Arizona Borderlands Democrats

 

PLANNING A VICTORY IN 2006

 

A summary of the regular monthly meeting of Arizona Borderlands Democrats held in the Patagonia Town Council Chambers on Sunday February 20

 

Arizona Borderlands Democrats established the following priorities for organizing themselves and supporting Democratic Party efforts in the run up to the 2006 elections:

 

1. Membership – increase from the current level of 79 paid members to incorporate as many of the 816 registered Democrats in ABD’s core area – Sonoita, Patagonia, Elgin, Mountain 23 and Lake Patagonia.

2. Liaison – Coordinating with County parties – Santa Cruz, Cochise and Pima – with clubs in Cochise and Pima and any new clubs that emerge in Santa Cruz Counties as well as working to coordinate with legislative and congressional district organizations.

3. Events – generating excitement, identification and support for ABD, the Democratic Party and Democratic policies with regular events and participation in area activities such as festivals and fairs.  The events support the goals of increased membership and fund raising.

4. Publicity and Message – There is a dual function of identifying the actions or causes that ABD fund raising will support to further the goal of electing Democratic candidates and regular activity to publicize Democratic causes and issues.  

5. Voter Mobilization – This is very important but will be an outcome of the success of the first four priorities.

 

The February meeting was the first of three designed to establish a framework for ABD activities during the next two years and beyond.  Work parties have been established for each of the priority areas.  They will develop reports for discussion at the March and April meetings of ABD.

 

Candidates and elected Democratic officials will be invited to attend the March meeting and participate in the discussion following the working party reports.  The goal is to ask them directly what they need to be elected.

 

The Governor will be asked to attend or send representation to the final organizational meeting on April 17.  After that ABD’s plans will be established and the emphasis will be on implementation.

 

The following are highlights of the individual working party reports:

MEMBERSHIP (Beverly Parker, Deanna Sims, Lois Kolesar)

 

Membership should be separate from Event planning the working party reported.  A first priority is to work to have former members of ABD renew their annual membership.  Peak membership in 2004 was about 150; so far 79 individuals have renewed.  We may need to revisit membership fees.  A suggestion was to retain the $5 individual annual fee, $25 supporting but specify $50 for a family membership.

 

A reasonable goal is to capture more of the 816 registered Democrats in ABD’s core precincts – Sonoita, Elgin, Patagonia, Mountain 23 and Lake Patagonia.

 

Events will be venues for enrolling ABD members.  The model was the fund raiser at La Mision last year.  This will be attempted at the March 20 meeting which will include a pot luck.  Non ABD members will be asked to contribute $5 which will enroll them as ABD members.

 

A goal all agreed is to diversify membership – both by age and ethnic diversity.

 

LIAISON (Jack Cox, Morris Farr)

 

The objective of liaison with other Democratic organizations is to increase the clout and effectiveness of ABD, Jack and Morris reported.  They had discussions with Victor Walker, Cochise County Party Chair, and also with the coordinator for Legislative District 30.  Further talks need to be held.  They will work to arrange meetings with officers of Democratic organizations and ABD officers and eventually other committee members.

 

EVENTS (Lois Kolesar, Joyce Cox, Pat Mencke)

 

It was agreed that Events should be decoupled from membership.  Lois enlisted Joyce and Pat to help discuss possibilities and report at the March 20 meeting.

That meeting will be our first “event.”  A pot luck organized by Lou Anne Kirby will follow the regular meeting where priorities will be honed and activities further defined.  An element of Event planning will be to participate in local festivals and events.

 

PUBLICITY AND MESSAGE (Juanita Havill, Jane Bock, Maria Hoopes, Don Weinstein)

 

Juanita gave a detailed report that included suggestions to develop:

 

1. An ABD “rapid response” capability; identifying a core of ABD members that are willing to respond to issues and events to promote the Democratic message.  An unplanned example was the reaction by ABD members to the muzzling of George Gardiner’s columns on the Iraq war by the publisher of The Bulletin.

 

2. An ABD spokesman.  Steve Strom volunteered to be the primary contact as the Vice-Chairman of ABD.

 

3. A data base identifying various skills or areas of expertise by ABD members.

4. Develop an effective way to communicate quickly with all ABD members including those without e-mail.

 

VOTER MOBILIZATION (Tom Anderson, Lucia Cartes)

 

This is ABD’s ultimate challenge.  Tom reported that leading research indicates the most effective method of motivating voters is personal contact over time by individuals that know the prospective voter.  Longer scripts at phone banks in advance of the actual election, the chance to discuss issues and candidates and the opportunity to debate all contribute to improving turn out.  

 

Voter mobilization will be one aspect of the future determination of ABD activities.  Possibilities can include:

 

1. Registration

2. Supporting citizenship counseling and application

3. Supporting enfranchisement of minor felons

4. Scholarships for candidate training

 

Other ways of mobilizing voters relate to general efforts through events and meetings to sponsor forums on issues as well as candidates.  On line sales through the ABD web site cold make a contribution.

 

The consensus was that we made a good start on Sunday.  Please come on March 20 to refine the goals and future actions.   The meeting will end with a pot luck.  If you can bring a dish it will help if you let Lou Anne Kirby know in advance by e-mailing her at lakirby@eskimo.com

 

And remember the final planning meeting is April 17.

 

John Michael

Chairman, ABD