Nice to hear about a new group of people getting involved with their party. One question, being a somewhat young person that is certainly interested in progressive causes, when and where is next month's meeting?

The Multnomah County Democrats meet the 2nd Thursday of each month (Oct 8th is next meeting)at the Hollywood Senior Center, 1820 NE 40th (just north of Sandy on 40th Ave). Social hour/sign-in starts at 6pm, meeting starts at 7pm. Check out the website or Facebook page for more info:

Website: www.multdems.org

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Multcodems

Good post Todd. FYI, here's what I told the people I recruited to become PCP's:

"Expectations of a PCP The minimum expectation of a PCP is that they canvass their neighborhood once each major election cycle to register people to vote and to encourage them to vote Democratic. Since there are often several PCP's per precinct, you should plan on canvassing about four hours or so on some Saturday as the next big election approaches in September or October of 2010. There are many other opportunities to get more involved, but that is the minimum I am asking of those I am recruiting to be PCP's."

They wanted to help me get the Senate appointment, but all were involved in some way in the Obama campaign, and were pleased to be asked to help continue the momentum.

I was also pleased to see new PCP's like Ms. Willie Mae Hart and Paul Knauls Jr., who've voted Democratic all their lives, opening their checkbooks to donate to the Mult. Dems and become Pillars of the Party.

And in fairness to one of my opponents and me, we've both been PCP's in the past, and in my case I just inadventently let it lapse. Last year was a little hectic with a new-born daughter and may role as Assistant Majority Leader on the House Leadership team during the campaign cycle.

But again, thanks for a very good post Todd.

Thanks, TA, for posting, and for your ongoing work for the party - and to all the party faithful who've dedicated their time to make Multnomah County a sea of blue.

If you want us to keep coming back, hear this: make meetings valuable. Various County party meetings are notorious for being full of people pushing parliamentary arguments or positioning themselves as the most progressive, instead of strategizing about how to create meaningful change and making it happen.

Last night's meeting, while not the worst example I've ever seen, was case in point.

Tighten the ship, hold the rudder firmly, and you'll have a lot of sailors. Let it spin around, and we'll find better things to do with our Thursdays.

Thank you Chip, for the shout-out about Pillars of the Party---the $10 monthly donation that keeps the County Party running.

FYI, folks, you don't have to be a PCP to be a Pillar of the Party, so check it out. You can even designate that your donation be used for particular things, like rent on the new office or for Community Action, etc.

My only criticism is parking sucks at the new headquarters and I didn't see any handicapped spaces. I was shocked to discover the new party headquarters was basically a residential house and didn't allow for adequate access for handicapped. Please keep that in mind in the future and correct the issue especially when we are so in want of healthcare reform.

Dear One Among.....

As a former party activist (older than TA), I want to respond to ". Various County party meetings are notorious for being full of people pushing parliamentary arguments".

First of all, you are right that sometimes things get out of hand when people go off course to make themselves look better than anyone else. That is why there is a group of people in this state who got involved in party politics, worked on various party projects, accomplished their objectives to the extent possible, and then at some point moved on to something else. Those objectives ranged from general ideas like changing the direction of the party from "we've always done it that way" in the direction of new ideas and open minded attitude towards those Democrats who think differently, to specifics like rewriting delegate selection rules at the state level, to debating legislation or local issues, in some cases to changing the leadership of the local party, where meetings are held, etc. Party politics is small d democratic in all the messiness that brings to mind.

But you need to be aware that "pushing parliamentary arguments" is what maintains order. I went to one party meeting some decades ago when people almost came to blows--a pressure group (most of them had never been to a party meeting before and never came again) showed up demanding the party pass a resolution. Former chair got up and very quietly moved to amend: said things like "I propose changing the last line of the 3rd paragraph to.... and changing the punctuation in the last line of the 1st paragraph from a comma to a period" --that sort of thing. His move was accepted What he had done was rewrite the resolution so it was more evenhanded and most people could vote for it. Many such organizations require amendments to be put in writing for the secretary so that there can be no oonfusion about the wording.

It may sound trite that in an argument someone says, "the previous speaker was a total idiot and I ask the chair that...."

But I once lived through the alternative. We had a county chair (one term, ended up even alienating former allies) who dearly wanted to pass a resolution, whether there was a quorum present, whether most of the people in the room supported it, or what. So how dare someone who was not only a pct. person but a member of the State Central Comm. from our county stand up and ask for a quorum!?!

People agreeing with the chair insulted the person asking for the quorum call directly, even one saying "In my union, we never have a quorum call!". And the chair never ruled them out of order--probably liked what they were doing. There has been a big debate over the years whether one must be a union member to be a Democrat---some of the best people I ever met were active in unions, but also some of the greatest bullies I ever met.

It is such nonsense which drives people out of politics, just as surely as a Congressman yelling YOU LIE at a presidential speech got landed on like a ton of bricks even by his own leadership.

Protocol exists for a reason. Learn to use it and you will be very successful in politics at any level.

