Framingham
Democratic Town Committee
Minutes of May 23, 2004 meeting
Held at Framingham Green from 7pm to 9pm.
Attendance
Members: Steve Blesofsy, Debby Blumer, Rosalie Cotton, Jerry Desilets, Pat
Dunne, Barbara Gray, Bill Haberman, Donna Howland, Chris Lorant, Barbara
Mcgovsky, Kathie McCarthy, Stephanie Mercandetti, Terene Micciche, Joan
Rastani, Chris Ross, Marilyn Safian, Norma Shulman, Alan Silver, Chery Tully
Stoll, Parwez Wahid
Associate
Members: Karen Spilka, Shelly Strowman, Edwina Weston-Dyer
Norma Shulman
advised that the new meeting location at Framingham Green might not be
available on a regular basis. The resident sponsor did not attend the meeting,
however Norma acknowledged him for making the space available to the DTC. A few
options for future meetings were offered such as the meeting room at the fire
station, however no firm decision was made.
It was announced
that an audio tape recorder would be used by the new secretary for recording
the minutes of the meetings for transcription purposes; there was no objection
from the assembly over the use of this device.
Norma
acknowledged and thanked the outgoing officers for the service to the DTC. The
outgoing President, Steve Blesofsky, acknowledged his officers and on their
behalf expressed appreciation for the opportunity to have served the DTC.
OLD BUSINESS:
Outgoing
treasurer Bill Haberman gave his final Treasurer's Report. Bill reported:
Cash on hand
4/18/04 $1028.49
Dues received
85.00
Income from
T-shirt sales 470.00
Sub-total 1583.49
Expenses (meeting
room) 50.00
Cash on hand
5/23/04 $1533.49
4 members still
owed dues for 2002-03
8 members owed
dues for 2003-04
8 new members
owed dues, (1 owed $15, 7 owed $5. One of the new members paid her $5 before
meeting started to Donna Howland.)
There are 9 paid
associate members.
Alan Silver
reported that the audit of the treasury was in order, all financial records
were consistent with the bank statements. Alan asked the membership to
congratulate Bill Haberman for his services and a job well done.
The change of
officers' form needs to be completed. It is in Parwez Wahid's possession. (This
can likely get done during the by-laws subcommittee meeting.)
Minutes of the
April 18th meeting were accepted.
Decision on
proceeds from T-shirt sales. The T-shirts that were in the DTC's inventory were
all sold. Chris Lorant has a few remaining that he is selling and he may be
contacted by anyone interested in a T-shirt.
Norma Shulman
reported she had an additional $30 in sales, adding to the amount reported by
Bill, the DTC now has $500 income from the T-shirt sales. Expenses for the
T-shirts totaled $297.36, leaving proceeds of $202.64. Norma is to be
reimbursed for the T-shirt expenses.
Motion was offered
that the DTC reimburse Norma for her expenses and send the $200 to the Kerry
campaign; motion was seconded. An amendment to the motion was offered that $250
be sent to the Kerry campaign as the DTC treasury has sufficient funds to
permit this contribution. The amended motion was accepted and voted upon, the
motion passed with no opposition or abstentions. The T-shirt distribution on Marathon Day was considered
successful as numerous T-shirts were seen being worn along the race course.
Even runners were acknowledging the Kerry T-shirts.
Future location
for meetings remains uncertain, suggestions are welcome. Meetings at the
Framingham Green function room are subject to the meeting being sponsored by a
resident of the Green. Suggestion was made for the fire department meeting
room, however Norma advised that it is no longer available. Members should also
investigate the suggested location first to determine availability and
viability before suggesting it to the Committee.
Norma added that the Framingham Green remained an attractive option if the
issue of sponsorship can be resolved. The community room at the Green offers a
kitchen that would allow serving light refreshments during meetings. This would
also be useful in attracting residents from the Green to attend DTC meetings
and consider membership.
Also the
Framingham Green policies allow for elected members of a town committee to hold
informational meetings for constituents during a non-election year.
The By-laws
subcommittee will be staffed by the immediate past and present officers of the
DTC. Committee members may attend the sub-committee meetings as well. The first
meeting will be on June 13th hosted by either Bill Haberman or Donna Howland.
