Messages
from the Chairman
Hello
Fellow Democrats of Lee County,
 July 1, 2010
The August 24th Primary season is in full swing at our new 1st floor office suite in the Alliance for the Arts Campus, Edwards Building, Suite 104. The volunteers are hard at work contacting Democrats to make sure our voters get to the polls, or use Vote By Mail. We have so many great democratic candidates on the ballot this year. Our friend and neighbor Jim Roach is running to Sack Connie Mack, and both statewide and local races have many fine democrats to support. Local democrats worked very hard this past year collecting signatures to get Fair Districts on the ballot for the General Election. Be sure to Vote YES on Amendments 5 & 6 so that voters can choose their representatives rather than representatives choosing the constituency that best guarantees their re-election. So many great candidates and important issues on the ballot. Call 239-Lee-Vote to have your ballot sent to you wherever summer is taking you.
Will Prather,
Chair
Jan 13, 2010
As I watched the events unfold in Haiti, I was struck by the devastation that this Country has had to endure once again. While we have had our problems, there is no comparison to the problems the Citizens of Haiti have had to endure. Over the next several days as events continue to unfold, please remember to keep them in your prayers and thoughts. And please keep the Haitian Community in Lee County in your thoughts and prayers as they attempt to contact and learn the fate of their loved ones.
There will be many requests for help both locally and nationally. I urge that you give as much as you can. It is hard to believe, but even $1 will help to provide food and water for a day to a family in need. If I receive further information, I will forward it.
Will Prather,
Chair
Nov 4, 2009
I know yesterday's elections results, both here locally and nationally has us all a little disappointed. It was a tough political environment out there and I want to personally congratulate our candidates who ran great campaigns. And to those who got elected - congratulations and the hard work begins now!
We will be re-grouping and organizing over the next couple of months as we begin to lay the ground work for a strong 2010 campaign cycle. There looks to be a wide range of activities to get involved with, whether supporting local and statewide candidates, to ballot initiatives, and helping support the President's agenda.
I look forward to working with all of you and thanks for being a member and participating in the Lee County Democratic Party.
Rage On!
Willy P.
September 24, 2009
I hope this letter finds our members well. It seems like we are doing so much these days, and there is a lot more to do every day.
I was and am very pleased to announce that we have a new office location! On Tuesday, September 8, 2009 the Steering Committee voted unanimously to accept the move and to expend the additional monies required. Our new Headquarters will be at the Lee County Alliance for the Arts Campus, 10051McGregor Blvd., Edwards Building. This is the building right after the Alliance of the Arts main building.
We will have the same amount of space we now have (more efficiently arranged), plus an additional office and storage room. Our office on the first floor can serve as a reception area and phone bank/staging area and is accessible. We can hold meetings in that building and in the Theatre. We will be applying to the City for a sign permit to be erected on McGregor Blvd. which will increase our visibility. And, we will have more than enough parking spaces.
We will be increasing our expenses about $6,000 more a year. I am confident that given the success of all the fundraisers we have had this year (Cape Coral, Ft. Myers, Lehigh Acres and the DEC), our win with Obama (when we came closer than ever to turning Lee County Blue), and our increased visibility we will have no problems meeting this increased expenditure.
Some of you will be receiving a call from us to help with this move. We will need people to paint, maybe a little carpentry work, and to help Sharon pack up our current office and unpack in our new office. I hope that we can count on you to support in this effort. If you want to volunteer now, call the office at 939-2866.
We have scheduled our first event - an Open House/ Fundraiser - for Saturday, October 17th from 5:30 to 7:30. A small committee of volunteers has already stepped up to the plate, but we will need more assistance. I hope that you will heed the call to help with this great event. And I hope that all of you will attend. We will be getting an announcement out to you shortly.
This was not the only happening at our meeting. We also had the opportunity to congratulate Teresa Watkins-Brown on winning her Ft. Myers race. We heard from our other candidates - Levon Simms, Nyesha Wilson, Lydia Lowell-Sherman, Martha Simon, and Jim Burch. Jim did not have an opportunity to speak with us in August, so he took the time to talk about what has happened in Cape Coral over the last 2 years, and what he is facing in his battle. After our move, we will embark on a GOTV effort in Lee County to support all our candidates in Ft. Myers and Cape Coral, and to gear up to do the same thing for Councilwoman Simons in Bonita Springs. You will hear more on this later.
Ellis Robinson, Committeewoman for Lee County reported that the Fair Re-Districting Petition is almost over and we now have about 90,000 petitions. Thanks for all your hard work on this effort. The DEC will accept for mailing all petitions through October 15. The absolute, drop dead deadline is approaching quickly so please speed up your efforts and get these in to the office.
Ellis also reported that we did such a great job on the Fair Re-Districting Petitions Kendall Meek has asked for help gathering petitions for his run. He is looking for only 1,000 signed petitions which I know we can do. If you want copies, please call Sharon at the Office to make arrangements to pick them up.
