TO:                 Cumberland County Democratic Committee Members

FROM:          Marilyn Russell, CCDC Chair

RE:                 Highlights of our Progress (December-June)

DATE:            July 16, 2006

 

Kudos to everyone for a very productive half-year. This will pay off in November.

 

1. What we did to strengthen our organization and leadership:

·        Prepared a 2006 vision and work plan, outlining major activities to support and elect Democratic candidates, strengthen our local Democratic infrastructure, build the Maine Democratic Party, increase our outreach efforts, and raise funds.

·        Held meetings around the county: December (Westbrook); January (Gray), February  (Portland), March (Scarborough), April (New Gloucester), May (Bridgton), and July (Yarmouth).

·        Added three new Municipal Democratic Committees in Raymond, Naples and Long Island, bringing our total to 19.

·        Established a Caucus of Municipal Chairs and Vice Chairs and convened a meeting on April 1 at USM. We had 27 people attend representing 16 municipalities. Alicia Harding (Freeport), CCDC Secretary, took notes. Corey Hascall (Portland) conducted a training session to improve skills in conducting door-to-door canvassing. This meeting was so productive, Municipal Chairs and Vice Chairs attended another meeting in May to get an overview of the Coordinated Campaign from Mike Cuzzi, Tom Allen’s Campaign Manager, and third meeting is planned for September.

·        Prepared a Municipal Democratic Committee Manual: A Resource Guide for Municipal Committee Officers for each of Municipal Chairs. Dan Mooers (South Portland) designed the cover. The manual is a 3-ring binder with eight sections covering: Organizing the Municipal Democratic Committee, Recruiting and retaining Volunteers, Promoting the Democratic message, Maintaining Voter Information, Recruiting and Supporting Candidates, Fundraising, Cumberland County Democratic Committee, and Maine Democratic Party.

·        Elected nine representatives to the Democratic State Committee to serve a two-year term 2006-2008: Lu Bauer (Standish), Deborrah Jabar (South Portland), Corey Hascall (Portland), Lori Gramlich (Portland), Michael Shaughnessy (Windham), Chrisso Rheault (New Gloucester), Wayne Hollingworth (Freeport), Stan Gerzofsky (Brunswick), and Richard Bernard (South Portland). An Alternate will be elected in the fall.

 

2. What we did to ensure the success of our 2006 caucuses:

·        Recruited Caucus Convenors in 25 of our 27 municipalities, organized and delivered Caucus Convenor training on January 28 at King Middle School in conjunction with the Maine Democratic Party. Ben Collings, DNC Field Organizer, provided the training and distributed Caucus Handbooks and forms to Convenors. Stacie Kangas (Portland) of the Democratic Women’s League provided brief training on the Women’s Caucus.

·        Dan Mooers (South Portland) produced a training video, Planning an Effective Caucus, for the Maine Democratic Party for dissemination through public access cable.

·        Published a countywide caucus ad in the February 23 issue of the Portland Press Herald.

·        The CCDC provided one-half of the funding for the Maine Democratic Party’s Air America  radio spots to advertise the caucuses.

·        About 682 people attended the caucuses: 71% joined their Municipal Democratic Committee (MDC) and, of these, 51% joined the CCDC.

·        Prepared a one-page overview of the CCDC and provided copies to all of our Caucus Convenors to generate interest in engaging new CCDC members for 2006-2008.

  

3. What we did to ensure the success of the April 29 National Canvas.

·        The Democratic Party sponsored its first-ever National Neighbor-to-Neighbor Organizing Day to test the organization and to build new relationships among volunteers. Volunteers were recruited to go door-to-door in their communities, drop a special DNC door hanger that summarized the Democratic vision, and make a connection with their neighbors. Because of the timing with the April lunch with our Municipal Chairs and Vice Chairs, Corey Hascall provided a 90-minute training session on door-to-door-canvassing. See photos on www.cumberlandcountydemocrats.org. Each participant received a clipboard made up for a sample canvass.

·        On April 29, 8 Windham volunteers gathered at the home of Michael (Windham Chair) and Malory Shaughnessy for coffee and an orientation to the canvas. Volunteers canvassed Democrats and Unenrolled voters on major roadways to identify sign locations for candidates. Cape Elizabeth Democrats used a different approach to reach voters. Cape volunteers offered coffee and met voters at the Transfer Station. South Portland and Standish Democrats conducted canvasses in June. Check photos at www.cumberlandcountydemocrats.org.           

