Minutes of November 19, 2017

Minutes November 19, 2017

Framingham Democratic Town Committee

the Community Room, Framingham Green

136 Maynard Rd. Framingham, MA 01701

Meeting Minutes – Sunday, November 19, 2017 at 7:00 PM

Call to Order: Chair Beverly Hugo called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM.

  1. Announcements: Annual dues are now payable to Margareth Shepard, Treasurer.  Dues are $20 dollars for voting Members or $15 for Associate Members.

– In January we will have elections for at least two Member positions, as there are some anticipated resignations or ascensions to Lifetime Member status. New Members are often selected from amongst the Associate Members.

 

– Cynthia Villanueva reported to Beverly that she is cannot continue as Chair of the Affirmative Action and Outreach Subcommittee as she can no longer attend Sunday meetings.

 

– Jeanne Bullock has resigned as Hospitality Chair due to her recent arm injury. We wish her a rapid recovery, and note with some amusement that it will take 3 people, Cindy Rubin, Rosamond Hooper-Hamersley, and Barbara Fontes, to replace her!

 

– Beverly offered congratulations to Yvonne Spicer on her recent election as Mayor. Beverly asked any City Council inductees to introduce themselves: Margareth Shepard, Edgardo Torres, and Adam Steiner were present. Also present were recently elected School Committee members Ohad Klopman (senior student representative), Adam Freudberg, and Beverly Hugo.

 

– Thanks to members who brought toys tonight for holiday gifts for the kids at the Pathways and Pearl St. shelters.  We will continue to collect toys and diapers next month as well.

 

– Our Holiday Party will be Dec. 10 at a location to be determined, probably 6 to 8 PM.

 

– For our January meeting, the speakers will be Jay Gonzalez, candidate for Governor, and Jimmy Tingle, Candidate for Lt. Governor.

 

– Our February 11 meeting will be our annual caucus; the organizing meeting will take place in April, and the state convention will take place on June 1-2.

 

  1. 2. Attendance: Members: Carmen Chico, Jack Duffy, Maureen Dunne, Patrick Dunne, Linda Fields, Adam Freudberg, Beverly Hugo, Michael Hugo, Barbara LeDuc, Chris Lorant, Rep. Jack Lewis, Kathie McCarthy, Cindy Rubin, Margareth Shepard, Norma Shulman, Jim Stockless, Parwez Wahid, Mel Warshaw. Lifetime Members: Associate Members: Robert Case, James DeSimone, Barbara Fontes, Kurt Fusaris, Cheryl Gordon, Jim Hansen, Gwendolyn Holbrow, Rosamond Hooper-Hamersley, Ohad Klopman, Aparna Kumar, Prabhat Kumar, Priya Moorthy, Amanda Northrup, Douglas Lawrence, Maria Duaime Robinson, Amanda Shepard, Adam Steiner, Larry Stoodt. Guests: Donna Patalano, Matthew Patalano, Edgardo Torres.

 

  1. 3. October 22, 2017 Minutes: Secretary Barbara LeDuc Approved unanimously.
  2. 4. Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Margareth Shepard   Approved unanimously

A total income of $72.25 and expenses of 351.47 decreased the 10-20-2017 balance of $2,940.41 to $2,661.99.  Annual dues are now being collected.

 

  1. News from the State House.  representative Jack Lewis reminded us that he was elected one year ago; he has loved serving  as Representative, and working together with Chris Walsh and Carmine Gentile to represent Framingham.  Very recently he has been working to gather signatures for two 2018 ballot initiatives: to increase the Massachusetts Minimum Wage and to broaden coverage for the Family Medical Leave act.  Jack’s birthday party will be held Dec. 4 at Exhibit ‘A’ Brewing Co. at 81 Morton St. Framingham from 6 to 8 PM. A Candidate Training session will be held by Mass. Alliance on Feb 10.  Presently, the legislature is working on criminal justice reform, restorative justice, access to contraception (just passed!), and Massachusetts has signed on to the Paris environmental accord.

 

  1. Candidate introduction: Donna Patalano, candidate for Middlesex District Attorney, introduced herself and spoke briefly about her reasons for seeking the office. See her website at Donna4DA.com.

 

  1. Subcommittee reports:

Kurt Fusaris: Legislative & Advocacy Subcommittee

The Subcommittee will be meeting again shortly, and is considering the Wes Kleinert Law, Ranked Choice Voting, Charter School reforms, and a Civics Education bill already in the pipeline (Bill H2022).

 

Pat Dunne: Civics Education Subcommittee

The Subcommittee has met once in October. Ohad Klopman, chair of the Framingham High School student democrats attended.  The two group seek to merge their efforts as “The City We Want”, working to increase voter turnout.

 

Mike Hugo: Communications Subcommittee

Mike thanked Gwendolyn Holbrow for her huge contribution of time to update our webpage for the first time since 2002.  The website is up and running, and Twitter page and a Facebook page (public) and Facebook group (members) are also functional.

 

Ohad Klopman: the first meeting of the Affirmative Action and Outreach Subcommittee will be on Wed. Nov. 29th, 7 – 8:30 PM, and probably downstairs at the main library. The subcommittee will be reaching out to faith groups.

   

  1. smoc (Saturday Morning over Coffee) is being revived; please come this Saturday morning (Nov. 25) from 10 -11 AM  at B. Sisters.

 

  1. The Charity for December party will again be holiday gifts for the children of the Pathways and Pearl Street shelters.  Beverly has provided information about the number and ages of the children.  The FDTC has been very generous to the shelter children in the past. Please help us continue this tradition.

 

  1. Beverly gave a slide presentation from US Rep. Katherine Clark entitled “Where do we go from here?” and “Taking Back the House”.  The presentation listed districts around the US where democrats can gain seats in the House of Representatives, and urged FDTC members to “adopt a district”. (Mass D03, Nikki Tsongas’ district, is one of the targeted districts. The presentation is available on our website.)  Norma Shulman and Kurt Fusaris attended Rep. Clark’s meeting, and they gave a brief summary. (see action.DCCC.org) Also, the last co-ordinated campaign in Framingham was reviewed.

 

  1. Maureen Dunne is forming an interest group concerned with maintaining civility and respect in politics, both local and national. Interested members should contact Maureen.

 

  1. Norma Shulman and Parwez Wahid noted that the Mass. DSC will be meeting in Framingham on the evening of Feb 8th at the Framingham High School cafeteria. The event is being sponsored by the High School Student Democratic group. Also, the DSC is hosting a  “DCI” (Democratic Campaign Institute) in Lowell on January 19 through 21 to train democratic operatives.  The cost is $75; see our website for more information.  The state nominating convention will take place June 1 & 2 in Worcester. Please take running for delegate seriously, as the candidates depend on delegates attendance.

There will be a special election on Dec. 5 for the state senate Worcester & Middlesex District, which includes Worcester, Leominster, and Fitchburg. The MA Democratic Women’s Outreach Subcommittee will be hosting a GOTV canvass at 10AM on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 307 Whitney St in Leominster to support Sue Chalifoux Zephir (www.SueChalifouxZephir.com). See Norma to sign up or for more information.

All business being concluded, the business meeting was adjourned at 8:40 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Barbara LeDuc, Secretary