We've Been Busy!

Our meeting started with a round robin discussion about the most recent events and the Jan 6 anniversary.  During this discussion, the following sources were noted for personal research:

• Project 2025 - to help understand the blueprint of the current administration.
• Heritage Foundation - author of Project 2025
• Heather Cox Richardson - American historian who does This Week in Politics

Discussion then turned to the upcoming General Assembly session, Virginia Lobby Days, Amendments to appear on the ballots, and how the Greene Dems can help keep the public informed. 

An outcome of this discussion was the formation of Task Force to address the impact of Data Centers and current Data Center Reform efforts.  Stay tuned for updates on this Task Force as plans develop!

FIRST, our sincerest apologies for any inconvenience the postponement of the potluck may have caused folks.  Please know that we will always put the safety of our members first and foremost.

While the turn out was intimate due to the date change, fun and good food was had by all.  Please click on the button below to enjoy a poetic rendition that accompanies the images of the evening.

OMG!  So much to report!!

The meeting began with the recognition of the performance of the recent election in additions to some staistics!

We had 46 greeters and 16 observers during the Nov 4 Election Process:

Ruth and Stephanie - coordinated and provided training for th observers of the election process

• the invited attending observers to stand and be recognized
• provided information to what people saw regarding the Officers of Elections and the overall election process!

Sara Ratcliff - expressed her appreciation for all of the support that she received from the collaborating organizations that recognized the following:

• a 70% increase in Democratic votes from th last time that she ran;
• got more votes this year than Abigail got last time when she ran for congress - a SIGNIFICANT twist to the Democratic vote over the last time
• knocked on 1,400 door for votes
• sent copious amounts of emails
• 10,000 to 12,000 postacards.

Even though Sara lost, the ultimate voting data demonstrates a significant shift in the voting dynamics.

Interim Chair Julie Lenox-Sharifi noted that the mandatory VADEMS Rorganization is coming up.  This requires that:

• every local committee do an reorganization
• members with voting rights need to recommit theirselves via a new membership application
• participation is important in veetting candidates, especially on the local levl
• the reorganization meeting will be on 16 Jan 2025
• applications for the voting membership is on the greenedemocrats.org website

Donna - had a special request for assistance to setup and teardown the Potluck setup for meetings

Special Guests:  included Matt Butler and Chris Pearson

Matt Butler - is part of the Virginia State Politics and works mainly on voing rights issues.  He spoke about the ways to reform the current system to ensure a viable and equitable system of voting. 

Chris Pearson - is a former Congressional Representative from Vermont.  He is traveling the country presnting pieces of legislation to encourage winning the popular vote in all 50 states via the National Popular Vote Compact.

Guest Speakers included:

Steve Catalano - candidate for Board of Supervisors - Stanardsville.  Steve spoke to the group about the current status of the reservoir, what would need to come next, and the means to get there.  He also provided information regarding the Ruckersville Firehouse.

Greene County Democrats - announced the launching of our new Volunteer Initiative.  As part of the Executive Committee's efforts to transition our organization to an "always ready" status, we have restructured and automated the process for fellow Democrats to help  each other and the Execs elevate our organization to a new level.

Guest Speakers included:

Jason Snow - candidate for Board of Supervisors - Stanardsville.  Jason spoke more on his positions and vision for Greene Country and Stanardsville specifically as the potential representative for that precinct.

Linda Copeland - provided an update on the healthcare project on which she has taken the lead.  She presented the form on which she is gathering signatures to petition the UVA Medical Mobile Services to start servicing Greene County.  A driving force, Linda is well on her way to achieving this goal for Greene County.