Our June meeting kicked off with legislative updates from Rep. Jan Dodge, who let us know the legislature is in high gear with daily sessions for debate and votes, along with continued negotiating over appropriations. She informed us about several bills coming up for votes and welcomes inquiries from constituents at jan.dodge@legislature.maine.gov. Josh Goldstein highlighted and requested support for LD 178, “An Act to Support Reentry and Reintegration into the Community.” A reminder – contact info for all of our elected officials is always available at www.waldocountydemocrats.com/elected-officials.
WCDC’s office is re-opening with an Open House on Friday June 16, 4-7pm. Please stop by to say hi, enjoy some nibbles and drinks, and see what local Democrats are up to. The address is 22 Searsport Avenue, Belfast, and the office will be open starting the week of June 19 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 11am to 5pm. We could use a couple more volunteers to share shifts on Mondays 2-5pm and Wednesdays 11am-2pm. We’re grateful to our volunteers who staff the office and all our members whose generosity makes sure we can keep the lights on year-round!
The Montville-Liberty Democrats are meeting this Saturday, June 17, at 4pm in the beer garden at Lake St. George Brewing Co. in Liberty. This will be a fun, low-key opportunity for area Dems to meet up and find common cause. Please join us, whether you live in Montville, Liberty, or any other town nearby!
We’re looking for members who want to get involved in the core work of our committee through our new standing committees. Learn more by emailing info@waldocountydemocrats.com or visiting our website.
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging Committee – Chaired by Laura Baker, this group aims to ensure that members and voices of social groups who have traditionally been marginalized are an integral part of our work. DEIB meets monthly on Zoom, currently on Sunday evenings. Visit www.waldocountydemocrats.com/deib for more info.
- Campaign Committee – Chaired by Valerie Tate, this committee will lead and coordinate WCDC’s campaign activities to elect more Democrats across Waldo County. The Campaign Committee also holds monthly Zoom meetings on Monday evenings.
- Engagement Committee – we are seeking someone to chair this vital committee to focus on recruiting, training, and activating members and volunteers to undertake our mission of electing more Democrats at every level of government. Projects could include everything from writing postcards to hosting workshops to planning social events.
- Bylaws and Policy Committee – Philo Hutcheson chairs this committee to keep our bylaws and policy documents meaningful and up to date. The committee meets as needed and recently finished an overhaul of our subcommittee and leadership structure.
We had a positive and productive discussion of the draft statement from our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging Committee on the need to change the Belfast voting location currently at the Tarratine Tribe building. The DEIB Committee is developing a resolution for WCDC to consider at our July meeting, along with a strategy for engaging other organizations in the cause.
Valerie Tate told us about StoryCorp’s One Small Step Program, a project that WERU Community Radio is participating in “to remind the country of the humanity in all of us, even those with whom we disagree.” The program is bringing together people with different political believes who don’t know each other for a 50-minute conversation, documented by WERU. The program is a perfect fit with our own Every Conversation Counts project so we thought some of you might be interested in participating. Plus, it’s coordinated by Frankfort Democrat Michele Christle. Email us for more information.
WCDC is planning some upcoming events you’ll definitely want to be part of! In addition to our regular monthly meetings this summer (July 9 and August 13), plans are in the works for some special outreach and fundraising events to put on your calendar:
- Belfast Street Party Pie Sale – we sell whole pies and slices at this event on High Street in Belfast on Monday, July 31, 5-9pm. Please plan on baking a pie or two, sweet or savory, and stopping by the sale. The Street Party is a great time and a great fundraiser for us!
- End-of-Summer Picnic – we’ve set the date for September 9, 1-4pm, at Gesner Park in Monroe for this year’s event. We’d also welcome suggestions for a musician or other entertainment!
- Common Ground Country Fair Tabling – the fair this year is September 22-24, and we hope to have a table all three days. If you can help, please let us know at info@waldocountydemocrats.com.
We had a great time at this month’s two – count ‘em, TWO – Pride Parades in Waldo County! At Unity’s first Pride Parade on June 3, the rain and cold couldn’t dampen spirits. A week later, the Belfast Pride Parade lived up to its great reputation with a wonderful turnout. Check out pictures from both events at https://www.waldocountydemocrats.com/2023-pride/. (Thank you to Bernice Nadler and Reeves Gilmore for the pics!)