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WNDTC Meeting Recap • June 1, 2022

6/9/2022

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Twelve members and ten guests met at 7 pm via Zoom to hear from four candidates for public office.
Chair Jim Sperelakis opened the meeting at 7:04 pm. Before hearing from the first candidate, he took the opportunity to encourage members to contribute to the Town Committee via Act Blue (link at www.WestNewburyDems.org) or by sending a check made out to West Newbury DTC, to Treasurer Rob Phillips, PO Box 211, West Newbury, MA 01985. He cited the $1,000 award today of the Kathleen Pasquina Civic Engagement Scholarship as an expenditure that has reduced our balance and therefore increased our need for contributions.
Jim thanked David Belsky for his yeoman efforts in organizing the two WNDTC Candidates Nights – April 28 and June 1.
Jim also reported that Adrianne Ramos, candidate for State Rep in the 14th Essex District (which includes West Newbury) was planning to attend tonight’s meeting, but due to feeling ill, had to send her regrets.
Candidate for Attorney General Shannon Liss-Riordan spoke first. She is one of three Democrats running in the primary for this seat. She stated that she is the only practicing attorney running, that she has worked for 20 years representing working people, has won many gender-equality, as well as labor cases for gig, GrubHub and wait staff workers. She emphasized her victories in cases of managers/employers taking tips that should have gone to the workers, and explained that now, nation-wide because of her work, employers know they cannot take those tips. She described herself as an “activist lawyer” and “workers’ champion”. Other issues vital to her are climate change and consumer protection. She and Quentin Palfrey have pledged to not accept PAC monies in this campaign, while the third candidate Andrea Campbell has not made that pledge.
Next to speak was Senator Adam Hines, candidate for Lt. Governor. He now represents the western-most 52 municipalities in MA, which he has done for six years. Prior to serving in the state senate, he worked for 10 years in conflict resolution in the Middle East. His major concerns now are racial equity, voter suppression, potential overturn of Roe vs. Wade, economic inequality, climate, mass transportation, and making housing and childcare more affordable. He described himself as “the education candidate”. Adam is the father of a one-year old, and he stressed how that role has made all future concerns so much more serious for him. He gave two family examples of how education has made economic advancement possible in his family. First his father was a tool and die maker, lost his job when his factory closed, went to college and became a teacher and coach, thereby propelling his family into the middle class. Adam’s wife is a third general Mexican-American whose father was a truck driver. Now, because of education, she is a college professor at Amherst College.
State Senator Diana Di Zoglio is a candidate for Auditor, a job she described as “the state watchdog”, the “quality control officer”, rather than what many people think which is that the job is being an accountant. In fact, the Auditor can file legislation. Diana said that MA rates extremely poorly on government transparency, and that we have no adequate public records law, and that because of this state legislative committee votes are not public information, and she thinks they should be. She described her early years in Methuen and Lawrence as the daughter of a 17 year old single mother. She earned her Associates Degree at a community college because it was affordable, and went on to Wellesley College on a full