Juanita's blog

Last night's candidate forum for the Democratic candidates in the 2010 primary was a roaring success.  Speaking to a packed house, our local candidates, along with a State Senate and Board of Education candidate, had an opportunity to Meet the Press.

We would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to Bev Carter of the Fort Bend Star and Bob Haenel of the Fort Bend Herald for their generous help in staging this forum.

Every candidate  was present with the exception of the incumbent county chair, Elaine Bishop and County Judge candidate Rodrigo Carreon.  Steve Brown, candidate for county chair, kicked off the forum with his detailed explanation of how he intends to fire-up the local Democratic party. 

Our monthly meeting will be on Saturday, February 20th, at the George Memorial Library, 1001 Golfview, in Richmond beginning at 10:00 and ending at 11:30.

We will talk about voter registration and supply you with all the paperwork for you to sign-up to be a voter registrar. We will even return the paperwork for you so all you have to do is wait for your certificate and materials to arrive in the mail.

We are also honored to have a special guest to kick off the campaign season in a fine Texas tradition of music and singing. Hank Woji, nominated for Texas Music Awards Singer / Songwriter of the year, will be at our meeting and join us for lunch afterward. Hank will honor Black History Month by singing his wonderful song, "I Still Have A Dream." You might want to bring the kids to hear this inspirational song by this talented artist.

      We will hold our regular monthly meeting on Saturday, January 16th, at the George Memorial Library in Richmond, 1001 Golfview Drive, starting at 10:30 until noon. 
     All candidates are invited to come speak to us about their campaigns.

Local Democratic Candidates

If a candidates does not have a website yet, the link is
to their email address.

State Senate, District 13 -- Rodney Ellis

State Senate, District 18 -- Pat Olney

State Board of Education, District 10 - Judy Jennings

State Representative, District 28 -- Wayne Raasch

State Rep, District 26 -- Phillip Andrews

State Rep, District  27 -- Dora Olivo (i) and Ron Reynolds

240th District Court -- Fredericka Allen

268th District Court -- Albert Hollan

County Judge --  Rodrigo Carreon and Dr. Phillip Aitsebaomo

County Court at Law 1 -- Milton Flick

County Court at Law 2 -- Harrison Gregg, Jr.

District Clerk -- Veronica Torres

County Clerk --  Korinthia Miller

County Treasurer -- K. P. George

County Commioner, Pct 2 -  Grady Prestage (i)

JP, Pct 1, Pl 2 -- R. J. Blue, Aurelia Moore, Marty Rocha,

JP, Pct 2 -- Tony Sherman and Joel Clouser (i)

County Chair -- Elaine Bishop (i) and Stephen Brown

     Our holiday party and precinct chair sign-up was a great success.  We had over 20 people sign up to be precinct chairs and many more expressed interest in learning more about the duties of a precinct chair.  Our Club was proud to provide free notary services for those wishing to file.

      At our last meeting, Fort Bend Democrats Club voted tomake a $100 donation to a local charity each month.  This month, we donated to Helping Hands.

     Here is Steve Brown, Secretary of Fort Bend Democrats Club presenting a check to Marisia Carrajola of Helping Hands.

     The need is great and we encourage individual members to donate to their local charity.  Helping Hands is still in need of toys.  You can contact them at 281-341-7536 to inquire about specific needs or just drop off your donation Monday through Thursday 10:00 - 4:00.

With the holiday season fast approaching, we have decided to postpone our November and December meetings and replace them with a holiday get-together.

Please join us for a dutch-treat lunch and fellowship on Saturday, December 12, at Berryhill's Baja Grill, 13703 Southwest Freeway, from 11:30 until 1:30. 
     We will have precinct chair applications there and a free notary to notarize your forms.  We'll even deliver them on time for you!

Please join us for fun, food, and fellowship.

     Our next scheduled meeting is Saturday, October 24th, at the George Memorial Library in Richmond. We will start at 10:30 a.m. and meet until noon.
     We encourage all people considering running for office in 2010 to attend this meeting.  We will have candidate application forms for all local offices and precinct chairs. 
     We will also discuss our next fundraiser and ask for help getting it organized.  We need your input to have a campaign plan for 2010!
     Those who have the time can join us for lunch and socializing following the meeting at Fort Bend Country Club.  Most lunches are under $10.

At our September meeting, it was suggested that the Club participate in calling residents of the county urging them to call our Rightwing Republican Congressman Pete Olson to urge him to support health insurance reform.

Instead, we went rogue.

We decided that calling Pete Olson was a waste of  words and time. We decided that our efforts would be better spent contacting the 14 Democratic Senators who are wavering on the promise of a public option.

And that is where the fun begins.  

We discovered that you cannot contact a United States Senator from another state.  Their email addresses are kept secret and and their websites allow only people in their states to contact them. Sending them snail mail takes months to get there.

We hatched a plan that eventually worked to let them know that we are holding them accountable as Democrats.

Meet our friend in Washington, DC, Barbara Heil and read her story of mystery, intrigue, hack-off and fun -----

If 75% of Americans want a public option included in health care reform and we cannot get it through Congress, then something is very wrong.

Passing halth care reform will take every Democrat in the Senate to stand up for Americans. We have come to expect Republicans to vote against the needs of Americans in favor of their corporate donors, but we are angry that some Democrats are wavering.  We have had a discussion about health care in America - it was called an election, and the people spoke very loudly.  For Democratic Senators to back away from public option is unacceptable.

Therefore, we have decided to take action.

At our September meeting, Fort Bend Democrats Club voted to send copies of President John F. Kennedy's book Profiles in Courage to the 14 Democratic Senators who are wavering on heath care.