Page County Democratic Committee Minutes – December 5, 2024
WEST LURAY REC CENTER, LURAY VA
ATTENDEES: Chair Miles Morimoto, Gary Grant, Clyde Humphrey, Wendy Brown, Bill King, Sherry Ford, Tom Ford, Skip Halpern, Bette Schmidt, Betty Karp, Herb Karp, Dave Kinsey, Kathleen White, Tom Dawson, Jackie Bowers, Will Bowers, Joe Petralia, Pat Petralia, Mike Mudd, Charles Courduff, Chip Taggert. GUEST: Sara Finn of Community Works I.
CALL TO ORDER- 6:26 PM
II. MINUTES AND TREASURER’S REPORT
Nov 6 Minutes were approved.
The Chair nominated as new Secretary Kathleen White, who was seconded and elected.
The Treasurer’s report was accepted. It showed a November beginning balance of $9,128.76 and an ending balance of $8,788.37.
A proposed budget will be discussed in January with amendments made as needed.
At Treasurer Clyde Humphrey’s request, an Assistant Treasurer, Joe Petralia, was nominated, seconded and elected.
III. CHAIR’S OPENING REMARKS
The Chair announced the main event of the evening was to set procedures for creating a strategic direction for the PCDC.
- What should our primary focus be?
- How to elect qualified candidates?
- How to get input from all of PCDC members? The devastating Trump policies prompt the need for action.
The Chair then invited Bill King, leader of the Ad Hoc Planning Committee, to organize and solicit input from all present, for later discussion in January. Bill assigned four small groups to address:
1. What have we done right?
2. What have we done poorly?
3. Where do we go from here? Priorities? Focus of energy and resources? Near term?long term? Steps needed right away?
4. Other comments?
Each of the four groups then reported to the full committee the responses they generated to the questions. These minutes will not summarize the substance produced by the groups. Rather, the Ad Hoc Planning Committce led by Bill King will compile data from responses and present the data at the January meeting. That data will direct PCDC goals, which should be formulated prior to determining a structure for going forward. IV.
PCDC HEADQUARTERS
The Chair reported the availability of PCDC Headquarters past the November 5, 2024 election, at a cost of $100 per month, as offered by Susan Corbett.
The Chair opened the floor to viewpoints, pros and cons. Many felt the timing matched pre-gubernatorial election (November 2025) nceds, that HQ continuity would be valuable in keeping the democrats’ brand visible, and that the price is quite attractive.
Skip Halpern questioned how we could make such a commitment when we are on the verge of creating a strategic plan.
Tom Dawson offered to cover half of the cost. The Chair agreed to check with Susan about the terms of rental, in particular how many months she could commit to, and report back.