Framingham Democratic Committee
Framingham Green Community Room
136 Maynard Rd., Framingham, MA 01701
Meeting Minutes – Sunday, March 24, 2019

Call to Order: Chair Beverly Hugo called the meeting to order at 7:10 PM

Announcements & Updates:
– Dues are payable as of April 1; they are $20 voluntary donation for voting Members, $15 for
Associate Members, with waivers granted upon request to the Treasurer.
– Subcommittee assignments are being reviewed for the year. Please let Beverly know if you
would like to join a different/additional subcommittee. Members will be limited to two
subcommittees as a voting member, with all subcommittee meetings open to all Regular and
Associate Members.
– The FDC is in need of a couple of members to take over the Hospitality Committee: Amanda
Northrup is unable to arrive early for meetings.
– Our Framingham caucus to elect delegates to the state convention will be held on May 19.
Registrants must be 16 years old by May 11 th for possible election; fee waivers are available.
To run for Delegate or Alternate, one must be a registered or pre-registered Democrat by the
time of the caucus. The Chair asked for people to please not run for Delegate/Alternate if
they will be unable to attend the State Convention in Springfield on September 14.
– Our new FDC banner is under design.
– The next DSC meeting is on April 6 at 10 AM in Marshfield.
– Signature papers for local offices will be available on May1 at the office of the City Clerk.
– Volunteers for Elizabeth Warren will assemble to use Hustle on Thursday March 28, at 5:30PM, at the Green. Please bring your laptop (easiest) or smart phone.

Attendance: Members: Craig (Chris) Broyles, Robert Case, Carmen Chico, Jack Duffy, Patrick
Dunne, Linda Fields, Adam Freudberg, Kurt Fusaris, Rosamond Hooper-Hamersley, Beverly Hugo, Michael Hugo, Barbara LeDuc, Rep. Jack Lewis, Christopher Lorant, Kathie McCarthy, Amanda Northrop, Joan Rastani, Rep. Maria Duaime Robinson, Margareth B. Shepard, Norma Shulman, Larry Stoodt, Cheryl Tully Stoll, Parwez Wahid, Mel Warshaw. Lifetime Members: none. Associate Members: Mary Kate Feeney, Douglas Lawrence, Sen. David Magnani, Vanessa Poindexter, Dhruba Sen, Priscila Sousa. Guests: Rob Floyd, Isabella Petroni, Susan Petroni.

Reports:
Beacon Hill:
Beverly offered congratulations to Rep. Jack Lewis who was recently elected to be Co-Chair of the House Progressive Caucus.
Rep. Maria Duaime Robinson discussed the hearing on the Promise Act (sponsored by Sonia Chang-Diaz) held last Friday. The Promise Act would yield the greatest increase in financial assistance to Framingham, approximately $10 million dollars. There are other plans being proposed but there are no financial predictions as yet.

Rep. Lewis noted this is a busy month for the legislature due to evaluation of budget items. The bill to ban Conversion Therapy has passed the House. Representatives are working to maintain abortion funding if the federal government removes the current funding. The ceiling on Welfare payments depending on the number of children in the family is being challenged.

Reps. Lewis and Robinson answered questions on the Promise Act and funding for MA state
universities. Former Senator David Magnani spoke on language he had testified to on Friday to add to Chapter 70 to increase support for parents. (See “Exhibit A” attached below.)

City Council:
– City Councilor Cheryl Tully Stoll stated that the Mayor has established a Youth Council, and
appointments are pending; Ms. Tully Stoll noted that the population of homeless 19-22-year olds is increasing in Framingham. A Citizen Participation Officer has been appointed by the Mayor, also.
– Councilor Margareth Shepard spoke today at an immigrant meeting. Ms. Shepard urged that
Brazilian citizens need more guidance on how to follow Framingham regulations. Beverly offered congratulations to Margareth for being selected for the Women Making History Now award at Framingham State University.

School Committee:
– Chairman Adam Freudberg noted the School Committee will be working to finalize the
budget so as to deliver it to the Mayor early. The Committee has hired a demographics firm to
produce projection data through 2029.

