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Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 6:36 by Chairperson Leslie Rinaldi.  The following officers were present or not present as indicated

Review and Acceptance of Reports

Minutes

The minutes of both August and September were reviewed.  The minutes of August had not been approved at September’s meeting because the meeting did not have a quorum.  Catherine Anson made two separate motions to accept the minutes.  The motions passed.

Treasurer’s Report

Catherine Anson distributed copies of the treasurer’s report, which was approved for filing.

Business

Endorsement of Candidates

The committee voted to endorse the following candidates:

Suffolk City Council Suffolk Borough: Art C. Bredemeyer

Suffolk City School Board Cypress Borough: Karen L. Jenkins

Suffolk City School Board Suffolk Borough: Tyron D. Riddick

The committee voted on the endorsements listed above and on Chuckatuck Borough, for which Diane Foster was seeking the committee’s endorsement.   The committee chose not to endorse for Chuckatuck.

Ms. Rinaldi explained that although the committee would vote as a whole on each of the endorsements during this meeting, future plans are to have borough members to vote only on their own candidates.

Candidates had been invited to speak to the committee prior to the committee’s decision on each race.

Suffolk Borough Schoolboard Candidate Thelma Hinton had not received the original invitation due to an error on the part of the committee, but was invited later when the error was discovered.  Catherine Anson stated that it was her fault that Ms. Hinton did not received the email.

Ms. Hinton explained that she could not address the committee.  Benjamin Goldberg asked Ms. Hinton to clarify that she was seeking the endorsement of the committee.  Ms. Hinton said that she was.  Ms. Hinton left the meeting afterward.

In addition to Ms. Hinton, Candidates who addressed the committee where Cypress Borough Schoolboard Candidate Karen Jenkins, Suffolk Borough Schoolboard Candidate Tyron Riddick, Chuckatuck schoolboard candidate Diane Foster, and Suffolk Borough City Council Candidate Arthur Bredemeyer. 

Councilman Don Goldberg, who was also a candidate for reelection as the Suffolk Borough City Councilman but stated that he was not seeking the committee’s endorsement, addressed the committee after the votes. 

Bylaws Changes

Proposed bylaws changes were passed out.  The handouts included comparisons of original text and proposed text.  The proposed text and motions were as follows 

Prorated Membership

Under Article III, Members, Section 5 Dues

Remove “Such dues shall be payable no later than the regular meeting of the SDC conducted in the month following their anniversary of membership.” And replace it with “For any new member that joins the committee after January, such member’s dues will be at $2.00 per month for each month remaining in the calendar year.  Thereafter, such dues will be $25.00 annually, payable in January.”

Jack Crowley motioned to have this change accepted and the motion passed.

Responsibility of Precinct and Borough Committee to Vet Candidates

Under Article V Committees, Section 2 Standing Sub-Committees part (d) Precinct and Borough Committee

After the first sentence add “They shall, by precinct, investigate and vet any non-partisan electoral candidate requesting endorsement of the committee and present their findings to the committee prior to the committee’s endorsement vote.”

Kevin Fowler motioned to have this change accepted and the motion passed

Endorsement of Local Candidates

Under Article VII, Participation in Electoral Process, Section 1 Endorsement of Candidates in Non-Partisan Elections, Second Paragraph

Extend the fist sentence with “, after receipt of the vetting report and results from the Precinct and Borough Committee as defined in Article V, Section 2, Paragraph (d).”  and add, after the last sentence, “Candidates who receive SDC endorsement shall be eligible to place their campaign signs and literature at all SDC events or functions, subject to campaign laws.  Non endorsed candidates’ campaign materials will not be permitted at any SDC function or event.”

Jack Crowley motioned to have this change accepted and the motion passed.

Pancake Breakfast

Michele Faulk gave a summary of the pancake breakfast.  She said the breakfast was a success and congratulated Delois Pope and Orga Boone for their hard work in putting it together.  The event was attended by Congressmen Bobby Scott and Don McEachin, Delegate Cliff Hayes and several local elected officials and candidates.  The event had 20 volunteers.

Peanut Fest

Michele Faulk also presented a report on Peanut Fest. The festival was less well attended this year than last year, but it was still successful for the Suffolk Democratic Committee.  Two visitors filled out membership applications.  The event had 32 volunteers

Democratic Campaign

Daniel Pinelli of the Democratic Campaign’s Suffolk Field Office said that since June 1^st, volunteers made 13000 contact attempts during canvassing, and made 2105 contacts, and made 10963 calls with 761 contacts.   He said there are still eight thousand people with whom to make contact and asked for volunteers to meet with him after the meeting

Gimme5 Contest

Catherine Anson announced that the committee is holding a contest in which the winner will be chosen based on who’s referrals lead to the most donations via ActBlue.  Ms Anson and Benjamin Goldberg both explained aspects of the web application.   Mr. Goldberg said the application is accessible through the main menu on the Suffolk Democratic Committee’s home page. 

