From the Desk of Anne M. Allen

President, Shore Democrats

•   WINTER GREETINGS     

from Anne M. Allen

President, Shore Democrats

            Everyone get ready!  Election year is finally here after so many months (years?) of build-up.  And the election itself is still ten months away!  The Democrats have impressive candidates with Bernie and Hillary and also with Martin O’Malley.  The Republicans on the other hand…….

            2016 promises to be a busy year, on a national level, as well as state-wide and county-wide.  It’s imperative that all of us are as well-informed as possible and that we do all we can to encourage our friends, neighbors, co-workers, and anyone else to get out and vote on Tuesday, November 8, 2016.  It certainly has been shown in Sussex County that Democrats who stay home on Election Day elect Republicans. Republicans get to the polls; Democrats have to do the same…and we have to vote the whole ticket from the top office down to the last office listed.  Electing good Democrats to the local offices is the only way that we’ll get more representative government in our local community and all of Sussex County.   

Democratic candidates who have already filed with the Delaware Department of Elections for the September 13th primary are:

Congressional Seat:

                        Bryan Townsend

                        Bryon Short

                        Sean Barney

                        Lisa Blunt Rochester

Governor:

John Carney                                      

Lieutenant Governor:

Greg Fuller                                         

Brad Eaby                              

Kathy McGuinness                            

Ciro Poppiti

Sherry Dorsey Walker

Bethany Hall-Long

Insurance Commissioner:

             Karen Weldin Stewart

              Trinidad Navarro

               Paul Gallagher, Jr.

Those who have filed for the general election on November 8 are:

                        State District 14, Rehoboth Area

     Pete Schwartzkopf, Speaker of the House

                        County Council District 3,  Lewes/Milton Area                                  

     Leslie Ledogar                        

Additional candidates will be filing in the coming months. Check the Delaware Department of Elections website for further information: http://elections.delaware.gov/services/candidate/candidate_list.shtml

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UPCOMING EVENTS

       Important dates on the election-year calendar are listed below:

                                     May 28 – Deadline to change party for Delaware Primary Election

                                    July 12, Noon – Deadline to file for office

                                    July 15 – Deadline to withdraw for office

                                    August 20 – Last day to register for Primary Election

                                    September 13 – Delaware Primary Election

                                    October 15 – Last day to register for General Election

                                    November 8 – General Election

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       Next Shore Democrats Meeting  

                                May 28: Picnic in the Park

                                               with the 38th District Democratic Committee

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 Please check www.shoredemocrats.com, and our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/pages/Shore-Democrats for other information.

There is still a vacancy on the Shore Democrats Executive Committee.  If you’d like to get more involved in your community’s political environment, meet some great people, and have lots of fun while doing it, please contact me for more information.  The Shore Democrats is a social organization aimed at informing and educating its members, while at the same time promoting the candidacy and election of Democratic candidates for office.  My email address is:   anne.allen139@gmail.com.

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2015 ACTIVITIES  

After taking on the presidency of the Shore Democrats in 2015 and giving some thought to what I wanted to accomplish in that role, I decided that one of the most important things I wanted to do was bring the importance of what happens locally home to the those who attend our meetings and access our online presence. This will help them understand and have a better appreciation of how their vote– or lack of vote, considering the low turn-out in 2014–affects the life they’re living here in our beautiful piece of Sussex County.  My involvement in the political world is recent, perhaps the last eight years or so, and I’ve had to go through this educational process myself, and I continue to do so.

With that in mind and with the agreement of the executive committee, plans were launched for the first few meetings of the Shore Democrats. Our meetings in 2015 included:

• March: County Councilmen George Cole (District 4) and Rob Arlett (District 5) discussed the role that County Council plays and the responsibilities it has regarding the rapid and seemingly unrestrained growth in Sussex County, particularly eastern Sussex.
• April: Bob Wheatley, chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission for Sussex County, and Rodney Smith, P&Z commissioner for the Bethany Beach area, built on what Councilmen Cole and Arlett spoke about in March, explaining land-use ordinances, change of zoning requests, and other issues related to development in Sussex County.
• May: Delaware State Senator Bryan Townsend, 11th District, spoke about legislation that he sponsored, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 6, calling for a Constitutional Convention to reverse the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, to eliminate unlimited amounts of money being spent for or against candidates in political campaigns.
• June: There was no meeting so that everyone could attend the Picnic in the Park, which was held on May 31at John West Park in Ocean View.
• July: Kelly Valencik, from DNREC and the Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve, presented findings from studies conducted on sea-level rise in the coastal area of Delaware from Broadkill Beach south to Fenwick Island and projections for three different scenarios.

My email address is anne.allen139@gmail.com.

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January 2015 Letter from the President

Welcome to 2015! A new year, a new Congress, but, so far, the same old politics.

As the new president of the Shore Democrats, I welcome all members, new and old. I look forward to meeting you at a future event and encourage you to get involved. I also encourage anyone who is interested in the Democratic Party or its platform to join the Shore Democrats. Membership is open to anyone 18 or older, and there are no residency requirements, although the majority of members live in the Bethany, Fenwick, Selbyville, and Dagsboro area.

Thank you to Cheryl Fruchtman, outgoing president of the Shore Democrats. Cheryl’s leadership of the Shore Democrats for the last two years and her life-long dedication to the ideals and standards of the Democratic Party serve as models for all of us; they certainly will for me as I take on the presidency of the Shore Democrats.

Since my name may be new to some of you, a little personal background may be in order: I’ve lived full-time in Bethany Beach since 2003 and, prior to that lived in both Wilmington and Newark, although I’m originally from Baltimore. My professional career was in healthcare administration, primarily in Delaware but also Philadelphia. I started at a hospital in Wilmington, followed by several years at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware, then a physician practice management company in Philadelphia, and lastly at the Medical Society of Delaware, where I worked with member physicians throughout the state and also with a joint program with the State of Delaware to treat the uninsured and underinsured residents of Delaware.

As president of the Shore Democrats, I hope to bring to our members informative and relevant programs that generate lively and robust discussion, further expand our community outreach and involvement, and work towards electing Democrats to local, county, state, and national offices.

As the executive committee of the Shore Democrats plans programs for the coming year, we will make every effort to provide pertinent and interesting topics and speakers for the monthly meetings. National issues such as immigration, the minimum wage, and climate change, to name only a few, are concerns shared by those of us living in Sussex County. Several members of the Shore Democrats are working with children who have come to our area from Central America, helping them learn English. Many of the jobs that are available in Sussex County are only part-time and low-wage. And sea-level rise is confronting and affecting every resident of the county, particularly those in eastern Sussex. Other, more local issues, such as land development and wastewater management, will continue to be important as more and more people move into the area, impacting fragile and oftentimes inadequate resources. We all need to stay informed and involved. Suggestions for meeting topics are welcome at any time.

The Shore Democrats welcomes new members and new ideas, so, please join us at one of our monthly luncheon meetings. To receive notices of upcoming meetings, please send an email to shoredemocrats@aol.com.

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