Cville Dems

Cville Dems Full Committee Meeting (5/22/2023)
2023-05-22 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Forest Hills Park, 1000 Forest Hills Park Ave., Charlottesville, VA, 22903, United States
The Full Committee will meet, weather permitting, at the Forest Hills Park picnic shelter, 1000 Forest Hills Park Ave., starting at 6pm; the unusual start time gives primary candidates a final Full Committee opportunity to informally meet and chat with members before the primary. Please bring your own chair and an extra if possible. If rain (or snow!) is forecast, we’ll email everyone to switch to Zoom.

Tentative agenda item highlights (after the candidate time ends):

Assuming we can get a quorum (so please attend if you can!!), vote to amend our bylaws to reflect precinct redistricting necessitated by the 2020 census (details in last month’s newsletter). The proposed amendment language, with full explanation, is here.
Volunteers will be needed to staff current polling places and the two old polling places (Alumni Hall and Tonsler) on Primary Day to answer voters’ questions and thank them for coming out to vote.
June 2 Summer Bash Fundraiser report (see below).
Charlottesville City Council Candidate forum on May 24 (see below).
June 26 picnic with Albemarle Dems (see below).
Zoning info forum (see below).

Charlottesville City Council Candidates Forum — TONIGHT (Wednesday 5/24)
2023-05-24 18:30 - 20:00 | Buford Middle School, 1000 Cherry Ave., Charlottesville, 22903, United States
DETAILS ARE SET: The Cville Dems candidates forum for the three seats on the Charlottesville City Council will be THIS WEDNESDAY, May 24, 6:30-8:00pm, at Buford Middle School, 1000 Cherry Ave.
Attend in person, or watch it virtually on Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87396492694?pwd=[REDACTED]
The five candidates are Dashad Cooper, Bob Fenwick, Natalie Oschrin, Michael Payne, and Lloyd Snook.
Lewis Combs will moderate. Each candidate will have a four-minute initial statement (lottery determines order), then they’ll answer questions submitted by the audience.

2nd Annual Summer Bash Fundraiser!
2023-06-02 18:00 - 20:00 | Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, 2nd floor (JSAAHC), 233 4th Street NW, Charlottesville, VA, 22903, United States
2nd Annual Summer Bash Fundraiser is just Days Away!

Black Empowerment Coalition Candidates Forum (LOCATION CHANGE)
2023-06-13 18:00 - 20:00 | Beyond Fitness, 1538 Rio Rd. E., Charlottesville, VA, United States
Meet these candidates (maybe your last chance before the primary!):

Bellamy Brown
Katrina Callsen
Creigh Deeds
Sally Hudson
Amy Laufer
Dave Norris
Kellen Squire
Dashad Cooper
Bob Fenwick
Natalie Oschrin

2023 Juneteenth Celebration at the Jefferson School
2023-06-17 09:00 - 21:30 | Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, 2nd floor (JSAAHC), 233 4th Street NW, Charlottesville, VA, 22903, United States
The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center (JSAAHC) is celebrating Juneteenth this year with a full day of events:

9am Parade
11am Libation ceremony
12pm-3pm Concert (3 bands!)
7:30pm CPG’s presentation of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

For more information and to sign up (to walk in the parade, to get tickets for the evening play) click here.
Note: for additional community Juneteenth events visit our Juneteenth events post.

Albemarle & Cville Democratic Party Picnic (7/30/2023)
2023-07-30 14:00 - 17:00 | Darden Towe Park, 1445 Darden Towe Park Road, Charlottesville, VA, 22911, United States
Summer Fun in the Sun! Come meet all our great candidates and help launch their November campaigns!
Date & Time: Sunday, July 30, 2pm-5pm (original 6/26 was rained out)
Where: Darden Towe Park Picnic Shelter — Enter the Park, turn right at the T intersection, take the road to the end to reach the picnic shelter and Dog Park).
We provide: Hot Dogs/Burgers/Vegan food options + games for adults and kids (we’re bringing cornhole, balls for soccer/kickball, bocce/petanque, and bubbles for little ones; feel free to bring more of the above or your own favorite picnic games/activities!).
You bring: Non-alcoholic beverages, a side dish or dessert, 1 chair per person, family and friends (kid-friendly!), and your Democratic Spirit!
Food, games, meet candidates, and lots of Dems… what’s not to like? Bring family and friends (especially those who aren’t as politically engaged!) and help spread the word!
RSVPs (optional but helpful) to: karencombs6522@gmail.com