3^rd District Gala

Jack Crowley moved to have the committee sponsor a table for the 3^rd District Gala, for which chairperson Leslie Rinaldi would be recognized.  The motion passed.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30

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Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 6:35 by Michele Faulk. The committee did not have a quorum. The following officers were present or absent as indicated

Review of Reports

Minutes

The minutes of August were reviewed. Acceptance of minutes is pending review of a quorum.

Treasurer’s Report

The treasurer’s report was reviewed and filed

Business

Peanut Fest

Michele Faulk reminded the committee that Peanut Fest was to be from Thursday, October 4th through Sunday, October 7th, and expressed the importance of having volunteers. She said that handling of the admission passes will be done in a similar fashion as in previous years, and that volunteers will receive more information

Taste of Suffolk

Michele Faulk said the committee had a fabulous success at Taste of Suffolk. She said we registered fifteen voters and had eight volunteers sign up as campaign volunteers. Ms. Faulk also said there were several visitors and passersby who were happy to see Democrats represented at the event. She said that Bobby Scott also visited.

Pancake Breakfast

Orga Boone discussed the then upcoming Pancake Breakfast fundraiser. She said she had made a volunteer assignment list based on what volunteers had done last year and asked for more volunteers to sign up. She asked volunteers to arrive at 7:15. The Pancake Breakfast fundraiser was to take place on September 22nd. Catherine Anson said that 91 tickets had been paid for out of 199 that were given to committee members to sell.

Positions to be filled: Outreach Chair and Sargent at Arms

Michele Faulk said that Dorothy Waddell has to step down from the position of Outreach Committee chairperson, and that Helen Flynn had to step down as Sargent at Arms. The committee is looking for replacements.
Ms. Faulk said that there was to be an Outreach Committee meeting on September 17th.

Campaigning

Michele Faulk said that there is phone banking on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the campaign office on Washington street and also on Thursdays in Northern Suffolk. She said there is also door to door canvassing. Those wishing to volunteer should contact the campaign organizer, Daniel Pinelli.

Bylaws Changes and Endorsement of Candidates

Michele Faulk said that local candidates will be invited to participate in the next meeting and that the committee will hold votes to endorse those candidates. The endorsement of local candidates is not authorized in the committee’s bylaws and a change in bylaws is pending.

Guest Speakers

Herb Jones for District 3

Herb Jones of New Kent has announced his candidacy to represent Virginia’s 3rd District in the Virginia House of Delegates. Mr. Jones served in the U.S. Army for 30 years and is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. He said the biggest reason he decided to run is Medicaid expansion.
He clarified that the election for 3rd District Delegate is in 2019, and that for now we should be concentrating on winning the 2018 elections.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 7:38.

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 6:39 by chairperson Leslie Rinaldi. The committee did not have a quorum.

The following officers were present or not present as indicated

Routine Reports

Minutes of July, 2018

The minutes were reviewed and accepted

Treasurer’s Report

Catherine Anson presented the Treasurer’s Report. Ms. Anson noted that the report indicates more spending than fundraising

Business and Discussions

Upcoming Events: Pancake Breakfast, Taste of Suffolk, Voter Registration

Michele Faulk presented the Events Committee report. Ms. Faulk said the events committee had met on the 31st. She said Taste of Suffolk was to be Saturday, September 8th, and the Pancake Breakfast on September 22nd. She said Delois Pope and Orga Boone are organizing the Pancake Breakfast, and Catherine Anson is handling ticket sales.

Ms. Faulk also said voter registration events are being planned.

National Night Out

Michele Faulk said National Night Out was very successful. Other organizations joined SDC in registering voters at various locations throughout the city. At the previous meeting, SDC had five sites planned for voter registration but with other groups, there were eleven. Organizations participating in voter registration were Deltas, Zetas, NAACP, and United Citizens Power

Campaign Office Opening Event

Catherine Anson told the committee that the Coordinated Campaign office would be holding an event to celebrate its opening on Saturday, August 18th. Tim Kaine would join us

Bylaws Committee Meeting and Candidate Endorsements

Leslie Rinaldi announced that a bylaws committee meeting would be held on August 21st to discuss, among other issues, policy concerning endorsement and support of borough candidates. This would include policy about hosting candidate literature at our tent at Peanut Fest.

Ms. Rinaldi said that a candidate has asked for the committee’s endorsement. Members of that candidate’s borough were asked to vote on endorsing that candidate but there were not enough votes to endorse.

Fundraising

Catherine Anson said the finance committee would meet on August 16 to discuss fundraising. Fundraising plans include an online campaign involving social media.

Virginia Organizing

Tony Jones from Virginia Organizing told us about the Virginia Organizing Grassroots Gathering which will be September 28-30, 2018 at the Airfield Conference Center Wakefield, VA. The event will consist of several workshops including issues discussions and strategies for activism.

Franklin Democratic Committee

Ricky Sykes and Franklin Councilman Gregory McLemore, who are Chair and Vice Chair of the Franklin Democratic Committee, joined us last night. They mentioned that the Franklin Democratic Committee will be giving away school supplies during the Franklin County Back to School bash on August 18th.

Action Item: Resist Brett Kavanaugh

Leslie Rinaldi asked that we call our Senators and tell them to oppose the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme court.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 7:58 PM