Stoughton Democratic Town Committee
Stoughton, Massachusetts


Who We Are

Our Goals

Meetings

Our Committee

Political Contacts

Calendar of Events

Contact Us


Welcome to the
Stoughton Democratic Town Committee
Web Site!

What Is The Stoughton Democratic Town Committee?

The Stoughton Democratic Town Committee (S.D.T.C.) is established under the authority of the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Charter of the Democratic Party of Massachusetts.  Under this authority, the Stoughton Democratic Town Committee is charged with furthering the ideals and aims of the Democratic Party locally, in Massachusetts and nationally.

Our Platform, as approved at the 2011 convention, may be viewed at Massachusetts Democratic Party Platform.

The Goals of the Stoughton Democratic Town Committee are:

  1. to enhance the democratic process by engaging more people in political activities;
  2. to bring issues of social, economic and political importance to public awareness;
  3. to work through the electoral process to get Democratic candidates elected to public office in county, state and national positions.

Meetings

When you join the Stoughton Democratic Town Committee, you become an active part of the local voice of the Democratic Party. Instead of watching events unfold, you become a part of the team that makes events take place. These events affect your life and the lives of people around you. Our monthly meetings (except during summer) feature well-known and fascinating guest speakers from the world of government and politics. You will learn about the latest developments on Beacon Hill, how to get involved in campaigns, how the best campaigns are run (and won) and more. You will have the opportunity to discuss the most newsworthy and pressing issues of the day with acknowledged experts and outspoken leaders, close up, one-on-one. You will have a chance to make a real difference, be heard, work toward Democratic victories and even run for office yourself. If you are a Democrat, you probably believe in most of the things we do. You probably support the same positions and care about the same challenges.  So, why not take the next step, do something about your concerns and apply for Associate Membership in the Stoughton Democratic Town Committee today?

Composition of the Committee

The Stoughton Democratic Town Committee is the local branch of the Democratic Party. Our members are elected every four years (during the Presidential Primary Election). We, also, have a number of Associate Members, who enjoy most of the rights and responsibilities of regular Elected Members, as well as Lifetime Members (who have served for at least 20 years as regular Elected Members). Vacancies in the Elected Member body are filled by nomination and vote of the Elected Members and are selected from the current Associate Members. The Committee conducts activities such as the endorsement of enrolled Democratic candidates in partisan and nonpartisan primaries, preliminaries and elections, financial support of the State Committee and Democratic nominees, adoption of resolutions and platforms, fundraising for political purposes, voter registration campaigns, caucuses for endorsing candidates, adopting resolutions or conducting other Party business. In compliance with the rules of the Massachusetts Democratic Party and to reflect the diverse make-up of Stoughton, we actively recruit minority, female, gay, lesbian, young and disabled Democrats to join us. Any Democrat in Stoughton is eligible to join.  All of our meetings are held in handicapped accessible locations.

Registered Democrats and those who are unenrolled ("independents") are invited to attend S.D.T.C. events.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The Executive Committee for the Stoughton Democratic Town Committee for 2011 to 2012 includes:

John Kavin, Co-Chair, 53-61 McCormick Terrace, Stoughton, MA  02072, (781) 344-6748, johnkavin@comcast.net

Donna Smith, Co-Chair, 282 Seaver Street, Stoughton, MA  02072, (781) 344-8741

Roberto Soto, Vice-Chair, 35 Rogers Drive, Stoughton,MA  02072, (781) 341-3238, rrsoto@verizon.net

Lester Davis, Treasurer, 557 Park Street, Stoughton, MA,  02072, (781) 341-9626

Linda Hickey, Secretary, 3 Manor Drive, Stoughton, MA  02072, (781) 344-9570, HickeyL@comcast.net

Steven Wilkinson, Web Site Manager, 145 Smith Avenue, Stoughton, MA  02072, (781) 341-0609, stvnwlknsn@hotmail.com


ADDITIONAL POLITICAL CONTACTS

To send an electronic mail message to the following individuals, click on their highlighted electronic mail address. If their name is highlighted, clicking it will connect you to their Home Page.


