President's Message

This is my first message as President and I want to begin by expressing my profound thanks and appreciation to the Nominating Committee and to the members at large for your confidence in electing me. I will do my best to justify that confidence and I hope I can live up to the high standard set by Past President Norma Dayton.

 

After last month's meeting, a member suggested that I should take the opportunity to describe the objectives of the club. Our bylaws have a general statement of purpose, but in the following brief outline I will try to be more specific.

 

The club provides an opportunity and a place for Democrats to come together for fellowship and mutual support. Since Democrats are very much a minority in the Venice area, this is a valuable function and for some members it may be the major benefit of club membership.   

 

We also help and encourage members to become active participants in political and governmental affairs, including learning about candidates and issues and helping with Democratic campaigns. Our meetings, our newsletter "Voices" and our email blasts supply some of this information. Club members constitute a pool of committed Democrats who can be counted on for campaign support activities such as phone calling, dropping literature, knocking on doors, writing letters, etc. And the club membership is also a source for recruiting precinct captains for the Democratic Party of Sarasota County.  

 

This year, for the first time ever, all the Florida statewide races are open, i.e., no incumbents running. Since Democrats outnumber Republicans in Florida, we have an excellent chance to win these races. Also on the ballot we have the enormously important Fair Districts Referendum which will eliminate gerrymandering of electoral districts. Even though it takes a 60% majority, this non-partisan amendment is supported by fair minded people across the board and its chances for passage are excellent. To make this happen, we and club members statewide must do all we can to help and to get all our Democrats out to vote in November.

 

We also expect to have several candidates for local office, including probably three Democrats running for Venice City Council or Mayor. The club's help is likewise crucial for these races.

 

An ongoing objective of the club is to promote visibility and recognition in the community for the club and for the Democratic Party, including awareness of what the Party stands for. Recruiting interesting speakers for our meetings and publicizing these and other club activities promote this objective. Disseminating accurate information to our members about current issues, such as Health Reform or the Schools Tax Referendum, helps to counter misinformation.  

 

Under state law the club itself cannot make any significant financial contributions to campaigns, but our members can and do. The club and its members can contribute greatly in non-monetary ways as described above, and the club can pay directly for some efforts that help our candidates without being a direct campaign contribution.

 

Henry Bright

President