Cville Dems

The Charlottesville Democratic Committee

Internal Cville Dems

Coming in April: A Caucus in Charlottesville!

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Horizontal logo of the Democratic Party of Virginia ("VA" in capital Blue letters, "DEMS" in capital black letters) with the words "5th Conbressional District Democrats" in a smaller font below.In addition to the March Presidential Primary, there will also be a caucus in Charlottesville on either Apr. 20 or Apr. 22 – more information to follow once the date has been settled!

Why do we have a caucus when there are already primaries? Glad you asked! We need to elect 14 delegates plus five alternates to represent Charlottesville at both the Fifth District convention in Fluvanna on May 18 and the DPVA (state) convention in Richmond on June 22. At both of these conventions, the Cville delegates will be voting on National Convention Delegates to represent Virginia in Chicago. The Fifth District convention is also responsible for electing the Democratic Electoral College member who will cast a vote for President Biden and Vice-President Harris after they win Virginia this November! The DPVA convention will also elect two Democratic Electoral College members, and elect five Virginia members of the Democratic National Committee.

Come to the Full Committee meeting on Feb. 26 for more information about the caucus/convention procedures, and what it means to be a “delegate” to the Fifth District/DPVA conventions here in Virginia versus being a “national delegate” to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. (If you can’t come to the Full Committee meeting, there are online information sessions with DPVA staff on Feb. 20 and Feb. 22.)

Executive Committee Meeting (Jan. 29, 2024)

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Six cartoonish (faceless) people sitting around a meeting tableWe’re back to regular meeting schedules, weather willing. The first meeting with new officers and other Executive Committee members will be 6:30pm on Monday, Jan. 29. The location is the Madison Room at the Jefferson Madison Central Library. If you’re new to the Cville Dems, welcome! Come meet lots of like-minded people.

Also, mark your calendars for the next Full Committee meeting. Every Cville Dem is welcome — 6:30 pm, Monday, Feb. 26. Location to be announced closer to the meeting.

New Officers and Precinct Leaders Elected at 1/13 Biennial Reorganization Meeting

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Simple (childish) clipart drawing of a blonde angel hovering with 2 pairs of wings and wearing a blue skirt, top, and shoes.The “changing of the guard” election day for Cville Dems on Jan. 13 was a great social gathering. The good cheer of the registration hour led nicely into the elections of:

Co-Chairs: Josh Throneburg and Nancy Damon
Vice-Chair: Dashad Cooper
Treasurer: Jason Vandever
Secretaries: Ruth Goldeen and Will Evans

Four appointed positions are on the Executive Committee:

Communications: Mary Jane Gore
Voter Registration: Suzanne Michels
Voter Protection:  Jeremy Jones
Fundraising:  Still seeking candidate(s) — Please contact Nancy Damon if you might be interested in helping out (e.g. brainstorming fundraising ideas)

Some new and familiar faces are taking posts as precinct officers for 2024:

Buford: Co-Chair Dashad Cooper, Co-Chair Steven Johnson
Carver: Co-Chair Lucy Pola, Co-Chair Leonard Schoppa
CHS: Co-Chair Mike Cameron, Co-Chair Ned Michie, Vice Chair Kristine Montamat
Clark: Chair Laura Shea,
Jackson-Via: Co-Chair Noemi Paz, Co-Chair Carrie Schaffer
Johnson:  Co-Chair Ivy Hinton, Co-Chair John Shepherd
Key Rec: Co-Chair Cyndy Chapman, Co-Chair Dave Chapman
Venable: Chair Lyle Solla-Yates
Walker: Co-Chair Hugh Colvin, Co-Chair James Quillen, Vice Chair Erica Goldfarb

Election Results and Meeting Report: 1/13/24 Biennial Reorganization

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Cville Dems C-Ville Weekly display ad for Rescheduled bienniel Reorganization meeting. Under the header "What Do We Want?" are stylized images for environment, economic opportunity, diversity, equity and education. Under the second header "How Will We Get It?" are photos of Donald Trump, and Bob Good with red diagonal slashmarks through their faces and a photo of a ballot box. Below is text describing when and where the Cville Dems' January 6, 2024 Reorganizational Meeting is being held and how it works, and the Dems logo is given at the bottom with the note saying that this ad was paid for by the Charlottesville Democratic Committee.We had a wonderful gathering Saturday afternoon for our the biennnial Reorganization Meeting.
Election results (please congratulate and thank these good people when you see them next!):
  • Co-Chairs: Josh Throneberg and Nancy Damon
  • Vice Chair: Dashad Cooper
  • Treasurer: Jason Vandever
  • Co-Secretaries: Ruth Goldeen and Will Evans
Turnout was good with many, many new faces. Outgoing chair John McLaren asked which attendees had never been to a Dems meeting and a forest of hands went up.
Thanks to everyone who signed up Saturday to volunteer for a role in the 2024 campaign; please invite your friends to join you, we’ll need even more people to get involved if we’re going to save our democracy by winning in the November election!!