State Senator Brian Joyce, State House, Room 413A, Boston, MA  02133-1053, (617) 722-1643, Brian.A.Joyce@masenate.gov

State Representative Louis L. Kafka, State House, Room 185, Boston, MA  02133, (617) 722-2960, Louis.Kafka@mahouse.gov (Stoughton Precincts 2, 3, 4 and 6)

State Representative William C. Galvin, State House, Room 448, Boston, MA  02133, (617) 722-2582, William.Galvin@mahouse.gov (Stoughton Precincts 5, 7 and 8)

Governor Deval Patrick, State House, Room 280, Boston, MA  02133, (617) 725-4005 or (888) 870-7770 in state, GOffice@state.ma.us

Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray , State House, Room 280, Boston, MA  02133, (617) 725-4005 or (888) 870-7770 in state, GOffice@state.ma.us

Attorney General Martha Coakley, One Ashburton Place, Boston, MA  02108 -1518, (617) 727-2200, Attorney.general@ago.state.ma.us


President Barack Obama, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC  20500, (202) 456-1414, president@whitehouse.gov or http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

Senator John F. Kerry, 218 Russell Building, Second Floor, Washington, DC  20510, (202) 224-2742, john_kerry@kerry.senate.gov or http://kerry.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm

Senator Scott Brown, 359 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC  20510, (202) 224-4543, http://scottbrown.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contactme

Congressman Stephen Lynch, 2348 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC  20515, (202) 225-8273, stephen.lynch@mail.house.gov or http://lynch.house.gov/contact/


Massachusetts Democratic Party, 77 Summer Street, 10th Floor, Boston, MA  02110, (617) 939-0800, staff@massdems.org

National Democratic Party, 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, DC  20003, (202) 863-8000, http://www.democrats.org/page/s/contact

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Monthly Meeting

The Committee's next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 17th, at 6:30 p.m. e.d.s.t. at Stoughton Media Access Corporation, 421 Page Street, Suite 2 (telephone 781-341-1708, web site at http://www.stoughtontv.com/).  The building is Lappens Business Center, a gray, two story business strip mall, and the entrance is the second door from the right.  Pizza and salad with soda, coffee or tea will be available for $10 per person.  Our guest speaker will be Sarah Bradey, Policy Director of MassVote, to speak about voter suppression.  If you wish to attend for dinner and/or the meeting, contact Donna Smith via telephone to (781) 344-8741 or John Kavin via telephone to (781) 344-6748 or via electronic mail to johnkavin@usa.net before Monday, May 14th.

The Committee's Fundraiser Cookout is scheduled for Saturday, June 16th, at 12:30 p.m. e.d.s.t. at the home of Roberto Soto, 35 Rogers Drive.  Hot dogs, hamburgers and all the trimmings will be available for $20 per person.  If you wish to participate, contact Donna Smith via telephone to (781) 344-8741 or John Kavin via telephone to (781) 344-6748 or via electronic mail to johnkavin@usa.net or Roberto Soto via telephone to (781) 608-4238 or via electronic mail to rrsoto@verizon.net before Wednesday, June 13th.

Questions may be directed to Donna Smith via telephone to (781) 344-8741 or John Kavin via telephone to (781) 344-6748 or via electronic mail to johnkavin@usa.net.

Our Last Meeting

Our last meeting was held on Saturday, April 21st, at Ikea.  A full buffet breakfast was available for $11.00 including tax and tip.   The agenda included nomination and election of officers, planning for the coming year and discussion of what you would like the town committee to be doing (elections, outreach, voter registration, et cetera).  The minutes of the meeting are as follows:

