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Sunday, April 03, 2005
Moss Wins DPBC Chair Election
Marvin Moss, who has been the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County's First Vice Chair for the past two years, won yesterday's election at the County Central Committee meeting at the Albuquerque Convention Center, and will serve as County Chair for the next two years. Moss will take the reins of the County Party from State Senator Linda Lopez, who was unsuccessful in her attempt to retain her post.
The County meeting was packed and chaotic, with disagreements breaking out about how to handle resolutions and when and how to do the balloting for County Chair and membership on the State Central Committee. Registration tables were overwhelmed and credentialing was difficult. Ballots for State Central Committee had to be reprinted and replaced after people's frustrations at the registration tables prompted them to start grabbing ballots instead of waiting to receive them with their packets. There was confusion about rules of order and how motions would be handled on the floor.
Even refreshments were a problem with small bottles of soft drinks and water going for $2.50 from Convention Center vendors. The only food available came in the form of bagels with cream cheese in plastic, again for $2.50. With the meeting running very long, our progressive slate caucus members were starving and pitched in to get pizza brought in, only to have Convention Center staffers complain we weren't allowed to bring in food when the pizzas arrived. Thankfully, we managed to gobble some down before we had to move the pizzas outside the venue!
Still, alot of good exchanges and meetings happened despite the disorganization. Mayor Marty Chavez visited with his new dog, Duke. We heard from mayoral candidates Eric Griego and Judy Espinosa. Marianne Dickinson, running for City Councilor against Sally Mayer in District 7, was out meeting people and animated discussions were everywhere inside the meeting rooms and without.
The day started for us at 8:30 AM with a progressive caucus organized by SeedPAC, NM Democratic Friends and Democracy for New Mexico on the Civic Plaza. Thanks to SeedPAC for the donuts and juice! We ended up with more than 60 people putting their heads together to plan a strategy to win seats on the State Central Committee. A rather convoluted set of rules govern the voting on these seats, and it was a complex process to plan how to use it to our best advantage. I know that a number of our progressive slate members won seats, but we're still awaiting the release of the full list. We're keeping our fingers crossed and we'll put up the list of winners as soon as we get it.
If you attended the County Party meeting, what was your take on things?
April 3, 2005 at 10:54 AM in Democratic Party, Local Politics | Permalink
Comments
Great synopsis of a very long meeting!!!
Posted by: Charlotte | Apr 3, 2005 12:29:13 PM
We agree that the meeting was chaotic and offer the following suggestions that we feel would make the next meeting more successful.
The date of the meeting must be determined much earlier in order to have enough time in advance to prepare for this meeting and also the ward/precinct meetings, the Resolution Committee meeting and the Credentials Committee meeting.
The lobby area should be used exclusively for registration and there should be a lot of tables so that registration will proceed smoothly. Political candidates can make their own arrangements for space in adjoining areas.
Registration volunteers should be recruited several weeks in advance. If there aren't enough people to volunteer, then people should be paid to do registration. The registration people should attend a "dry run" training session at the venue the day before the meeting.
The agenda and the rules of conduct for the meeting should be included with the registration materials and posted in several locations. These need to be read by the chair at the beginning of the meeting so that all delegates know the proper procedure and conduct at the meeting. For instance, the delegates need to know that the open microphones located in the room are there to conduct the business of the meeting and not for personal comments.
There should be several sergeants-at-arms patrolling the hall so that it is kept quiet and orderly.
The room should be large enough and set up with enough chairs to accommodate all the attendees.
The ward numbers should be posted throughout the room.
There should be an area or room outside the hall that is designated for discussion and socializing.
The DPBC should provide refreshments for the attendees.
We are offering to help organize the next meeting and hope that others will also offer their suggestions and support.
Posted by: Andrea and David | Apr 3, 2005 12:50:12 PM
A preliminary list is up at
https://www.bernalillodems.org/county_election_results.htm
For me the high point was the invocation at the beginning, when from the podium we were all asked to stand, bow our heads, and pray to jesus. I was surprised that I was the only one I could see who remained seated, and who hissed when the name of jesus was invoked. I'd really thought that the Democrats were the secular party.
Posted by: | Apr 3, 2005 5:13:09 PM
