Dear Committee Members:
Happy New Year, fellow Democrats! I look forward to 2009 as a year of growth, unity and renewal for our local party. We had major sucesses with the general election in November and in helping Jim Martin take Chatham County in his ultimately unsuccessful bid for US Senate. The CCDC gave time, money and office space to these candidates, and the coordinated efforts resulted in impressive gains in local Democratic votes. Thank You! We have added committee members from the scores of volunteers who helped with the local Obama campaign, and expanded our database of Democratic supporters exponentially. Although we enter a year without any upcoming elections, we still have issues to impact, an enormous amount of fundraising work to do, an exciting inaugural party to sponsor on January 20th, and, yes, a few hard decisions to make regarding our future headquarters.
The first and most important task in my term as your chairman is to strengthen our Democratic Committee, both in active membership and funds, and in the place we hold in local politics. As mentioned, we are filling many open committee seats with enthusiastic volunteers who were introduced to the local party through the Obama campaign. We need to make sure that non-participatory members are given reasons to return to the party. I am sure we can make this happen and we will be stronger for it.
Regarding the political universe that is Chatham County, our CCDC need to acheive a greater level of power and respect among local Democratic office holders and the community at large. Most of the 1500-plus volunteers that came though our doors to work for Obama had no idea what the CCDC is or does. This tells me have alot of educating Savannah-it’s the only way that we can maintain our voice in the community and attract new candidates to run for office. The only way we can effectively help our elected Democrats fight for issues that matter to us. And the only way we can rebuild our Democratic party from the grassroots level right up to the state legislature.
I have some ideas and a timeline to put before the committee, and I will be sharing those with you ar our January meeting. However, I challenge you to bring ideas to the table, too- ideas about how we can become a more powerful organization, one that candidates, the media, and our Democratic officals look to rather than overlook.
Come January 1, I will be sending a letter to all local Democratic office-holders affirming our ongoing support,offering assistance with media campaigns, and asking for candid reports on upcoming issues that Democrats will need to be made aware of. Certainly, the issue of taxes and the question of non-partisan county elections are both topics that we will need to study.
In parting, I urge you to help sell tickets to and attend the Black &White Inaugural Gala at the Trade Center on January 20, 2009. The CCDC is co-sponsoring this fun event with the Savannah Business League. It is our chance to celebrate this historic day with dinner, dancing, and live video feeds from some of the Washington balls and some of our own savannah Democrats. It isn’t formal, only black and white attire. And any profits from the sale of tickets will be split between the c0-sponsors, making this a much-needed fundraising for the CCDC!
Thank you for your vote and your dedication to the Democratic party. Let’s make 2009 a banner year for local Democrats!
Janice Shay,
Chair, Chatham County Democratic Committee
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