Cville Dems Executive Committee Meeting (8/2/2023)
2023-08-02 18:30 - 2023-08-28 20:00
Due to scheduling conflicts, we won’t have our regularly scheduled July 24 Full Committee meeting; instead, there’ll be an Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday, August 2, 6:30pm at Rives Park. The agenda includes:

plans for this year’s “Turn Out the Vote” (Thursdays at Ix Art Park, see below)
Summer Bash and Summer Picnic wrap-ups
discussion of Primary results

If you have any topics to add to the agenda, please let John know: cvilledemschair@gmail.com

"Turn Out the Vote Thursdays" at Ix Art Park
2023-08-17 16:00 - 19:00, 2023-08-24 16:00 - 19:00, 2023-08-31 16:00 - 19:00, 2023-09-07 16:00 - 19:00, 2023-09-14 16:00 - 19:00, 2023-09-21 16:00 - 19:00, 2023-09-28 16:00 - 19:00, 2023-10-05 16:00 - 19:00 and 2 more dates | Ix Art Park, 522 2nd St. SE, Charlottesville, Virginia, 22902, United States
“Turn Out the Vote Thursdays” 4-7pm at the Ix Art Park on the Brazos Tacos lawn, weather permitting. Come when and for how long your schedule and mood dictate; it needn’t be every week or the entire three hours!
For the past three years, we’ve been fortunate to have so many dedicated people join us at Ix Art Park to eat, drink, chat, and pitch in together to help our Democratic candidates win. In 2022, we had 100+ volunteers who attended at least one time, with many attending almost every week. If you’ve joined us before, please join us again. If you haven’t tried it yet, come on down and meet fellow Dems and enjoy yourself while working for a big win on November 7!
At various times the group will be:

Writing postcards and making follow-up phone calls to newly registered voters. That combination has been very successful, resulting in this group voting at a consistent 75-80% rate in 2021-2023.
Distributing “walk sheet” name and address lists of Dem-leaning people for our campaign canvassers to visit.
Sending some specific issue-message postcards (a new idea we’re considering).
Writing postcards and phoning Albemarle residents we’ve registered.
Writing postcards and phoning for campaigns near Charlottesville.

If you can, bring a chair to sit on and a clipboard or something similar to write on.

Democracy & Constitution Days Celebration (9/16/23)
2023-09-16 14:00 - 15:30 | Charlottesville Free Speech Wall, 605 E. Main St., Charlottesville, VA, 22902
When: Sept. 16, 2:00–3:30pm
Where: Downtown Mall Free Speech Wall
As Republicans nationwide disenfranchise vulnerable populations with voter suppression laws, and online platforms polarize our politics and sow distrust in our institutions, voters are recognizing the urgent threat to our democracy and are looking to push back… hence this event!
Speakers at this pro-democracy rally include our own Josh Throneburg, Meg Heubeck, Chair of the League of Women Voters of the Charlottesville Area and Director of Instruction at UVA’s Center for Politics, and Prof. Bruce Williams from UVA Media Studies Department.
Local musicians Theocles, Jon Nafziger, and the Green Grannies will also participate. The League of Women Voters will register voters and provide important voting information.
For more information, check out: https://www.facebook.com/events/1479365319505121
And before or after this short but very important event, check out at least part of the other nearby event (fun and celebratory) going on that same day, the C’Ville Sabroso Cultural Festival.

C'Ville Sabroso Cultural Festival
2023-09-16 14:00 - 21:00 | Washington Park, Preston Ave
When: Sept. 16, 2–9pm
Where: Washington Park, 1001 Preston Ave
As the region’s only Latin American music, dance, and culture festival, C’ville Sabroso has become a treasured regional celebration over its 11-year run; attendance should approach 5,000! It’s a safe space for our diverse Latin American community to showcase and share the rich cultures of their countries of origin and of Latin America generally.
Some highlights from this year’s event, organized by local immigrant services nonprofit Sin Barreras:

Continuous music and dance on the main stage—including the festival’s first-ever band from South America.
A new adult-only beer garden.
A kid’s area with face painting, the JMRL bookmobile, and supplies for making traditional paper flowers and garlands.
Cultural representation from Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Uruguay.
Food, food, food: twice as many vendors as last year!

