Your Weekly News from the CCDP and Political Clubs
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Democrats are in countdown mode with less than three months before the Mid-Term Elections. Every vote counts and we need the help and support of everyone to turn Texas back to BLUE. Read about the many ways you can participate and make a difference.
Next week, RUNNING BLUE will bring you more details about the election and the candidates. Don't forget that candidates succeed with the help of volunteers and the financial support of donors.
Read more
about our candidates and help them turn Collin County, Texas and our nation back to BLUE. Visit their websites for more details.
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Volunteer Deputy Registrars -- The First Step to Voting
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Increasing voter turnout begins with registering voters. Become a Volunteer Deputy Registrar (VDR) and you can register Collin County voters. We will let you know about events that need Registrars. Join us for VDR Training. To get more details on the process, click
here
.
When: September 06/2018 5:00 PM
Where: Collin County Elections Office
McKinney, TX 75069 (
map
)
To RSVP for VDR training, click
here
.
Questions? Contact
VDR Lead
or 972-578-1483
If you want to add Dallas County to your VDR list, check this out.
DVR Training to be a Dallas County Registrar:
Join the Julie Johnson for Texas Campaign and Battleground Texas
WHEN: Saturday, August 18th, 10:30am-1:00pm
WHERE: Valley Ranch Library
401 Cimarron Trail, Irving, TX 75063 (
map
)
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Volunteers -- The Key to Success.
How can you help?
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With less than 12 weeks until the Mid-Term Elections, the Collin County Democratic Party office is abuzz with activity and your help is needed. Many of the volunteer opportunities require less than five hours a month but these can make a difference.
The CCDP Office is ramping up and getting really busy as we do our part to elect Democrats in Collin County!!! We have expanded our hours to be open on Saturday and will have office hours on Monday and Thursday evenings starting on August 23.
If you love talking on the phone, you can be part of a phone banking team. You will be calling other Democrats to tell them about candidates and remind them to vote. This is an important aspect of making contact with potential voters and getting out the vote.
As we have more hours and more visitors, we can always use more volunteers. Specific needs right now are for Saturdays (even a few hours one Saturday a month) and Monday or Thursday evenings. Please email the CCDP
office manager
if you'd like to join our office volunteer team. We have fun and get to "meet and greet" lots of fellow Democrats.
If you're not sure about volunteering at the CCDP office, drop by and pay us a visit. We also love visitors - especially if they bring us water and snacks for the office! With a rotating group of volunteers as well as candidate phone banks, we really appreciate packaged or homemade snacks and water.
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The Future is Blue: A Summit on Sunday August 26
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Democrats from all points around North Texas are invited to participate in a summit to help build, empower and inspire everyone in our goal to turn Texas back to Blue.
The Denton County Democratic Party is sponsoring this event on Sunday, August 26 at
2:00 pm at the University of North Texas in the Lyceum Theater. The summit style event will feature two parts: The first part will be a presentation by Eric Bauman, the current Chair of the California Democratic Party. Eric has been in this role since 2017. Prior to this, he was chair of the largest Democratic county party in the country-Los Angeles County-for 17.5 years. Eric will share his experiences in those and other roles so that we can take away key information from a leader in a state that experienced its own shift from red to blue over the years.
The second part of the event will include an open mic discussion featuring:
- Eric Bauman - Chair-California Democratic Party
- Dr. Carla Brailey - Vice Chair-Texas Democratic Party
- Mike Floyd-Treasurer - Texas Democratic Party
- Deborah Peoples - Chair-Tarrant County Democratic Party
- Carol Donovan - Chair-Dallas County Democratic Party
Come bring your questions, ideas and experiences to share at this groundbreaking summit.
Admission is free but you must pre-register in order to attend. Pre-register
here
.
The Future Is Blue is co-sponsored by:
- Denton County Democratic Party
- Dallas County Democratic Party
- Tarrant County Democratic Party
- Collin County Democratic Party
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PLANO HELD REVIEW OF RECOMMENDED 2018-19 BUDGET ON JULY 25, 2018
During the Plano City Council meeting held on July 25, 2018, Karen Rhodes-Whitley, Budget Director for The City of Plano, reviewed the recommended Plano budget for 2018-2019. Her presentation included an overview of the Budget and Community Investment Program (CIP) for 2017-18, the recommended CIP for 2018-19, and 2018-19 recommended budget, tax rate, and capital maintenance fund. The consumer tax rate is currently 46.86 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation, both for residential and commercial properties. Ms. Rhodes-Whitley and her team are recommending that the tax rate, which is one of the lowest in the area, remain the same for 2018-19. Total recommended budget is $587 million, an increase of $32.2 million or 5.8%, over the 2017-18 re-estimated budget.
