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Summary of What Happened? Dec 4 Meeting

Dems from Beverly, Danvers, Peabody, Salem and from other nearby towns came together to discuss the recent election. The meeting room at the Polish Club in Danvers was full to near capacity.

DanversDem Joe Caiazzo, a Democratic Strategist, opened the session with a very good presentation summarizing the votes and where Dems came up short. After this, Joe opened it up for discussion.

The discussion was passionate, informative and engaging. It covered a wide range of topics from looking back at the election results and opinions why Trump did better or Harris did worse to looking forward with ideas how we should go forward. I was particularly impressed by the substance of all the people expressing opinions as they were clear, knowledgeable and focused. My concern going in was this could result into a circular firing squad but it was none of that.

All of us are still dealing with the election results and anecdotally most have seemed to pull back on watching the news but one thing stood out to me in this regard. One person asked if people would share their feelings and/or emotions after the election but no one chose to do that. This was similar to our Danvers meeting. Dems appear ready to look forward and that’s a good thing.

DanversDems were well represented. I counted 17 people and they were engaged if not leading some of the discussion. I thought Joe did a very good job making sure everyone had a chance to speak who wanted one. I thank Keith Sonia, Beverly Committee Chair for organizing the meeting.

If you attended, would appreciate your comments lou@danversdemocrats.org

Summary of What Happened? Dec 4 Meeting Read More »

November Meeting Summary

This was an informal, agendaless meeting for members to come together to reflect on the recent election and discuss our thoughts and ideas on how we should move forward in 2025. 

Members had some initial discussion about the election results, the emotions we are all experiencing and concerns for what lies ahead but quickly moved on to what do we do going forward.

There was discussion of the Danvers election results and what I’ll generously call, the “inappropriate”  behavior of the Trump supporters outside the polls on election day.  Kamala Harris won in Danvers with 55% (4.4% less than Biden in 2020), Elizabeth Warren narrowly carried the town with 50.4% winning by only 137 votes, Joan Lovely was the highest vote getter with 9,009 (58.3%) votes and Eunice Zeigler lost in Danvers (with 46.3%).   Liz Brennan observed that the local GOP are emboldened by these results and that we must focus our efforts on the upcoming town election of Select Board and School Committee. The consensus was agreement.

The balance of the meeting was an exchange of thoughts and ideas for action.  Actions discussed were to work for candidates for Select Board that align with our values, to encourage more people to run for Town Meeting member, to increase engagement in the Human Rights and Inclusion Committee and other town committee meetings.  We must also increase our numbers and discussed ways to reach out to town Democrats and left leaning Independents via media, canvassing, etc..  We will continue to sponsor charitable events, as we have in the past, but will look for ways to raise our profile by these events.

Phil Bolduc and Ellen Graham provided incites on how people could become more engaged with the town governance and current issues.  Chair Lou asked them to speak at future meeting(s) to continue to provide these incites.

The direction from this meeting is as follows: We recognize that there will be madness occurring at the national level, which we will have little impact on.  We agree that, in 2025, we must focus our efforts on our local elections where we can have a direct impact on our town.

A separate but related issue is the difficulty in scheduling meetings at the library on a consistent date which negatively impacts attendance.  Alternate venues suggested are Tapley Hall, Senior Center, Fire Department and M&T Bank.

This discussion will continue at our next formal meeting on January 8, 2025.

November Meeting Summary Read More »

DanversDems Stand Out on Nov. 2


DanversDems showed a powerful display of enthusiasm on the final weekend before Election Day rallying together for Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, and our Democratic candidates up and down the ballot.

We had a great turnout (even better than last weeks) covering all four corners with a crowd of energized passionate flag waving Democrats!

The town responded with a steady stream of waves, thumbs up and beep beeps.

Thanks to everyone who joined us.

WE ARE NOT GOING BACK!

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DanversDems Meeting – October 15

Thank you to the speakers last night.  All were very informative and we appreciate them taking the time to join and speak with us.

State Representative Sally Kerans
State Senator Joan Lovely
Tomas O’Brien from Yes On 4 (Ballot Question 4)
Mitch Gaynor and Frank Mozell from Yes on 5 (Ballot question 5)

At the meeting, we mentioned that longtime DanversDems Gerald Clark is currently at the Woburn Rehabilitation Center. I showed the information for people who wanted to reach out to Gerald and Bea rather quickly so I am including it here:

Woburn Rehabilitation Hospital
18 Frances Street
Woburn, MA 01801

Home Address:
Bea and Gerald Clark
64 Lindall Street
Danvers, MA 01923
Email: k1dfd@aol.com

A copy of the presentation slides used for the meeting are posted: October Meeting Presentation Slides

Three people expressed interest in participating in the Salem News article on the upcoming election.  They are looking to talk to average Democrat and Republican voters to see what issues are driving them to the polls.  If anyone else is interested please contact me.  Information concerning this article is on slide 10 of the October Meeting Presentation Slides.

DanversDems Meeting – October 15 Read More »

FreedomFest – A Great Evening

Our theme is “We Choose Freedom!”

Our first FreedomFest was very successful. The room was full, the speakers were great, the enthusiasm was high, the food was great and the rookie host was OK.

Who knew that just about every speaker we invited wanted to attend FreedomFest. With 12 scheduled speakers, I was concerned that the event could drag on but each speaker was crisp, inspiring and informative and the agenda just moved right along. We even added 2 speakers (Marsha Finkelstein and Beth Kontos) to the program. We appreciated all the speakers who gave up their Saturday evening to join us. We were sorry that Senator Lovely was unable to join us as she came down with COVID and we wish her to feel better soon.

In the spirit of the Harris/Walz campaign – We Chose Freedom and We are NOT Going Back!. The guests wore their favorite patriotic or political shirt or, in some cases, tie. They all looked Maaahvelous! DanversDems were well represented with many members attending plus some new Danvers faces and many folks from neighboring towns. I was especially pleased to see the support from many of the Democrat City/Town Committee chairs that attended.

I want to thank Marilyn and the DanversDems LeadershipTeam (Julie, Tom, Kacey and Liz) for pulling this all together. Thank you to everyone who donated food. There was a wide variety and plenty for everyone. Special thanks to Lou and Ellen George and Dave Rodriquez for manning the kitchen, to Marco for helping me with the microphone, to everyone who passed me notes helping me with people I needed to acknowledge or stuff I forgot, to Tom and Carla Meagher for taking the leftover food to the Beverly Shelter, to Joe Durand for taking pictures and Tom Meagher for general guidance to me on the order of the proceedings and speakers. I also want to give a special thanks to everyone for their embrace and kind words for Maria, who was determined to attend FreedomFest after her operation.

We also raised money for the DDTC Scholarship Fund.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing everyone. Next meeting is Tuesday, October 15.

For more information contact: Lou Bernazzani at lou@danversdemocrats.org / 
781-607-4602 or visit the DDTC web page

FreedomFest – A Great Evening Read More »

DanversDems Meeting – September 17

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. 

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