We heard from our Clubs and Committees on what was happening in their arenas. Kate Duffy and Sharon Davies, Co-Chairs of the Outreach Committee laid out their plan to get more Democrats involved. The idea is to reach out and gently touch all the registered Democrats in Lee County and get information so we can keep them informed of what is going on, and to recruit them to be Precinct people, volunteers, donors, etc. Remember, for a list of events, you can go to our website: www.leecountydems.org
Finally, our next meeting is Tuesday, October 27 at 7 p.m. It will be our last meeting of the year. Please mark your calendars now so that you can attend. We will send out reminders between now and then. Also, Sandra McClinton and her Committee, Membership and Candidate Credentials, have volunteered to place a reminder call to all of you. Sometimes, things happen at the last minute and you are unable to attend, and that is very understandable. However, if you know at least 5 days in advance of the meeting, call or e-mail the office, and we will assist you in finding a proxy. We cannot conduct the official business of the Democratic Party if we do not meet quorum. The only way we can accomplish that is by your attendance or proxy.
We have done so much and we still have a lot to do. Next year will be even busier but I know that we can meet the challenges ahead of us. I look forward to seeing all at our upcoming events and our last meeting of the year.
Will Prather,
Chair
August 27, 2009
I am pleased to report that we had an outstanding General Meeting on Tuesday. We had close to 100 Democrats show up and we hope that many of our guests will return and become members. We had a lot of reports and the following is a just a brief outline.
The highlight of the evening was hearing from our Candidates for Fort Myers City Council seats. Martha Simons, our Bonita Springs Councilwoman, and Pete Burkert, who is running for Dave Aaronberg's seat, also spoke. (Our Cape Coral candidates-Jim Burch, who is running for Mayor and Chris Chulakis-Leeks, who is running for Council-had a previous commitment.) Some of our Fort Myers candidates are running against each other, and we will hear from the winners of those contests at one of our next scheduled meetings. This is especially gratifying because we are beginning to prove that you don't have to be a Republican to vote in a Primary.
I presented a list of our Committees and their members for vote. Others also wanted to be part of these Committees. We have many opportunities for volunteering and if you want to serve, e-mail or call the office and we will be glad to have you join us.
The Finance and Funding Committee reported that they are planning a fundraiser called "Cruise with the Candidates." We will be getting out more details in the coming days. The candidates will be able to pitch for support and the net proceeds will serve as a "fund" dedicated to financially assist our viable candidates. And they are working on a spring fundraiser which will be similar to the one we had this past March. Both of these events will require volunteers to pull them off and I hope that many of you will step up to the challenge.
The Candidate Recruitment and Appointments Committee outlined a draft guideline that the DEC will use to determine which candidates will receive financial support from us. The guidelines will include the review of the candidate's campaign plan and ability to raise funds among the criteria. We will have more information on this at our next meeting.
For the first time in recent memory, the Membership and Credentials Committee nominated 3 former DEC members for Emeritus status. They were Bob Geltner, Erini Bonou-Price, and Alice McBrayer. Each of these nominees was recognized for their long and distinguished service to the Democratic Party, and especially for their dedication to the Lee County DEC. These nominees were unanimously elected.
Our office crew reported that the Office has been cleaned up and we are now ready to staff it. Organizing for America (OFA) will also be sharing our quarters so there will be plenty to do. If you'd like to volunteer for this, or know of a Democrat who doesn't want to join the DEC but would like to be a part of the Democratic Party efforts, please e-mail or call us. We want the office open Monday - Friday from 1 to 4 p.m., but will also appreciate having the office staffed in the morning hours as well.
We also heard from Ashley Bauman who is our regional field director for Organizing for America. She updated us on the President's agenda and our efforts to pass healthcare reform. She is looking forward to working with us and we are all very thankful to have a full time staff member already on the ground and hard at work here in Southwest Florida.
And finally, we are looking for a better office location. We have outgrown our current facility and feel that now is the time to make this change. In the coming weeks the Officers will be reviewing potential spaces and recommend which one best suits our needs.
As you can see, we have been very busy and we are just getting started. This next 18 months will be very exciting as we focus on elections at every level and as we continue to grow. And after that we will be launching the re-election of President Obama. I hope that you will continue to join us as we move forward in our efforts to turn Lee County BLUE.
Sincerely,
Will Prather,
Chair
I'm truly humbled to have been elected Chairman and I promise to work as hard as possible to continue to grow the party and achieve the goals I've outlined in my candidacy.
I also want to sincerely thank Ray Troy for his terrific leadership over the
past couple of years. He's worked tirelessly and our party is in better
shape than ever due to his hard work and dedication to growing our
membership and encouraging candidates to run.
The work begins today and I'm looking forward to our first steering
committee meeting next week with our new leadership. Please stay tuned
for future announcements of meetings and events as we move forward with the
goals I've outlined in my candidacy. I can only accomplish them if I can
count on all of you to help.
Take care and THANK YOU again for your support!
Rage On!
"Willy P."
Will Prather, Chairman
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