02.24.07
Posted in Events, GHDC Blog at 9:30 am by M Beauregard
Precinct chairs are the lifeline of the Democratic Party. They communicate one-on-one at the block level, so this FREE training is open to any activist who cares about educating and energizing their neighborhood!
| Date: |
Saturday February 24, 2007 |
| Time: |
9:30 am - 11:30 am |
| Location: |
HCDP Headquarters, 1445 North Loop West, Suite 110 |
Harris County Democratic Party will be holding a training seminar for new appointees but we encourage all Precinct Chairs to attend. Seminar will include overview of HCDP party structure; precinct chair duties and responsibilities; and proven practices. For more information please contact Martha Cottingham at 713-802-0085
HCDP "Texas Two Step", Celebration Fundraiser
| Date: |
Saturday February 24, 2007 |
| Time: |
5:00 pm - 8:00 pm |
| Location: |
IBEW Local 716 Union Hall, 1475 North Loop West, Houston Texas 77008 |
Mosey on over to HCDP’s first fundraising event of the year! Wear your denim, your boots and Two-Step into the election season! Step one: Buy your tickets to the event. Step two: Become a sustaining member of HCDP. Enjoy a delicious barbecue dinner, music and camaraderie with your fellow Democrats!
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02.22.07
Posted in Events, GHDC Blog at 5:30 pm by M Beauregard
Hostess Paula Arnold shares information about the Texas Freedom Network in her home, 5:30-7pm, Thursday, Februrary 22. Please RSVP.
The Texas Freedom Network is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization of more than 26,000 religious and community leaders. Based in Austin, the Texas Freedom Network acts as the state’s watchdog, monitoring far-right issues, organizations, money and leaders. The organization has been instrumental in defeating initiatives backed by the religious right in Texas, including private school vouchers, textbook censorship and faith-based deregulation.
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02.21.07
Posted in Events, GHDC Blog at 9:30 am by M Beauregard
A bill will soon be filed in the Texas legislature that will allow seriously ill Texans who have a qualifying medical condition and certification from their doctor to use medical marijuana without fear of arrest. It is a matter of compassion, our right to effective health care treatments and priorities in prosecutions.
Texans for Medical Marijuana
Lobby Day for this effort will take place:
Texas Capitol in Austin
Wednesday, February 21st 9:30am until 5:00pm.
for more info:
karen@texansformedicalmarijuana.org
Karen Heikkala
Public Relations Director
Texans for Medical Marijuana
PO Box 12905
Austin, Texas 78711
Office: 512-220-9209, Ext. 214
Cell: 512-589-1086,
www.TexansforMedicalMarijuana.org
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02.19.07
Posted in Events, GHDC Blog at 7:30 pm by M Beauregard
Garrison Keillor
Monday, February 19 | Wortham Center
sponsored by Progressive Forum Houston
Host, A Prairie Home Companion
Topic: Lake Wobegon Days
Garrison Keillor is the host and writer of A Prairie Home Companion heard by 4 million listeners each week on more than 580 public radio stations, as well as The Writer’s Almanac. He recently played himself in the movie adaptation of his show. He’s the author of more than a dozen books, including Lake Wobegon Days, The Book of Guys, Love Me, and Homegrown Democrat.
Program at 7:30 p.m. in the Wortham Center, Brown Auditorium. Private patron reception at 6:30 p.m. in the Green Room. / Book signing after the program in the grand foyer. Books will be on sale throughout the evening by Brazos Bookstore. / Tickets $19 to $59. A limited number of patron tickets at $110 include preferred seating location, private patron reception with the speaker, and a free autographed book. All tickets are $5 more at the door. At certain price levels, there are discounts for students, seniors 65 and over, and groups of 15 or more. Valid ID required at the door. There are no tickets sold in advance at the Wortham Center box office. Tickets are sold by an independent box office service, ClickNPrint, by telephone or online (see link and phone number under photo above). / For the hearing impaired, headsets are available at the box office or from the ushers.
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02.17.07
Posted in Events, GHDC Blog at 9:00 am by M Beauregard
Americans United for Separation of Church and State is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D. C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.
The Greater Houston Chapter of AU was founded in 1995. We work to promote separation of church and state within Texas and Houston by educating, informing, and lobbying.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
2007 Activist Workshop
Stages Repertory Theatre, D’Amico at Rosine
Registration and Refreshments at 9:30 a.m.
Workshop 10:00 a.m. to noon
These will be six short presentations. All participants will be able to attend all sessions.
