Minutes of the Gettysburg Area DFA Meetup, Dec. 3, 2008 Valentine Hall, Room 206, Gettysburg Theological Seminary - 7 PM Elaine Jones, Chair

Welcome to Members and Guests. Elaine welcomed everyone and asked those in attendance to introduce themselves.
Review of tonight’s agenda and purpose. Elaine did an overview of the agenda and raised the issue of whether we need to re-affirm our mission in light of the presidential election or whether we should return it to the Steering Committee for a re-working. (See related topic below.)
Steering Committee Report. Mention was made of the November 19th Steering Committee discussion which focused on what DFA’s priorities ought to be for the future. Elaine reported that Committee members zeroed in on several key issues:
1) Candidate Development in preparation for future elections was seen as the #1 priority. Maggie Abbott-Fowler has agreed to chair the committee as long as Marianne Crouthamel agrees to help.
2) Should we find a way to assist the Obama administration in achieving Obama’s goals, at least those that conform to ours? The Obama campaign machine is already promoting house meetings starting on December 13th to continue to engage Obama’s supporters in the process. Alan Olson is trying to set up a gathering of the Southwest Adams team for that weekend.
3) Environmental Task Force – Wendy Mizenko took over leadership and attempted to involve several other outside groups (i.e., the Land Conservancy, the County recycling agency, etc.) in working with us to promote environmental issues especially relative to global warming. Support from the entities contacted has not been forthcoming to date leaving open the question of how to move forward.
4) Past efforts focused on taking our country back may no longer be an area that DFA needs to pursue. Discussion on this point is needed.
Treasurer’s Report. Clodius Willis noted the balance as $2,187.89. It was determined that about $660 was received as a result of the fund raising envelope included in the August newsletter. Elaine said we would forego passing the hat, but asked members to remember DFA in their end of year giving. If any one wants to make a donation to DFA, they could mail it to Clodius Willis at 140 East Middle Street, Gettysburg (made out to Gettysburg DFA).
Looking Back. A number of those in attendance expressed their thoughts about the Obama victory, noting the emotional engagement of people around the world, the new sense of hope engendered, and the renewed sense of respect that other countries have expressed for America.
Remarks – Lou Hammann. Lou spoke about the 60’s and the demonstrations that took place in an effort to protest the war and societal inequities, as well as more recent demonstrations against the Iraq War and abuses of power, etc. He said he has been corresponding with a niece who suggests that in place of demonstrating against something we substitute positive action. She mentioned the website "http://www.change.gov" www.change.gov established by the Obama support network which provides us with the opportunity to speak out about issues and to submit our vision ideas for the country ( HYPERLINK "http://www.mybarackobama.com/what'snext" is another such website). Beyond this kind of participation, we can continue to do citizen lobbying, for issues such as the Pennsylvania health care plan, etc. We are a grass roots movement and here is a way to contribute our input to major issues in the future either in support of Obama’s approach or against it. Maxine Willis indicated agreement and said a recent CNN program was encouraging citizens to go through their legislators to make their voices heard.
Remarks - Bob Knight. Bob mentioned having a stomachache before the elections, noting that feeling has been replaced by a sense of hope. As a trained professional skeptic, he questions whether that hope might dissipate. He noted that for 40 years we’ve had a drag on anything progressive because of the 1968 Chicago convention.
DFA Successes? Shortcomings? Elaine asked if anyone wanted to comment on this and about whether DFA’S Mission and Purpose is still valid today. In the second paragraph a word change was suggested in the sentence beginning with “We work to restore citizen ownership of our democracy….” Consensus was to replace the word “restore” with the word “promote”. Other than that change, a show of hands indicated support for the current Mission and Purpose statement.
Looking Forward since the World Changed. Elaine mentioned DFA’s four priorities prior to the election. She questioned whether these should remain our four priority issues going forward.
Remarks About Priorities – Patricia Hammann. Pat made a plea that the environment… i.e., saving our planet … be the top priority. She mentioned the book “Entropy” as a must-read on this subject. Pat read a letter addressed to President-elect Obama from her daughter, Rebecca Hammann, making the same plea. Rebecca who has lived in a co-housing community for 15 years, states: “Our system is based on buying more than we need, more cheaply than the true costs. …. Our lives must change. We simply cannot sustain what we are currently doing.” Rebecca, who just learned that she has terminal cancer, went on to urge Mr. Obama to “convince the people of this country and in this world that they need to and can change….. to save our beautiful earth.”
Candidate Development – Marianne Crouthamel. Marianne said the candidate development mission languished somewhat for a variety of reasons, one of which is the complexity of dealing with local, state, and federal offices. Another difficulty was the fact that many members of DFA moved on to take roles on the Adams County Democratic Committee (ACDC) while still being involved in DFA. The rules governing the Democratic Committee require that support be given only to Democratic candidates. On the other hand, DFA is free to support a candidate of any party although it decidedly leans towards Democrats. In fact, in the past, DFA had given serious consideration to supporting Representative Steve Nichol, a progressive Republican serving the 193rd District. Marianne feels that candidate development within DFA needs to be re-defined. She also thinks that citizen lobbying is a component of candidate development. Sometimes, citizens who participate in citizen lobbying become interested in running for office.
Remarks – Bob Knight. Bob noted that we have not done well in Adams County with Democrats. We need to start now to find and groom strong candidates for the upcoming elections.
Recommendation – Elaine Jones. Elaine suggested that we make some of our committees standing committees rather than task forces, and recommended a Communications Committee, a Campaign Development Committee, and a Citizen Lobbying Committee. The need to attract more active members as well as more young people was noted, a task that a Communications Committee could contribute to. Clodius Willis reiterated the need to reach out to our existing list of 700 or so people who receive our newsletters and announcements. He suggests we make telephone contact with them from time to time and/or recruit committee leadership roles from among these people. Joe Carter suggested Obama’s outreach effort using the presidential campaign organization could also be a source to tap into for new, active members.
Health Care Priority – Lou Hammann. Lou announced that the Health Care For All organization will hold a planning committee meeting in Harrisburg on Saturday, December 6th that he and Pat will attend. He said that the organization’s Executive Director, Chuck Pennacchio, is very upbeat about the chances for success right now because of the growing support for a single payer health care plan. U.S. Rep. Conyers is encouraging this organization and even offering some help to press forward on the bills before the Pennsylvania legislature, since it is thought that this state’s plan could become the model for a nationwide plan. Lou mentioned support for the plan by endorsing organizations such as the PA AFL-CIO, the PA Council of Churches, the PA Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professions, the American Medical Student Association, the PA League of Women Voters, Physicians for National Health Care, and Business Owners for Single Payer Health Care among others. There are 7,000 supporters signed up to work for passage of the legislation. Plans include lobbying municipal, county, and state entities for support. Lou and Pat will report back on the results of this meeting at which planning strategies for the January through March time frame will be discussed. Wendy Mizenko reminded us of the Obama campaign strategy of going door to door suggesting that our Task Force could adopt this as a means for getting the word out to Adams Countians, most of whom know nothing about this plan. Lou said a comprehensive brochure is being prepared which should be ready soon. Mention was also made of the incredible success of the recent conservation bond issue that was on the ballot and won by a 3 to 1 margin. Elaine said the Task Force should present an articulated strategy to the full membership so that DFA can get behind the issue and work for it. She said this approach should be used by all task forces and standing committees so that DFA can take a more active role in realizing its agenda.
Iraq Task Force Priority – Alan Olson. Alan recounted the successes of this task force such as educational discussions, two public programs, and visits to legislators in Gettysburg and Washington, DC. He said the committee needs to meet to discuss what direction they should take in the future, given that Barack Obama is now president. The Task Force will need to watch what will happen regarding the war and can discuss other issues of foreign policy. They can monitor the situation and put the pressure on the Obama administration regarding the war and other mid-East issues. We may need to visit Todd Platts’ office and Arlen Spector’s office to push Obama’s agenda, he suggests.
Education Priority – Bill Jones. Bill made a plea that DFA consider making education a priority, stating we are way behind in education in this country. We need to promote School Board candidates. Perhaps, we can find candidates for State office among school board and others filling local offices.