For more information: https://www.facebook.com/cvillesabroso
The Spanish language flyer is below.
Note: before coming out to Sabroso, consider taking in the much shorter Democracy & Constitution Days Celebration the same day (2:00-3:30pm) at the Free Speech Wall that the Cville Dems are cosponsoring.

Cville Dems Full Committee Meeting (9/26/2023 - DATE CHANGE)
2023-09-26 18:30 - 20:00 | Forest Hills Park, 1000 Forest Hills Park Ave., Charlottesville, VA, 22903, United States
We’ll meet in Forest Hills Park, 6:30-8:00pm on Tuesday, September 26. The preliminary agenda:

Hear from candidates and local organizers about opportunities to help as we make a focused push toward Election Day.

Discuss, and hopefully have a quorum to be able to pass, one or more formal resolutions about current policy issues (e.g. abortion rights and Republican proposals for a “forced outing“ law attacking LGBTQ+ kids in our school system, which Creigh Deeds’ opponent Philip Andrew Hamilton and many other Republicans endorse).
Hear from UVA Democrats (UDems) about what they’re doing to energize the youth vote.
Discuss, time permitting, Bob Good’s “report card” (see “Preaching to the Choir” section below). Spoiler alert: it’s not a report card he’d want to bring home to his parents!

To suggest something to add to the agenda, please email cvilledemschair@gmail.com

The Forward Fifth 2023 Extravaganza (9/30/2023)
2023-09-30 17:00 - 22:00 | University of Lynchburg, 1501 Lakeside Dr., Lynchburg, VA, 24501, United States
Final details still being worked out (we’ll announce them when we know more), but save the date!

MoveOn.org Banned Bookmobile Event (10/18/23)
2023-10-18 16:00 - 18:30 | Charlottesville Free Speech Wall, 605 E. Main St., Charlottesville, VA, 22902
Come Get Free Banned Books from MoveOn.org!
Join us on Wednesday, October 18, from 4:00-6:30pm, at the Free Speech Wall (605 E Main Street on the Downtown Mall) to meet up with (and get free banned books from!!) the MoveOn Banned Bookmobile and hear from featured speakers including award-winning local author Jocelyn Nicole Johnson (“My Monticello”) and a variety of officeholders and candidates.
It’s fine to drop by to catch the event, but helpful to sign up here with MoveOn.
The Banned Bookmobile is on a national tour to highlight the terribly frightening and undemocratic attempts by extremist Republicans to ban books in schools and libraries nationwide; per WVTF and the Virginia Education Association, there have been 400 attempted book bans in Virginia this year as of September, and one public library almost closed due to efforts to ban LGBTQ content (but they fought and won that battle!).
Not available for sale at the event, but Actor Levar Burton and MoveOn Political Action collaboratively released in early October a new original “Read Banned Books” T-shirt for National Banned Book Week in support of this campaign,. The limited-edition shirt features the likeness of the lifetime literacy champion LeVar Burton (long-time host of the PBS “Reading Rainbow” show) and can be purchased here.
Nancy Damon is organizing the event (thank you Nancy!). If you’d like to be a speaker, please contact her at nancycdamon@gmail.com.

Cville Dems Executive Committee Meeting (10/23/2023)
2023-10-23 18:30 - 20:00
Agenda and meeting location will be shared via email a few days before the event.

CANCELLED: "Turn Out the Vote Thursdays" at Ix Art Park
2023-10-26 16:00 - 19:00 | Cancelled, United States
No more work at Ix needed, we wrote and mailed approximately 7,500 postcards! This is far more than we’ve ever done before, and it happened due to:

Superb organizing by Mary Ann Harris, Nancy Damon, and Suzanne Michels – huge kudos!
Sincere gratitude to everyone who pitched in throughout the Summer and Fall by writing postcards and/or donating money to buy postcards and stamps.

So our Thursday at Ix work is done for this cycle, no more meet-ups at IX Park this Fall!
Now for the details about those 7500 postcards:

700 to new City of Charlottesville voters
1,800 to new Albemarle County voters
2,000 to City residents
500 for Rachel Levy in Louisa County
500 for Michael Feggans in Virginia Beach
1,000 for Susanna Gibson in Henrico County
1,000 for Lily Franklin in Montgomery County.