Presenter: Nancy Friedman. Nancy is a practicing lawyer. She monitored bills being considered in the Texas legislature in her role as chair of Let Freedom Ring and publisher of its monthly newsletter for over ten years. She gave this presentation at AU’s 2004 workshop
Presenter: Sue Null. Sue is a teacher of English as a Second Language and an activist for PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). She has had letters, op-eds, and articles published in the Houston Chronicle, the Houston Voice, the Texas Triangle and the Wall Street Journal.
Presenter: Charlotte Coffelt. Since retiring as a public school educator and administrator, Charlotte has worked to raise the level of understanding of church/state separation. She has attended every Houston AU Lobby Day, has attended many Texas Women’s Legislative Days, and has lobbied members of Congress in Washington, D.C.
Presenter: State Representative Jessica Farrar. She has represented District 148 in the Texas Legislature for 12 years.
Presenter: William Geoghegan. Bill was a medical researcher for about 20 years and now teaches biology, microbiology and biotechnology at Montgomery College (NHMCCD). He testified at State Board of Education hearings in 2005 regarding the presentation of evolution in biology textbooks.
The workshop is free and open to the public, but we will need RSVPs to be sure we have enough workshop packets.
RSVP to HoustonAU@flash.net or to James Sells at (713) 782-8962
The experience of the United States is a happy disproof of the error so long rooted in the unenlightened minds of well-meaning Christians, as well as in the corrupt hearts of persecuting usurpers, that without a legal incorporation of religious and civil policy, neither could be supported. A mutual independence is found most friendly to practical Religion, to social harmony, and to political prosperity.
James Madison, from a letter sent to F.L. Schaeffer, Dec 3, 1821
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02.11.07
Posted in Meeting Minutes at 2:35 pm by M Beauregard
The meeting was called to order by Max Beauregard at 9:14 AM.
Patrick McIlvain, Chair of Precinct 22, announced the inaugural "Washington on Washington Parade" on March 3, 2007 at 10 AM, which will celebrate the rich history and diversity of Washington Avenue. One of the sponsoring organizations is Super Neighborhood 22 (Washington Avenue/Memorial Park). The "Super Neighborhood" concept was pioneered by Mayor Lee Brown. Pat McIlvain said, "This is the premier issue of an exciting event". The staging area is the intersection of Durham and Washington. The parade will march down Shepherd to Memorial Park. Max Beauregard made a motion to spend $50.00 on the parade. The motion was unanimously approved. The web site is www.wowtheparade.com.
We also discussed the possibility of participating in the St. Patrick’s Day parades on March 17. One will take place downtown. Phil McNutt said there will be another St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the 1960 area, in which the 1960 Democrats and Spring Democrats are involved. He said the 1960 area event always brings a lot of people. Barbara recommended that we participate in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade downtown. She said, "The idea is just to have a presence there. I think we should be at the parade". Max said we need to focus on our neighborhood. We should find out the details on these parades, and then work toward that. He appointed Mary Kay and Barbara to a committee to work on the St. Patrick’s Day events.
Phil McNutt said, "DFA is bringing their show to town" with the Democracy for America Training Academy on March 3 and 4. He described the event as "Dem Fest on steroids". The event, which will take place in the CWA Union Hall, will include the participation of the SEIU. He said, "We have folks coming in from Arkansas, Louisiana, and all parts of Texas. The tuition is $30 per day, or $60 for both days, and includes lunch. The web site for registration is www.dfalink.com/txhtraining. He said the event will cover topics such as local fundraising and local organizing. The hours of the conference are from 9 AM to 6 PM on Saturday, and from 9 AM to 5:30 PM on Sunday.
Gerry Birnberg said the City Elections will take place in May. He said, "as far as I know, Melissa Noriega is the only Democrat so far who is running".
Julie Jackson, the new Chair of HCDP Clubs and Organizations, introduced herself. Max Beauregard said, she "will be a strong and progressive leader of Clubs and Organizations". Max is going to work with the Harris County Young Democrats in order to try to bring more young activists into our group. He noted that all of the apartments and condos in our area are literally full of young people. He urged us to wear our club t-shirts often, "we have some back there. They really help a lot".
He announced that the religious liberty watchdog group Americans United for Separation of Church and State is going to have a meeting at the Stages Theater on February 17.
Phil McNutt announced the "Texas Two-Step Celebration" celebration at the IBEW Union Hall # 716 on the North Loop from 5 to 8 PM on February 24. The event will include music, dancing, and a barbecue dinner (www.hcdp.org).
Earlier on the 24th, there will be precinct chair training from 9:30 to 11:30 at HCDP headquarters.