academic scholarship. To earn her community college tuition she waitressed and cleaned houses, founding her own small house cleaning business. She is bi-lingual (Spanish). Her start in government was as an aide to a state rep, but her first experience on Beacon Hill was replete with sexual harassment. Her complaint was upheld, but she was forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) so that she could not speak about her experience. This propelled her to run to be a state rep, with one of her accomplishments in that role being shining a spotlight on such tax-payer funded NDAs and working successfully to have them banned. She is an enthusiastic proponent of civics education in our public schools, and has pledged to investigate no-bid contracts used in state government and to increase government transparency.
Virginia Leigh, candidate for Essex County Sheriff, presented next. She explained how her background as a social worker and with the ACLU meshes with the requirements of the job of sheriff, which is not a law enforcement officer, but rather as the person responsible for the care of prisoners whose normal stay in the Middleton Jail is between seven and 24 months, and for preparing them for a positive life after their release. There are about 1300 prisoners in Essex County and about 600 guards. Right now, the recidivism rate is almost 50% for a return to jail within one year. Most of these prisoners have mental health and/or substance use problems. Her position is that what is needed in a sheriff is a “chief clinician”. Virginia has worked for many years with mentally ill and substance abuse people, both in the US and in Mexico. She is bi-lingual – Spanish and English. The current sheriff, she stated, has not taken steps to make the public safer and in fact has denied proper treatment to prisoners who need it. Over his six years in office, the recidivism rate has remained the same. The question is: How do we want people to leave our jails? To have them better able to function in society, Virginia stated that they need to have regular connection to their families and have programs during their jail time offered that actually have positive results. She would change the rules and not have prisoners charged for phone calls and better vet the programs various vendors offer.
After the candidate talks, the Chair again emphasized the need for donations to the Committee.
Member Jessica Azenaro reported on the Pentucket High School Awards Ceremony that had taken place earlier in the evening and went very well. At the ceremony, Jessica presented the Kathleen Pasquina Scholarship to this year’s winner Alex Pederson.
The Committee hopes that our Democratic state rep candidate Adrianne Ramos from North Andover can meet with us sometime soon.
A motion was made by Pat Skibbee and seconded by Jeanne Pucci to remove two current members from the roster due to their lack of meeting attendance. Per the by-laws, their names were read at the April meeting and the secretary sent them letters but there was no response: Elizabeth Schofield and Maureen Harris. The vote was unanimous. Therefore the complete list of those removed either by death (Joe Heyman), moving out of town (Elena Bachrach, Susan Babb), resignation (Judy Mizner, Dot Cavanagh and Connie Freese) or vote, is eight members. Current members are encourage to invite new members who will be active and enthusiastic!
It was reported that neighboring district State Representative Republican James Kelcourse has been offered and accepted a state job on the parole board by Governor Baker, and therefore that seat will be open. Also, our current state rep Lenny Mirra now has a challenger in the November election.
The meeting adjourned at 9:03 pm.

