October Dates and Items of Interest
Howard County Executive Ken Ulman to Speak at October WHCDC Meeting
1. Tuesday, October 16, 2007. Monthly meeting of the Western Howard County Democratic Club at the Howard County Conservancy, 10520 Old Fredrick Rd. (Rte. 99), Woodstock, MD starting at 7 p.m. Special guest/speaker will be Ken Ulman, Howard County Executive.
Anticipating a larger than usual turnout, the meeting will be held upstairs in the ballroom. In recognition of Ken's tight schedule. The business meeting and socialization time will be held at the conclusion of Ken's remarks.
Ken's remarks will focus on his vision for Howard County by 2010 when the next county election will be held, and the role that the Western Howard Democrats (and the Western Howard County Democratic Club in particular) can play in helping him realize that vision and elect Democrats in Council District 5, and Legislative Districts 9 (Md. Senate) and 9A (Md. Assembly). Ken has launched an ambitious and imaginative administrative agenda during his first year and we are interested in supporting his efforts to continue the Howard County tradition of progressive and effective government. Councilwoman Courtney Watson will continue this process when she is the featured speaker in the November meeting.
2. Saturday, October 6, 2007. HCDCC Neighborhood Contact Persons (NCP) Orientation Sessions for NCP Volunteers. Held at the HCDCC offices at 7050 Oakland Mills Road, Columbia (near intersection of Oakland Mills Dr. and Snowden River Parkway). Two sessions, 10 a.m. or 1 p.m. RSVP Cathy Zomlefer at 410-290-9791 or czomlefer@aol.com. It's not too late to volunteer. You will be the eyes and ears of the Central Committee in your neighborhood without a long-term time commitment. Contact Cathy to see if your neighborhood is represented and to volunteer.
3. Sunday, October 14, 2007. Dayton Days. Parade at noon and the family picnic from 1-4 p.m. WHCDC will have a slot in the parade and will have a table at the family picnic, which will be held at Eden Park. Democratic Presidential Candidate representatives are invited to join us in the parade and at the table. Come join us in the parade…let's show the Republicans that the Democrats are alive and raring to go in Western Howard. Presidential candidate representatives: please let me know if you plan to attend (410-800-8984 or grabill@bnin.net)
4. The Howard County Board of Elections has vacancies for all judge jobs, Chief Judge, Check-In, Greeter, Provisional and Unit. Positions provide salaries. Interested parties should contact Kim Phillips at the BOE at 410-313-5820.
5. The DNC will have their fall national meeting this year in Baltimore on November 29 to December 1, 2007 at the Sheraton Hotel. All the national Presidential Candidates have been invited to attend. It will be an excellent opportunity to see many of the candidates up close and be informed of the Party's issues and initiatives. Contact HCDCC (office or website) for more details.
6. Another good turnout attended the WHCDC September Meeting to hear Joshua Feldmark, Executive Director of the Commission on the Environment and Sustainability for Howard County. There were a number of new faces…thanks for coming and we look forward to seeing you regularly at our meetings. See more details in the meeting minutes on the Club Website (coming soon).
Mearl Grabill, Secretary. 410-800-8984 or grabill@bnin.net
July Meeting
The July meeting of the Western Howard County Democratic Club will be held on Tuesday, July 17 at the Howard County Conservancy, 10520 Old Frederick Rd. (Rte. 99), Woodstock, just east of Woodstock Road. Refreshments and socialization begin at 7 p.m. and the program start at 7:30 p.m. Meetings are held downstairs in the Gudelsky Environmental Center.
Future plans for the development of the Rt. 32 corridor will be the topic of the special presentation by Vaughn Lewis, Regional Road Planner for the State of Maryland and Carl Baiser, Chief of Transportation Planning for Howard County. This is first program is first in a series of programs to inform club members on issues of significant interest to the voters in Ellicott City and Western Howard County.
Cathy Zomlefer, Vice Chair of the Howard County Democratic Central Committee, and Coordinator for the HCDCC Neighborhood Contact Program (NCP), will update club members on the NCP initiative and party plans to prepare for the 2008 and 2010 campaigns. In this effort, the Party is looking for volunteers county-wide to be the eyes, ears and personal representatives of the Party in their neighborhoods for these upcoming elections.