 

4.  What we did to make the convention a success:

·        Assisted in the planning of the convention held on June 2-3.

·        MDC Chairs managed the process of communicating with the people who had been elected Delegates and Alternates at their caucuses. By the time of the convention, about 455 were confirmed (probably more) and about 200 attended from Cumberland County.

·        Convened the County Caucus with 188 Delegates casting votes for the DSC representatives listed in number 1 above. Ballot Wardens were Halsey Snow (Cumberland), Burt Wartell (Portland), Kathy Turner (Raymond), and Jan Chapman (Cape Elizabeth).

 

5. What we did to elect Democrats:

·        In partnership with the Yarmouth Democratic Committee, we maintain a campaign office at US Route One in Yarmouth.

·        The Campaign Subcommittee met monthly to collect information and coordinate the recruitment and support of candidates with the House and Senate Democratic Caucuses. Rich Killmer (Yarmouth) chaired the subcommittee until his resignation due to his work schedule. Members of this committee are in regular contact with candidates to monitor progress and needed support and, for the few novice candidates, to assist in matching them with campaign mentors. Given the decision by the Municipal Chairs and Vice Chairs to continue to meet, it made sense to shift the functions of the Campaign Subcommittee to them.

·        Members of the Campaign Subcommittee assisted with phone banking to support the election of Democrats to municipal offices in Westbrook.

·        Members of the CCDC and Caucus Convenors collected signatures and Clean Election checks for numerous candidates, including Governor and County offices.

·        At the March meeting, Arden Manning and Ben Collings presented the Democratic National Committee’s 50-state strategy to mobilize grassroots Democrats and how this strategy will be applied in Maine. The purpose of this presentation was to help members understand and get excited about the efforts to unify Democrats.

·        Established a voter file project with Peter Dessereau (Brunswick) as the county’s Voter File Manager. He works closely with Bill Kay, IT Manager for the Maine Democratic Party, to format town voter registration lists to be consistent with the VAN system.

·        The County Chair continues to collect information about candidates to determine which   have or need Campaign Managers and Voter File Support. This information is shared routinely with the House and Senate Democratic Caucuses and other Campaign Managers.

·        On April 22, participated in the Greater Bridgton Lake Region Chamber of Commerce Business Showcase. We were there to make a statement in the lake region and we succeeded. Sheila Rollins, one of our candidates, said it best: If we [Democrats]were not there, the Republicans would have had a free ride. Malory Shaughnessy (Windham), Chair of the Communications Sub-committee, Jim Damicis (Scarborough) and Marilyn Russell (CCDC Chair) developed a “Maine Democrats Mean Business” message and prepared materials for the CCDC table. Democratic officials and candidates participated in the event: Congressman Tom Allen, Speaker John Richardson, Senator Bill Diamond, Representative Mark Bryant, Senator Ethan Strimling, Malory Shaughnessy (candidate for County Commission for District 3), Marge Medd (candidate for Senate District 13), Mike Shaw (candidate for House District 102) and his wife Pascal, Sheila Rollins (candidate for House District 98), and Kate Smith (candidate for House District 99). Following the showcase, Marge Medd wrote: Thank you so very much for your positive attitude and your presence was greatly appreciated. Because you were there, the candidates had a forum from which they could speak and the public had a place to vent its frustration and express its support for the Democrats.

 

6. What we did to reach out and inform Democrats and other voters:

·         Established a Communications Subcommittee with a growing number of active members who are talented writers, media people, and involved with messaging efforts. Malory Shaughnessy (Windham) serves as the Chair and Jim Crocker (South Portland) the Vice Chair.

·         Published two issues of the Cumberland County Democrat. Malory Shaughnessy serves as publisher with help from Harlan Baker (Portland), Cliff Ginn (Portland), Alicia Harding (Freeport), Richard Rottkov (South Portland), and others. The mailing list contains about 1,400 labels.

·         Established a web-site designed by Malory Shaughnessy (Windham) who serves as Web Master. The web site is a source for information on our elected officials, candidates, events, activities, as well as links to other sites. www.cumberlandcountydemocrats.org.