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WNDTC Meeting Announcement • June 1, 2022

5/22/2022

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Our next West Newbury DTC meeting will be held
Wednesday, June 1 at 7:00 pm
via Zoom

We're excited to welcome Shannon Liss-Riordan (candidate for Attorney General), Senator Adam Hinds (candidate for Lt Governor), Virginia Leigh (candidate for Essex County Sheriff), and Senator Diana DiZoglio (candidate for State Auditor) to our upcoming meeting to speak about their campaigns and answer your questions. Unfortunately Adrianne Ramos will not be able to join us this month but we'll be sure to schedule plenty of time with her as the campaign ramps up towards November.

Agenda

7:00 - 7:10 Welcome (Jim Sperelakis, DTC chair)
7:10 - 7:30 Shannon Liss-Riordan (Candidate for AG)
7:30 - 7:50 Sen. Adam Hinds (Candidates for Lt. Gov)
7:50 - 8:10 Sen. Diana DiZoglio (Candidate for State Auditor)
8:15 - 8:35 Virginia Leigh (Candidate for Essex County Sheriff)
8:35 - 8:45 DTC Business and wrap-up (Jim)

join the zoom meeting

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WNDTC Meeting Recap • April 28, 2022

5/22/2022

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Committee Chair Jim Sperelakis called the meeting to order at 7:03 pm.
Seventeen members and fifteen guests attended.
The first order of business was to vote in Becc O’Brien as a member. Jeanne Pucci moved and David Belsky seconded that motion, and Becc was voted in unanimously.
Secretary Pat Skibbee explained that our constitution requires members to attend at least 50% of scheduled meetings in a year. She suggested that there are a number of people on our roster who have not met that standard for several years. According to the constitution, to remove these people from membership their names must be read out at one meeting and then can be voted on in the next meeting. It was agreed that Pat would write a letter to each of them explaining the situation and asking for their response.
The agenda for the meeting focused on presentations by five candidates for various offices preparatory to the November 2022 election.
First to speak was Chris Dempsey, candidate for State Auditor. He stressed his credentials and experience for the office, saying that both his parents were public school teachers, that education is a top priority for him, he has a Harvard MBA, worked under then-Governor Duval Patrick as Assistant Secretary of Transportation; also, he is very strong on government transparency, will be a “robust and aggressive” auditor, was a leader in the fight to NOT have Boston host the Olympics, and co-created an app that enables T riders to learn the exact times of the arrivals/departures of public transportation, and will be an advocate for “carbon accounting” for any contracts the state considers.
Quentin Palfrey, candidate for Attorney General, was introduced by WNDTC Vice-Chair David Belsky. He stated his priorities as preserving democracy, climate action, LGBTQ rights, education, combatting gun violence, affordable housing, health care (He is an advocate for a single-payer system.) He will be, he said, “the people’s lawyer”, and previously worked as an aide to John Tierney, Assistant Attorney General in MA leading the Health Care Division, and in the White House under Barack Obama as Senior Advisor for Jobs and Competitiveness. He has been active in voter protection for many years, and most recently served under President Biden as Deputy General Counsel for the Department of Commerce.
Virginia Leigh, candidate for Essex County Sheriff, spoke next. She characterized the proper role of the sheriff as being the steward of the inmates, responsible for their care, rehabilitation and re-entry back into society. She explained that so many inmates come out of jail in worse shape than when they went in, that they are less supported and less able to function productively in society than before their incarceration. She is bi-lingual (Spanish) and has been working with prisoners as a social worker for 12 years. “Hurt people hurt people”. She sees robust clinical support, rehabilitation not retribution, as the way to lessen recidivism and crime.
Secretary of State candidate Tanisha Sullivan of Brockton presented her background (activism in civil rights, Chief Equity Officer in a public school system). She would like to see Massachusetts be a role model for the rest of the country as a defender/promoter of democracy and voting rights, seeing herself as “Chief Democracy Officer” of the Commonwealth. She has been a corporate attorney for 20 years acting on behalf of small businesses.
The final presenting candidate was Adrianne Ramos for State Rep. Because of redistricting, our rep district was scheduled to become the 14th Essex with incumbent Christina Minicucci of North Andover as our rep. Christina recently decided not to seek another term. In her place as candidate is Adrianne, also of North Andover. Christina Eckert of Boxford, previous candidate two and four ago respectively, spoke highly of Ms. Ramos. Adrianne is a lawyer by profession and stressed that she has made this decision in a “mindful” way, that her career has included work in the Probate and Family Court in assisting immigrant children and families fleeing violence. Her priorities, which she stressed are not a complete picture because she is only a few days into the race, include teen mental health, education, and affordable housing. She will have a Republican opponent, also from North Andover.
Member Jessica Azenaro reported on the Kathy Pasquina Civic Engagement Scholarship Committee, saying that she has one application and that it is excellent, from student Alex Peterson, and he will be receiving the $1,000 scholarship.
A long, informal conversation ensued, focused mostly on the rep race and getting the necessary 150 nomination paper signatures by the May 3 deadline, as well as logistics for that campaign.
The meeting adjourned at 9:22 pm

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WNDTC Meeting Recap • March 2, 2022

3/19/2022

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Fourteen members of the West Newbury Democratic Town Committee met via Zoom at 7 pm on Wednesday, March 5, 2022. Also in attendance were five guests: David Seaton, 16, of West Newbury, Elliot Kime, surrogate for Bero (?), Matthew Murphy, State Committee; Ken Thompson, State Committee, and Katilyn Solares, surrogate for Sonia Chang-Diaz.

Chair Jim Sperelakis called the meeting to order at 7:04 pm, with a moment of silence in honor of member Joe Heyman who passed away in February.

