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BEXAR
COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY
MEETING OF COUNTY EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEE
SATURDAY, July 14, 2007
The monthly meeting of the County Executive Committee
of the Bexar County Democratic Party was called to order in Don Pedro’s
Restaurant on Southwest
Military Drive at 9:25 a.m. on Saturday July 14, 2007, with
Carla Vela being in the Chair and the Secretary
being present. There was a quorum.
Because of the volume of people in the small room
allotted for the meeting, as well as an inadequate sound system, it was
difficult
to hear everything that was said, particularly in the rear of the room. For this reason, the secretary apologizes for
any misunderstanding or failure to correctly identify speakers.
The agenda was approved by motion seconded
and
carried.
Following the pledge of allegiance and a prayer
offered by Nancy Russell, the Chair thanked Tim Maloney for providing
today’s
meeting room and breakfast. The Chair
noted that to her knowledge Judge Andy Mireles was the only elected
official
present, although several candidates were in the room, including Amber
Liddell,
Steve Walker, Renee Watson and members of the SDEC.
Carla Vela introduced today’s speaker, Staff Sergeant
Eric Alva, United States Marine Corps (Retired), the first US serviceman to be wounded in Iraq. Sgt Alva, a native of San
Antonio, spent thirteen and a half years in the Marine
Corps,
having enlisted in 1990 following his graduation from Southwest High School.
After completion of boot camp in 1991, Sgt
Alva was stationed in Somalia
and Japan as well
as in Iraq
during the Gulf War. On March 20 he was
in charge of a convoy moving towards the Kuwait-Iraqi border when he
was wounded
after stepping on a land mine. His
injuries included a fractured right arm and loss of part of his right
index finger
as well as injuries to his right leg severe enough to necessitate
amputation of
his right leg. Following discharge from
the Marine Corps, Sgt Alva testified before Congress and appeared on
several
television programs during which time he revealed and discussed his
sexual
orientation. He is now pursuing a career
in social work in San Antonio
where he resides with his partner.
Minutes of the June CEC meeting were approved on
motion
seconded and carried. John
McConnell inquired whether a statutory quorum is present.
There is no statutory quorum.
Treasurer’s Report. Fernando
Contreras, summarized
his report covering the period May 31 through June 30, 2007.
To a balance of $8,652.54 on May 3l, 2007 was added total
revenue of
$10,128.28 from the Partners Program and from other contributions. After deducting operating expenses and special
events expense, there remained a balance of $14,823.49, of which
$4,732.03 has
been reserved for two scheduled fundraiser events, leaving an
operational
balance of $10,091.46.
Reports were presented by chairs and/or
co-chairs of
the reporting committees. Several
committees had no reports, some because of failure to meet due to the
summer
vacation. Those who made reports are:
a. Precinct Chair Recruitment.. The
report
was made by John McConnell, co-chair of the committee, who indicated
that there
are presently 151 elected precinct chairs. The committee met twice in
June and
the complete report is attached to the record. Following
Mr. McConnell’s presentation, motion
was made and seconded to accept the report as written.
There was no discussion and the motion
passed.
b. Pre-Primary Committee. John Courage reported the committee’s
efforts thus far in preparing for the 2008 Primary Campaign. Among other specific items, these efforts
included researching the State Election Code, reviewing rules with the
Democratic Party, meetings with the County Elections Administrator,
attempts to
secure poll site judges, development of a projected timeline and review
of previous
campaign budgets. He then deferred to
Ian Straus, co-chair of the committee, to present a lengthy motion
which enumerated several
separate actions including establishment of a Primary Committee (County Chair
and eight voting members appointed by the Chair), the preferred type of
Primary
to be held, a working timeline and budget for the Primary, and the
hiring of a
Primary Election Manager. A complete
copy is attached to the record.. It was
Mr. Straus’s recommendation that the group go into a committee of the
whole to
discuss this motion in a less formal manner. John
McConnell objected to the motion as
presented due to its complexity and he offered as an amendment to the
motion
that the matter be referred to the Rules Committee for study to ensure
that it
is in compliance with party rules and the Election Code, with results
to be reported
at the August meeting. Although there
was a second, Mr. Straus stated he would not accept the amendment
because he
believes it is wrong. He then explained
his reasons for this belief.
