Southern Wake Democrats

Minutes of the Southern Wake Democrats 06/06/06

Pine Acres Community Center, 402 McLean St, Fuquay-Varina

Attendance

In attendance at this month’s meeting: Betty Rush, Wanda Jones, Lamont Jones, Linda Rogers, David Sandgren, Jay Russell, Bruce Harris, and Anne Lowry.  Candidate Paul Ridgeway, Superior Court 10-B candidate talked about his campaign and shared ideas on issues as well

Meeting Notes

At the June 6th meeting, we decided to focus our group efforts in increasing activity in precinct 12-08. Our strategy has several approaches:

1 – Identify community needs within precinct 12-08. Which needs are specific to 12-08? specific to Fuquay-Varina?, specific to Wake County?, etc.

2 – Encourage candidates and elected officials to talked with members of precinct 12-08 to see what they can do in their various capacities to meet these needs.

3 – Increase Democratic presence at community events in Southern Wake County, especially at events in Fuquay-Varina

a) Betty Rush will be looking into getting a booth for the 6/17 Arts Festival. Representatives from attending precincts agreed to divide costs

b) Find out what 4th of July events in and around Fuquay-Varina would be open to Democratic presence

c) Plan on working with the Holly Springs labor Day event

d) Plan on working with the Western Wake Dems for the 10/07 picnic

4) - Encourage candidates and elected officials to reach out through the churches in Fuquay-Varina as the members of 12-08 say that the churches are the gathering places in Fuquay-Varina.

Precinct Tasks

While each precinct will continue working on their assigned precinct tasks, the main focus of efforts will be on precinct 12-08

Next Meeting

Our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 11 at 6:30 pm. We are asking everyone to bring their own non-alcoholic drink and a dish they would like to share. Our agenda will include our research into after school and summer options for school aged youths in Fuquay-Varina (e.g. Y’s, Boys and Girls Clubs, etc). We are also inviting guest speakers to talk about gang identification.

Minutes of the Southern Wake Democrats 04/04/06

Pine Acres Community Center, 402 McLean St, Fuquay-Varina

Attendence We had a small but dedicated group attend this month’s meeting: Jeff Wells, David Sandgren, Ed Ridpath, Jay Russell, Bruce Harris, Anne Lowry, and James Campbell.

Candidates We also had several candidates present. In addition to Ed Ridpath, we had the two District Court Judges: Aida Doss Havel and Vince Rozier. Linda Watson came and spoke for Mark Perry, Clerk of Court candidate. (We have several extra Mark Perry yard signs; if anyone would like one, please contact us.) Deborah Ross sent her regrets; she had a conflict that night. She would also like everyone to visit her updated website: www.deborahross.org where you can sign up for a newsletter with updated events and actions

Upcoming Events:

    April 22nd, Candidate Walk in Precinct 15-04 This is open to all Democratic candidates We have commitments to walk from: Deborah Ross, Rodger Koopman, Lindy Brown, Other candidates are going to let us know shortly whether they will be walking or whether they will have a rep walk with us

May 20th This date had been under consideration for a candidate potluck; dependent upon the venue. However, this will be rescheduled as David Price is available for an Ed Ridpath fundraiser that day; more information at www.edridpath.com. We’ll keep everyone posted on the new date and time for the SWD candidate potluck

June 17th Buffet Bill Page from the Wake County Democratic Men’s Club spoke about the WCDP Buffet set for 6/17 from 9 – 11 am. Tickets will cost $15.00. The Democratic Men have invited Wake County’s three current Democratic Representatives to speak. Bill Page asked for the SWD help in selling tickets and publicity (flyers, etc)

Precinct Tasks Stephen Beck of the WCDP Precinct Organizing Committee has come up with a “welcome wagon” campaign to welcome newly registered voters in your precincts. Included in the campaign are absolutely wonderful handouts giving basic information about the Wake County Democratic Party on one side, and listing all of the Democratic candidates on the other.

Canvassing Training This led us directly to the Canvassing training, which covered virtually all aspects of planning, organizing, and running a canvass. Everyone there learned a great deal; even the seasoned campaigners!