Jim explained that the purpose of the meeting and the ensuing caucus was to elect delegates to the annual Democratic State Convention on June 3rd and 4th at the DCU Center in Worcester. The current plan is for the convention to be hybrid, part remote and part in person. Delegates this year get to vote on candidates. Candidates need a minimum of 15% of delegate votes to be on the primary ballot in September. This year West Newbury gets three delegates and three alternates, and the Chair also attends. David Belsky played the three-minute State Committee video caucus introduction.

Jim explained that he and David Belsky had received at least 25 calls from candidates/surrogates wishing to speak this evening prior to the caucus. Since this was an overwhelming, unmanageable number, they decided to have no speakers this evening, but rather to schedule those candidates/surrogates during our April and May meetings prior to the convention. David will collect the names/offices of all candidates and post that information on the WNDTC website.

CAUCUS
The caucus was called to order at 7:15 pm. Rebecca O’Brien was the only nominee for female delegate. She accepted the nomination and therefore was voted in by acclamation. David Belsky and David Seaton were the only nominees for the non-binary/male candidate spots, and therefore the procedure was the same for them as for Becc O’Brien. No one was nominated for alternates; Patricia Skibbee volunteered to be an alternate, with the other two alternate spots remaining unfilled. The caucus was closed at 7:37.

The meeting resumed after the caucus. Topics discussed were the probability of the there being a 3Tand2C breakfast this year; if there is one, it will be in the fall.

The necessary forms/checks for delegates will be signed and checks collected in the next five or so days. Jessica Azenaro reported that so far there are no applicants for the Kathy Pasquina Civic Engagement Scholarship, but that she is hopeful there will be. The deadline is April 15, but it can be extended. David Belsky moved, and it was seconded and vote unanimously that the WNTDTC pay the Convention attendance free for David Seaton, our youth delegate.

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WNDTC Meeting Recap • December 13, 2021

12/29/2021

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It was our first in-person meeting since Covid hit – no Zoom - all masked. Thirteen members and five guests met for business and holiday spirit at the Town Hall, 491 Main Street. Guests were Christina Minicucci, 14th Essex District Rep, who is to be our new State Rep after the November 2022 elections (the rep district was changed due to 2020 census results); Rick Parker, West Newbury Select Board; Laurie Heyman; Christina Eckert; LaNita (Ann) Dykes.

Chair Jim Sperelakis and several members brought seasonal snacks laid out a la buffet style.

Jim opened the meeting by acknowledging the joy of seeing everyone (or parts of everyone) in person. He then introduced State Rep Christina Minicucci, asking her to lay out her legislative priorities. She explained that she lives in North Andover, had worked on many campaigns but had not at all considered running herself until friends encouraged her. She stated her strengths are connecting people with resources and problem solving, with strong interests in education, environmental protection, climate, reproductive rights and “gas safety” (given the natural gas line explosions the took place in Lawrence just after her election), and the CSO (combined sewage overflows) into the Merrimack River. As State Rep for Lawrence, Methuen and part of Haverhill, 55% of her current district population is “gateway cities”. That will change markedly after September.

Jim asked her about the disbursement of ARRA funds to cities and town and organizations, monies from the federal government. She explained her action was to poll town/city managers about their needs and to work with other Reps and with State Senators. She noted that our current State Rep Lenny Mirra put in no requests. She also noted that Senator Bruce Tarr was “great” in this process.

Member Joe Heyman asked Christina to explain the redistricting process. She offered that the process took many, many hours and much compromise, but that finally a plan was agreed upon, with Lenny Mirra’s acquiescence. However, in the end he was the only Rep to vote “no." Rick Parker asked on what committees she serves: Public Safety and Homeland Security, Ways and Means, and Municipalities. He encouraged her to get on the Transportation Committee. She stated she has a very serious interest in that area, but the Reps get to be on three committees.
The Chair closed this portion of the meeting by asking Rep Minicucci what we could do to help her prior to the election. She listed the need for campaign volunteers, postcard writing, hosting “meet and greets”, funding, offering information on how regional school districts work, and letting her know “what is on our radar”. Her website is “Christina4Rep.com”.

