Yearly Archives - 2022

In times this uncertain and frankly, heartbreaking, we need to reaffirm our values and let you know what we continue to work on day in and day out.

• Keeping our kids safe in the classroom and at home
• Keeping government out of women’s health care decisions
• Protecting Social Security and Medicare
• Defending the right to love who you love without government interference
• Reversing global warming to give our kids the planet they deserve
• Respecting our public servants

If you believe in these values, you have a home working with us to make sure these values are lived. Come to our next meeting, get involved in a campaign at any level, and help us make this country better.

At the Arlington Democratic Town Committee’s April 11 virtual meeting, Aimee Coolidge stepped down from her role as Co-Chair after 18 years at the helm of the committee. Once the election of officers was complete, she was then unanimously designated as the committee’s first ever Chair Emerita, in honor of her many years of service as Chair.

Beginning as Chair in 2004, Aimee has given countless hours of her time in service to the Arlington Democratic Town Committee. She has worked to create an inclusive, positive, and active Democratic Party in town, helping to make Arlington a progressive powerhouse and a stronghold of Democratic votes. Aimee organized many coordinated Democratic campaigns over the years, increased committee membership, and connected the Arlington Democratic Town Committee to many other like-minded organizations across the Commonwealth.

The Arlington Democratic Town Committee would like to thank Aimee for her years of service and looks forward to continuing to work together in the years ahead!

At last! After 233 years, a black woman, Ketanji Brown Jackson, has been confirmed as a justice of the Supreme Court. She will be sworn in at the end of the term in June.

Judge Jackson brings to the Court deep experience with American life as it is really lived, joining predecessors like Louis Brandeis, Thurgood Marshall, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Sonia Sotomayor. Add to that experience her unquestionable brilliance, judgment, and dignity, and you have a justice with the stature to lead the Court out of the extremist wilderness.

Just imagine a having a Supreme Court that once again stands up for human rights, supports the weak and oppressed, and protects our democracy. It will happen someday, and Judge – soon to be Justice – Jackson will lead the way.

What can we do? First, rejoice! And then remember that Judge Jackson will need help, and only a Democratic president and Senate can provide it. It is an election year. We have to dedicate ourselves to the struggle too.

We’re glad Katherine Clark is our Congresswoman: Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark has secured $750,000 for a coastal resiliency project that will reduce the risk of flooding to Arlington and other communities in the Mystic River Basin.

“Climate change is here,” the Assistant Speaker said in a March 22 release, “we need to make investments now to prevent disasters later.”

The risk of disaster is not far off. Due to rising sea levels, the dams that currently protect our community from coastal flooding will only be able to provide sufficient protection for 10 or 20 more years. When protection fails, the most vulnerable among us will suffer the consequences. In the end, though, no one is safe from profound environmental collapse.

Assistant Speaker Clark, and the Biden Administration, in our community and throughout the country, are investing in a safe and resilient future for everyone. They understand that we need to be ready to fight back when the inevitable threats occur. We won’t be unless we invest in our future now.

What you can do: Help the Mystic River Watershed Association to preserve the river and protect our communities, as a volunteer or donor.

Defending Democracy in Ukraine

In this moment, we’re so glad to have a president who actually opposes Vladimir Putin and has rallied worldwide punishment of his regime.  He has not praised Putin as a man with “lots of gifts” who “knows how to use power.” He understands Putin’s challenge to democracy. What can we do? This war is hell for Ukrainian civilians. Refugees are on the move. Let’s help organizations like the International Rescue Committee, which is marshalling help for the people whose lives are being shattered by this cynical war. https://www.rescue.org/article/how-can-i-help-ukraine. Here are more: https://www.npr.org/2022/02/25/1082992947/ukraine-support-help. And let’s speak up here at home in favor of democracy and protection of the weak against the strong.

The Nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court

On February 25, Joe Biden nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as the next justice of the Supreme Court. Judge Jackson would be the first woman of color ever to serve on the court. It’s about time! But this isn’t just about historic firsts. Judge Jackson is almost universally respected as a fair judge with a commitment to equal justice. Won’t it be grand to have a justice who has been a public defender and seen with her own eyes what it means to be ground up by the wheels of justice? A justice who has the courage to protect the right of workers to organize against overweening corporations? A justice who is on the side of human rights, democracy, the rule of law? Yes, but it won’t happen automatically. What can we do? First off, let the Judiciary Committee know the joy we feel in this historic nomination. https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/about/members. And let’s keep it up. Let our legislators know how important this is and that we won’t quit until the Senate proudly confirms Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Over 100 Democrats in Arlington held a virtual caucus February 12 to elect 40 delegates and 7 alternates to the 2022 Massachusetts Democratic Convention. Before the caucus began, each of the Democratic candidates for statewide office addressed the attendees briefly, along with our Congresswoman Katherine Clark. Arlington elects one of the largest delegate slates in the state.