Some printed copies of the by-laws were available and an electronic (soft) copy
would be sent to all members with the minutes of this meeting.
Sample by-laws
are available at the Mass Dems website. Members may visit this website to
review the sample by-laws and compare with the DTC by-laws. (The link to the
website is given at the end of these minutes.) Suggestions on updates from the
members are welcome; input should be sent to Parwez Wahid.
E-mail buddies
are needed for 3 Committee members who do not have e-mail access. Members not
receiving email are sent the minutes and meeting notices by regular mail,
however they are unable to receive last minute updates and other fast
developing information. An e-mail buddy would typically phone their partner
upon receipt of any e-mail updates from the DTC and relay this information. The
3 members needing email buddies are Archie Lyon, Mary Murphy and Caroline Ray.
Debbie Blumer offered to act as e-mail buddy for Archie. Two more volunteers
are needed; any Committee members interested can contact Norma or Parwez.
Another request
was made to remind all committee members on the Mass Dems credit card. By
filling out code F07 in field A, a $40 contribution will be made to the
Democratic Party and of that $10 is given to the DTC. The card can be applied
for on-line at www.juniper.com/1445. (This was mentioned at the state convention as well.)
NEW BUSINESS:
Mat Helman will
head the program sub-committee. Norma gained some ideas for DTC programs during
the state convention. Suggestions for future programs are welcome. Norma also
showed the buttons she had purchased during the convention and added that she
would be willing to sell some of these to anyone interested in purchasing the
items; proceeds would go to the state party.
One idea on
future programs was to discuss privatization of public functions.
Another
sub-committee to consider would be a hospitality sub-committee that could
arrange for refreshments at meetings. This would be particularly useful for
attracting Green residents.
It was also
mentioned that if meetings are held at the Framingham Green, the DTC could make
a donation to the Green's tenants' association, as the DTC would not be charged
any rent for holding meetings when sponsored by a tenant. The idea of a unity breakfast was also raised.
This would be held in the 2MN Senate district following the state primaries in
September. A sub-committee for this program would need to coordinate with the
other town committees in the 2MN district for holding the unity breakfast. It
was mentioned that David Magnani was already considering such an event.
Joan Rastani also
mentioned the plans for an event to honor David Magnani's service in the
Senate. This would be a dinner celebration that will be held on September 29th
at the Framingham Sheraton (formerly Sheraton Tara) Hotel. Proceeds from the
event will go towards two of Dave's favorite charities, one local and one
global. This function would also serve to foster unity in the party.
Question was raised if the unity breakfast would be redundant. It was suggested
that the unity breakfast be moved to October closer to the elections.
Norma presented a
packet of information that was distributed at Fuller Middle School when
Governor Romney visited. Norma made a video of the Governor's presentation and
hopes to have this available soon.
It was suggested
that the legislators who attended the Romney presentation at Fuller should have
a follow-up response discussion. Norma would video tape this discussion as
well.
PROGRAM:
Russell Ashton of
the Democratic State Committee addressed the audience on behalf of the John
Kerry campaign. Russ described the excitement that the Kerry campaign has
generated across the state. He talked of the importance of voter registration
and holding house parties to support the Kerry campaign. He left several copies
of voter registration forms, also in several languages. During his visit to
Lowell he was able to get several Spanish speaking persons to register. This
outreach effort would be very important to show inclusion.
Another important
document Mr. Ashton presented was an absentee ballot and again he stressed the
importance of getting this to people who anticipate being away during the
election day. It was pointed out that the deadline for voter registration is 20
days prior to any election. Bumper stickers were another important item to
distribute to get Kerry's name more visibility.
Ashton talked
about the upcoming convention in Boston and the need for volunteers to help
out. It was mentioned again that locally the Metrowest Alliance had been
founded as a volunteer team to work at the convention. Another effort to
consider is canvassing in New Hampshire.
A question was
raised on the issue regarding Kerry delaying his acceptance of the nomination,
specifically how to address this subject it comes up during canvassing. Ashton
replied that he had no specific answer at that time. The best answer that
seemed to be offered was that delaying the announcement would level the playing
field for the candidates.
