee after this Wednesday. Members should speak to Mel after tonight’s meeting.

8. Announcements:

·   The Holiday Party will be held December 7.  The time will be changed to 5-8PM, as it is more convenient for members and elected officials. Volunteers to assist Jeanne Bullock with planning the party are Parwez Wahid, Norma Shulman, Mike and Bev Hugo, and Mel Warshaw.  Additional volunteers (and cooks!) are welcome.

·   Kate Donahue invited FDTC members to the Westborough Holiday Party on Dec. 14.               Sen. Warren has promised to attend if her staff permits.

·   Saturday morning over coffee will be held on Nov. 22.

·   Barbara LeDuc asked if any members were interested in pledging money to buy a brick for the new McAuliffe Library, to be donated by the FDTC. Bricks cost $100 or $250 depending on size.  An email will be sent to determine interest and solicit pledges.

9. Charitable donations:  Tonight’s donations are for the Curtis Family Thanksgiving Dinner. (Tax deductible checks may be made out to the “United Way – Curtis Family Thanksgiving Dinner”). The charity for the December Holiday Party is to be announced. For 2015, several charities were suggested; Bev Hugo will compile a list.

Thank you to Jeanne Bullock for her work on Hospitality!

The next FDTC business meeting will be on January 11, 2015.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 PM.

Respectfully submitted by Barbara LeDuc, Secretary

—————————————————————–

Unofficial vote tally, Framingham by precinct:

Precinct            Coakley            Baker

1                      756                   765

2                      775                   774

3                      662                   529

4                      785                   805

5                      749                   672

6                      723                   709

7                      620                   619

8                      697                   541

9                      453                   379

10                     346                   233

11                     794                   817

12                     389                   267

13                     514                   318

14                     332                   165

15                     436                   201

16                     222                   101

17                     263                   58

18                     308                   203

total                  9824                 8156