Charity: FDC Member Carmen Chico spoke on behalf of next month’s charity: Hoops and
Homework. Ms. Chico is on the staff and tutors English Language Learners in that program.
Program: Civics Education in Framingham Pat Dunne, chair of the Civics Education Subcommittee, acknowledged the members of the Subcommittee: Rozzy Hooper-Hamersley, Adam Steiner, Cindy Rubin, Carmen Chico, Jack Duffy, Margareth Shepard, Kathy McCarthy, Barbara Fontes, Robert Case, and Joan Rastani. Pat noted the Subcommittee is working to insure more informed voters. Over the past year, the Subcommittee has developed information flyers for distribution at the Callahan Senior Center, the Framingham Library, and other sites. Also, it is working on an analysis of voting in the “poor turnout”; precincts and planning a campaign to emphasize why voting is important in those precincts.

– Isabella Petroni, a student at the High School talked about the formation of a Youth Council. An Action Civics Commission is being formed at the HS and will focus on voter registration. Also, the issue of excessive homework is being studied as a measure to curb high levels of student anxiety and depression at Framingham High School.
– Chair Beverly Hugo read a letter from the high school Black Student Union. The BSU is developing a safe space to have discussions on race.
-The Young Democrats group at Framingham State University is just now returning from Spring
Break and will attend a future meeting to discuss cooperative action between the college population and the FDC.

Resolution to Support the "Green New Deal" by Larry Stoodt. A motion to support the Resolution was made by Kathy McCarthy and seconded by Kurt Fusaris. Dhruba Sen asked why the word “fracking”; was dropped from the original version. Larry replied the current version is only a framework and will be filled in with future discussions. The motion passed unanimously. The Resolution appears below as “Exhibit B.”

Secretary’s Report: the minutes of the Feb. 24, 2019, FDC meeting will be approved at the next
meeting. Former secretary Barbara LeDuc is serving as secretary this evening since Barbara Fontes is out-of-state.
Treasurer’s Report: Larry Stoodt
The January 31, 2018, balance of $4,038.24 plus income of $60.31 and zero expenses yielded a
balance on February 28, 2019, of $4,098.55. The Treasurer's Report was approved unanimously.

Subcommittee Reports:
Civics Education: see above.

Communication: Mike Hugo thanked Norma for her on the Facebook group. Mr. Hugo informed
members that they should expect the Draft Minutes and Agenda a week prior to the meeting, and that the finalized Agenda, Draft Minutes and any supporting materials for the next meeting would be emailed to all members over the weekend prior to the meeting, hopefully by Sunday morning, however, they could come as late as Sunday afternoon if materials for distribution are not submitted to him further in advance. Because we are environmentally conscious, Mr. Hugo urged all members to print and bring whatever copies they wanted to have with them at the meeting, and that only very limited – if any – copies would be supplied. Mr. Hugo urged members to contact him if they could not print copies and wanted them.

Legislative & Advocacy: Kurt Fusaris and Barbara LeDuc: The “Compassion and Choices”
legislation is successfully through its first legislative committee hearing on Beacon Hill. The “Green New Deal” resolution has been passed by the FDC (above.) Discussion of education funding, both local and at the university level, continues.

Outreach: See comments of Councilor Shepard, above.

Programming: Rozzy Hooper-Hamersley noted there will be discussion of the Census kickoff in
Framingham on April 1.

Democratic State Committee Report:
Parwez: there will be upcoming workshops for committee chairs on April 7 and April 28 in the 5th Congressional District; for choosing national delegates, Congressional District caucuses will be on April 26, 2020 and add-on delegates for the national convention will be chosen on May 16, 2020.
Chris Lorant noted that the next DSC meeting will be on April 6 in Marshfield from 10-12noon. The doors will open at 9 AM. Election of two new Associate Members: Kim Comatas and Arun Narayanan were elected with no votes opposed and one abstention. Robert Floyd announced he wanted to join as an Associate Member in April. He is from Framingham, and recently moved his family back here.

Members voted to move the April meeting from April 7 to the 28th.

Pat Dunne mentioned that discussion of implementing the Community Preservation Act in
Framingham will be upcoming.

All business being concluded, a motion to adjourn passed; adjournment was at 9:05 PM

Respectfully submitted,
Barbara LeDuc, Secretary Pro tem
ACCEPTED April 28, 2019