Next Meeting   Please remember: There is no meeting on May 2 – please work the polls instead! Some precincts have primaries; all could use friendly Democrats welcoming fellow Democrats at the polls

Next meeting: June 6, 2006 7pm Pine Acres Community Center. An agenda will go out closer to the meeting. If you have anything you’d like to bring up, just let us know!

Thanks to all who came to the Southern Wake Democrats
meeting this past Tuesday, Feb. 7 th at the Pine
Acres Community Center! In addition precincts 12-04,
12-06, 12-08, 12-09, and 15-04, we also had two
county level people attending: Wade Cooper and
Stephen Beck.

The main topic of the meeting was the upcoming precinct
meetings, and how to increase turnout. People had
received the activitist list for their precincts and
had plans to call other Democrats. We looked at signs
created from recycled political signs; taking the
plastic political banner and turning it inside out,
providing a nice black surface to paint upon. Several
people started remember old political signs in garages,
and discussing ways those could be used. Plus, we all
now had great ideas about what to do with those out of
date election signs seen by roadsides…

We also had precinct meeting signs printed on 8 ½ by
11 paper. The idea was to post these signs on
community bulletin boards, laundromats, apartment
complex mailrooms and the like. To post these signs
at intersections, we are considering using sheet
protectors or gallon ziplock bags.

Sheets of business card size signs were also available.
One person suggested using these as windshield flyers;
another had plans to hand these cards out at an
upcoming meeting. Stephen Beck provided blank
postcards from the county, which will be used as well

In addition to the upcoming precinct meetings, we also
heard from Ed Ridpath, D candidate for the House 37
seat. He spoke briefly on two issues important in his
campaign: transportation and education. Ed’s campaign
has a work session every Saturday morning at 10 am:
please visit www.edridpath.com for specifics.

Though Lindy Brown, candidate for Commissioner 2 seat,
had a conflict and could not attend, her daughter was
present to pass out campaign literature and talk about
her mother’s campaign. Lindy’s campaign has a work
session the first Saturday of every month at 10 am.
For further information, please contact Lindy at
electlindy@aol.com

The big Democratic fundraiser, the Valentine’s
Fundraiser (this coming Friday night) was mentioned as
well. Volunteers are still needed. Tickets are still
available. Wade Cooper talked about the magnificent
food and good conversation at last year’s fundraiser,
as well as pointing out that this is where the Wake
County Democratic Party receives the majority of its
funding for the year.

Please remember the Democratic precinct meetings,
Thursday February 16th, 7 pm!

Our next meeting of the Southern Wake Democrats is
scheduled for Tuesday, March 7th 7 pm at Pine Acres
Community Center 402 McLean St, Fuquay Varina
http://tinyurl.com/aghsm. For additional
information, contact Anne Lowry at
alowry@nc.rr.com

The SWD met Tuesday, Jan 10, 2006 at the Pine Acres Community Center.

Stephen Beck, WCDP Precinct Organizing Committee Chair, discussed the upcoming precinct cluster meetings on February 16th. After talking with those present, several modifications were made to the precinct cluster plan. Stephen Beck also talked about the "precinct pack" - the collection of items that each precinct chair (or designate) will be receiving to help plan for the precinct meeting. Several people looked at call sheets and made comments as to the information desired on these call sheets.

In addition, as the SWD has several candidates in their midst, we had a candidates report. NC House 37 Candidate Ed Ridpath gave out information on the Bentwinds Fundraiser Jan 21: http://wakedems.org/node/5696 or www.erdipath.com
County Commissioner Candidate Lindy Brown gave an overview of her platform and invited all to her next organizational meeting Feb 4: http://wakedems.org/node/5717

Next meeting will be at 7 pm, Tuesday, February 7, 2006 at the Pine Acres Community Center. Agenda items include the Feb. 10th Valentine's Fundraiser and the Feb 16th precinct meetings. For further information, please contact http://wakedems.org/swd
We look forward to seeing you February 7th!

If you have any questions or comments, please contact Anne at alowry@nc.rr.com

Thanks for coming to the SWD meeting! Even with a low turnout,
it was a productive meeting. John Baker did have to cancel on
short notice due to illness, but we were fortunate enough to have
a Democratic Precinct Judge attending who gave us a different
perspective about election days; particularly the importance of
having poll workers.