Amen LT! While it's true that sometimes the Parliamentary rules can seem like a pain, using simple procedures like following Robert's Rules of Order, and having clear bylaws and standing rules makes it easier for the Chair or whoever is moderating to maintain order. Over here in Washington County we have had many spirited debates but our Chair(s) and Parliamentarian always seem to pull the discussion back from the brink of chaos. Having a microphone helps too, to be heard above the "discussion" when needed. Getting back to the original topic, we have had several conventions to select potential appointees to the County Commission, and there is always a slew of PCP applicants at the Central Committee meeting the month before. We try to impress on these new PCPs that besides choosing their new Senator or Rep, they can make a difference in the long run. We have gained several good members who stuck around or returned the next month, usually after getting a friendly phone call from House District Leaders or other officers in the Party: "Remember that meeting you attended? We want you to come back again and get involved!" And lastly, we'll be hosting a convention this Sunday to select a potential replacement for Rep Larry Galizio who resigned at the end of August. We will be sure to make a comment at the end of the proceedings, thanking the PCPs old and new for their service, and encouraging the new ones to remain active in the party. Details at http://www.washcodems.org

I've attended and run meetings for 30 years. I know proper process has a place in contributing to a well-functioning meeting, and that common rules are helpful.

However, there are people who just ramble or interrupt flow, without any sense of what they're doing. There are people who argue for the sake of arguing, instead of to improve the outcome. It wastes everyone's time, and I have no patience for it.

I've been a precinct rep in two counties. In both instances I was inspired after having worked in presidential campaigns (Carter and Clinton). I have to say that the inspiration can run down quickly in between elections, and the content of Central Committee meetings often doesn't help. So do your best to keep those new people involved and interested.

Bill R and One Among----I understand your frustration! I went to a lot of Democratic meetings after being the volunteer coordinator for the local Hart 1984 campaign. We had almost enough pct. people to be critical mass in some central comm. (both county and higher) so we did have some control there before people kept dropping out.

I'm in total agreement with the problem of people droning on. A friend of mine once quite active in both Democratic and union politics said the best meetings she ever went to were some group of women union members. All were busy, some had to make child care arrangements in order to attend. So it was a very strictly run meeting--agenda agreed to ahead of time, strict starting and ending times, with only a certain amount of time for each agenda item and each speaker.

TA,

I think Rob's talking about the new Mult Dems HQ on 67th("residential house"), not the Hollywood Senior Center on 40th.

Really like Jo Ann's posted comment.

I would love to see Chip shields, Joann Bowman and a few others run for the open SD 22 seat. After witnessing what I saw on Thursday at the last PCP meeting I am even more convinced this is the best option for North/Northeast Portland and for Oregon. Can you imagine what just these two leaders could do for Portland by motivating minorities to get involved through the campaign process? This is why the Old House District was created and this has been the dream of countless people who have prayed for the day culturally different leaders would emerge to push Oregon forward.

Appointing Chip or Joann to replace the out going Senator is a step back from inspiring more minority involvement. Political gentrification like this tears down communities . I feel if Chip and Joann could place what is best for Portland first. They would both urge the PCPers and the County Commussioners to chose someone to replace the out going Senator that will commit to not running for re-election. They would then start putting together their campaigns and motivating minorities to get involved. The primary is just 9 months away.

No Black Person has ever defeated a white Incumbent in Oregon. Actually no black candidate for an Oregon House or Senate seat has ever defeated any incumbent. Stats like these is one of the reason so few minorities seek public office. The odds just do not add up for a favorable conclusion.

TA, This has to be the longest apology I have ever read. Anyone with a brain could see what was happening last Thursday was nothing short of a political group, (the Bus Project) rolling a processes (Precinct Committee Person [PCP’s] appointments) to create a self serving out-come: Chip Shields for Senator, and Lew Fredrick (a long term Bus Project board member) as State Rep. TA, you were there and you saw it too, you are also very involved in the Bus Project also, are you not? Only four of the new PCP’s come from HD 44 (Rep. Koteck), the other 87 came from HD 43 (Rep. Shields). Unless all of these bright, new, young PCP’s do their duty and talk to their neighbors to get their opinions and vote their constituents desires, not the Bus Project’s desire, this process will be a failure with a illegitimate outcome.
Like my grandpa use to say, the longer the apology, the bigger the lie they are trying to cover-up.

As I recall from being part of more than one replacement process like this, the law requires the pct. people to meet and choose 3-5 names. Then the county comm. meet and decide who to pick from that list.

Having 2 strong names is a better process than some have experienced. Having 3 strong names is even better. There should be someone experienced explaining this all to pct. people.

If Rep. Kotek had decided to seek appointment as the next Senator for District 22 I am sure we would have seen a lot of her supporters there too. She would have done the same thing Chip and Joann did and reached out to her supports and urged them to get involved which would have brought even more minorities into the process.

A race for SD 22 between Chip, Joann and Tina would be an even more attractive opportunity and I hope we get to see it. I am sure with an open seat we will see a diverse slate of candidates seeking elective office.

I am sure the Bus Project has done a pretty good job explaining the process to THIER people. Jefferson Smith is a smart guy and one of our best leaders. He would not develop something like this unless he made sure everyone knew where he was going on it. If there is an open seat next year, I hope we can count on more elbow grease from the Bus Project helping get people involved.