Following
further discussion, the Chair called for a vote on Mr. McConnell’s
amendment to
the motion and the amendment failed. A
second to the original motion was offered by Bob Miller after which on
a voice
vote the motion carried.
After
explanation by Ian Straus that Party Rules direct the establishment of
a
Primary Committee with an original size of four members plus the chair,
he
noted that recent history indicated the necessity for expansion and
this is the
time to do that. The Primary Committee
is the instrument by which the CEC gets to manage the Primary Fund. John McConnell pointed out that we
already
have a Primary Committee established but that Committee failed because
it was
not allowed to do its duty. He added
that both he and Mr. Contreras took the required training two years ago. Although Mr. McConnell continued to protest,
the Chair called for a vote in favor of the report by the Committee as
a whole
and the motion carried.
c. Budget & Finance Committee Zada True-Courage thanked SADL for its
contribution of $5,000.00 to the BCDP.
d. Community Outreach. Ruth
Stewart
reported that several democratic clubs have established a schedule for
providing contributions to the Soldiers &
Families Assistance
Center
at Brooke
Army Medical Center,
and November has
been designated as the month for this organization.
Unfinished Business:
Because the previously
elected deputy chairs for Commissioners Precincts 1 and 2 have moved
out of
those precincts, the Chair announced a five minute recess for the
purpose of electing
replacements for those deputy chairs. After recess, the following
results were
announced:
Commissioner’s Precinct 1 – Bee Sierra (1005) and Commissioner’s Precinct 2 – Jesse Alcala
(2015)
Citing the success of the recent Petition
Signing Party, John Courage recommended that another such event be held on the south side of the city some
time after Labor Day. Although $500 had
been authorized by the BCDP to be expended from party funds for the
first such Party,
over $950 was collected that night, so the allocation of $500 was not
needed. Since John Courage is not a
member of the CEC, Ed Taylor made the motion,
seconded by Bob Miller to have a second Petition Signing Party on the
south side
of San
Antonio in the fall with $500.00 allocated as
before. The motion carried.
New Business:
a.. Jamie Lewis
made a motion that, because of the
short period of time between the July and August meetings of the CEC,
there
should be no meeting until September. The
motion was seconded and passed. However,
since the current Rules require
monthly meetings, the Chair noted that instead of paying rent for a
location
for the August meeting, a meeting will be held at Democratic
Headquarters for
anyone who wants to attend. She
commented that the meeting can probably open and close within five
minutes.
This motion was opposed by John McConnell
who stated that he believes that today’s meeting as well as
postponement of the
August meeting, constitutes a violation of the Rules.
b. Motion was made by
Jamie Lewis (3098) to donate $300 to
representatives of the UTSA College Democrats towards their expenses
when
attending the national meeting of College Democrats in South Carolina. After further explanation concerning number
of delegates and amount of the donation, as well as a brief discussion,
the
motion carried.
Late arrivals, some of whom did
not remain until conclusion of the meeting, included Frances Carnot,
Charlie
Jones, Dan Ramos and Roberto Gutierrez of Southwest Democrats.
Announcements.
a. The
Bexar County Democratic
Women
and the local Democratic Veterans are sponsoring an event at the
Radisson Hotel
on July 21 honoring retired Lt. General Claudia Kennedy, the highest
ranking
woman in the United States Army.
b.
Zada True-Courage announced that SDEC
25 will hold a conference at the GVTC
CenterComal County on August 11.
c. Carla
Vela announced that she will be hosting a meeting of the County Chair
Association, of which she is a member, in San Antonio on July 27 and 28. This meeting is not open to the public but is
restricted to members of the County Chair Association. Hosts
for two evening meals and the breakfast
on Saturday were announced.
Adjournment. There being
no further business for discussion, the meeting adjourned at 10:45 a.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Jane
M. Humble, Secretary |
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