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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

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Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by Leslie Rinaldi at 6:37 PM. The following officers were present:

Motions

Routine Reports

Minutes

Minutes of June’s meeting were passed out. Kevin Fowler noticed the start time for National Night Out was incorrect and Benjamin Goldberg noticed that Daniel Pinelli’s email address was incorrect. National Night Out was to begin at 5:00 PM and Daniel Pinelli’s email address is daniel.pinelli@virginiavictory.org. Mr. Goldberg said he would make corrections. The minutes were accepted with the assurance that corrections would be made.

Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer’s report was passed out and accepted

Business & Discussions

National Night Out

Michele Faulk announced that volunteers will have 5 locations and possibly 6 locations covered for National Night Out. She asked that any members who know of events in their communities let her know, and to ask the organizer of their community’s event if they can have a table for voter registration, or if they can walk around and do voter registration. She noted that we cannot hand out partisan literature during voter registration, although rules may be different for different events throughout the city.

Pancake Breakfast

Michele Faulk noted that Delois Pope and Orga Boone will be organizing the pancake breakfast. Delois Pope passed around a signup sheet for National Night Out volunteers. Ms. Pope and Ms. Faulk emphasized that although the pancake breakfast is hosted by Applebees, committee members will be performing tasks such as assisting in the kitchen, cleaning up, serving, and seating guests. Ms. Faulk also noted that the committee has had a good relationship with Abblebees on Main Street, but we have not worked with the Applebees on College Drive, which is where the event will be this year.

Leslie Rinaldi asked all members to be responsible for selling 10 tickets. She said the event should be considered a voter empowerment and awareness event.

Art Singleton asked if Lionell Spruill, who had been a large supporter of the event in the past, was invited. Ms. Faulk said state and local officials have received a calendar of events, and that she will also be sending them updates about the pancake breakfast.

Outreach Report / Campaign Office / Campaigning

Leslie Rinaldi announced that a coordinated campaign office has opened in Suffolk at 318 West Washington Street. The coordinated campaign is to reelect Senator Tim Kaine and our congressmen Donald McEachin and Bobby Scott. Our field representative is Daniel Pinelli. Mr. Pinelli will be doing phone banking on Tuesdays from the office as well as from Panera Bread in North Suffolk on Thursdays. Mr. Pinelli will also be canvassing on Saturdays and Sundays. He is also looking for personnel to staff the office. Ms. Rinaldi mentioned Mr. Pinelli’s contact information, which is 828-707-4307, and daniel.pinelli@virginiavictory.org.

Fundraising

Catherine Anson announced plans to hold a fundraising contest via Facebook. The prize would be a dinner or a comparable prize, and the goal would be to get the most number of referrals. Ms. Anson said we cannot rely on the pancake breakfast to be our only fundraiser. She also discussed other ideas such as selling items during Peanut Fest. The committee also discussed other forms of fundraising such as auctions. It was noted that selling items at Peanut Fest, especially food items, involves getting appropriate licensing and permission. It was also noted that holding raffles is not in compliance with FEC rules.

D.J. McGuire said he would join the finance committee.

Precinct Organization Committee Report

D.J. McGuire said he was unable to hold a previously scheduled precinct committee meeting and, the meeting has been rescheduled for the Thursday following the Suffolk Democratic Committefe meeting. Mr. McGuire said he wants to ensure every precinct is staffed, including watchers inside and greeters outside. He also would like to have drivers if needed. Mr. McGuire said that for the previous election, many volunteers worked for thirteen hours at the polls, and he doesn’t want that to happen again.

Tech Committee Report

Benjamin Goldberg noted that there is some trouble with the robocall system. He noted that Votebuilder will not call cell phones because calling cell phones is in violations of FEC rules. The system that the committee is using will call cell phones, but it is important to be sure that people being called are OK with receiving those calls.

Don McEachin’s Office

Mary Burroughs-Gray, District Representative for Donald McEachin, spoke about working at the office in Suffolk. She emphasized that there are rules in place to ensure that work done on behalf of Congressman McEachin as a representative is separate from any campaigning and that no campaign business should be done by office personnel during business hours.
She said the campaign office is at 131 North Saratoga Street.

Voter Registration

Benjamin Goldberg said that the Suffolk Library will be holding a voter registration drive July 16-20, and the library has asked the Suffolk Democratic Committee to participate.

Nicole Randolf said that there will be voter registration training at East End Baptist Church on Thursday, July 12.

