NC Progressive Democrats Bylaws

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Cumberland County Progressives Meeting Minutes/ NC Progressive Democrats Bylaws

Welcome to the Cumberland County Progressives!

Cumberland County Progressive Democrats’ Meeting

Minutes: Saturday, February 16, 2008

The meeting was called to order @ 2:15 pm by Roderick Lewis, Chair

Roundtable/ Introductions

Guest Speakers:

Jimmy Valentine -Feed My People Ministry

Did not attend our meeting

John Autry -US Congress -District 8

How the Congress has missed placed it’s values

Concentrating more on the nation’s past-time (baseball) than on the nation’s business ( wars, education, government waste of funds, and bad bills)

Questions from the floor allowed a frank and open ended discussion on various aspects of the Iraq War

The need for troop withdraw and & how will that message would be received by residents of the 8th district

A need to find opportunity to promote the message of troop withdrawal & peace

*A frank and open ended discussion on the direction John Autry -US Congress campaign

District 8 Campaign and the alternatives if he can not run for the seat in the upcoming primary

Review of the form letter sent by Richard Burr sent on recycled paper

Cumberland County Progressives on one side
Information on the other side written to a different group on a different subject

Agenda:

Reports given by Andrew Bryant (Homeless political action group formation)

Reports given by Nancy Shakir (*Detail report on first meeting of socio-economics forum)

Review of the budget for this fiscal year

Sale of Cumberland County assets

Review of the Cumberland County Progressives Fund appeal letter

Next meeting date, time, and place agreed on

Meeting was adjourned by group @ 4:30 pm

*

My dear friends and supporters,

Rebecca and I have spent the last year traveling across the 8th district in North Carolina. We’ve met voters, made new friends and had a wonderful time. Rebecca and I are grateful for the hospitality that has been extended to us by you, our new friends.

My ambition was to campaign for the democratic nomination and be elected to the US House of Representatives to represent the working people in
NC-08. But, this year, that is not to be.

Recently I have been confronted with some health issues. It isn’t anything critical or life threatening, just issues that require my attention and discipline over the next few months.

Our son Chris is in his last semester at law school and will need Rebecca’s support and mine as he prepares for the bar exam. As proud parents we won’t permit anything to jeopardize his success.

As many of you know, I have a day job. A job I must maintain. Campaigning for congress is always in conflict with the job and demands time that I just don’t always have. It’s impossible to make an event in Albemarle when my job takes me to Salt Lake City, UT or Florida. So, with much regret I must step aside in the race for the democratic
nomination for NC-08.

I will continue in my position on the Mecklenburg Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors. I will continue to advocate progressive causes and principles. I will continue as an organizer with Veterans For Peace. I will continue working for energy policy reform, clean air to breath and safe water to drink. And I will continue as vice
president of my neighborhood association in our struggle against “hit and run” development that threatens our neighborhood. I will work to elect progressives to Congress, the Senate and the Whitehouse.

Thanks to everyone who embraced us, encouraged us and supported the campaign. Simple words cannot express how grateful we truly are.

Always remember that you can make a difference.

John Autry
--
The penalty that good men pay for not being interested in politics is to be governed by men worse than themselves.

Plato (427-347 BC)

*

To: Roderick Lewis, Chair Cumberland County Progressives

From: Forum Subcommittee

Racism and Economics Committee Meeting

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Stacey and I met to develop ideas for an upcoming workshop.

Some of the proposals were making are the following:

Workshop to be held Saturday, October 18, 2008.

Location possibly at Fayetteville State University

Time from 9am to 2PM

Tentative Schedule

9-10 am Registration/ Continental Breakfast

10-10:30 Plenary- focus on racism & economics in regard to pay scale; homelessness; prison industrial system and disability.

10:30-11:15 Workshop-Institutional Racism

11:30-12:15 Workshop-Biology/White Privilege

12:30-1:15 Workshop- Economic impact (Color of Wealth)

1:15-2:00 Box Lunch/Closing Plenary & Charge-Where do we go from here? Tips for organizing.

Participants:

FSU/ Methodist Students: Social Work; Pre-Law; Sociology; History; Sociology; Education programs. Ask faculty to give extra credit for participating students.

FTCC; NAACP; Umoja; Public Library; Urban Ministries; Great Oaks Mentoring

Possible facilitators: Chip Smith; Dr. Annie Chavis; Dr. Susan Franzblau; Marguerite Joralemon; Nancy Shakir; NC Justice Project participants; Peoples Institute for Survival and Beyond; FSU faculty.

MISSION

Our mission: to promote within the North Carolina Democratic Party issues of sustainable development, as well as economic, social, and environmental justice.

Individually many unions, non-profits, civic and faith-based organizations have sought to improve the quality of life for North Carolinians. Yet our efforts are continually frustrated by an increasingly undemocratic and unresponsive political process.
Well-paying jobs continue to be lost, wages and benefits are dropping, the health of our environment is in peril, the healthcare crisis is worsening, and quality of life in general is declining for middle and lower income people. All the while, expensive political campaigns prevent average North Carolinians from gaining representation and affecting change. Only special interests with large campaign contributions have real access.

Progressives and reformers from all issues and movements share a wide range of common, interconnected goals: decent wages, affordable healthcare, livable communities, and building a better future for our children. At the national level, we share a strong commitment to peace, and a moral and internationally cooperative approach to world affairs. To insure we are heard, and our voices have power, we have to pool our votes and apply them more effectively to the political process. To that end, we are proposing a strategy of concentrating our forces within the North Carolina Democratic Party as an important avenue toward building political power for a broad reform agenda.

We propose to establish a strong and active formal “auxiliary organization” within the North Carolina Democratic Party to be called the PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS (PDNC) as a way of increasing our clout in the political decision making process.

According to the North Carolina Democratic Party Plan of Organization, auxiliaries will have a seat on each county executive committee in which they are organized. The PDNC would also be entitled to a seat on the State Executive Committee, once chartered statewide. We will therefore have access to and formal representation in, the internal process. Additionally, we will have a seat on the Resolutions and Platform Committee, and will seek access to the Legislative Policy Committee, and the Issues Committees. We envision this formation as working closely with other caucuses.

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