Meetings

We’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.

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

Our every-other-year election meeting (“Reorganizational Mass Meeting”) will be on January 6 at 2pm at Carver Recreation Center (the doors open at 1pm and participants must be seated before the doors are closed and locked at 2pm). Here’s what we’ll be doing there:

1. Elect precinct representatives, who then choose a chair or co-chairs for each precinct.
2. The just-elected precinct representatives and ex officio members, who together make up the Charlottesville Democratic Committee (usually referred to as “the Full Committee”), then elect the following Executive Officers for two-year terms: Chair (or Co-Chairs), Vice Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer.

Jason Vandever (Treasurer) and Nancy Damon (Vice Chair) have agreed to continue in their roles, but John McLaren (Chair) and Mary Ann Harris (Secretary) will be stepping down from those roles (but staying involved!) when their terms expire. Layperson descriptions of these various offices are here; descriptions of the precinct roles (and officer roles) are in our bylaws. Dan Doernberg (Communications Chair, an appointed position) is also stepping down at the end of his term.

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 “wade in” just a bit! 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 (e.g. Communications, Voter Registration, Voter Protection, etc.).
• If you’re already a little bit involved, this incredibly consequential election year is a good time to commit just a bit more by 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). 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.

If you’d like to get 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.