27 people participated.  A buffet breakfast was available for $11.00 per person.   Presentations were made by Brian Clinton and PatMcCabe, candidates for Governor’s Council.  Both candidates are from Hyde Park, not lawyers and asking for votes in September’s primary election.  Clinton expressed his history as a strong Democrat.  McCabe promised an open, transparent process with his election.   The meeting was called to order.   Minutes from our last meeting were accepted.   There was no Treasurer’s Report as the treasurer was not present.   A note from Delores Staton was read and a photograph of her new home was circulated.   Thank you notes from Jackie Benson-Jones and Janice O’Neil were read.   It was noted that Allan Mills was back and looking healthy after his recent surgery.   Somehow, Joan Spicer fell off our roles. She was voted back in.   A list was circulated on which members could indicate their preference for receiving meeting notifications by mail, electronic mail or both.  Notification by electronic mail is encouraged to reduce postage costs.   Mike Horan volunteered to establish a Facebook page, coordinated with our web site, for the Town Committee.   Participants introduced themselves noting associations pertinent to the group.   Steve Fradkin presented the results of the Election Committee that included him, Dick Levine and Stan Zoll.   Nominations were for John Kavin and Donna Smith, Co-Chairpersons, Roberto Soto, Vice-Chairperson, Lester Davis, Treasurer, Linda Hickey, Secretary, and Beverly Harris, Affirmative Action and Outreach Officer.  No other nominations were made.  The nominations were moved, seconded and voted for without any negative votes.   We discussed ways to get our committee more politically involved.   These included:

  • 1. Allan Mills suggestion to establish a monthly television program on the Stoughton Media Access Corporation channel. This could include: a. public relations information; b. encouragement, particularly of those under 50 years old, to get out and vote; c. encouragement of local civic participation; d. promotion of government actions and services that benefit the community; e. presentation of movies that matter e.g. 45 minute "documentaries" about topics of concern with discussion; f. presentation of the activities of other committees in town; g. a re-creation of Steve Jerome's "Politically Speaking" program.   It was decided that Steve Wilkinson will chair a group with Allan Mills, Bob Mullen, Steve Fradkin and Mike Horan to establish a format for this show then present its proposal back to Town Committee for approval.  
  • 2. Sending birthday cards to our residents as they turn eighteen years old to encourage them to register to vote, invite them to Town Committee meetings and provide a coupon for a free meal as part of a meeting.  
  • 3. Re-print an article from a respected news source, such as The Huffington Post, as our Town Committee Article of the Week for submission to The Stoughton Journal and reference on the Town Committee web site.  
  • 4. Establish a weekly or semi-weekly column in The Stoughton Journal by one or more Town Committee members.  
  • 5. Run "Days of Action" as requested by the State Committee. This involves one person at a central site distributing literature and voter lists to participants who, then, go into the community, knock on doors, talk with voters and distribute the literature.  The current literature espouses Democrats' accomplishments.  The focus is on getting those who voted in 2008 to vote this year, particularly toward assuring the re-election of our president and the election of a Democrat as our United States senator.  Requested dates are April 28th or 29th or May 12th or 13th.  Dolores Cummings, Beverly Harris, Don O'Neil, Joan Spicer and Marylou Giordano volunteered for this group.  It was noted that training, to assure the safety of participants, is needed before action takes place.  Marylou Giordano agreed to be the central contact for a May 12th action.  
  • 6. Sharon Fradkin suggested and Mike Horan agreed to establish a YouTube page for the Committee.  
  • 7. Mike Horan agreed to establish a Twitter presence for the Committee.  
  • 8. Allan Mills and Steve Wilkinson discussed past efforts to establish a Young Democrats Club at the High School.  It was noted that the high school principal indicated a need for a teacher to express interest in running such a group for it to occur.  No such interest has yet been expressed.  
  • 9. Steve Fradkin suggested we have an electronic mail list of Democrats in town.  Steve Wilkinson agreed to pursue having this generated from Votebuilder.  
  • 10. John Kavin suggested we have lists of those who voted in recent elections, voted in 2008 but not in 2010 and SuperDemocrats broken into chunks that align with the geographical proximity of each Town Committee member.  Steve Wilkinson agreed to pursue having this generated from Votebuilder.  
    • The Committee's next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 17th, at 6:30 p.m. e.d.s.t. at Stoughton Media Access Corporation, 421 Page Street, Suite 2 (telephone 781-341-1708, web site at http://www.stoughtontv.com/).  Our guest speaker will be Cheryl Crawford, from Mass. Vote, to speak about voter suppression.  Respectfully submitted, Steven Wilkinson.

    Photographs, from past events, may be found at Stoughton Democratic Town Committee Webshots.

    Contact Us

    If you want to help with an event or by working on the Executive Committee, please give Donna Smith or John Kavin a call at (781) 344-8741 or (781) 344-6748 respectively.

    This page was last updated on May 8, 2012.