Elected as delegates were Carole Allen, Lynn Bishop, Shane Blundell, Eric Bourassa, Francis Callahan, Christine Carney, Sonya Coleman, Aimee Coolidge, Maureen Crewe, Sue Doctrow, Catherine Farrell, Peggy Gardiner, Bill Gardiner, Gary Goldsmith, Amy Goldstein, Irwin Grossman, Kim Haase, Patrick Hanlon, Bill Hayner, Eric Helmuth, John Hurd, Alan Jones, Sonya Khan, Bill Logan, Linda Magram, Jane Morgan, Patti Muldoon, Scott Mullen, John Page, Judson Pierce, Jennifer Roderick, Paul Schlichtman, Ed Schwartz, Paulette Schwartz, Amy L. Slutzky, Susan Stamps, Dave Swanson, Rieko Tanaka, Michael Watson, and Steven Wofsy. Alternates elected were Robin Bergman, Guillermo Hamlin, Christa Kelleher, Colleen Kirby, Jennifer Litowski, Jordan Weinstein, and Ed Witham.

Co-Chair Stephanie Swanson will serve as an ex officio delegate. Other Arlingtonians serving as ex officio delegates are James DiTullio and Marlene Silva, who serve on the Democratic State Committee, as well as State Representative Sean Garballey and State Senator Cindy Friedman.

The 2022 Convention will be a hybrid convention, with in-person proceedings taking place alongside virtual participation options on June 3 and 4 at the DCU Center in Worcester. Delegates will convene to endorse candidates for statewide office ahead of the September Democratic Primary. The Massachusetts Democratic Party is closely monitoring changes in public health guidance and will update plans accordingly.

For more information on the Arlington Democratic Town Committee or any of our meetings, please contact Aimee Coolidge at 781-775-5343 or Stephanie Swanson at 716-435-4153. For general information on the Convention, please contact the Massachusetts Democratic Party at 617-939-0800 or go to https://massdems.org/.

Arlington Democrats are invited to attend a virtual caucus on Saturday, February 12, at 10 a.m. to elect 40 delegates and 7 alternates to the 2022 Massachusetts Democratic Convention.

At this year’s state convention, planned for Saturday, June 4th at the DCU Center in Worcester, thousands of Democrats from across the state will come together to endorse candidates for statewide office and unite to elect Democrats down the ballot in November of 2022. The convention is planned to be a hybrid convention; delegates will be able to attend in person, or virtually by Zoom.

The caucus is open to all registered and pre-registered Democrats in Arlington. Pre-registered Democrats who will be 16 by February 4, 2022, will be welcome to participate and run as a delegate or alternate.

To participate in the virtual caucus, please use the Zoom registration form at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMud-CuqTgtGt2CPMj5KraEHwHcX1GdpRu7. You will receive a personalized link and passcode to the Zoom caucus in an email, which you’ll need to keep. Our virtual doors will open at 9:30 a.m., and we encourage registrants to arrive early. Everyone who is in the waiting room by 10:15 a.m. will be admitted.

Youth, minorities, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ individuals who are not elected as a delegate or alternate may apply to be an add-on delegate at the caucus or at www.massdems.org.

Delegates and alternates will be divided equally between men and women, except that candidates whose gender identity is non-binary can run for delegate without needing to classify themselves as male or female. Candidates must be present at the caucus to be elected (except those serving in the Armed Forces, who must notify the chair of their candidacy before the caucus).

For more information on the caucus or the Arlington Democratic Town Committee, please contact Co-Chair Stephanie Swanson at 716-435-4153 or Co-Chair Aimee Coolidge at 781-775-5343, explore this website, or visit our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/adtcma. For general information on the Convention or the Democratic Party, please call 617-939-0800 or email contact@massdems.org. Details on the caucus rules can be found at https://massdems.org/.

If you wish to change your registration to Democratic before the caucus, visit Online Voter Application (state.ma.us).

In coalition with the Democratic Committees of Barre, Bedford, Belmont, Boxborough, Brewster, Cambridge Ward 6, Hanson, Lenox, Lincoln, Malden, Maynard, Monson, Newton, Pelham, Rockland, Salem, Scituate, Wellfleet, Weston, and Weymouth, the Arlington Democratic Committee invites you to an important virtual event on January 20th at 7pm focused on S.2030/H.1905, An Act Establishing A [5-year] Jail and Prison Construction Moratorium.

Register at https://bit.ly/nonewwomensprison.

We’ll be joined by Sen. Jo Comerford and Rep. Chynah Tyler to learn more about this critical legislation co-sponsored by over 40 state legislators (including our own Arlington State Representatives and State Senator), endorsed by over 130 organizations across the state, and recently enshrined in our state’s Democratic Party Platform. 
 
We’ll also hear from Andrea James, Founder and Executive Director of The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, and Mahtowin Munro, co-leader of The United American Indians of New England.