This sparked a roundabout discussion as to how to better help
candidates. While candidates are expected to provide poll workers,
the county party has several ways of helping as well including the
Get Out The Vote group and the Rides Committee.

Keith Karlsson talked about several items, including needing people
to read each of the local newspapers for items of Democratic interest
(festivals, forums, etc). Rosco volunteered to be the reader for
the Garner News. Ed will do the same for the Fuquay-Varina Independent.
If anyone else would like to help, please do so. The current way of
forwarding this information is by emailing it to: chair@wakedems.org

We also set the agenda for the December 6th meeting at the Golden Corral
on Hwy 70 in Garner. We’ll gather at our usual time: 6:30 if you are
interested in food, 7:00 for the meeting proper. We have already invited
John Baker to speak at this meeting. After John Baker speaks and answers
questions, we will be discussing the organization of SWD itself, including
purpose, by laws, and officers. Once we have set our organization, we
will begin looking at the entire SWD area in the light of the proposed
County ”Democratic Census” breaking out the SWD area

To this end, we would like to have more Democrats from the SWD area.
Each person attending the Nov 1 meeting has agreed to contact at least
the precinct chairs (or facsimile) for several precincts (any additional
contacts made within the precinct would be wonderful) and invite them to
the next meeting.

Ed: 06's
Gerald: 12-04. 12-05
Jeff: 12-06, 12-02
Carlee: 12-08, 12-01
Dave: 12-09
Debra: 15-01, 15-02, 15-03
Bruce: 16-01, 16-02, 16-03
Anne: 16-04, 16-05, 16-06 (01, 03)
Rosco: 16-07, 16-08, 16-09

Before updated copies of the precinct disks are sent out, we will be getting the
most current information from VAN. Therefore, disks will be going out shortly.

Several people wanted to know which precincts the SWD covers. Primarily, SWD
covers the 12's, 15's, and 16's with some of the 6's, 1's, and 3's. Using the
County Commissioner District 2 lists as a guide, these are the SWD precincts.

Organized:
01-21, 03-00, 06-01, 06-02, 06-03, 12-0, 12-06, 12-07, 16-02,
16-03, 16-05, 16-07, 16-08, 16-09

Not Yet Organized:
12-01, 12-02,, 12-04, 12-05, 15-01, 15-02, 15-03, 15-04,
16-01, 16-04, 16-06,

The 12's will be changing due to the new precinct splits. Look for updated
information shortly.

Next meeting: December 6, 2005 7 pm Golden Corral in Garner

October 4th MeetingOn October 4, 2005 the Southern Wake Democrats met in Fuquay-Varina. Three 2005 candidates: Dawn Parker, Holly Springs Town Council, Debra McHenry, Board of Election District 2, and John Byrne, incumbent Fuquay-Varina mayor talked with the group about their platforms, and joined in a discussion about being grassroots Democrats.

Several upcoming events:

John Baker 2006 Sheriff Barbecue Oct 29 9 - 3
Billy's Place (formerly Disco World)
4836 Old Smithfield Road, Apex
$ 10.00 a ticket
Contact: Parrish Womble at 552-6534 or 422-8652


HollyFest Oct 29 9 - 3
If you'd like to work this festival, please contact Linda McCarley at lindamccarley@bellsouth.net


Lindy Brown 2006 Commissioner Oct. 29 9 am
An organizational meeting to help elect Lindy Brown as
Wake County Commissioner will be held at the Golden Corral on Hwy 70 in Garner
Contacts: Lindy Brown at 779-2296 or electlindy@aol.com


Ed Ridpath Kickoff 2006 House 37 Nov. 19 4 pm
Middle Creek Community Center, 123 Middle Creek Park Drive, Cary
Contact: Ed Ridpath at 567-2099 or info@EdRidpath.com


Our next meeting will be Tuesday, November 1 at the Golden Corral on Hwy 70 in Garner. If you want to eat, please arrive around 6:30, the meeting will start at 7 pm. We’ll be inviting more 2005 candidates to speak as well as working on the final week of 2005 “Get Out The Vote”. Pass the word to other Democrats; we look forward to seeing you there!

