Asides

There were some interesting posts described in the January 1980 edition of “The Democrat:”

• Incoming FCDC Chair, Dottie Schick, thanked outgoing FCDC Chair, Emilie Miller, “for the fine job she has done for the past four years. So much of our growth was made under her leadership.” Dottie noted that “In the past 10 years the number of registered voters has grown from 134,017 to almost  1/4 of a million.” And, that FCDC has “gone from mimeographed voter lists and hand operated addressograph machines to computerized 3×5 cards and voter labels.” [Editor: In 1987, Emilie Miller was elected to the Virginia Senate for Senate District 34.]
• In Deena Sortland‘s update for the Centreville District Democratic Committee (CDDC) she described a “Post Mortem” in early December 1979 in which CDDC advocated for Single Member Districts and the need to immediately start recruiting for Delegate candidates. Deena also plugged their annual Lasagna Dinner which was scheduled for February 2 and would raise funds to “cover our expenses [and] enable us to pay our $600.00 assessment to the FCDC.” [Editor. Save the date: Hunter Mill District Democratic Committee’s 45th Annual Lasagna Dinner is Saturday, June 6.]
• Chuck Kaufman, newly elected chair of the Lee District Democratic Committee (LDDC), announced that members “will caucus at 7:45 p.m. before the FCDC meeting on Jan. 29 for the purpose of electing representatives and alternates to the FCDC Standing Committees. The Standing Committees are: Hq, The Democrat, Finance, Voter Records, Local Affairs, State Affairs, Minorities, and Women’s Rights.”
• There were three resolutions passed by the Steering Committee during their January 15 meeting:
  • Resolution on Systems Analysis Study of Voter Records for the Democratic Party. The main gist of the resolution was to create a Task Force on Voter Record Computer Systems to study the feasibility for “improving the usability of the voter records system” without paying consultants . . . to conduct a systems study [that] would prove costly and neglect the potential use of loyal Fairfax Democrats who may be willing to donate such services.”
  • Redistricting Resolution. “WHEREAS, Fair and responsible reapportionment and redistricting are vital to our democratic systems.” [Editor. The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) website has an article about redistricting criteria.]
  • District Boundary Changes. “WHEREAS, Bren Mar and Weyanoke precincts are in the Mason Supervisory District, but unlike the rest of Mason, are in the 19th Legislative (sic) and the 35th Senate District . . .”
• In the announcements section: “Congressman Joseph L. Fisher [pictured] of Virginia’s Tenth District has announced that Vivian Watts has joined his staff as District Legislative Assistant.” [Editor: Del. Vivian Watts has served the residents of House District 39 since 1996 and before that, from 1982 to 1986.]
• The Virginia Chapter of Hispanic-American Democrats (VAHAD) invited “all Democrats to a fundraiser. The announcement stated that HAD “was formally founded at a Denver Convention [and] is the first national organization to unite Mexican-American, Puerto Rican, Cuban and other Hispanic Democrats. Previous efforts over the past 20 years had been unsuccessful.” [Editor. The Democratic Latino Organization of Virginia (DLOV) is the official Latino Caucus of the Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA).]
• There was a report about the organizing efforts for the Carter Campaign.
• The “Call for the 1980 Fairfax County Democratic Mass Meetings” was included in the January 1980 The Democrat. The purpose of the Call was to elect Delegates and Alternates to the 8th Congressional District Democratic Convention which was held on April 19, 1980 at Lee High School and the 10th Congressional District Democratic Convention which was held on April 12, 1980 at Falls Church High School. Any Democrat wishing to be a Delegate or an Alternate . . . must file a “Delegate Certificate.” The filing fee was $15.00. [Editor. Click here for information about the 2020 Delegate selection process. Look for information about FCDC’s 2020 caucus in the coming weeks.]
• The Northern Virginia Democratic Club (NVDC) announced a dinner meeting on January 28 at Valle’s Steak House in Springfield. the cost of the dinner was $8.75 per person which included tax and gratuity. The featured dinner speaker was Clark Mollenhoff whose book, “The President Who Failed: Carter Out of Control” was set to publish that February. A used copy of the book is available on eBay for $1.00, plus $3.52 shipping. [Editor. The title of Mollenhoff’s book was not mentioned in NVDC’s announcement.]

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