Cville Dems

The Charlottesville Democratic Committee

Meetings

Report: Full Committee Meeting (3/27)

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1. Ashley Cinalli-Mathews from Central Virginia Community Justice gave us an overview of the renamed and expanding restorative justice organization and invited us to attend its free introductory party on April 25 (6:00-7:30pm at Visible Records, 1740 Broadway Street).

2. Plans continue to advance for our June 2 annual fundraiser (see below for more details). In the near future, we’ll need some volunteers to go through our phone list to recruit sponsors for the event. Please contact Nancy Damon (nancycdamon@gmail.com) if you might be able to help.

3. Here’s our game plan for holding forums for primary candidates, with additional event details to be announced as soon as they’re set (details of the first event were not known as of the meeting date, we’ve filled those in):
  • House of Delegates — We’ll have one forum at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center on 4/26, 7:00-8:30pm, for all the primary candidates for both our District 54 (Charlottesville and parts of Albemarle) and also our neighboring District 55 (which includes the rest of Albemarle). This is co-sponsored by the Albemarle Dems.
  • City Council — Now that we need to hold a primary (currently 4 candidates for 3 seats) we’ll arrange a forum.
  • State Senate — We’ll will try to set up something with the candidates as soon as possible after candidate registrations for the primary end on April 6. The Senior Statesman club is arranging a forum close to the June primary date, but we want to give our members an earlier look.
4. We discussed whether to hold an informational forum about the City’s Draft Zoning Plan (see below for much more on this!).

Highlights of the Executive Committee 2/27 Meeting

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  • Our party must collect the paperwork from all primary candidates between March 20 and April 6, and immediately afterwards verify the petition signatures to get each candidate on the ballot. It’s fun, and much quicker, as a group project; please email cvilledemschair@gmail.com for information if you might be able to pitch in a few hours.
  • We’d like to organize some candidate forums in April, possibly in collaboration with the Albemarle Democrats. Details will be announced when they’re worked out.
  • Nancy Damon updated us on the upcoming annual dinner fundraiser, tentatively scheduled for Friday June 2 (see below). Thanks to Nancy and the committee for doing all the planning!
  • We want to increase our efforts at community engagement to get more people (and more diversity!) in our membership. If you or someone you know might be interested in joining this effort, please contact cvilledemschair@gmail.com.
  • We’ve formalized some policies and procedures for covering the primary candidates, so we can pass on information to our members without showing favoritism to any candidate.
  • Kate Vasiloff, a local activist working with Compassion and Choices to expand end-of-life options, briefed us on a proposed bill that would allow for assisted suicide in very narrowly prescribed cases of incurable terminal illnesses. In past years, the General Assembly hasn’t passed similar bills, despite large majority support from both Democratic and Republican voters. The Charlottesville Democrats have not taken any position on this issue. If you’d like to learn more, or to participate in this effort, you can contact Kate: kate@untoldresearch.com 
  • Erin Monaghan gave 5th District and DPVA reports (see below).

Executive Committee Meeting: Monday 2/27 6:30pm via Zoom

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cartoon people sitting around a meeting tableThis will be a Zoom-only meeting (we’ll email the link a day or two beforehand). As always, everyone’s input and ideas are very much welcome (needed!). Our main agenda items:
  • discuss plans for a candidate forum for the primaries
  • hear update on plans for our big annual fundraising event in June
  • solicit ideas for community outreach activities/events
  • meet the leadership team of the Charlottesville Area Young Democrats (CAYD)
  • consider whether to host an informational forum on the new (Draft) zoning map
  • hear from local activist Kate Vasiloff about the difficult issue of medical aid in dying (and legislative actions to consider)

Full Committee Meeting via Zoom (Monday January 9th, 6:30pm)

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cartoon people sitting around a meeting tableUPDATE: This meeting, the only one we’re having in January, will only be on Zoom, not also in person as previously announced. Don’t go to the library, instead look for an email a day or two pre-meeting providing the Zoom link.

 

Here are the agenda highlights:

 

Voter Protection

DPVA is eliminating its statewide Voter Protection Department, so we and other local committees need to meet and establish our own VoPro committees. Priority #1 is to recruit an army of volunteers to help voters who have Election Day problems, including any voters whose eligibility is challenged. These people need to be in place for this November’s election so we can use that experience to prepare for the November 2024 presidential election, where it could really matter! Kristin Clarens will brief us on the evolving voter protection strategy.

 

2023 Primaries

There will likely be primaries in June 2023 for City Council, House of Delegates, and State Senate elections. We’ll share what we know about the primaries at this meeting.

 

Update on Ranked Choice Voting (RCV)

Delegate Hudson told the Executive Committee last month that, due to electronic voting equipment limitations, City Council won’t have the ability to use RCV in a 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.
Sally shared a document with some of her perspectives on RCV (please look it over before the meeting):

Full Committee Meeting (Monday 10/24, 6:30 pm)

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cartoon people sitting around a meeting tableWe’ll be meeting at the Central Library’s Swanson Case Room, but you can also attend over Zoom; please contact cvilledemschair@gmail.com if you’re not on the committee and would like the Zoom login information.

The main business of the meeting will be pulling together all of our energies and organization to get Josh Throneberg across the finish line victorious! We’ll also provide some updates on voting-reform issues such as proposals for ranked-choice voting, as well as the urgent business of the Governor’s destructive policies on (1) transgender students in public schools and (2) withdrawal from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).

Report: 6/27 Executive Committee Meeting

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cartoon people sitting around a meeting tableErin Monaghan presented the recommendations of the Bylaws Committee, chaired by Dave Chapman, which proposed numerous reforms (the bylaws hadn’t been looked at for 11 years!), including:
  • adding language to promote inclusiveness
  • giving the Full Committee flexibility in setting dues
  • establishing renewable 10-year terms for ex-officio members (instead of the existing lifetime term)
  • codifying that online meetings have the same official status as in-person meetings
  • enabling the Executive Committee to call an emergency meeting of the Full Committee to pass a resolution on a subject of pressing importance. Note: There was some disagreement about this issue at the meeting, with some members pressing for the ability of the Executive Committee to issue statements on its own behalf to maximize ability to respond.
Unfortunately, because there was no quorum for an official meeting, no vote could be taken on the bylaws, which meant we also couldn’t vote on issuing a statement condemning the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe (or any other matter). Reminder– it’s important to come out to the Full Committee meetings whenever possible!
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