Minutes of Meeting
January 12, 2012
Present: S. Belkziz, D. Sirotkin Butler, A. Coolidge, M. Crewe, M. Cummings, P. Deal, R. Feldman, S. Garballey, K. Haase, G. Hooper, B. Kennedy Pfister, A. Kraus, L. Pedulla, P. Schlichtman, E. Schwartz, P. Schwartz, R. Smith, Z. Memon, M. Healy, Richard McElroy, John Sweeney, Nancy Sweeney, Dan LeClerc, Maura Shannon, Corinne Candilis, Ghanda DiFiglio, Gloria D. Zarr (27).
Chair Aimee Coolidge thanked 20-year member Joe Daly in absentia for helping us find our new meeting location at Armstrong Ambulance.
Each attendee introduced him- or herself to the group.
The minutes from the meeting of December 12 were unanimously accepted.
Aimee reported that the ADTC received a grateful acknowledgment of its contribution to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Observance Committee from Ian Jackson, chair of the committee.
Treasurer Ed Schwartz reported that the ADTC received a grateful acknowledgment of its contribution to the Arlington Food Pantry from Christine Connolly, Director of Health and Human Services.
Ed Schwartz reported that the balance in our ADTC account is $5,736.11, and that he had filed the Committee's end-of-year report with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF).
A motion to elect Richard McElroy as an Associate Member was made and seconded. The vote will be taken at the next meeting he attends.
Deb Sirotkin Butler reported that, as previously voted, the Committee planned to raise funds for an office using email followed by regular mail, rather than stage a costly event. Sen. Ken Donnelly has contributed $500 already, and Rep. Sean Garballey said that he would contribute the same amount; their contributions were gratefully applauded. (At the meeting, members donated an additional $600.) The ActBlue page for receiving online contributions is in the process of being set up; Aimee noted that this is a well-established safe way for people to give online. Adele Kraus noted that since ActBlue takes a percentage of contributions, regular mail or in-person checks are preferable.
Ed Schwartz is in the process of setting up a post office box for the Committee to receive checks and correspondence. A motion to allocate up to $125 for a post office box for a year was approved unanimously. After it was reported that the central post office is out of boxes and the smallest size may not be available there or in a branch office, a motion to reconsider this vote was made and approved unanimously, and a motion to allocate up to $200 to rent the smallest available post office box for a year was made and approved unanimously. In addition, a motion to allocate up to $400 for stamps and supplies related to the fundraising appeal was made and approved unanimously.
A question was raised whether the Committee had an annual budget that it could approve, to avoid these piecemeal votes. Aimee agreed that this was an idea well worth considering.
Sean reported on his research into the OCPF guidelines and the laws on fundraising in public buildings. He spoke to the House Counsel as well as State Party staff, who agreed that the OCPF was the final authority on these questions. He spent some time speaking with Michael Sullivan, the OCPF director. As the OCPF interprets Chapter 55, Section 14, prohibiting solicitation of funds in public buildings, any discussion of the possibility of fundraising is equivalent to fundraising. This strict interpretation protects our Committee and others, and any legislation to change the law would be unwise.
Lisa Pedulla reported that the Elizabeth Warren campaign is busy, with Heather Fowles working on organizing a delegate slate and on caucus training, as well as phonebanks. She reported that there will be a Warren fundraiser on Sunday, January 22, at the home of Brian Rehrig, with the candidate as a guest. Space is limited, and she encouraged people to RSVP promptly.
Lisa is also organizing a signature drive for Warren, who needs 10,000 signatures statewide; petitions will be available around the middle of February, and must be turned in to the campaign by April 20. The drive will focus on the primary election and the Town election.
Brigid Kennedy Pfister thanked everyone who helped the Obama campaign in New Hampshire with phonebanking and canvassing. Next is the Massachusetts primary, with GOTV outreach planned. She also reported that Susan Stamps will be hosting a State of the Union party at her home on January 24.
Brigid is researching how to reactivate Arlington's 3 cell phones from the last campaign (Lexington also has 3). She expects to bring a proposal to a future meeting.
Aimee reported that the caucus would be Wednesday, February 15, at 7 p.m. at Town Hall. The snow date is now the following Wednesday, February 22 (a conflict came up with the original snow date of February 16). She reported that the caucus would elect 35 delegates and 5 alternates, equally divided between men and women; those eligible to vote in the caucus and run as delegates must have registered as Democrats in Arlington by December 31, 2011. The caucus will vote to endorse candidates for the U.S. Senate seat; a candidate must win 15% or more of the delegate votes to appear on the primary ballot. Aimee circulated a signup sheet for caucus volunteers. She expects to need paper ballots and will need a good deal of help.
The Committee agreed that the caucus would be postponed only if there is a snow emergency that prohibits parking on Massachusetts Ave.
Dick Smith reported on his hopes to undo the effect of the Citizens United decision, which provided corporations the ability to give virtually unlimited, secret funds to campaigns. Re-electing President Obama might offer the chance to get another Supreme Court justice. He also plans to put a warrant article before Town Meeting that would ask the Town to endorse efforts to pass a constitutional amendment to undo the effect of the decision. Several members, including Sean, offered their strong support and offered to help with the article. Sean noted that this case can affect candidates for local and state as well as federal office, and that there are some bills in the legislature on this issue as well.
Sean recommended that people search YouTube for Huntsman's response to Romney's attack on his service as Ambassador to China. He also reported that as a member of the Young Elected Officials Network, he participated in a conference call with the White House, which is soliciting input for the State of the Union speech.
Sean also reported on the effect of Will Brownsberger's election to the Senate on the House seat he is vacating. It appears likely that the Speaker will leave the seat vacant until the September primary rather than hold a special election to fill it for a few months. Will has reportedly promised to help with constituent services for the vacant district until it is filled.
The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, February 7, at Armstrong Ambulance, 87 Mystic St.
A motion to adjourn was made and approved unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Kim Haase,
Secretary