DETAILS OF THE 2018-19 RECOMMENDED BUDGET
No new programs are included in the budget. The budget includes enhancements to services required as a result of growth in the city. Highlights of the total operating budget include:
- Increase in North Texas Municipal Water District - $11 million
- Increase in capital maintenance fund - $7 million, which “is needed to offset escalating project construction costs and to continue the rehabilitation and maintenance of the city’s aging infrastructure and facilities”
- Public safety programs - $6.5 million
- Salary increases of 3% - $6 million
- Wayfinding signage project - $1.5 million
- CIP coming online - $1.3 million
- Library books - $1.1 million
- Election cost - $300 thousand
- Parks and recreation enhancements - $238 thousand
- Electricity and OPEB account savings – (3.6 million)
Notes:
- 65% of the recommended budget is for salaries.
- 20% homestead tax exemption and tax freezes for citizens that are disabled or over age 65 will remain in place.
CITY COUNCIL COMMENTS
Councilman Rick Smith asked if the tax rate could be reduced to the effective rate, which would represent a tax savings to citizens (of $7 per month per Councilman Rick Grady) and a $12 million reduction in the recommended 2018-19 budget. Councilman Anthony Ricciardelli said he feels obligated to ask the Budget Department to consider a budget cut as an option. Tom Harrison requested that the Council be provided with the actual vs. plan numbers for the past 3-5 years to determine if the recommended budget has been close to actual expenditures and revenues. Ms. Rhodes-Whitley agreed. Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Angela Miner indicated that she is not comfortable cutting the budget. Several years ago, the budget was cut; as a result, programs and people were also cut.
City Manager Bruce Glasscock asked the Council to determine what their ultimate budget goal is. He said a $12 million reduction would result in reduced services, reduced capital maintenance, and reduction in police, fire, and parks and recreation staff. Public safety would be reduced.
Public hearings of the recommended budget are scheduled for August 27 and September 5.
OTHER TOPICS
Lori Schwarz presented a recommendation to implement a hotel/motel inspection program, similar to the current multi-family inspection program. Fees obtained would make the program self-funding.
To view the full minutes of the Plano City Council Meeting of July 25, click
here
.
To view a recording of the meeting in its entirety, click
here
.
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WOW Dems Proudly Presents a Private Screening of "RBG"
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Whether you call her RBG, Justice Ginsberg, or Notorious RBG, Ruth Bader Ginsberg has made an enormous impact on law and justice throughout her career. WOW Dems is sponsoring this private showing of "RBG," a
n intimate portrait of an unlikely rock star, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. With unprecedented access, the filmmakers explore how her early legal battles changed the world for women.
Be inspired by this documentary of the career of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Even if you saw it before, see it again with friends! Learn the importance of our judicial system in upholding our civil rights, and what is at stake if we do not stop Trump and right wing Republicans from reversing the rights that women and minorities fought for and won in this country over the last century!
Thursday, September 20th, 7:00 p.m.
Movie will be followed by a panel discussion of experts!
Angelika Film Center Plano
7205 Bishop Road
Plano, TX 75024
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Living Liberally in McKinney this Friday
Please join fellow Liberals for fun and socializing Friday, August 17th, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in McKinney at Henderson Kitchen And Tap, 2730 S Central Expressway, McKinney, TX 75070 (
map
)
RSVP here
so we can plan for the number of people who will be attending.
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- August 19 - Do It in the Dog Park voter registration event. 7:00 a.m. -9:30 a.m. Jack Carter Dog Park. (2215 Pleasant Valley Dr, Plano, TX 75023) Note: Dogs are welcome but they cannot register to vote no matter how cute or smart they are.
- August 19 - Asian American Power to the Polls Rally. 2:00 p.m. Charles W. Eisemann Center, 2351 Performance Dr., Richardson, TX 75082. Tickets
- August 20 - The last day to file as a candidate for the Wylie ISD.
- August 25 - 9:00 a.m.-noon. Walk to Win blockwalking.
- August 25 - Town Hall with Lorie Burch. 5:00 p.m. Nine Band Brewing. 9 Prestige Circle. Allen, TX 75002
- August 26 - The Future is Blue summit in Denton - see above.
- September 13 - Collin County Democrats with Disabilities 11:30 a.m at the REACH office in Plano (720 E Park Blvd, Suite 104, Plano 75074)
- September 26 - National Voter Registration Day
- October 9 - Last date to register to vote in Mid-Term Elections.
NOTE: Final Friday for August has been cancelled so that everyone can take full advantage of their Labor Day Weekend. Final Friday will resume in September.
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Correction:
The August 1 issue of The Rally stated that Mark Pharris was in attendance at the W.O.W. Dems Volunteer event on July 26. Mark was not able to be two places at one time (no matter how talented he is) but was represented by members of his volunteer team.
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Political advertising, Collin County Democratic Party
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