{"id":9819,"date":"2018-03-12T14:00:36","date_gmt":"2018-03-12T18:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/?p=9819"},"modified":"2018-03-12T14:58:06","modified_gmt":"2018-03-12T18:58:06","slug":"precinct-power-renewing-the-democratic-party-in-communities-across-moco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/?p=9819","title":{"rendered":"Precinct Power! Renewing the Democratic Party in Communities Across MoCo"},"content":{"rendered":"

By George Neighbors.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

From the Commander-in-Tweet\u2019s public policy pronouncements in Washington to blocking dissent on Facebook in Annapolis to the NRA\u2019s endorsements of the duo, there\u2019s a lot of unhappiness with the current US President and Maryland\u2019s Governor. <\/span><\/p>\n

Angry and teary eyed emojis don\u2019t change public policy, and they sure don\u2019t alone change who\u2019s in power. \u00a0We need to move beyond social media rants and listserve brawls. We need to engage our neighbors. We need to build and bridge community with our neighbors to take action. <\/span><\/p>\n

Personally, in April of last year I decided to raise my hand and step back in to the political arena. With encouragement and a little arm twisting by friends, I signed up to be a \u200bPrecinct \u200bLeader\u200b for the Democratic Party\u200b. \u00a0Now <\/span>I\u2019m<\/span><\/i> the face and connective tissue of the Democratic Party to my neighbors.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most Seventh State readers will know what a \u200b”Precinct\u200b”\u200b is and what a \u200b”\u200bPrecinct Leader\u200b”\u200b does, but I ask that you indulge me as part of what I\u2019m trying to do to open up the opportunities and break down the barriers within the Democratic Party. <\/span><\/p>\n

Precincts are the most local part of the Democratic Party. Each community is made up of voters in a community with a common voting location, aka polling place. These polling place communities are “Precincts.”\u200b In Montgomery County alone, we have 255 Precincts\u200b!\u200b Each \u200bPrecinct has a leader (or two) who is responsible for reaching out, engaging, educating and mobilizing voters and would-be voters in her\u200b\/his\u200b community.<\/span><\/p>\n

Precinct officials and volunteers gather at the party’s precinct organization meeting on March 10.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Because I\u2019m relatively new to the inner workings of the Democratic Party, and I have an \u00a0organizational development background, and I kept asking a LOT of questions, I was asked to co-chair the Precinct Organization of the Montgomery County Democratic Party in August. You know the drill\u2026 you keep asking questions, you\u2019re put in charge. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Co-Chairs\u2019 role is to empower, engage, mobilize, communicate, recruit and retain across all 255 Precincts – and \u200bengage with our 500+ leaders! <\/span><\/p>\n

What I\u2019ve learned is that we have many amazing people who have been doing the \u200bPrecinct \u200bwork of the Democratic Party for a long time: 20+ years! And we have a lot of new people, like me, who are keen to engage, and make a difference.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been asked, \u201cWhat are we doing differently with the Party?\u201d I tell people that we\u2019re <\/span>renewing<\/span><\/i> the Precinct Organization. We\u2019re refocusing on Precinct Power.<\/span><\/p>\n

Renewing<\/span><\/i> means prioritizing resources\u200b\u200b,\u200b training, mobilization, outreach, communication, and appreciation to recruit and retain great \u200bPrecinct Leaders. <\/span>Renewing<\/span><\/i> also means we have to do things a little differently.<\/span><\/p>\n

Renewal goal number one is to be strategic and intentional about our voter turnout strategy<\/b>. We aim to increase Montgomery County Democratic midterm general election voter turnout by 15 percentage points, from the 45% in 2014 to 60% in 2018. We have a plan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Renewal goal number two is to empower Precinct Leaders<\/b>. We\u2019re gathering the Precinct Leaders from across the County together every few months to discuss the strategy of the Party, evolve their role beyond Election Day to engage with their communities throughout the year, and build the infrastructure at the State District level so that we can inspire people across the County, coordinate across the Districts, and engage in each Precinct community. <\/span><\/p>\n

Renewal goal number three is to mobilize the Precincts<\/b>. Beginning last summer and continuing through the fall and winter, we engaged Precinct Leaders in canvassing to learn what Democrats think. \u200b”\u200bCanvassing\u200b”\u200b means you go door-knocking \u00a0to reach and talk with\u200b people. \u200bIt\u2019s proven to be the best way to reach voters and get \u200bthem engaged.<\/span><\/p>\n