Returning to the
subject of house parties, Russ Ashton again stressed the importance and value
of these. The amounts raised would need to be large sums, but the more house
parties held that raise a few hundred dollars would add up to more substantial
figures. Chris Lorant (who hosted a house party the previous day) offered some
contact information on getting more house party information. He also announced
several upcoming meetings for the Metrowest Alliance, Stop Bush and the Kerry
Meetup. He also announced dates for the ZBA meetings at the Memorial Building.
Russ Ashton
mentioned the forms he brought could also be downloaded from the Secretary of
State's website on mass.gov. Norma mentioned that absentee voting can also be
done at the town clerk's office at the time the absentee ballot is picked up.
Much of the
information that was shared on voter registration and absentee ballot could
also posted on the Framingham DTC website, that Mat Helman maintains.
Chris Lorant also mentioned upcoming canvasses on June 12th and July 10th.
UPDATE ON JULY CONVENTION:
Many who had
volunteered through the website had not heard back on their volunteer status
confirmation. It was mentioned that the information is still being entered into
the system and people should be hearing something soon. A representative
(Megan?) would be visiting to meet the Metrowest Alliance to give more
information on the convention.
Getting to the
convention could be a problem due to the traffic restrictions. The idea of
getting a bus was offered.
STATE CONVENTION:
Norma described
he own experiences from the convention that she felt was very positive. She
obtained a resource list that will be included in the minutes. This lists
various sources of information for sample by-laws and the Mass Dems guide, an
email newsletter subscription.
Other feedback:
Joan Rastani
attended the Campaign Track, which consisted of several concurrent sessions.
She found the workshops to be useful. At one of the workshops, Congressman
Markey made an appearance and spoke for several minutes.
Also in the
Campaign Track, Steve Blesofsky found quite interesting the amount of
opposition research gathering that is done in addition to the candidate's own
research.
The Issues Track
was described as very useful, but also containing a great amount of information
that could hardly be covered in the amount of time given. A suggestion was
offered that such workshops should always have a bullet point handed out
distributed at the end of the program that covers the highlights of the
session. This information could also be posted on a website.
REPORTS FROM HILL:
Karen Spilka
commented that the budget should be completed in the House and Senate by the
end of June. It will then go to the Governor who may veto parts of it, however
it should all be finalized before the national convention in July. Some of the
major issues in the budget concerning health care and education should survive
the various levels of reforms between the House and Senate.
OTHER ITEMS:
Barbara Mcgovsky
announced her resignation from the DTC, she is moving to Florida.
Lyn mentioned
that the warrant for town manager did not pass. Norma added that on the charter
commission, the people elected were those who had town-wide name recognition.
It was recommended that those who oppose a city form of government not sign the
petition unless the charter has some recognition of the town form of
government.
Some discussion
on participating on the Flag Day parade, June 13th. There was a suggestion to
authorize $200 towards the parade, another suggestion to use the $200 of the
$250 discussed earlier towards the parade. This money would be used purchase a
large "KERRY" sign and march in the parade in support of John Kerry.
A motion was made
to authorize $200 of the $250 towards the parade if the DTC can organize a fair
sized group to participate. If the group cannot be organized, the money will be
sent to the Kerry campaign as originally discussed.
An opposing comment was offered that the entire $250 could be better spent if
it were donated to the campaign as originally discussed.
There was
additional discussion on having people line the parade route wearing Kerry
items like T-shirts, buttons and caps and also carry signs. Norma will call the
Kerry campaign office for suggestions on how best the $200 can be utilized with
respect to the parade.
Vote was taken on
the motion to authorize spending of the $200 if it was seen as a viable action
based on information from the Kerry campaign and also the efforts of the DTC.
The motion passed 14 to 2.
(In a follow up
note, Norma Shulman contacted the Kerry campaign office regarding participation
in the parade. The office advised that unless the candidate himself is marching
it would not make sense to have a group participate in the parade. The entire
$250 that was authorized will be sent to the Kerry campaign office. The
campaign office did indicate that Kerry bumper stickers and other such items
would be sent to the DTC for distribution to the spectators during the Flag Day
parade.)
Links:
Field services
manual - http://www.massdems.org/Contact/FieldManual.pdf
MassDemsGuide -
To subscribe send email to: MassDemsGuide-subscribe@yahoogroups.com