For additional information, please contact Michelle Hall at mhall25@nc.rr.com

The Southern Wake Democrats had their monthly meeting Sept. 13, 2005
at the Garner Golden Corral. They listened and talked with two
candidates: Wanda Denning, candidate for School Board, District 2 and
Ronnie Williams, current Garner Alderman and Garner Mayoral Candidate.Later
in the meeting, a plan for canvassing the Southern Wake area and
organizing un-organized precincts was discussed. For further
information on the plan, please contact Michelle Hall, mhall25@nc.rr.comThe
next meeting of the Southern Wake Democrats is scheduled for October 4,
2005 at the Southern Regional Center, Room 183 beginning at 7 pm.

The Southern Wake Democrats had their monthly meeting Sept. 13, 2005 at the Garner Golden Corral. They listened and talked with two candidates: Wanda Denning, candidate for School Board, District 2 and Ronnie Williams, current Garner Alderman and Garner Mayoral Candidate.

Later in the meeting, a plan for canvassing the Southern Wake area and organizing un-organized precincts was discussed. For further information on the plan, please contact Michelle Hall, mhall25@nc.rr.com

The next meeting of the Southern Wake Democrats is scheduled for October 4, 2005 at the Southern Regional Center, Room 183 beginning at 7 pm.

The Southern Wake Dems met Tuesday, August 2nd, in Fuquay-Varina to discuss
organizing for the elections in the fall. Jeff Wells led a talk about
canvassing strategies

Celebrate Democracy Picnic!

Bring your Friends and Family to the Southern Wake Democrats Celebrate Democracy Picnic. There will be hot dogs, hamburgers, and veggieburgers provided; please bring a dish to share and non-alcoholic beverages.

Guest Speakers will beDebra McHenry, District 2 Board of Election Candidate Lindy Brown, Candidate for County Commissioner

Questions or directions, call Michelle Hall 919-661-1024

The Southern Wake Democrats meet the 1st Tuesday of each month, Dinner at 6:30 Program 7:00-8:30 pm

After searching far and wide for a meeting location for our June meeting, we've finally decided on the location for the June Southern Wake Dems meeting. I am excited to have Deborah Ross and Linda Coleman as our honored guests. They will be speaking about current issues facing the General Assembly, especially since North Carolina is just shy of a fiscal crisis this year.



The meeting will be on Tuesday, June 7th at Golden Corral on Hwy 70 in Garner. For those interested in eating dinner, we will be gathering at 6:30 pm in the community room. Those interested in just attending the meeting, we will start at 7:00 pm in the community room located at the back of the restaraunt.



If you have any questions or need further directions, please contact Michelle Hall at mhall25@nc.rr.com or 661-1024.



Please note that our July meeting will be on Tuesday, July 5th at Lake Benson Park in Garner. Further information will be available at our June meeting. Also, be prepared to talk after our guest speakers about what we can do as a group to organize the few precincts that are officially unorganized.



I look forward to seeing you on June 7th !



Michelle Hall

District 2 Coordinator

16-09 Precinct Chair

May Meeting Notes

On May 3, the Southern Wake Democrats met at the Golden Corral on US
70 in Garner.

March Meeting Notes

An organizational meeting of the Southern Wake Democrats was held March 29, 2005.
At this meeting, we started to develop our mission and our strategies:

• Studying aspects of economic development and how they affect citizens of Southern Wake County
• Outreach to new voters, new residents
• Developing relationship with current registered Democrats
• Developing relationships with current elected officials

April’s Action Plan:
Contact 5 Democrats and have them join us at the May meeting! See everyone there!

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, November 1 at the Golden Corral on
Hwy 70 in Garner. If you want to eat, please arrive around 6:30, the
meeting will start at 7 pm. We are expecting 2006 Wake County Sheriff
Democratic Candidate, John Baker to speak, as well as working on the
final week of 2005 “Get Out The Vote”. Pass the word to other Democrats; we look forward to seeing you there!

The Southern Wake Democrats, covering South Wake County, meets 7:00 pm the first Tuesday of every month.

Even numbered Months (Feb,Apr,Jun, Aug,Oct,Dec) meet in Fuquay Varina,
odd numbered months (Jan,Mar,May,Jul,Sep,Nov) meet in Garner.

For more information contact: Michelle Hall, mhall25@nc.rr.com