The Denton County Democratic Party has made great strides in 2008. Here are just a few of the accomplishments:
--Tripled our number of Precinct Chairs from around 25 to 75All of us in the Denton County Dems who worked very hard this year (as volunteers, of course) to build our Party into a viable organization are proud of the results of our work. But we are not taking any breaks--no way! We are already hard at work on 2009 and beyond. We've developed some aggressive fundraising plans; we're reaching our personally to well-heeled Dems for donations; we're recruiting even more new precinct chairs; we are requiring precinct chairs and Committees to set goals and take concrete steps toward achieving them; and we are searching for impressive candidates that can run for local office in 2010.
--Filled out all of our Committees and appointed Chairs for all the Committees
--Increased funds raised for the County Party by over 45%
--Fielded Democratic candidates for local office for the first time in many, many years
--Branched out to hold monthly meetings all over the county (not just in Denton)
There are 5 important elements that contribute to a successful County organization:
1. A committed, active Chairman: Ours is Neil Durrance, and Neil should be credited for lighting a fire under our County Party and requiring local Democrats to work toward turning Denton County blue. Early in 2008, Neil stated at a press conference "We are Back!"--and he meant it! Thanks, Neil!
2. Fully-staffed, active Operating Committees: One of the first things Neil did was find and appoint Committee Chairs, and require them to meet and then report on their progress at EC meetings. Our Committees raised funds, found and trained candidates, formalized our stance on issues, and overall made a lot of progress. See a list of Denton County Democratic Party Operating Committees in the right-hand column of this blog.
3. Precinct Chairs for every precinct: As stated above, we all searched around and recruited active, committed Dems to serve as Precinct Chairs across the County. Precinct Chairs are arguably one of the critical pieces of our County organization, for they are the grassroots activists who reach out to local Democrats and let them know that the Dem party is viable in Denton County. We still have a few precincts with no chairs--if you live outside Castle Hills, check the Denton County Dem website to see if yours is one. If it is, step up and become your precinct's Precinct Chair!
4. A dedicated Executive Director: Our ED is Jace Reeder. Jace works very hard to keep all of our headquarters and party operations running smoothly. He puts in many, many more hours than his tiny salary calls for, and we are all very grateful. Thanks Jace!
5. Volunteers: Thanks in part to the resurgence of the Democratic party nationally, we had a flood of volunteers in Denton County in 2008. These volunteers did very important (mostly thankless) work for our County organization which enabled us to grow and put ourselves back on the political map. We also have a handful of volunteers who put in some very long hours--like Machelle, Kathie, Lin, Elinor, and many others. Thanks, volunteers!
There are so many people who contributed to the progress of the Denton County Democratic Party in 2008--the unsung supporters who donated money and other things; those who bought Obama and local candidate yard signs; those who allowed us to use their meeting rooms for our meetings (thanks Carol at the CH Community Center!); and many others.
A very, very big THANK YOU to everyone who supported our
Denton County Dems in any way in 2008!
Denton County Dems in any way in 2008!