Thanks also to all of the former leadership team for their hard work in organizing the event, especially John and Nancy Damon and Mary Ann Harris (stepping down from Secretary but taking on the important role of Vice-Chair of Records). Thanks also to Josh Throneburg and his wife Minhee who brought scones and drinks, Nancy Damon who brought cookies and other snacks, and Kevin Lynch who brought cider and arranged for musicians to play during the sign-in hour. Ann Goedde and John Shepherd helped with setup and cleanup, Llezelle Dugger helped with dues collection, and Dashad Cooper, Carrie Schaffer, and Abdulla Al Kaisi helped check people in.

POSTPONED to Saturday Jan. 13: Reorganization Meeting (with music and food!)

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Cville Dems C-Ville Weekly display ad for Rescheduled bienniel Reorganization meeting. Under the header "What Do We Want?" are stylized images for environment, economic opportunity, diversity, equity and education. Under the second header "How Will We Get It?" are photos of Donald Trump, and Bob Good with red diagonal slashmarks through their faces and a photo of a ballot box. Below is text describing when and where the Cville Dems' January 6, 2024 Reorganizational Meeting is being held and how it works, and the Dems logo is given at the bottom with the note saying that this ad was paid for by the Charlottesville Democratic Committee.Rescheduled Date/Time: NEXT Saturday January 13 BUT start time moved to 2pm (you will need to arrive before 3pm to vote!). The City closed Carver Rec, we had no choice but to cancel.

Location: Carver Recreation Center, 233 4th Street, NW

Pushed back one week, still a great opportunity for new people with new ideas to get involved!!

Schedule:

  • During the 2-3pm registration hour we’ll be chatting with attendees and signing up volunteers. We’ll have light food (fresh apple juice, coffee, and homemade scones) and probably some live acoustic music. Current precinct committee members should arrive early to greet attendees, especially those new to us, and help them find the volunteer signup table(s) that match their interest(s) such as GOTV, event planning, helping with petitions, media, etc.
  • At 3pm sharp, the doors close (no one arriving after 3pm will be allowed in) and we switch over to election business (should only take about an hour):
  1. Attendees who we’ve signed in by 3pm will elect Precinct Representatives, who then choose either a chair or two co-chairs for each precinct. Anyone who lives in and is registered to vote in Charlottesville is eligible to stand for election to become a member of our committee and have a voice in shaping our local party’s actions and positions on issues.
  2. The Precinct Representatives and ex officio members, who together make up the Charlottesville Democratic Committee (“The Full Committee”), will then elect candidates for the following offices (listed with all candidates who have so far generously offered to run for them):

Co-Chairs: Josh Throneburg and Nancy Damon
Vice-Chair: still seeking candidate(s)
Treasurer: Jason Vandever is willing to stay on
Secretary: still seeking candidate(s)

Note that we have four other positions on the Executive Committee that are appointed, not elected:

Communications: Mary Jane Gore has volunteered to serve.
Voter Registration: Suzanne Michels is willing to stay on,
Voter Protection: Jeremy Jones is willing to stay on.
Fundraising: still seeking candidate(s).

Layperson descriptions of these various offices are on our website; full descriptions of the precinct roles (and officer roles) are in our bylaws.

These “changing of the guard” elections are critically important for every organization, including ours; it’s always important to have fresh faces and new ideas in the leadership mix.

To put it bluntly, we need you! We all know that the 2024 election will be a struggle for the future of this country. If we don’t grow the party (bring in new people with new energy and ideas), we’ll have to live with a re-elected President Trump and more MAGA extremists in all branches of government. If that’s not an acceptable future to you, then please rise to the challenge and play a part!

  • If you’re on our mailing list but haven’t ever gotten formally involved, this pivotal election year would be a really good time to give engagement a small try! Two of the ways you might do this (neither a big time commitment):
  • become a precinct representative, which gives you a voice in shaping the party, and plugs you into our volunteer network and all the practical ways you can work for good.
  • join one of our teams (Communications, Voter Registration, Voter Protection, etc.).
  • If you’re already a little bit involved, contribute just a bit more by joining a precinct committee or taking on one of our open leadership positions.
  • If you know people who you think could make good contributions to the Cville Dems, encourage them to come check us out (all of our meetings are public, including January 6).

If you’d like more information or have a question about a role you might consider taking, please contact John McLaren as soon as possible at cvilledemschair@gmail.com, and he’ll be happy to explain all.