Bexar
County Democratic Women
tdw.org/BexarCounty
Texas Democratic Women (tdw.org)
Bexar County Democratic Party
(bexardemocrats.org)
Texas Democratic Party
(txdemocrats.org)
Newsletter, March 2008
Next Meeting
Monday, April 7, 2008, 6-8PM
Westfall Library, 6111 Rosedale Court in San Antonio
We will recap the TDW State Convention and recognize the BCDW Stars. We will also discuss a much needed revision to our bylaws, to be voted on at the May meeting. A copy of the revised bylaws is included with this newsletter.
After we vote on the bylaws at the May meeting, we will elect new chapter officers. The Nominating Committee has proposed the following people:
President – Ruth Stewart, Vice President – Erma Clack, Secretary – Barbara Moschner, Treasurer – Dick Waits
*****************************************************
Senatorial District Conventions
will be held March 29th, 2008
Information
on the Bexar County Senatorial District Conventions can be found on the Bexar
County Democratic Party website (www.bexardemocrats.org).
There
are four senatorial districts in Bexar County:
19, 21, 25, and 26. These senate
districts cover several counties, and each county will hold its own convention
to select its share of the district’s delegates for the state convention. Maps of each of the districts can be found at
www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/Info.aspx?rpts=maps, and you can
find the maps for the Bexar County portions of each senatorial district at www.bexar.org/elections/Electeds/electeds.html. Rules for holding County and Senatorial
District Conventions can be found on the Texas Democratic Party website at www.txdemocrats.org/the_party/article_iv_party_conventions.
The
temporary chairs of each of the senatorial district conventions are:
·
SD19
– Nick Pena (Precinct 1051, 210-922-1119, 210-367-3883 Cell)
·
SD21
– Bryan Gerard (Precinct 4053, 210-590-7030, bryangerard@hotmail.com)
·
SD25
– Ian Straus (Precinct 4098, 210-362-2376 or 210-637-7063, istraus@texas.net)
·
SD26
– Angie Garcia (Precinct 2046, 210-732-1165, masota_lender@hotmail.com)
The
SD19 convention will be held at the Lila Cockrell Theater, 200 E Market St
Martin Alverez & Company, 401 Pearl Parkway in San Antonio. The SD21 and SD25 conventions will be held at
the Municipal Auditorium, 100 Auditorium Circle in San Antonio. The SD26
convention will be held at the Alamo Convocation Center, 110 Tuleta Drive in
San Antonio. The conventions will
briefly convene at 8:30AM, then recess until 2:00PM. Delegate sign in is from 8:30AM to 2:00PM. The conventions will reconvene at 2:00PM
TDW State Convention
The TDW State Convention was held in Austin February 29th-March 1st. Volunteers from Bexar County Democratic Women (Linda Allen, Peg MacPhail, Ruth Stewart, and Daisy Cavallaro) did the convention registration and check-in.
We elected new officers at the business meeting Saturday morning. They are: President-Elect Susie Blackmon, Vice President Joanna Reagan, Secretary Rosie Mimms, Treasurer Barbara Cline, and three Board Members: Kathryn Mossom, Sharon Davis, and Tammi Hartgroves. Former President-Elect Gloria Caceres was sworn in as President.
The Star Luncheon on Saturday, March 1st honored chapter members, including the following members from BCDW: Linda Allen, Frances Carnot, Madeleine Dewar, Barbara Moschner, and Ruth Stewart. Certificates of Achievement were also presented to BCDW member Linda Allen, for maintaining the TDW website, and TDW of Ellis County member Kathryn Mossom, for editing and publishing the TDW newsletter.
The
Awards Dinner Saturday night honored the following people:
·
TDW
Outstanding Member of the Year – Ken and Wilma Allen. Wilma is the outgoing TDW Treasurer.
·
TDW
Dr. Mae Jackson Award Outstanding Woman Elected Official – Karen Matkin,
District Clerk of McLennan County
·
Oscar
Mauzy Humanitarian Award – Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie
·
TDW
Lifetime Achievement Award – JoAnn Jenkins
·
Millie
Bruner Award – Rachel Aguilar
Due are paid on a
calendar year basis and are due by January 1st. Please check your mail label to see if
your dues are current or if you need to renew. There is a form on the back page of this
newsletter that should be filled out and mailed in with your renewal check. Please consider renewing now for 2008. Also, please consider making an extra
donation to BCDW to help with printing and mailing the newsletter.
Congratulations to Our Democratic Candidates!
