Hello Mayor-elect Nutter!
A number of us have been agitating and organizing--both online and off--to make changes in the Philadelphia Democratic City Committee. Congressman Brady, the party chair, has been responsive to this effort, but actual negotiations are still a far-off dream.
That's why I was very interested to see your op-ed to the Inky in which you referenced talks you have been having with the Chairman.
Many of us are really curious to know what your agenda for reforming the party is. Here's ours:
Will every ward leader in the party commit to holding open ward meetings, where anyone can watch and ask questions? |
Will the party chair convene an annual platform convention so that all members of the party can share their ideas for the policies and laws that party-endorsed candidates will push?
Will every committee person in the city commit to canvassing their division every election, making at least three attempts to have face-to-face contact with a voter?
Will the party chair lay out appropriate and inappropriate ways for ward leaders to handle "street money" to stop the shaking down of candidates, especially judges, for office?
I am a life-long Democrat, and there is a lot to love about our local party, but there are also some things that need to be changed.
I hope our agendas for reforming the party overlap.
Please feel free to send an email in reply to info AT youngphillypolitics.com, or better yet post a blog entry. Unlike Chaka Fattah, Dwight Evans and Bob Brady, you don't have a user account here, but trust me, it's very easy to set up. And if you have any trouble, email and I will be more than willing to help.
More meetings?
Seriously, Ray, you want to be able to go to more meetings? I read that and my stomach cramped up. I'm pretty sure that meetings have turned my soul into a librarian in the national archive of airtraffic control transcripts.
I don't know what that meant.
Okay, in all seriousness, this is pretty educational. How effed up is it that I'm not allowed to go to meetings I don't even want to go to? OKAY, I'LL STOP SNARKING!!! The meetings are really closed. That is nonsense. How do they justify that?
My snarkiness does have a point, though. I worry that the party will reform and open up and the people won't really show. Won't that give them a big case of I-told-you-so's. I dunno.
Still, Nutter needs to respond to your question and maybe explore some fresher ways of giving people entry points into the party.
P.S. I've decided I want Bob Brady out. Every time someone writes about him on here I see his name and get all excited that somebody is writing about me and then I'm like, "Dang. It's the chubby one again." Shucks. He is really wrecking my self-esteem.
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This Too Will Pass, treating grave matters lightly and light matters gravely, since 2001.
A Meeting You Would Have Gone To
Brady, did ward leaders in Maria's district even meet with their committee people by ward and decide to support Dan Savage in the special election last year? Or did they meet just as ward leaders on their own? Or did they even say?
Who knows--none of it is public. If there had been a public meeting in each ward about who was gonna get nominated in the special, you would have gone.
That's the point.
You're an organizer: not every meeting or event you hold gets the same turn-out as others. You don't look at a low turn-out event and say "I should stop grassroots organizing!" You probably say, "hmm, people were busy today" or "i did not do as a good of job motivating people to get involved." So yea, not every open ward meeting may get huge turn out, but that's not really the point. It's really about whether the party is committed to running itself in an open and transparent way.
I don't really like going to meetings either, but the point here is about process.
I know it's boring, and it's not usually where I focus my energy, but as I said, there are a group of us who have been pushing for process reforms in the party and because Michael Nutter indicated that he has been discussing the same thing with the party chair, it's perfectly logical to ask him to share that with the rest of us.
Of course you are right, Ray
Of course you are right, Ray. As usual, taking me seriously never does anyone any good. You can't blame me, though. I put too much honey in my tea this morning. I was giddy. I admit it.
Dan or Alex, I do want to be an officer in our Facebook Group. Please designate me as "King's Fool."
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This Too Will Pass, treating grave matters lightly and light matters gravely, since 2001.
Done!
Done!
Ray, something to add to your list
Ray,
I’d like to suggest that all ward leaders be required to poll committee people before making endorsements. Endorsements should be by majority vote of committeepeople rather than dictated by the ward leader.
If we are to encourage more folks to get involved in grassroots politics, they must have a voice.
Not so sure about:
Three attempts ?? These are volunteer positions, and if we are to recruit progressives to do the grunt work of electoral politics, we must have realistic expectations.
Reform has got to bubble up from the grassroots. I am convinced Michael Nutter is committed to reform, but right now the voters want him to focus his energies on stopping the violence.
I seriously doubt that there is any secret plan concocted by Nutter and Brady. They may have had some preliminary conversations, but we all know there are far more urgent issues for Michael Nutter’s first 100 days.
Ray, you are a smart guy and from what I hear a great organizer. I bet you could map out a strategy and recruit the ground troops to take over a few wards in 2010.
Karen
on 3 contacts
Karen, your addition is a great one.
I put out three contacts because it is what PFC attempts when it works on primaries, as did Philly Against Santorum, and most prominently, as MoveOn has done in literally thousands of precincts across the country.
I have never worked on an election campaign where I was not personally trying to recruit volunteers to work the doors. Volunteers can do a lot and volunteer committeepeople could do a lot too.
It's really a standard amount of attempts when trying to increase turnout.
Thanks for your compliments, for the record this is not *my* list of reforms, but a summation of things a lot of folks have been saying.
Other party leaders can respond as well
Nutter's op-ed is an opportunity for ward leaders, committee people, and other party leaders to offer their ideas for reform. It don't know if Nutter and Brady actually have a plan to open up the system. Either way, there is obviously momentum for reform. Other party leaders can take the lead on the issue now that Nutter and Brady have seemingly signaled support for some kind of change.
Check out my website!