Framingham Green 136 Maynard Road, Framingham, MA 01701

Minutes – Sunday, September 14, 2014 at 7 PM

1. Candidate/Guest Forum: The following candidates and officials offered comments (limited to two minutes), followed by questions from FDTC members / attendees:

·         Deb Goldberg, Democratic nominee for Massachusetts State Treasurer.

·         Marian Ryan, Democratic nominee for District Attorney of Middlesex County.

·         Tom Sannicandro, candidate for re-election as State Representative, 7th Middlesex District.

·         Carmine Gentile, nominee for State Representative,13th Middlesex District.

·         Chris Walsh, candidate for re-election as State representative, 6th Middlesex District.

·         Juanita Love Davis introduced Paula Costa, the MetroWest Field Organizer for Martha Coakley, who spoke on behalf of the Coakley / Kerrigan campaign.

·         Lauren Fowler, Field Organizer, spoke on behalf of Katherine Clark, nominee for re-election to the US House of Representatives, 5th District of Massachusetts.

·         James Arena DeRosa spoke on behalf of the Coordinated Campaign.

·         Norma Shulman spoke on behalf of Maura Healey, nominee for Attorney General of MA.

·         Tom Barbera, a Democratic State Committee member who recently moved to Framingham, introduced himself to the FDTC members.

2. Update on the Coordinated Campaign:

Sen. Ben Downing (Berkshire, Hampshire and Franklin District) and Matt Fenlon (Executive Director, MA Democratic Party).

Sen. Downing noted that the coordinated campaign had worked over the summer to contact voters who previously had voted only in Presidential elections.  Now, they will be working to extend that group of voters.  There will be at least two more “Weekends of Action” before the general election; the first will be next weekend. There will be a volunteer summit meeting on the 28th in Worcester.  In addition, they will be opening as many campaign offices as possible: the Framingham office will be on Route 9 at the location previously used by the Markey campaign.  Sen. Downing reminded the FDTC that Massachusetts has been first in job creation under Democratic governors, while the state ranked 47th under Republican governors.

Matt Fenlon discussed the positions of the Republican candidate: Charlie Baker opposes universal pre-school and earned sick time.  He laid off about 5 thousand employees, while earning $1.7 million yearly, and cut the DCF budget when he was Secretary of Health & Human Services of MA.  Defeating Charlie Baker will require many hours of volunteer work.

Committee members noted additional differences between the positions of the parties such as support for mass transportation, support for various ethnic groups, elder affairs, and economics (blue states have the best economies).  Furthermore, the Republican Lt. Governor nominee is a TEA party advocate. 

3.  Attendance:  Members: Tom Barbera, Jeanne Bullock, Carmen Chico, Jeffrey Cox, Jerry Desilets, Jack Duffy, Patrick Dunne, Adam Freudberg, Beverly Hugo, Michael Hugo, Steve Joyce, Lloyd Kaye, Barbara LeDuc, Brian LeFort, Christopher Lorant, Tom Mahoney, Stephanie Mercandetti, Betty Muto, Ilma Paixao, Ram Raagas, Joan Rastani, Norma Shulman, Cheryl Tully-Stoll, Parwez Wahid,  Chris Walsh, Mel Warshaw. Lifetime Members: none. Associate Members: none. Guests: Wade Blackman, Robert Cassidy, David Cepone, Paula Costa, Juanita Love Davis, James Arena DeRosa, Ben Downing, Matt Fenlon, Michael Foley, Lauren Fowler, Carmen Gentile, Deb Goldberg, Brian Lynch, Anne Manning, Marian Ryan, Donna Smith, and Sheri Thomas.

4.  6/8/2014 Minutes: Secretary Barbara LeDuc                              Approved unanimously

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

A total income of $316.04, less total expenses of $ 304.22, increased the 6-8-2014 balance of $3,889.29 to 3,901.11.   Several members paid their current dues. The Committee voted to authorize the Treasurer to reimburse Wade Blackman for expenses related to the cookout. 

6. Reports from the subcommittees:

Program Subcommittee: Bev Hugo announced that the subcommittee had met on Aug. 7 at “Saturday Morning Over Coffee”.  Both the cookout and the District Attorney candidates’ debate are completed.  On October 6 in the Blumer Room of the Framingham library there will be a panel discussion examining both the pro and con positions of each of the four ballot initiatives. Secretary of State Bill Galvin will make the introductions.  Bev also submitted a list of potential program topics developed by the committee, in order to gauge the topics of greatest interest.

Legislative Subcommittee: To avoid distracting from the election, the subcommittee will not meet until after the general election on November 9.  The last day to file new legislation for this term is Jan. 15, 2015.  Upcoming topics include instant runoff voting, and unconstitutional laws. All members who wish to have input on topics are encouraged to email Mel Warshaw.

By-Law Subcommittee:   Mike Hugo announced that the subcommittee held its first meeting prior to the FDTC meeting, and produced many good suggestions for updating our By-laws.  Further information will be forthcoming.

7.  Announcements:

·         Parwez announced that next year’s State Convention will be held on September 19 in Springfield.  This is a substantial change in the scheduling. This will also move the caucus window for electing delegates; the DSC Rules Committee will announce the new caucus window in due time.

·         Norma Shulman announced that the election results are detailed in today’s MetroWestDaily News. The first coordinated campaign canvass will take place on Sunday, Sept. 21, starting from the Rte. 9 office.

·         Barbara LeDuc announced that the report from last month’s Alliance meeting will be distributed electronically.

8. Charitable donations:  Tonight’s donations are for A Place to Turn, a food bank which serves MetroWest families; the donations will be delivered by Norma Shulman.  The Pathways and Pearl Street Shelters will be the charities for  the October 19th meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 PM.

Respectfully submitted by Barbara LeDuc, Secretary