Media Misinformation

Leslie Rinaldi presented training on media disinformation. She discussed the Media Bias chart from the website, All Generalizations are False. She also discussed false information being passed on social media, and tricks used to pass false information such as cloning profiles.

The committee also discussed the importance of contacting legislators and being active on issues. D.J. McGuire also mentioned the Virginia Legislative Information System at lis.virginia.gov and the Richmond Sunlight. Jack Crowley mentioned VPAP.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 8:15

Call To Order

The meeting was called to order by Third Vice Chairperson Michele Faulk at 6:39 at 701 Old East Pinner Street. Chairperson Leslie Rinaldi arrived at 6:41. The following officers were present:

Motions

Routine Reports

Minutes

Minutes of May’s meeting were passed out, and prior the meeting were emailed to members.

Treasurer’s Report

The treasurer’s report was presented by Catherine Anson and copies were handed out. Details of the report are filed separately.

Business & Discussions

Membership

Verjena Jones-Gaynor presented the Membership Committee report and announced that the committee had the membership of Belinda Pitts to consider. Kevin Fowler moved to accept Ms. Pitts’s membership and the motion passed

Door Hangers

Leslie Rinaldi discussed the door hangers, which are information cards designed to hang on door knobs. Canvassers leave the hangers on unanswered doors. The new hangers will have two dates – the last date to register and the date of the election. Ms. Rinaldi asked for a motion to have 500 new cards printed up this year, at a cost of $210 and the motion passed.

Outreach Committee Report

Leslie Rinaldi presnted the Outreach Committee Report. Ms. Rinaldi discussed the structure of the Outreach Committee, which is comprised of the Phone Bank Committee , the Canvassing Committee, and the Issues Committee. The Outreach Committee is chaired by Dorothy Waddell. Ms. Rinaldi said that Ms. Waddell’s involvement in the committee will be curtailed temporarily due to personal reasons, and asked that other members step up to fill the gap.

Heroes Luncheon

Michele Faulk presented the Heroes Luncheon Report. The event was very successful, although there were some issues concerning the meal and with the hotel following instructions that were agreed upon.

Members and guests had some ideas for improvement, such as playing music when honorees enter.

Ms. Faulk also announced that event photographer Benford Hunter is selling CD’s with a slideshow of photos for $10. Catherine Anson told the committee that SDC is not involved in the sales of the CD’s.

National Night Out

Michele Faulk announced that National Night Out will occur August 7th from 5 to 8. She explained that the event takes place individually in neighborhoods throughout Suffolk. She said the Suffolk Democratic Committee often participates by helping to register voters. She said that she is looking for people to participate and for information from people who are in communities that will be participating.

Pancake Breakfast

Michele Faulk announced that the Pancake Breakfast is scheduled for September 22nd. She requested members each take 10 tickets to sell, and said she is looking for volunteers. Ms. Faulk said the event will be at North Suffolk Applebee’s.

Ms. Faulk also said that there will be an Event Committee Meeting on July 12 or 19th.

Coordinated Campaign

Ivana Hall and Daniel Pinelli from coordinated campaign addressed the committee. Ms. Hall is the regional field director and Mr. Pinelli is the field organizer for Suffolk. Mr Pinelli said he will be setting up canvassing and phone banking every week. He said one of the goals of the campaign is to register 10,000 new voters. He gave the committee his contact information which is

828-707-4307. 
Daniel.pinelli@virginiavictory.org

Blue Diamond Awards

Clint Jenkins said that the 3rd District will holding an awards ceremony called the Blue Diamond Awards Dinner at August 31st, 7:00 PM at Edmunds Center in Portsmouth. They are looking for nominees to be honored at the dinner.

Mr. Jenkins also said that tickets are available for $50 and can be purchased through ActBlue

Trolls on Democratic Leaders’s Facebook Pages

Leslie Rinaldi said Dorothy Waddell had spoke of a large number of trolls on Don McEachin’s Facebook page. She asked that members participate in the on-line conversations of our leaders. 77th District Delegate Cliff Hayes added that not only do our leaders need support on Social Media, but also in letters to the editor.

Progress in the General Assembly

77th District Delegate Cliff Hayes addressed the committee and spoke about recent events in the General Assembly. Delegate Hayes said the felony threshold was raised to $500. The threshold had been at $200 since 1980. He also discussed new limits have been imposed on the length of times students can be suspended. He used those two examples of legislation in addition to Medicaid expansion that have been achieved thanks to the efforts of Democratics in the General Assembly and to the letters and comments made by constituents.

adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 8:17pm

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