WHCDC Minutes for 5/15/2007 Meeting
Western Howard County Democratic Club Meeting Minutes - May 15, 2007
- Special Guest – Brad Heavner, Executive Director of the Maryland Public Interest Research Group (MaryPIRG)
- Brad started by noting that MaryPIRG has divided into two groups to allow one to focus on environmental issues. MaryPIRG is continuing under that name and Environment Maryland (web site: www.) is the new group.
- He reported on the outcome of environmental issues in the recent Maryland legislative session, saying it could be called the “environment session” because of the success of the session – they got most of what they lobbied for.
- The biggest success was the Clean Cars Act making our state standards consistent with California’s and a consortium of northeastern states.
- A global warming bill was defeated, but it was considered a success to get it to the floor for a vote this session – it will be brought up again in the future.
- The governor has formed a commission, to meet this summer, to look at global warming issues.
- A couple of bad Smart Growth bills failed and the governor is also creating a task force on Growth Management Issues this summer.
- A Stormwater Management Act was passed to control runoff from new developments and require environmental design plans through zoning codes.
- With this bill Maryland joins New Jersey with the strictest standards.
- A bill was passed to require increasing solar power as part of the electric grid – the third strongest solar energy legislation in the country.
- Another celebration was around the budget for Project Open Space – the program received all of the money collected from real estate transfer taxes this year. In the past monies have been diverted to other budgets.
- There was no opposition to appointees by the governor to environmentally sensitive positions.
- Club business
- The Nominating Committee put forward a slate of officers that were elected without opposition. The officers are:
- President: Clyde Robinette
- Vice-President: Bill Hudock
- Secretary: Mearl Grabill
- Treasurer: Jim Mellicant
- The Nominating Committee put forward a slate of officers that were elected without opposition. The officers are:
- The Executive Board will be made of the officers and Chairs of the Standing Committees
- The Standing Committees are:
- Issues/Platform: This committee will bring forward issues for the club to consider and provide resources for meeting programs.
- Ways and Means: This committee will be responsible for fundraising to collect and distribute money.
- Voter Services: This committee will be responsible for voter outreach, including working with the Neighborhood Contact Program, voter registration and coordination with the Central Committee.
- Membership: This committee will be responsible for outreach to increase membership in the club.
- Communication: This committee will be responsible for managing the web site, working on public relations activities, letters to the editor, and press releases.
- Please let us know if you are interested in working with one of these committees.
- The Standing Committees are:
- Announcements
- Jefferson-Jackson Dinner –Mearl provided a final update before the dinner. He is short on the funds he needs to cover the students he invited to attend. Please see Mearl if you are interested in sponsoring one of the students.
- Blood Drive – The Blood Drive is scheduled for Saturday, June 16th at the Howard County Conservancy – please contact Jim Adams to schedule a time – more information will be on the web site
Our next meeting is Tuesday June 19th at the Howard County Conservancy. Our special guest will be Racheline Bonacci, Director of Howard County Tourism Office. We will also hear about the Neighborhood Contact Program that will be a top project for WHCDC. Please join us if you can….
Submitted:
Clyde Robinette and Romayne Smith, Club co-founders.
June Meeting
The June meeting of the Western Howard Democratic Club will be held on Tuesday, June 19 at the Howard County Conservancy, 10520 Old Frederick Rd. (Rte. 99), Woodstock, just east of Woodstock Road. Refreshments and socialization starts at 7 p.m. and the program at 7:30 p.m. Meetings are held downstairs in the Gudelsky Environmental Center.
Racheline Bonaccci, Director of Howard County Tourism, will be the featured speaker. Special guests will be the Future Democrats of America students from Mt. Hebron and Centennial High Schools who were our special guests at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner.
Mark your calendars! Future Meetings. All meetings scheduled at the Howard County Conservancy, starting at 7 p.m.
Subject: Rt. 32 Plans
Subject: Delegate selection for the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
