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The Charlottesville Democratic Committee

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REPORT: Executive Committee Meeting (4/24/23)

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Six cartoonish (faceless) people sitting around a meeting table

Our first in-person Executive Committee meeting since before the pandemic (not counting some hybrid meetings) was held in Rives Park, and the weather thankfully cooperated. Highlights:
Jason Vandever gave a Treasurer’s Report; we’re well within our budget.
We discussed sending a postcard to registered voters in town to make sure that they know about the June 20 Primary.
The precinct lines for Charlottesville have been redrawn, as the City does every 10 years, and when this happens it poses a few temporary but interesting technical challenges we deal with, e.g.:
  • two precincts no longer exist;
  • there are two new precincts that technically have no one representing them, because the precincts did not exist at the time of our last reorganization (and our bylaws don’t address this scenario!);
  • some Precinct reps no longer live in the precincts that they represent due to the redrawn lines;
  • Mike Cameron and Mary Ann Harris have found a very few errors in the VoteBuilder database that put people in the wrong precinct (we’re advising the DPVA’s tech team of these).
To deal with this short-term, it was agreed that:
  • A proposed amendment to the bylaws will be presented for the May 22 Full Committee meeting.
  • In the meantime, precinct leaders will develop an ad hoc reorganization to handle the upcoming election.
We’re looking for suggestions on how to schedule the May 22 Full Committee meeting. We need a quorum to approve the change in the bylaws, so turnout is important, and it’s possible that a Zoom meeting would get a higher turnout. On the other hand, if we have another park meeting, we can invite the Primary candidates to chat with people before and after, and that could help drive turnout. Members are encouraged to share your views with John McLaren: cvilledemschair@gmail.com .
Nancy Damon updated us on the progress of our upcoming June 2 Summer Bash fundraiser (see below!), on the lawn at the Jefferson School African-American Heritage Center. Our goal is $10,000; so far we have $8,000 in sponsorship pledges… please pitch in and help us reach our goal!
There was broad agreement that our party should host an information forum on the City’s zoning reform process (see below).
Nancy reminded us of the opportunity to once again be a sponsor of (and table at) the Chihamba Festival (7/29). The Festival is also hosting a fundraising ball on June 3, and it would be great if local Dems attended that event too.
Based on feedback from the State Senate candidates, who told us there have already been five informational forums scheduled, we decided not to hold another one of our own.
Madison Cummings reminded us of the Albemarle Dems fundraiser May 7, 6-8pm, at Greencroft. In the past, a good number of Charlottesville Democrats have attended this event, and we encourage people to attend this year as well! Rep. Jennifer McClellan will be the guest speaker.

REPORT: 11/28 Executive Committee Meeting

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There are important discussions going on about where how we vote in the city that will impact a large fraction of the city’s voters in 2023 and thereafter.

Precinct Redistricting

City of Charlottesville Registrar Taylor Yowell and Electoral Board member Ann Hemenway shared the City’s draft proposal for reformatting Charlottesville’s precincts with the goals of evening out the number of voters in each precinct and increasing functionality, i.e. walkability, parking, etc. Around 40% of city voters would be in a new precinct. Alumni Hall (high-traffic accessibility problems) and Tonsler (inadequate space and parking) precincts would be replaced by Charlottesville High School and Jackson-Via.

 

Update on Ranked Choice Voting (RCV)

Delegate Sally Hudson explained that, due to electronic voting equipment limitations, City Council won’t have the ability to use RCV in the 6/2023 primary, but could authorize its use starting as soon as the 11/2023 general election. Sally asked the Executive Committee to consider having the Full Committee pass a resolution telling City Council whether we support or oppose an ordinance authorizing RCV for City Council elections.
It’s likely that the Cville Dems will need to have additional meetings and/or communications re: RCV and regarding the process of nominating candidates soon.
Sally shared a document with some of her perspectives on RCV:

Reflections on the November General Election

Josh Throneburg campaign poster showing Josh, his wife, and two children standing in a meadow

Josh Throneburg reported that he and his team are doing an after-election report to analyze what worked well and what didn’t; Josh is committed to staying involved to try to build in all of those areas for the future.

The campaign’s budget was much smaller than it had been for the previous two Democratic campaigns in the district, and so the campaign couldn’t reach as many voters as it needed to. Josh also indicated that the party needs to build up its infrastructure if we want to have success in the Fifth; some counties barely have a functioning Democratic committee, and the party’s network in rural areas is weak. His team is creating some briefing materials and other infrastructure so our next 5th District candidate won’t have to start from ground zero as his campaign did.
[As co-chairs Dashad and John previously posted on social media a million “thank yous” to Josh Throneburg, his staff, his family, volunteers & donors. We didn’t win, but we put out a positive message of Democratic values, compassion, and common sense. Josh has our party’s gratitude and great respect, and we salute him for leading our good fight!]

Post-Election Day Polling Place Update

Electoral Board member Jim Nix reported that 53% of active voters voted in the past election, only down 3% from last year’s gubernatorial race. The new electronic poll books worked very well. Same-day registration/voting on election day was a major change this year: 950 provisional ballots were cast (901 were certified and counted), nearly all were done on election day itself and, as expected, most were from students. This was even more provisional ballots than expected and led to a lot of stress on Carver and Venable poll workers, issues that will be addressed.

RIP Rep. Donald McEachin

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photo of Rep. Donald McEachinRichmond’s very highly-regarded and well-liked House of Representatives member Donald McEachin passed away on Monday 11/28.
The Richmond Times Dispatch ran this remembrance.
Our sympathies to his family and friends.

Storage Lockers: They Take a Village

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A group of dedicated Dems took some time after the election to clear out our storage unit! Masses of accumulated lawn signs (the wire frames that hold up lawn signs cost campaigns about three dollars each, so we have them available for the next campaign), campaign materials, office equipment, and…. stuff… were sorted, organized, and recycled or donated (e.g. a box of old campaign materials to the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society). Now we’re ready for 2023!

Thanks to everyone who helped make this magic happen: Bekah Saxon, Dashad Cooper, John McLaren, Mary Ann and Mark Harris, Mary Jane Gore, Nancy Damon, and Suzanne Michels.

Note: local politics is fun and rewarding, but not (always) as glamorous as people think. 😜

Storage locker before 11/2022 cleanup         

People-Persons (People-People??) for the Polls on Tuesday

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Photo of two Democrats, a black woman and a white man, in front of their tent outside a polling placeWe still need one or two friendly Dems to represent us at each polling station for just a few hours on Election Day, to share a sample ballot (marked for Josh!) and encourage people to take part in our local Democratic activities. We’ll provide the info that you’d need (it’s not hard!), please email us at cvilledemschair@gmail.org if you might be able to help with this very important final opportunity to influence people who will be voting in 20 seconds!
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