Framingham Democratic Town Committee

Heritage Framingham 747 Water St. Framingham, MA 01701

Meeting Minutes – Sunday, November 20, 2016 at 7:00 PM

Call to Order: Chair Beverly Hugo called the meeting to order at 7:04 PM.

1. Announcements: 

• Happy Birthday to Representative-elect Jack Lewis of 7th Middlesex District. 
• Chair Beverly Hugo listed FDTC’s accomplishments in NH: victories for Hillary Clinton, Annie Custer, Carol Shea-Porter, and Maggie Hassan.

2. Attendance: Members:Elsa Aviza, Lori Bornstein, Jeanne Bullock, Carmen Chico, Jack Duffy, Jeanne Eversley, Adam Freudberg, Beverly Hugo, Michael Hugo, Steve Joyce, Barbara LeDuc, Jack Lewis, Chris Lorant, Tom Mahoney, Kathie McCarthy, Joan Rastani, Margareth Shepard, Norma Shulman, Jim Stockless, P. Nandi Varis, Parwez Wahid, Rep. Chris Walsh, Mel Warshaw, Cynthia Villanueva. Lifetime Members:Betty Muto, John Stefanini.  Associate Members: Barbara Fontes, Rosamond Hooper-Hamersley. Guests: Preston Crow, Geraldo Fontes, Heloisa Fontes, Sara Fontes, Cheryl Gordon, Alexandria Griffin, Makeda Keegan, Ohad Klopman, Aparna Kumas, Prabhat Kumas, Sripriya Moorthy, Amanda Northrup, Pam Roberts, Erica Toochin, Ella Toochin-Treglia, Harmony Walbridge, Kimberlee Walbridge.  
3. October 13, 2016 Minutes:Secretary Barbara LeDuc                Approved with one abstention.
4. Treasurer’s Report:Treasurer Margareth Shepard                    Approved unanimously

A total income of $922.29 and expenses of $1,436.10 decreased the 10-16-2016 balance of $3,260.82 to $2,747.01.  

5. Reports:

• Chris Walsh was recognized for obtaining the waiver to use the rented handicap ramp at the Coordinated Campaign Office. Without this, we would have been unable to use the Office.
• Sara Fontes was recognized for all of her hard work on behalf of Jack Lewis. FDTC members expressed their appreciation for her helpfulness, especially to the canvassers and callers! 
• Parwez announced that Gus Bickford has been elected as the new Chairman of the MA Democratic Party. He is known for his ability to analyze political data, remain accessible, and to understand Democratic Party rules.
• Norma announced a Democratic Party Rules Committee change: same – day Democratic Party registration will now be permissible as regards election at the caucuses.  The registration may be done electronically or the paperwork can be completed and given to the Chair. Also, now 16 and 17 year-olds who pre-register to vote can participate in the caucus and convention.
• Parwez announced that the caucus window is set for early February to the first weekend in March.  Framingham’s caucus as scheduled for Feb. 12th falls within the window.
• Jack Lewis thanked his supporters and expressed his gratitude to Brett Walker and Phil Jack.

6. Program: Lessons learned from the Presidential election:Many members shared their thoughts on the election loss and opinions on how the Democratic Party should proceed for the future.  John Stefanini spoke on his work in NY & PA combating voter fraud.  Mike Hugo showed a cell phone video he took showing a possible voter fraud incident in Nashua, NH. Parwez asked member to donate to Foster Campbell’s campaign in Louisiana runoff. Norma noted Mike Dukakis is speaking at the Costin Room of the Framingham Public Library on Dec. 2. Bob Cassidy noted early voters in Framingham numbered 10,200.  Chris Walsh noted change now is fast, so the Democratic Party must attend to “blue collar Dems”. Joan Rastani said we should work to standardize voting machines across the U.S.to the type used in MA. It was noted that 43% of voters nationwide did not vote.
7. Continuation of Bylaws discussion:
8. Article 3, Section 7:There shall be an Executive Committee consisting of each of the elected officers as enumerated in Sections 2 through 6 of this Article.  Up to two additional members named by the Chair may be appointed to the Executive Committee with the assent of a majority vote of the officers. (Passed in Subcommittee by a vote of 4-1-0).

The issue was whether the E.C. should be comprised of just the 5 elected officers, or add 2 more seats for DSC members, or add 2 more seats for newer members to groom them for future involvement. After considerable discussion, a motion was made by Jack Duffy (seconded by M. Warshaw) that “The EC shall consist of the five elected officers.”  However it was noted that all members are welcome to attend EC meetings. The motion passed on a vote of 22-2-1. (A count of FDTC members showed that there were 25 voting members present.)

1. Article 4,§1 concerning the Annual Meetingwas approved by the Subcommittee 5-0-0. 

(a)   The Annual Meeting of the Committee shall be held no later than the regularly scheduled business meeting for the month of April in non-presidential election years.

 (b) An Organizational Meeting for the purpose of electing officers shall be held every two years during the Annual Meeting. In presidential election years, the Committee shall organize at the Annual Meeting within ten days following the thirtieth day after the presidential primary election.

 (c)    Each April meeting of the Committee which is not an Organizational Meeting, shall be designated as an Annual Meeting for purposes of establishing the calendar year of the Committee, and dues for the new year shall become due at this meeting.   

The change was approved by the full FDTC unanimously.

1. Article 1discussion regarding endorsing candidates will be held at our January 8 meeting.
2. Comments:

Bev thanked everyone who brought snacks for tonight’s meeting, and especially Jeanne Bullock for her constant hard work running the Hospitality Committee!

Also, thanks to the folks who brought donations for Daniel’s Table.   The charity for the December 4 Holiday Party, to be held here at Heritage from 6 to 8 PM, will be the children living at the Pathways Shelter.  Bev will provide further information about the number and ages of the children.

All business being concluded, the meeting was adjourned at 9:10 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Barbara LeDuc, Secretary