·         Sponsored three Legislative Roundtables: one with Representatives John Brautigam (District 113) and Charles Harlow (District 116), the second with Senators Lynn Bromley (District 7), and Phil Bartlett (District 6), and the third with Speaker John Richardson (District 63) and Representative Larry Bliss (District 122). The roundtables provided a summary of legislative accomplishments in health care, energy, economic development, and environmental issues. Filmed in the South Portland Council Chamber, moderators were Sam Spencer, representative to the Democratic National Committee, John Walker (Cape Elizabeth), and Marilyn Russell (Windham). The programs are aired over public access cable.

·        Dan Mooers (South Portland) producer of the Legislative Roundtable and other  programs,  recruited Democrats to serve as local public access cable sponsors, ensuring that programs are aired in as broad a geographic area as possible.

·        At the April meeting in new Gloucester, hosted and filmed a debate between Jean Hay Bright and Eric Mehnert, Democratic candidates for the US Senate, that was moderated by Malory Shaughnessy (Windham), herself a candidate for the Cumberland County Commission. In his second official act as new Chair of the Maine Democratic Party, Ben Dudley attended the meeting and gave a few opening remarks. Dan Mooers (South Portland) filmed the debate and produced DVD that has been distributed to public access cable channels and available to Municipal Chairs for showing to members. The debate received media attention as the result of the efforts of Patti Mikkelsen (New Gloucester), who sent out press releases to area newspapers. Josh Harriman from the Windham Independent and a camera operator from WGME-TV covered the debate. In a late edition news story about Ben Dudley, who was elected as chair that afternoon, a “blip” of the debate appeared in the WGME 13 news story. Patti’s article appeared in The Monument (Gray-New Gloucester). Feedback from the candidates was very positive. Dave Bright wrote, “It was our fourth debate in eight days, but easily the best one. Good organization, nice location, and a great crowd. Cookies were great, too!”

·        Established a Calendar of Events disseminated weekly to 300 CCDC members and 100 people on our courtesy list (e.g. Democratic activists, MDP staff, public officials) via e-blast. The calendar has emerged as a useful tool to inform candidates and campaign staff of upcoming events, as well as a tool used by legislators and our Municipal Committees to advertise their events.

·        Almost on a weekly basis, letters to the editor written by CCDC members are published in the Portland Press Herald, Maine Sunday Telegram and numerous weekly regional papers (e.g. Windham Independent) on topics important to Democratic values.

 

7. What we did to mobilize Democrats in Cumberland County:

·        Routinely send out e-blasts to announce important events (e.g. rally to promote Dirigo Health) and press conferences.

·        On request by one of our legislative members, we sent a Call to Action to urge members to contact their Representatives and Senators to urge them to support the bill to increase the Maine Minimum Wage from $65.00 to $7.00.

·        Announced, forwarded, and/or added to our calendar important activities, including, for example, the Sunday Iraq War protests at the Casco Bay Bridge and the USM College Democrats Iraq War debate.

 

8. What we did to build the Maine Democratic Party:

·        Hosted a panel of Democratic high school students spoke to the Cumberland County Democratic Committee and members of the USM College Democrats Chapter suggested ideas for involving young people. These are the first steps in establishing a CCDC Young Democrats of America Chapter, a Young Democrats Scholarship Fund, as well as ongoing support for our College Democrats.

·        Kristi Gagne (President) and Elizabeth Trask (Vice President) of the USM College Democrats were invited to join the Municipal Chairs and Vice Chairs group. USM College Democrat events are promoted on the CCDC calendar. A page has been created on the CCDC web site for Young and College Democrats.

 

9. What we did to improve our resources:

·        We developed a multi-faceted fundraising strategy and established a Fund Development Committee to ensure our fundraising efforts generate $30,000 (what we estimate to support our work plan). John Walker (Cape Elizabeth) serves as the Chair of the Fundraising Subcommittee.

·        We revised our CCDC Delegate Contribution Form to improve our strategy for collecting membership contributions. The form provides different contribution levels.

·        With the 2006-2008 CCDC member delegates identified, we mailed a letter welcoming them as new member delegates. It has been a tradition for the CCDC member delegates to make a minimum donation of $25 to the CCDC. The letter made the ask and included the new membership form with donation levels up to $100. We have had a positive response from members.

·        Planned the Lakes Region Go-Blue Democratic BBQ to be held on July 30 at Point Sebago in South Casco. Governor Baldacci and Congressman Tom Allen, along with other local dignitaries, are confirmed guest speakers. 

 

PS No wonder we are busy!!!

 

Marilyn