28 Jun Note from the Chair: Updated MattDems Vision
- Community Engagement and Outreach:
One of the TOP priorities of Matt Dems is strengthening community engagement and outreach efforts. We aim to foster a sense of inclusivity, ensuring that everyone’s voices are heard and valued. By organizing community events such as our voter registration drive scheduled over Harbor Days, July 15 – 16 at TWGS in association with the League of Women Voters South Coast, we seek to build bridges and promote dialogue between our current members and a younger generation of Democrats. The youth of our community are our future and our goal is to recruit as many younger new members as we can. Please help us with that and send your younger Democrat to come visit us and learn what our organization is all about. - Advocacy for Progressive Policies:
Matt Dems remain committed to advocating for progressive policies which address the needs of our diverse community. We will continue to recruit and endorse candidates for local, state and national offices such as school committee, library trustee, select board, state representative and senate who support equitable education, environmental sustainability, healthcare access for all and social justice. We will continue to endorse legislation concomitant with those goals as well.
This past year we successfully participated in the campaigns of State Representative Bill Straus, School Committee Members Frances-Feliz Kearns and Carly Lavin and Library Board of Trustee Members Ruth Jolliffe and Bill Coquillette while fighting off the attempted MAGA invasion of these very important elected positions.
With the creation of a Candidate Vetting Sub-Committee, we would be looking for volunteers to help recruit community member candidates for positions which will either be vacant or should be challenged in upcoming elections. Under this subcommittee we envision responsibilities to also include follow up with the Town Clerk to confirm voter registration information on a quarterly basis and during election season, while making various public record requests for candidate paperwork to confirm if Independent Expenditure PACs are involved locally to be able to respond accordingly.
Our vision for volunteer members of the Communications Sub-Committee would focus on monitoring of local right wing social media pages (MattGOP, Tri-Town Tribune and even Tritown Buzz) to keep abreast of their local activities and coordination with National groups; monitoring of candidates’ social media posts and archiving them for future use against them in elections; monitoring and posting of Select Board and School Committee meetings to ensure attendance by the community in support of our committees and any other activities the sub-committee deems to fall within their purview. - Strengthening Grassroots Campaigns:
Matt Dems recognizes the power of grassroots organizing and its impact on local elections. We anticipate another busy and contentious election season come May 2024 and our goal is to recruit, support and empower candidates who share our values. Matt Dems wants to ensure that the folks who are elected to positions of power reflect the interests and aspirations of the residents of Mattapoisett, not outside national special interest groups which espouse fringe and radical views on reproductive rights, parental rights and educational freedom, just to name a few.
In this regard, we plan to hit the ground running in January 2024 to set in motion our plan of action for the local and regional school committee races, library trustee races and select board. Anyone who wants to volunteer to help, please reach out to us. We will gladly accept new members. - Embracing Technology and Digital Engagement:
In this digital age we understand the importance of leveraging technology to enhance communication and participation. We are committed to expanding our online presence, including an updated website, expanding into the Instagram space and regular newsletter updates rather than my lengthy emails.
We can’t do this alone. Matt Dems is seeking to recruit a younger generation of leaders who desire to be engaged in our community to help us with the task of expanding our digital footprint. If you are that person with the skills we need and are interested or know of anyone who is interested, please have them contact us. - Collaborating with Like-Minded Organizations:
To maximize our impact, especially in this age of UltraMAGA, Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) and Moms for Liberty’s efforts to influence politics in the Commonwealth, we will actively seek collaboration with the Marion and Rochester Town Democratic Committees on strategies to repel these efforts to impose hateful policies on our communities.
We will likewise collaborate with regional Democratic Town Committees like the Mass Rural Dems, a collaborative organization of Town Democratic committees in Western Mass, to keep our finger on the pulse of what is happening there as well. By joining forces with neighboring Democratic Town Committees and other advocacy groups like the Coalition for Social Justice, we can amplify our collective efforts and work towards shared goals that benefit the wider community.
In closing, we encourage you to contact one of the committee chairs and play an active role in shaping the future of Mattapoisett. We believe this is an URGENT need at this time and the sooner we are able to fill these subcommittees with volunteers, the faster we can set up plans of action for each to put them in motion.Whether you have ideas, skills or time to contribute, your participation is invaluable to our shared success. Together, we can build a stronger, more inclusive and vibrant Mattapoisett.
Our upcoming fall meetings are scheduled for: September 5, 2023, October 10, 2023 and November 14, 2023 from 6:30 – 8:00 PM in the Public Meeting Room of the Mattapoisett Library.
Thank you all for your dedication to our community and democratic values. I hope to see some new faces on July 15 – 16 at our Harbor Days Voter Registration Drive at Town Wharf General Store.
Warm Regards,
Nicki Demakis
Chair, Matt Dems