Congratulations to BCDW member Carla Vela, who was reelected as Bexar County Democratic Party Chair. Also, congratulations to our new and returning precinct chairs. The following precinct chairs won contested races:
|
1009
– Kathrerine Thompson-Garcia |
1049
– Mary Ann Alaniz |
2029
– Grace Ybarra Solano |
|
2039
– Elizabeth H. Ortiz |
2041
– Barbara Bustos |
2045
– Celina Peña |
|
2054
– Laura L. Silva |
2057
– Fred Anthony Garza |
2060
– Mary Ann David Ruiz Quiroga |
|
2142
– Cassandra Peña |
3029
– Richard A. Peña |
3030
– George Windrow |
|
3070
– Leticia Gonzalez |
3083
– John Courage |
3111
– Celina Bustamante Emery |
|
3112
– Louis Gene Sanchez |
3116
– Rose Marie Parra |
3125
– Brian D. Yokum |
|
4019
– Alice Ann Martinez |
4070
– Marge Reyna |
4155
– Robert Morales |
|
4157
– Ralph Galvan |
|
|
Democratic candidates for the November 4th general election are listed below. Not all races have been determined yet. Those marked with an asterisk (except for the race for presidential candidate) will be determined by a primary run-off election to be held on April 8th (early voting is March 31st thru April 4th).
|
Office Sought |
Candidate |
|
|
President |
Barack
Obama |
|
|
Hillary
Clinton |
||
|
US Senate |
Richard
J. (Rick) Noriega |
|
|
U.S. Congress,
District 20 |
Charles
A. Gonzalez |
|
|
U.S. Congress,
District 23 |
Ciro
Rodriguez |
|
|
U.S. Congress,
District 28 |
Henry
Cuellar |
|
|
*Railroad Commissioner |
Dale
Henry |
|
|
Mark
Thompson |
||
|
Chief Justice,
Supreme Court |
Jim
Jordan |
|
|
TX Supreme
Court, Place 7 |
Sam
Houston |
|
|
TX Supreme
Court, Place 8 |
Linda
Reyna Yanez |
|
|
Judge, Court of
Criminal Appeals Place 3 |
Susan
Strawn |
|
|
Judge, Court of
Criminal Appeals Place 4 |
J.R.
Molina |
|
|
Texas Senate,
21st District |
Judith
Zaffirini |
|
|
Texas Senate,
26th District |
Leticia
Van de Putte |
|
|
Texas House,
116th District |
Trey
Martinez Fischer |
|
|
Texas House,
117th District |
David
McQuade Leibowitz |
|
|
Texas House,
118th District |
Joe
Farias |
|
|
Texas House,
119th District |
Roland
Gutierrez |
|
|
Texas House,
120th District |
Ruth
Jones McClendon |
|
|
Texas House,
122nd District |
Frances
Carnot |
|
|
Texas House,
123rd District |
Mike
Villarreal |
|
|
Texas House, 124th
District |
José
Menendez |
|
|
Texas House,
125th District |
Joaquin
Castro |
|
|
Chief Justice,
4th Court of Appeals |
Catherine
Stone |
|
|
District Judge,
37th District |
Amber
Liddell Alwais |
|
|
District Judge,
57th District |
Lauro
A. Bustamante, Jr. |
|
|
District Judge,
73rd District |
Andy
Mireles |
|
|
District Judge,
131st District |
John
Gabriel |
|
|
District Judge,
166th District |
Martha
Tanner |
|
|
District Judge,
175th District |
Mary
Ramon |
|
|
District Judge,
379th District |
Ron
Rangel |
|
|
District Judge,
407th District |
Karen
Pozza |
|
|
District Judge,
408th District |
Larry
Noll |
|
|
*Sheriff |
Amadeo
Ortiz |
|
|
Andy
Lopez |
||
|
Tax
Assessor-Collector |
Sylvia
S. Romo |
|
|
County
Commissioner, Pct. 1 |
Sergio
“Chico” Rodriguez |
|
|
County
Commissioner, Pct. 3 |
Chip
Haass |
|
|
*Justice of the Peace, Pct. 1 |
Monica
Lisa Caballero |
|
|
Tomas
Uresti |
||
|
Justice of the
Peace, Pct. 2 |
Steve
Walker |
|
|
Constable, Pct.
1 |
Ruben
C. Tejeda |
|
|
Constable, Pct.
2 |
Val
Flores |
|
|
Constable, Pct.
3 |
Edward
(Ed) Coleman |
|
|
Constable, Pct.
4 |
Robert
“Mike” Blount |
BYLAWS
Bexar County Democratic
Women
Adopted:
ARTICLE I – NAME AND PRINCIPAL OFFICE
Section1. Name. The organization shall be known as Bexar
County Democratic Women (BCDW). It shall be affiliated with the state
organization known as Texas Democratic Women (TDW).
