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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