Coastal Bend Texas Democratic Woman

May 26, 2009

Retama Room, CC Central Library, 805 Comanche

 

Monthly Meeting Minutes

 

President Linda Figueroa called the meeting to order at 6:10 p.m.  She welcomed newcomers Karen Magee, Marie Carelles and Bianca Guajardo.  She recognized County Clerk Diana Barrera, County Attorney Laura Garza Jiminez.  Board and Committee Chairs attending were: Linda Figueroa, Lisa Hernandez, Ann Smith, Glenda Turner, Barbara Cline, Esther Martinez, Stacey Barrera, Coretta Graham and Gloria Caceres..

Members:  Gail Blanpied, Sylvia Cueva, Maria Colin, Patricia Frelix, Anna Eiseman, Naomi Linzer, Jim and Jeanne O'Leary, Geraldine Jones-Woods, Bea Molina, Joy Miller-Cavada, Flo Martinez, Emilie Olivares, Sharon Purcell, Rudy "Tejano" Pena, Katie Rodriguez, Rene Saenz, Sylvia Samaniego, Jesse Molina, Joan Veith, and Speaker Casey Scott. 

 

Minutes of the April 28, 2009 Meeting:  Copies of the April Minutes were handed out to newcomers.  The Minutes of each meeting are posted on the web site for members to review.  It was moved, seconded and passed that the April Minutes be accepted as posted at www.tdw.org/CoastalBend

 

Treasurer's Report:  Barbara Cline reported that Glenda Turner had been out of the city due to deaths in her family and moved that the Treasurer's Report be postponed until the next meeting.  The motion was seconded and passed.  (Glenda arrived later in the meeting and condolences were expressed to her in her recent loss.)

 

President Figueroa requested that the Committee Reports printed on the Agenda be delayed until after the presentation of the program.

 

Program - Domestic Violence and the Coastal Bend Women's Shelter Services - by Casey Scott, Community Educator. 

Casey Scott graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2007 with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and women’s studies.  She moved to Corpus Christi in the fall of 2007 and worked as a caseworker at Child Protective Services for a year before coming to work for the Women’s Shelter as the community educator in January of this year.  

 

Ms. Scott, in a Power Point presentation, gave a comprehensive overview of statistics in the Coastal Bend that included services provided to families in Alice, Beeville, Kingsville and Sinton as well as the city of Corpus Christi.  She emphasized that the services are free, stating that the Shelter has a capacity to house 65 occupants.  She said that 1 in 4 women face domestic violence and 1 in 5 sexual assault--a huge social problem in the area. When asked, Casey stated that it usually took 6 times of reported abuse for a woman to leave the relationship.   She provided handouts to attendees and invited CBTDW members to be volunteers; also that TDW could become a supporting member as there were 60 other area organizations that support the Women's Shelter.

 

 The presentation engendered a lively question and answer period.  Several in the audience work with other agencies and some of those attending had suffered from domestic violence.  Jesse Molina, a professional who works with drug and alcohol abuse problems in the community contributed other statistics to the discussion.  She pointed out that there are legislative bills pending now in Austin that support monitoring devices for the abusers.  The web site where one may get more information is www.thewomensshelter.org and the phone number is 361 881-8888 in Corpus Christi, other numbers in area cities as the Shelter here serves a wide area.  The 36 persons attending asked questions at the end of Casey's presentation; and a lively discussion ensued.

 

CBTDW Committee Reports

 

Membership - Chair Esther Martinez reported that the committee had met, printed and stamped and mailed out 92 letters to lapsed members.  She said that as of today's meeting, the local TDW has 150 members, and more memberships are coming in.  Pres. Figueroa thanked Esther and the members of her committee for their work. 

Communications - Chair Stacey Barrera gave an overview of the plans to provide better means for members of TDW to connect and communicate with each other via email, Facebook, and a Membership Directory in the works as well as the newsletter that we send to almost 300 mailouts a month.  She thanked Lisa Hernandez, Editor of the Coastal Bend Connection, our monthly newsletter who does a wonderful job of informing Democrats about the activities in the local area and around the state and nation.  Stacey asked that members send Lisa articles. 

Fund-Raising - Chair Coretta Graham reported on ideas for speakers for this fall's (October 22nd) upcoming Banquet and Capital Campaign.  She said that the Committee will meet on Wednesday, June 3rd at 5:30 p.m. at Pres. Figueroa's  office, 555 Carancahua, Ste 200.  Coretta said that she had run into several people in her meetings around the state and talked to them about our local group.

Education - Chair Gloria Caceres announced that the program for the June 30th TDW meeting is planned to be Velda Vela-Trujillo, counselor in leadership development, the July 28th will be Texas Legislative Report on the 2009 Session with Abel Herrero, Solomon Ortiz, Jr. and Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa as the speakers/reporters. August meeting speaker to be announced.

GOTV - Vice-President Hernandez presented a power point on proposed Get Out the Vote plan for 2010 that was exciting and challenging for local Democrats.

 

Old Business - Vice-President Lisa Hernandez presented Katie Rodriguez a signed thank you card for hostessing the Meet and Greet party held at the Rodriguez home on May 3rd for elected officials and TDW members.  The event was a success in that it was intended to set the stage for the next event for all Precinct Chairs in Nueces County to unify local Democrats.

 

Lisa announced that Katie Rodriguez has been accepted to serve on the City Advisory Sister City Campaign and congratulated her on this TDW effort to get more women on City and County boards and committees.  Other placements are pending for TDW women.

 

New Business - Letter to Boyd Richie, Texas Democratic Party Chair

President Figueroa reported that the CBTDW at their May 18th Executive Committee Meeting had decided to send a letter to the Texas Democratic Party Chair Boyd Richie requesting help with the needs of the local Nueces Democratic Party organization and leadership.  She read the letter to those attending.  Barbara Cline made the motion to send the letter to TX Chair Richie, to Dist 20 SDEC representatives John Bell and Rosalie Weisfeld and Nueces County elected officials.  The motion was seconded and after further discussion and suggestions, was passed unanimously.

 

Lisa Hernandez moved that CBTDW send a letter calling for a meeting of the Nueces County Executive Committee; copies to all precinct chairs. The motion was amended to read that this second letter would go out at the same time as the Boyd Richie letter.  It was seconded and after discussion, was passed unanimously. 

 

The meeting adjourned was adjourned at 7:55 p.m.

 

 Respectfully submitted,

Ann E. Smith, Secretary