Section 2. Principal
Office. The principal office of
BCDW shall be in San Antonio, Texas, or at such other place as determined by
the Executive Board.
ARTICLE
II – PURPOSE AND POLICIES
Section 1. Purpose. The purpose of BCDW is to
promote increased representation of women in party organizations, government
institutions, and elected positions.
Section 2. Policies.
a) BCDW shall not endorse one Democrat in
opposition to another Democrat.
b) BCDW may affiliate with national democratic
women’s organizations with Executive Board approval.
c) BCDW will provide training and other support
for Democratic women working in party organizations, campaigns, or seeking
party or public office.
d) BCDW will promote legislative, executive, and
judicial policies that enhance equitable representation of women in party
organizations and government affairs.
ARTICLE
III -- MEMBERSHIP
Section 1. Eligibility. Any Democrat who supports Article II, Purpose
and Policies, of BCDW’s bylaws is eligible to join BCDW.
Section 2. Membership
Status. A BCDW member shall be
an individual whose dues are current.
ARTICLE
IV -- DUES
Section 1. Amount. Dues will be set by a vote of the general
membership. A portion of the dues will be collected for TDW in accordance
with TDW bylaws.
Section 2. Date
Payable. Membership dues are
payable at the beginning of the calendar year (January 1st).
ARTICLE
V-OFFICERS
Section 1. Enumeration
of Officers. The officers shall be
President, First Vice-President, Second
Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer.
Section 2. Terms of
Office. A term of office shall
be for two years or until the successor is elected. The President, the Second Vice-President, and
the Secretary shall be elected in even number years. The First Vice-President and the Treasurer
shall be elected in odd number years. Terms
of office begin the day after the election.
Section 3. The
President. President shall:
a)
preside at all meetings;
b)
represent BCDW or designate an alternate;
c)
appoint committee chairs for the Bylaws and Audit Committees, and for other
committees as needed, with the approval of the Executive Board;
d)
serve as ex officio member on all committees, except the Elections
Committee and the Audit Committee;
e) set meeting dates and prepare the agenda for each in consultation with the
Executive Board; and
f)
appoint a Parliamentarian to serve at all meetings.
Section 4. The Vice-Presidents. The two Vice-Presidents, in order of their rank, shall perform the duties
of the President in the event of absence, disability, resignation, or death of
the President, and shall perform other duties assigned by the President or the
Executive Board.
a)
The First Vice-President shall, in conjunction with the
Executive Board, be responsible for development of programs.
b) The Second Vice-President shall, in
conjunction with the Executive Board, promote membership and develop membership
initiatives.
Section 5. The
Secretary. The
Secretary shall:
a)
be responsible for preparing and distributing the minutes of the Executive
Board meetings and membership meetings;
b)
maintain a record of attendance of the Executive Board members at Executive
Board meetings;
c)
prepare BCDW’s correspondence as directed by the President and the Executive
Board;
d)
send out notices to the Executive Board as directed by the President and
the Executive Board;
e) send out newsletters to the general
membership as directed by the President and the Executive Board;
f)
maintain copies of all records, minutes, reports, and resolutions for official
records;
g)
perform such other duties applicable to the office as contained in these
bylaws, or as prescribed by the parliamentary authority adopted in Article XIV.
Section 6. The
Treasurer. The Treasurer shall:
a)
be the custodian of funds in bank accounts and pay all bills upon authorization
of the President or the Executive Board (The names of the President,
Vice-Presidents, and Treasurer shall be on file with the bank. The
President or Treasurer will sign all checks. In the event the President is
unavailable, the First Vice-President is empowered to sign.);
b)
submit a written financial report of BCDW and account for all funds received
and disbursed at each Executive Board meeting;
c)
maintain a current roster of members for distribution as directed by the
President or the Executive Board and provide complete membership information as
needed;
d)
maintain an itemized record of all receipts and expenditures;
e)
present a budget to the Board in a fourth quarter meeting to be approved at a
general membership meeting;
f)
present a financial statement at a fourth quarter meeting of the general
membership to be filed for audit;
g)
perform such other duties applicable to the office as contained in these
bylaws, or as prescribed by the parliamentary authority adopted in Article XI.
Section 7. Records of
Officers. At the end of a term of
office, all officers shall deliver all BCDW records to their successor within
30 days.
ARTICLE
VI -- EXECUTIVE BOARD
Section 1. Members. The Executive Board shall consist of six
members: the five Officers and the immediate past president of BCDW.
Section 2. Purpose. The Executive Board shall recommend policy
for BCDW, determine its programs and fundraising activities, and take all
actions authorized or required by these bylaws.