It was a pleasure spending time with old friends and getting to meet new friends — spending our Thursday afternoons together working to help elect the best candidates locally and statewide! We’re most definitely looking forward to sitting around the picnic tables in the Spring when the BIG 2024 presidential election cycle begins.
We hope most of you will join us for the big Sunday October 28 Canvassing push with Sen. Mark Warner at Pen Park!
And… make sure to remind all your Dem-leaning friends, both City and County, of the importance of voting; we can’t take victory for granted, it’s all about turnout!

CANCELLED -- "Thursday at Ix Park" (BUT we have alternatives!!)
2023-11-02 16:00 - 19:00 | Cancelled, United States
No more work at Ix needed, we wrote and mailed approximately 7,500 postcards! This is far more than we’ve ever done before, and it happened due to:

Superb organizing by Mary Ann Harris, Nancy Damon, and Suzanne Michels – huge kudos!
Sincere gratitude to everyone who pitched in throughout the Summer and Fall by writing postcards and/or donating money to buy postcards and stamps.

So our Thursday at Ix work is done for this cycle, no more meet-ups at IX Park this Fall!
Now for the details about those 7500 postcards:

700 to new City of Charlottesville voters
1,800 to new Albemarle County voters
2,000 to City residents
500 for Rachel Levy in Louisa County
500 for Michael Feggans in Virginia Beach
1,000 for Susanna Gibson in Henrico County
1,000 for Lily Franklin in Montgomery County.

It was a pleasure spending time with old friends and getting to meet new friends — spending our Thursday afternoons together working to help elect the best candidates locally and statewide! We’re most definitely looking forward to sitting around the picnic tables in the Spring when the BIG 2024 presidential election cycle begins.
And… make sure to remind all your Dem-leaning friends, both City and County, of the importance of voting; we can’t take victory for granted, it’s all about turnout!

"Donut Forget to Vote" Saturday Morning 11/4 Event!
2023-11-04 08:30 - 11:30 | City of Charlottesville Registrar’s Office (Office of Voter Registration), 120 7th Street NE City Hall Annex, Room 142, Charlottesville, 22902, United States
On Saturday November 4, the last day of Early Voting, we’ll be partying 8:30-11:00am near the Cville Registrar’s office (120 7th Street NE at City Hall Annex, near the Pavilion). Come join us and a medley of candidates who will chat with us and encourage us (and those walking by!?) to get their vote in. Donuts never hurt, so we’re offering them too!
Please contact Suzanne Michels suzemichels@gmail.com if you’d like to help with this event or have any questions. Thanks to our friends at Himalayan Fusion for help with staging logistics.
Sen. Creigh Deeds needs all our Cville blue votes to keep his seat and a Dem majority in the VA Senate. Don’t let the City’s uncontested races lull you into complacency; we need to work to make sure our neighbors and friends turn out to vote! So far this cycle, Early Voting is way down, which is worrisome…

Election Day 2023 (In-Person Voting 6am-7pm)
2023-11-07 06:00 - 19:00
Go to your precinct polling location (check where that is this year with the City of Charlottesville’s Interactive Precinct Map, because 40% of us have different polling locations this year than in previous years!).
Bring your ID (for Virginia’s voter ID policies, see this overview and list of acceptable forms of ID).
Same Day Registration (new as of 2023): If you’re not registered before Nov 7, you can go to your precinct polling place to register to vote and submit a provisional ballot; your polling place is determined by where you live. To find your correct polling place, contact the Charlottesville Voter Registration Office at 434-970-3250 or go to iwillvote.com (but if you go to the wrong precinct, the pollworkers there will redirect you to the right precinct).

November 7 Victory Party (hosted by Albemarle Dems)
2023-11-07 19:00 - 22:00 | Vivace’s Restaurant, 2244 Ivy Road, Charlottesville, VA, 22903
The Albemarle Dems are holding a Victory Party at Vivace’s, 2244 Ivy Rd, Charlottesville, VA 22903… and since we did all our canvassing with them this election season, let’s join them to enjoy the fruits of all our hard work!!

Cville Dems Full Committee Meeting (11/27/2023)
2023-11-27 18:30 - 20:00
Agenda and meeting location to follow.

Cville Dems Reorganization Meeting (Precinct and Officer Elections)
2024-01-06 14:00 - 16:00 | Carver Recreation Center, 233 4th Street NW, Charlottesville, VA, United States
January 6 Reorganization Meeting: Opportunities for New People with New Ideas!
