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This newsletter is paid for with regulated funds by the Houghton County Democratic Party, and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.
Contact us by email at [email protected] or text or call us at 906-523-1233
HCDP News for November 19 2024
In this week’s HCDP News:
The Office is Now Closed
County Convention December 4th
Stay Steady
Precinct Delegate Virtual Training
and more…
 | Party News |
The Office is Now Closed
On Saturday volunteers came to our office in Hancock and helped load up furniture and equipment and put away literature and signage for the next campaign. While we won’t have a place for you to stop by for a while, we are still reachable by email, phone or text. And we aren’t going anywhere. We’re staying steady, ready for the work ahead.
Once again the HCDP wants to thank all the volunteers who staffed our office this campaign season and did the work to support all who did stop by, as well as our canvassers. Your efforts are appreciated!
County Convention December 4th
Per the Bylaws of the Michigan Democratic Party (MDP), County Parties in each County in this State having a population of less than 1,500,000 people must hold a County Convention following the November election in every even-numbered year.
CALL TO CONVENTION
The Houghton County Democratic Party will conduct our County Convention on December 4th beginning at 7 PM. (Our regular monthly meeting will begin immediately following the conclusion of the Convention.)
PURPOSE OF THE CONVENTION
Per the Bylaws of the MDP, Article 4.1:
The purpose of the Convention is to elect a number of persons equal to twice the number of candidates for County, State legislative and U.S. House of Representatives offices for which candidates were nominated at the most recent fall primary election.
Those persons, together with the persons most recently nominated by the Party for each of those offices, shall constitute the County Committee of the Party.
When a new nomination is made for an office, the nominee for which is entitled to serve as a member of the County Committee, the new nominee shall replace the former nominee as a member of the County Committee.
If a vacancy occurs in the position of delegate-elected member of the County Committee, the remaining delegate-elected members shall fill the vacancy.
Except as otherwise provided in this article, the County Committee may elect the officers it considers proper to carry out the purposes of the Committee, and may fill a vacancy in any of its offices.
Stay Steady
A lot of us are still processing the election results. After putting so much of ourselves into the campaign its impossible not to feel some lose of hope, especially given what seems to be in front of us. The drumbeat of headlines being made by the incoming administration, each more bewildering to process than the one before, do not help.
It’s okay to take a break, to step back from the cable TV news and your social media accounts. Take the time to recenter and reflect.
And what comes after that?
Well, we know that the fight we engaged in this campaign season was a worthwhile and important fight, and we know that, once again we will need to pick up the baton and keep fighting. When and what that looks like for each of us may be different, but the fight goes on.
The quote above is often attributed to Franklin Roosevelt, who loved sailing and the sea. As rough seas can make for better sailors, so too for nations. Americans may be in for rough seas ahead, but if we stay steady, and once again join in the fight, we can help America come out the other end stronger.
If Roosevelt ever actually said the words “a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor”, the occasion doesn’t seem to have been recorded for posterity. The closest an internet search will get you to that quote is a reference to FDR’s Fireside Chat of August 14, 1938. The last three paragraphs are most relevant, both to the quote, and to what many of us may be feeling right now. Here they are:
I can hear your unspoken wonder as to where we are headed in this troubled world. I cannot expect all of the people to understand all of the people's problems; but it is my job to try to understand all of the problems.
I always try to remember that reconciling differences cannot satisfy everyone completely. Because I do not expect too much, I am not disappointed. But I know that I must never give up -- that I must never let the greater interest of all the people down, merely because that might be for the moment the easiest personal way out.
I believe that we have been right in the course we have charted. To abandon our purpose of building a greater, a more stable and a more tolerant America would be to miss the tide and perhaps to miss the port. I propose to sail ahead. I feel sure that your hopes, and I feel sure that your help, are with me. For to reach a port, we must sail -- sail, not lie at anchor, sail, not drift.
So let’s all resolve to not take the easiest personal way out, but rather to stay steady, and sail, not drift, for port.
Virtual Training on Repeat - What is a Precinct Delegate?
We’ve talked before about the importance of precinct delegates to the functioning of a County Democratic Party, and the need for more folks to step up to this important role.
The precinct delegate is the elected office closest to the people. As a precinct delegate you would represent the people of your precinct to the party, and represent the party back to your constituency. Precinct delegates help get people involved in the party and in campaigns. They help distribute yard signs and campaign literature. They introduce candidates to their constituents, and their constituents and their issues and concerns to candidates. They help get out the vote. They represent the party in its local conventions, and help shape the party’s platform and public positions. Precinct delegates are the foundation of the party.
If you are interested in, or have thought about becoming a delegate for your precinct there is another Zoom-based training opportunity being offered in December by the National Democratic Training Committee. This live training is a repeat of the same course held on Thursday of last week that we mentioned in the previous newsletter. The course will help you better understand not only the role and responsibility of a precinct delegate, but also help explain how local county parties like ours work.
WHAT: What is a Democratic Precinct Delegate?, an NDTC Virtual Live Training Course
WHERE: By Zoom
WHEN: Monday, December 9th from 1 to 2 PM
Our Next Monthly Meeting
Our general party member meetings are the first Wednesday of every month at the Super 8 Motel in Houghton at 7:00 p.m. unless otherwise announced. You can also attend by Zoom - your email newsletter will have the Zoom details for each meeting.
You do not need to be a member to attend our meetings, and we would welcome you to join us.
WHAT: Potluck at 6 PM, Meeting immediately following the County Convention which begins at 7 PM.
WHERE: In the conference room at the Houghton Super 8, and by Zoom
WHEN: December 4th
Governmental & Community Meetings
TUE NOV 19
The Laurium Village Council meets tonight at 6 PM in the Council Chambers of the Town Hall. More info can be found on the Village's website.
The Calumet Village Council meets tonight at 6:00 PM in the Village Council Chambers. As of the weekend the Council had not posted the meeting’s Zoom link on the Village website.
WED NOV 20
The Hancock City Council meets at 6 PM in the Hancock City Hall Council Chambers.