Lou

The September Meeting was held on Tuesday, September 17.

All the speakers did a great job- Beth Kontos was convincing explaining why we should vote to eliminate the MCAS graduation requirement (Ballot Question 2), she  came with signs, buttons, & literature to support the cause. Joan Lovely followed Beth by discussing a variety of noteworthy issues of the day & recent legislative accomplishments, she thanked us for our support. Essex County Clerk of Courts Tom Driscoll also popped in at our the start of the meeting to thank us for our support in the primary, he & Joan both have Republican opponents in November. Phil Bolduc wrapped up the meeting with an engaging talk about volunteerism & the need  for Democrats to be more actively involved on the local level, particularly with all the recent changes in town government (Selectmen, Town Manager, etc). Phil cited an alarming number of vacancies on local boards & committee as currently listed on the town web site, & stressed that it would be great to see many of these vacancies filled by those who share our democratic values. 

We also had a  lively & productive discussion about electronic voting & donations, with numerous members participating. When all was said & done, the consensus was that people preferred to have the opportunity to vote in person, where members could share their unique perspectives & perhaps come up with compromise solutions rather than straight up or down , yes or no electronic voting. Consistent with that approach, after several proposals & “friendly amendments”, it was decided to continue with the $450 in donations

All in all it was a very positive & productive meeting. Attendees were encouraged to promote & buy tickets to our FreedomFest event and to head over to Marilyn’s on 9/30 for her post card party. 

Only two contested races:

Tom Driscoll won Essex County Clerk of Courts

Eileen Duff won Essex County Register of Deeds

My Notes from DanversDems August 15 Meeting

Hello everyone,

My notes from last nights meeting for those who were unable to attend.

Presentation slides are available here: August Meeting Presentation

The transition from Joe Biden to Kalama Harris was top of mind with members expressing gratitude and respect for Joe Biden and enthusiasm, hope and dare I say joy with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

We had three great speakers;

Alex Bausch from the MassDems related the surge in volunteering since Kamala was nominated and discussed what we can do to elect Harris/Walz particularly in NH.

State Representative Sally Kerans informed us of the progress she and legislators made on the maternal health bill this week and is now on the Governor’s desk, the PFAS bill to protect Firefighters has been signed by Gov. Healey and continue to work economic development and clean energy. Also discussed housing for migrant families, the Steward Hospital situation, battling GOP effort to undermine voting and other issues.

Mary Henry spoke on behalf of Eileen Duff, candidate for Register of Deeds citing Eileen’s qualifications and asking for support on September 3 primary.  

Members were very engaged in discussion on Harris/Walz and with all three speakers.  So much so that I abbreviated some of the agenda but it was great to see the enthusiastic discussion.Members discussed interest in doing campaigning as a group with post card parties, phone banking parties and canvassing in NH.  We will work on these.MassDems is making Harris/Walz lawn signs available for $10.  I have until August 22 to place an order.  Contact me at lou@danversdemocrats.org or 978-304-2714, if you want a sign.  I will send out a separate email (sorry, yet another email) specifically for this.

Shout out to Liz Brennan for a very successful Toiletries Drive for the Food Pantry and to Phil Bolduc for negotiating with Town on guidelines for having an information table at the Summer Concerts and other events.

Charlotte Jordan was voted in as the newest member of the DanversDems team.  Welcome Charlotte.

OctoberFest is September 28. (save the date) Theme is “We ChooseFreedom!”   Everyone should have received an email invitation.  Contact me if you did not.  Volunteers to serve on OctoberFest Committee are welcome.

Democratically yours,
Lou

lou@danversdemocrats.org

DanversDems held a Toiletries Drive for the Danvers Food Pantry on Saturday and Sunday August 10 & 11 at the CVS downtown at 1 Maple Street.

DanversDems turned out to collect items for the Danvers Food Pantry. First time we held such an event at a business location. We collected many items from DanversDems and from people visiting the CVS.

If anyone wished to donate but was unable to, you can bring items to Thursday meeting or contact Liz at liz.conrad98@gmail.com

Thanks to Liz Brennan for running this successful event.