09.10.07

Minutes, September 8

Posted in Meeting Minutes at 3:12 pm by M Beauregard

Our President, Max Beauregard, was out participating in HISD’s 4th Annual "Reach Out to Drop Outs" walk, an effort to encourage Houston students to stay in school, so our Vice-President, Kevin Hoffman, chaired the meeting.

 
Diane Mosier, a former club President, spoke first. She said that she is currently working as a volunteer coordinator for the local team of Democratic judicial candidates, who are campaigning to take Harris County back in 2008. Her husband, Bruce Mosier, is going to be one of the candidates in that cycle. She said, "We will have some contested judicial primary races in the next Democratic Primary. We haven’t had any of those in a long time. We are certain that the Republican opposition is getting very nervous". A number of the local Democratic judicial candidates announced their candidacies at the meeting. Some of the other candidates who were in attendance were Bob Schaffer; R. K. Sandill (www.sandill4judge.com): Fred Cook (www.cook4judge.com); Shawna Reagin www.reagin4judge.com   and Robert Hinojosa, a former Family Court judge who lost his post in the Republican sweep of 1994.

 
A mother whose daughter attends Harvard Elementary School in the Heights announced an upcoming benefit fundraiser for the school, that will be held on November 3, and will feature the local "world groove" music group Moodafaruka (www.moodafaruka.com).

 
Maureen Haver, the Canvas Director for the statewide grassroots group Texans Together (www.texanstogether.org), talked about her organization, and the work that it is doing in the Houston area. She said that she is engaged in a variety of local mobilizing activities. She can be reached at maureen.haver@gmail.com and 832-641-2882.

 
Texans Together is a 501(c)(3) organizations that was founded this year with the goal of building a strong grassroots movement that educates and mobilizes citizens to fight for economic opportunity. The local office is located at 411 Cavalcade, and can be reached at (713) 782-8833 or info@texanstogether.org.

 
Texans Together is putting a lot of resources into organizing minority-majority areas like Aldine and Spring Branch that are currently represented by Republicans. They hope to change that. Another constituency on which they are focusing is the Hurricane Katrina evacuees. HCDP Chairman Gerry Birnberg noted that "a high concentration of them has settled in Precinct 133".  Texans Together recently canvassed 7,000 homes in the Aldine and Spring Branch areas, and is conducting a massive voter registration drive. They work together locally with the grassroots group Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now ( www.ACORN.org ) and the Houston Area Table coalition. The Houston Area Table meets monthly at the upper Kirby Building at 3015 Richmond.

 
Melissa Noriega is running again for the Houston City Council At-Large Position 3 seat. Our club voted last spring during the first round of voting to endorse her in that round, and we voted to endorse her again in this cycle provided that she is not opposed by any candidates who are sustaining members of the Democratic Party. Her web site is www.melissanoriega.com

 
Kevin J. Hoffman is a candidate for the Houston Community System College Board of Trustees District 1 position. We tentatively voted to endorse him also as long as we determine after further investigation that he is not opposed by any candidates who are sustaining members of the Democratic Party. He can be reached at kevin4hccs@yahoo.com

 
Vicki Bellow presented the Treasurer’s Report that we have $1,843.58 in the bank.

Kevin Hoffman adjourned the meeting at 10:30 AM.

 
Henry Weissborn

 

 

 

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