Section 3. Voting. No member shall have more than one (1) vote
and no voting by proxy shall be allowed.
ARTICLE
VII--NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS
Section 1. Elections. Elections of officers and of the Chair elect
for the Elections Committee are held at the first general membership meeting of
the second quarter, or as soon thereafter as practical, and are conducted
by the Elections Committee. The
Elections Committee will meet prior to this meeting to prepare a slate of
candidates for office. The membership will be asked to suggest names to
the Elections Committee at least two months
prior to the election. The slate of
nominees will be distributed by mail to the membership at least one month prior
to the election.
Section 2. Voting
Eligibility. Only members who
are in good standing for sixty or more days prior to the election shall be
permitted to vote. There shall be no proxy voting.
Section 3. Officer
Eligibility. Only members who are in good standing for six months or more
prior to the election shall be eligible for nomination as an officer.
Section 4. Floor
Nominations. At the meeting to elect
new officers, nominations may be made from the floor provided the candidate
gives consent and the candidate meets the criteria set forth above in Section 3.
Section 5. Unexpired
Terms. A
person who fills an unexpired term greater than six (6) months shall be
considered to have served a full term of office in determining eligibility for
re-election.
Section 6. Runoff
Elections. In an election with two (2)
candidates on the ballot, the candidate with the simple majority shall be
elected. In an election with three (3) or more candidates, the candidate
with fifty-one percent (51%) of the votes shall be elected. If none of the
candidates receives fifty-one percent (51%) of the vote, an immediate runoff
election shall be held between the two candidates who receive the most votes.
Section 7. Vacancies.
Vacancies in offices and
Executive Board positions shall be filled for the remainder of the term by a
majority vote of the remaining members of
the Executive Board at the next Executive Board meeting after the vacancy
arises, or as soon thereafter as practical. The general membership will be
asked to confirm the appointment at the next general membership meeting.
Section 8. Removal
From Office. In the event of an
officer’s non-performance of duties, as set forth in these ByLaws, the
Executive Board may, by majority vote, recommend the replacement of that
officer. The recommendation shall be
voted upon by the general membership at the next general membership meeting.
ARTICLE
VIII--MEETINGS
Section 1. Executive
Board. The Executive Board
shall meet quarterly at a date and time determined by the Executive Board. The
President may call special meetings as needed with advance notice. Members
of the Executive Board may participate in meetings by telephone. A quorum shall
consist of a simple majority (one-half plus one) of the members
present. The Secretary shall determine and the President shall verify that
a quorum is present. Members participating in the meeting by telephone
shall be counted in determining if a quorum is present.
Section 2. Membership
Meetings. General membership meetings will be held monthly at a place and
time determined by the Executive Board. Notices of the meetings will be
provided to the membership. A simple majority of members present will
constitute a quorum.
ARTICLE
IX--COMMITTEES
Section 1. Committees. The committees for BCDW shall be Bylaws,
Elections, and Audit. Special committees
may be established by the Executive Board as needed.
Section 2. Committee Chairs. The
committee chairs, with the exception of the Elections Committee chair, shall be
appointed by the President with approval of the Executive Board at the first
quarterly Executive Board meeting.
The chair of the Elections Committee shall be elected by the general
membership at a membership meeting during the first quarter of the year. Chairs shall submit a written plan of
action with proposed budget requests as directed by the Executive Board. A
written report of the committee’s accomplishments will be submitted to the Executive
Board at the last Executive Board meeting of the year.
Section 3. Committee
Functions. The functions of the
committees are as follows:
a) The Bylaws Committee shall
review BCDW’s bylaws and policies as directed by the Executive Board and make
recommendations to the Executive Board when necessary.
b)
The Elections Committee shall present a slate of nominees for officers
and Election Committee Chair for election and shall conduct the election of
BCDW officers and Election Committee Chair and vacancies as provided in Article
VII.
c)
The Audit Committee shall audit the financial records of BCDW annually.
Section 4. Committee Membership. Each committee shall consist of a Chair and
two (2) or more members. Committee members are appointed for one-year
terms and may be reappointed. No person shall serve more than three (3)
consecutive years on the same committee.
ARTICLE
X--FINANCES
Section 1. Fiscal
Year. The
fiscal year shall begin January 1st.
Section 2. Financial
Statement and Report. The
financial statement and financial reports and the budget shall be presented to
the membership at the first general membership meeting of the first quarter, or
as soon thereafter as possible.
ARTICLE
XI--PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY
The rules contained in the
current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised, shall govern
BCDW in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not
inconsistent with these bylaws.
ARTICLE
XII--DISSOLUTION
Should BCDW be dissolved by app