Jim then introduced Ann (LaNita) Dykes, Newburyport, who ran the new mayor Sean Reardon’s campaign. She is now running Senator Diana DiZaglio’s State Auditor campaign; website: DianaforMass.com. Needs include funding as the top priority; further, she has to obtain 5,000 signatures/15% of the convention delegates to get on the ballot. The convention this year will be hybrid. Diana has one opponent thus far, Chris Dempsey from Boston.

Member Jessica Azenaro presented an update on the Kathy Pasquina Civic Engagement Scholarship. She reported that last year apparently due to Covid we had only one applicant despite guidance counselors encouraging students to apply. This year with school back in-person we hope for more. Jessica said she will need essay readers in the spring to vet the applications.

Jim gave the Treasurer’s report on behalf of the absent Rob Phillips: current balance $1,269.24. Donations from members are encouraged! The WNDTC share of proceeds from the 3T & 2 C summer brew event were $593.36. It was moved, seconded and vote unanimously to approve the expenditure of $63.75 to reimburse David Belsky for expenses related to the website, and to extend that approval for a two-year period, cost not to exceed $100 per year. Jim extended kudos to David for his excellent work on the site. David said submissions for the site can be sent to him at wnbydems(at)gmail.com.

End of meeting discussion main points were the fact that Governor Baker will not run again. Democratic possibilities mentioned were Attorney General Maura Healey and Quentin Palfrey. The Convention this year will be held at the DCU Center is Worcester on June 3-4. The time window to hold the annual caucus to elect delegates in February 4 – March 17. Guest Rick Parker expressed serious concern about the national effort by Republicans to get elected to local boards and to become election officials. This view was backed strongly by Barry Fogel.

The meeting adjourned at 8:35 pm.

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Our Statement on Racial Injustice

6/5/2020

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The West Newbury Democratic Town Committee shares the outrage, revulsion, and grief over the killing of George Floyd by law enforcement officers recently in Minneapolis. This loss and the loss of so many others before Mr. Floyd are a symptom of America’s deep and long-standing structural racism—impacting equal access to justice, healthcare, education, housing, and economic opportunity. We call on all Americans to exercise your rights through peaceful demonstration and a commitment to vote for candidates who will effect systemic change. By actively participating in democracy, we can ensure that our federal, state, and local leadership share and exercise the principles of true justice.

We urge all police departments to enthusiastically embrace the principles identified in the final report of President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, issued in 2015 and supported by the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association. We also urge all departments to implement the eight actions for reducing violence against civilians identified by Campaign Zero. These actions have been proven to directly reduce incidents of violence against civilians while also reducing assaults on police officers. The #8cantwait policies are within the purview of most departments to implement quickly and without legislative or executive action.

Resources you can use to learn more and take action:
https://justiceinjune.org/
https://nmaahc.si.edu/about/news/national-museum-african-american-history-and-culture-releases-talking-about-race-web
https://www.themarshallproject.org/documents/2082979-final-report-of-the-presidents-task-force-on#
https://8cantwait.org
https://www.facebook.com/NewburyportRacialJusticeGroup/
https://medium.com/equality-includes-you/what-white-people-can-do-for-racial-justice-f2d18b0e0234
https://www.orenjaysofer.com/blog/racial-justice

West Newbury Democratic Town Committee
June 5, 2020

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WNDTC Meeting Recap • June 1, 2022

WNDTC Meeting Announcement • June 1, 2022

WNDTC Meeting Recap • April 28, 2022

WNDTC Meeting Recap • March 2, 2022

WNDTC Meeting Recap • December 13, 2021

Our Statement on Racial Injustice

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