State of the Party

Howard Wolpe greets Gary Swanson at the Brown-Todd-Wolpe Dinner on October 1 at the Radisson Hotel in Kalamazoo. Read more about Howard's life and work as a peacemaker at www.bit.ly/HWOLPE.

State of the Party
by David Pawloski

It was a great 2011 for the KCDP – the best fundraising off-year on record for us, as we raised more than $65,500 in 2011 from over 500 different donors, and over $2,800 from local elected Democratic officials, $2,000 from PAC’s and $8,100 from local businesses and labor unions. Our KCDP Golf Outing in the spring raised over $3,600.

We have over 450 fans on Facebook, the best in the state for any county party. We continue to have the premier Democratic office in the state. Our office is one of the biggest expenditures in our budget, made possible by your donations and membership dues. THANK YOU.
Our 2011 KCDP Brown-Todd-Wolpe Dinner on Oct. 1 was the first in many years that we were graced with the presence of Howard Wolpe. We were all shocked and saddened to hear of his passing not long after. Howard had just recently moved back to the area and we all looked forward to having him back involved in a leadership position.

More than 250 mingled and celebrated the life of the late Honorable Robert B. Jones. Speakers and guests included State Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, Callie Baskerville-Jones, and Gold Sponsors State Rep. Sean McCann, Caroline Ham and UAW Region 1-D; and table sponsors AFL-CIO Labor Council, SW Michigan Building Trades, Dr. Michael Leipman, Jon Hoadley, Dave & Beth McShane, Dr. Charles C. Warfield and the Michigan District Council of Laborers.

With our new internet-based fundraising software, NGP-VAN, we are easily tracking donations and expenditures, and I am proud to announce that we are setting precedent as the first county party in the state to be doing so. 

Our Membership Committee reports over 400 dues-paying members to the KCDP. Our dues continue unchanged at $30 per year. Let’s all remember that when we talk to people about joining the KCDP, they also become a member of the MDP, which allows them to vote at all MDP conventions. A special thank you goes out to Kathleen Garland-Rike for her leadership being as committee chair for the last three years. Under her leadership, the group was one of the best membership committees in the state. Only many hours of hard work made that happen. Kathleen is stepping down from the post to help run the Libby Heiny-Cogswell re-election campaign for Oshtemo Township Supervisor. 

As we look forward to 2012, we must hold onto the gains we made in 2008 including holding Libby’s post. Starting off we need to hold our two county-wide officials Sheriff Richard Fuller and Drain Commissioner Patricia Crowley. We need you to talk to your friends, family and neighbors, volunteer for the campaigns and if you can, donate money to their committees. 

We also need to hold the gains we made at the township supervisor level, with Terry Mellinger (Kalamazoo), Libby Heiny-Cogswell (Oshtemo), Tim Hudson (Comstock), and Doug Byas (Wakeshma); township treasurer George Cochran in Kalamazoo; eight township trustees, two Dems on the Comstock Township Parks and Recreation Board.

Not only do we need to hold all these 15 offices, but expand on them as well. If you live in one of these townships, especially Oshtemo and Comstock, we need candidates to have a full slate. Look for our candidate development breakfast on Feb. 25 at a location TBD. Please consider volunteering to help us win these important township races. It is most important that we have candidates for Township Clerk in Oshtemo, Kalamazoo and Comstock Townships. The KCDP has never had a candidate for any of these three offices and that must change this year. One other office the KCDP would like to find a candidate for is County Surveyor, for which we haven’t run a candidate since 1964. 

We will meet early in 2012 with representatives of the President’s campaign team in hope of working closely to find a Kalamazoo location for his campaign staff. The better President Obama does here, the better our local candidates will do.

With your continued help, the KCDP will be one of the premier party organizations in the state. You can always reach us at HQ at 342-4217 or check us out on the internet at www.kzoodems.com. And be sure to check us out on Facebook and “Like” the KCDP. Thank you and now let’s get to work!

-David Pawloski, Chair, Kalamazoo County Democratic Party

This article appears in the January 2012 newsletter.