Local Issues – Clodius Willis. Clodius raised the idea that DFA might want to adopt local issues as a priority as well.

Committees. Discussion returned to the idea of establishing standing committees. Standing committees would be permanent; task forces can sometimes be temporary. The proposed Citizen Lobbying Committee would be a group with members who could mobilize to lobby if an issue, a piece of legislation or the like should come up. While issues may come from other committees or task forces, they can get support from the Standing Committee.

*** Clodius Willis moved, Alan Olson seconded, that DFA create three standing committees in the areas of Candidate Development, Communications, and Citizen Lobbying, in addition to the task forces, effective tonight. Motion passed.

Wendy Mizenko volunteered to do more to support membership and getting more people to be active in DFA. She is very concerned that in encouraging more people to become involved that we have concrete business to present at Meetups so that people can readily see what they can do to support a given priority. Perhaps membership could be a part of the Communications Committee.
Steering Committee Meeting. The next meeting will be at 7 pm on December 17th at the home of Clodius Willis at 140 East Middle Street in order to plan for the January Meetup.
Attract Young Members with an Inaugural Ball. Peter Boving suggested that we have an inaugural ball for this purpose. Perhaps it could take the place of the January Meetup and be held on the 20th instead of on the 7th. Peter volunteered to Chair the effort. Elaine said we could use email to try to put a committee together to plan the event. Ken Mott’s barn is a possible location for the event.
Establishment of DFA Priorities. Those in attendance approved by a show of hands the continuation of the following three priorities: the Iraq War, Single Payer Health Care, and the Environment. It was recommended that the Steering Committee discuss further the idea of making Education a forth priority.
Adjournment. The meeting ended at 9:00 PM.
Virginia A. Ciliotta, Recording Secretary