These canvasses were not asking the voters to donate or vote. Rather, these were \u201clistening canvasses\u201d to have voters share their thoughts. During these conversations \u200bwe listened and helped connect neighbors with their elected Democratic officials to address issues ranging from a broken street light to an erroneous utility bill to navigating healthcare.<\/span><\/p>\n

The canvasses also provided an opportunity to train our Precinct Leaders in canvassing and outreach. It was about making a personal connection with voters. Bringing the Democratic Party to them!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bRenewal goal number four is to activate each Precinct<\/b>. To help grow the Precinct Organization, \u200bI\u2019ve spent the past six months \u200bspeaking to clubs and organizations across the \u200bCounty about the \u200bPrecinct \u200bOrganization, and how people can get involved.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many Precincts could use new blood to assist current Precinct Leaders, and many other Precincts are in need of new leadership either because of an absence or because someone is ready to step aside.\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n

We also need to engage new voters and immigrants as well. Having people who look, live and speak like they do, is the beauty of the Precinct Organization, i.e., neighbors talking to neighbors. <\/span><\/p>\n

So now comes the pi\u200btch\u2026 With the June primary counting down, and the general election in November, we need to organize. We need to mobilize. We need to engage. We need voters to turn out. We need voters to vote. <\/span><\/p>\n

We also need \u200bPrecinct \u200bLeaders. We need bilingual leaders. We need new leaders. We need leaders who represent their community. We need leaders up county, down county, east county, west county and mid county. Opportunities abound to do something that matters. Together we can build stronger and engaged communities. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m asking all Democrats reading this to <\/span>do four things.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u200b1. Go to the \u200b<\/span>Precinct \u200bOrganization map on the Montgomery County Democratic Party website<\/span><\/a> and look up your \u200bPrecinct. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u200b2. If you have a \u200bPrecinct Leader, reach out to say \u2018thank you.\u2019 Then offer <\/span>your<\/span><\/i> help to knock on doors, call, enter data, host a meet and greet, etc.\u200b (Please email <\/span>Precinct@MCDCC.org<\/span><\/a> if s\/he does not get back to you.)\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200b3. \u200bIf you looked up\u200b your Precinct\u200b and you don\u2019t have a <\/span>Precinct Leader<\/span>, \u200bYOU can apply to be a Precinct Leader\u200b with <\/span>this application<\/span><\/a>!\u200b You can also email my cochair Mumin Barre and me at <\/span>Precinct@MCDCC.org<\/span><\/a> to set a time to talk about it and answer your questions. <\/span>\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200b4. \u200bPlease share this story with as many people as you can \u200bvia email, social media, \u200band \u200bword-of-mouth. We need engaged and empowered Precinct Leaders, who are building and bridging communities, to take back the governorship.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m committed to making sure that no one come June or November wonders how they can get involved and engaged\u2026 how they can build stronger and engaged communities\u2026 how they can make a difference. <\/span><\/p>\n

As we \u200brenew our Precinct Power, we need everyone- new and lifelong Democrats- to help build the Democratic Party, listen to residents, and reach voters to make a difference in their lives and our community. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bGeorge Neighbors is <\/em><\/span>the <\/span>Democratic Party <\/span>Precinct Vice Chair of Precinct 13-21\u200b, Co-Chair of the Montgomery County Democratic Party’s Precinct Organization, and the male District 20 Candidate for the Montgomery County Democratic Party’s Central Committee in the June 26 Democratic Primary.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By George Neighbors. From the Commander-in-Tweet\u2019s public policy pronouncements in Washington to blocking dissent on Facebook in Annapolis to the NRA\u2019s endorsements of the duo, there\u2019s a lot of unhappiness with the current US President and Maryland\u2019s Governor. Angry and teary eyed emojis don\u2019t change public policy, and they sure don\u2019t alone change who\u2019s in … Continue reading Precinct Power! Renewing the Democratic Party in Communities Across MoCo<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[311,790,18],"tags":[1662,2158,1466],"class_list":["post-9819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-democratic-central-committee","category-democrats","category-mcdcc","tag-democrats","tag-george-neighbors","tag-mcdcc"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4mKJE-2yn","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9819"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9857,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9819\/revisions\/9857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}