HCDP Party Chair Gerry Birnberg noted that we did better in November 2006 than was previously projected. Next time in Harris County we should do at least a point better. In 2006 Democrats in Houston were concentrated in 17 House districts in which the incumbents were unopposed Democrats. That suppressed our turnout. It was incredibly difficult to motivate that part of our base. We should do much better in 2008. In every Presidential year, we do at least 2 points better. Gerry Birnberg estimated that Democrats in Harris County are at about 48.5% of the electorate countywide right now. He gave the example of Andrew C. Burks, Jr., who got 48.5% of the vote after spending just $300 and putting his name on the ballot. Mary Kay Green came in with 49.4% of the vote in her race for Family Court Judge. Jim Sharp actually carried all of Harris County in his race for Justice, 1st Court of Appeals.
Another bellwether of impending victory was Richard Garcia’s showing in his race for County Treasurer against Orlando Sanchez. He came in with 48.5% of the vote countywide.
In November 2006 in Dallas, 44 Democrats ran for judgeships, and all 44 won. We swept Dallas County. The victory of Lupe Valdez in 2004, a Hispanic lesbian, for Sheriff, suggested that Dallas County was ready to turn, and indeed it was. Democrats in Dallas ran a coordinated campaign in 2006. They also had ample money. They raised $500,000. By contrast, in Harris County we had $51,000.
They then said we’re going to concentrate our efforts entirely on people who are probably going to vote Democratic. They spent the entire 500 grand on just that one group. Their sole message was vote straight Democratic Party. The entire effort was "vote straight Democratic". If next time we target that same group of likely Democratic voters, I believe the same thing could happen here. We need for all of our candidates to chip into a straight, coordinated Democratic Party campaign. If we can convince them that we have a winning Democratic Party ticket, then we can win in 2008.
Since the last election cycle, he has been getting lots of phone calls and his e-mail is getting flooded. Currently we have a group that is engaged in recruiting, screening, and vetting potential candidates. In the next 45 to 60 days, the Party is going to develop a 4 page questionnaire for potential candidates. Some of the questions concern judicial qualifications, experience on the civil side. Board certification, Democratic credentials, Primary voting history, stands on the death penalty, how much cash prepared to spend on the race, and potential weaknesses. We want to make sure that we’re ready by sometime this spring. We are going to select a team of well-funded, serious candidates. He said, "There’s a lot going on, but for now, this is a little bit of what’s going on behind the scenes". Max Beauregard said, "It’s encouraging to know there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes activity going on".
Virginia Parks of the Search Project, an organization dedicated to getting homeless people off the streets, said that Mayor Bill White has been doing a study on homeless people in Houston (www.searchproject.org). The Search Homeless Coalition is doing an enumeration of the homeless. They estimate that there are about 12,000 homeless in the Houston area.
On any given Friday night, there are about 7,000 to 8,000 homeless people in the street. The Homeless Coalition provides support services including counseling to the homeless. They’re seeing more Rita and Katrina victims coming to them for help. She estimated that about 35% of the homeless population is going to need ongoing case management for probably the rest of their lives. She said that a significant portion of the homeless population is mentally ill. She recommended a Google search on ‘Housing First’ in order to get more information. Max Beauregard noted that, "anyone could be vulnerable. It’s cold in here right now because the front door here at Chatter’s Cafe is off its hinges and being fixed at the moment. You can get a sense of what it’s like to be on the street".
Visiting guest Dianne Davis introduced herself.
Max Beauregard related the Treasurer’s Report from Vicki Bellow that we have $1,335.48 in the bank.
Max Beauregard adjourned the meeting at 10:13 AM.
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02.02.07
Posted in Events, GHDC Blog at 12:00 am by M Beauregard
Heights Democrats makes no endorsement or gurantee of this vendor:
HALF PRICE CARNIVAL TICKETS ON SALE — Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo
I am a volunteer on the Carnival Ticket Sales Committee for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (“HLS&R”). We sell 1/2 price carnival tickets. See attached flyer. Please share my flyer with co-workers, friends, neighbors, family, schools, churches, etc. by forwarding this e-mail or hanging the flyer in your lunchroom, break room, bulletin boards, churches, schools, etc. We also accept donations to help sick and underprivileged kids attend the livestock show and carnival. Every dollar helps!
MAIL & INTERNET OFFERS ENDS Feb. 17, 2007
PHONE ORDERS ACCEPTED THROUGH Feb. 24, 2007
Over the last 9 years, I have raised over $217,000 for the HLS&R. Last year alone, I raised over $42,000 and our Carnival Ticket Sales Committee raised more than $1.5 million benefiting the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo scholarship program. We appreciate your support!!
Jill Clement
Carnival Ticket Sales Committee
(home) (713) 869-9494
(cell) (832) 651-0015
zackandjillclement@sbcglobal.net
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