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Now Is The Time For Montgomery County Democrats To Get Involved To Vitalize and Reform Local Dem Party

Posted on January 26, 2010 by Mike Bock

Today, I sent a letter to the editor of the Dayton Daily News urging the newspaper to report the Montgomery County Democratic Party Reorganization Meeting. In the letter I accuse the local party of being antidemocratic and clique dominated and say that at the Reorganization Meeting delegates will have an opportunity to change the constitution to make the Party more democratic. My letter connects to this previous post: To Reform Our “Political Class” System, We Need A Grassroots Movement To Reform Our Political Parties

Dear Editor,

I am a member of the Montgomery County Democratic Party’s Central Committee. At the December meeting, I made a motion that the Party spend $500 on advertisements to inform county Democrats about the upcoming Reorganization Meeting. My motion had zero support. The Party’s chairperson, Mark Owens, at the January meeting reported that the DDN had failed to respond to a news release he had prepared.

The Reorganization Meeting will be held in late May and the deadline to register is February 18. Registration requires one’s signature on a one page petition available through the Board of Elections. The name of a person filing a petition will be on the May 4 Democratic Primary ballot. Every precinct may elect one person. An elected individual becomes a voting member of the Central Committee and a voting delegate at the Reorganization Meeting.

At the Reorganization Meeting, officers are chosen and a Constitution is approved. I am proposing a change in the Constitution to prohibit the Party from making endorsements during a Democratic Primary. The current endorsement policy disenfranchises regular Democrats and creates a clique dominated local party. The current policy, I believe, is antidemocratic and in opposition to the thinking and wishes of the vast majority of county Democrats.

At the 2006 Reorganization Meeting, less than 18% of precincts in the county were represented. The DDN in the past has rightfully criticized both the local Democratic Party and the local Republican Party for their antidemocratic actions. Political parties are essential to our democracy. Most county Democrats are uninformed about how to become meaningfully involved in their local Party. This opportunity comes only once every four years. It needs to be reported.

Mike Bock
Kettering

Note: Yesterday, I phoned the Montgomery County Democratic Party’s Headquarters and spoke with the office manager, Gen Murphy, about the press release Mark Owens told me about at the January meeting. Gen indicated that she had sent the press release but couldn’t find a copy of it. I asked Gen to e-mail me a copy of the release when she did find it. Today — after I had already sent the above letter to the DDN — I spoke with Gen again and she changed her story. She said that the press release had never been written nor sent, but that it would be written and sent today. Gen also said that she would post the news release on the Party’s web-site. After speaking with Gen, I sent the DDN a revised letter in which I omitted the sentence in red above.

See April 2009 post that reports on Mark Owens’ comments at South Of Dayton Democratic Club: Mark Owens Says Most Montgomery Dems Approve The Party’s Suppression Of Primary Participation

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Special Interests Controlling Montgomery County Democratic Party Suppress Expansion Of Participation

Posted on January 22, 2010 by Mike Bock

The leadership of the Montgomery County Democratic Party, it appears, is really not much interested in expanding the Party’s membership. It is all about control. It is all about maintaining the status of special interests.

Last night I attended the January meeting of the Montgomery County Democratic Party. I asked our chairperson, Mark Owens, about publicity for the upcoming Reorganization Meeting. His answer — There has been no publicity, so far. Mark said he had sent out one News Release, but, neither the DDN nor any other news media had reported it.

At the December meeting, I made a motion that the Party spend $500 in advertising to attempt to inform Montgomery County Democrats about our big Reorganization Meeting this Spring. My motion went nowhere, but Mark, at that time, indicated that he would take action to publicize this important event. But, nothing.

The deadline for potential delegates to the Reorganization Meeting to file with the Board of Elections is soon upon us — February 18.

I pointed out to Mark that information about this deadline is not even on the Party’s local web-site. Mark indicated, however, that he intended on putting a notice on the web-site very soon. Yesterday, I posted, “To Reform Our ‘Political Class’ System, We Need A Grassroots Movement To Reform Our Political Parties.” The current leadership of the Montgomery County Democratic Party shows no interest in motivating such a grassroots movement.

At the start of the Central Committee Meeting, as people were milling about, I pointed out to Gary Steiger that, likely, most of those present were earning their personal income via their political efforts. There was an unusual number of elected officials in attendance — because the all important Screening Committee, of which they are members, had met prior to the Central Committee Meeting.

Those who might be thought of as “regular Democrats,” last night, I’m guessing, were outnumbered by Democratic elected officials and Democrats who earn their income via patronage jobs provided by the Party. These vested Democrats control the local Democratic party.

Mark Owens, himself, is an elected official, and makes his income as Clerk of Courts. At least one of Mark’s employees, I know, is very active in the County Party organization, and probably more. This seems typical. Employees of elected Democratic officials make up an important part of the local party organization.

The Democrats who control the local Democratic Party organization, it seems, are in one of two special interest groups:

Individuals who make their income via their political connection, with the chair, Mark Owens, the model for this group.
Individuals who feel that because of their longevity and service to the Party, they are entitled to special privilege.

Individuals in both groups are likable and well meaning. But they are mistaken, because they have no interest in the Party operating democratically, no interest in expanding the group to include a lot of “regular Democrats.”

Mark defends the policies and practices of the current leadership and asserts that a majority of Montgomery County Democrats agree with the current leadership. I believe, absolutely, he is wrong. Mark is not taking a chance. He is not using the opportunity of the coming Reorganization Meeting to invite “regular Democrats” to meaningful participation within the local party.

The antidemocratic policies of the current party leadership, that focuses on advancing the special interests of the current leadership, mean that it is impossible for the Party to do a good job. The inertia of the group is overwhelming. The group is stuck in the old ways — including topdown boss management — from 50 years ago.

The internet makes it possible to form active meaningful communities in which individuals are empowered with shared information and empowered to make meaningful participation. But empowering regular Democrats to full participation in the Party seems risky to those individual who already enjoy special privileges — so the Montgomery County Democratic Party falls far short of accomplishing what it should and could accomplish.

The Party’s failure is seen in the fact that it is not advancing good candidates. It has not prepared for the future. It has failed over the years to groom and inspire good candidate prospects. As of last night, there is no Democratic candidate to take on Republican Mike Turner in the 3rd U.S. Congressional District. There are no candidates to challenge Republican Peggy Lehner in the 37th OHD, nor Republican Terry Blair in the 38th OHD.

This lack of good candidates — the lack of any candidates — is pathetic, a missed opportunity. A vigorous Montgomery County Democratic Party would be a community of Democrats encouraging and challenging each other and forging effective leadership as part of that community. But, as it is, nothing.

The only hope for the Party’s future is that the Party begin to act as a meaningful democratic community — infused with new blood, new ideas, new commitment. The requirement written into state law that political parties must organized according to democratic principles, through free elections, is very wise. We simply need to see that this law is effectively followed — regardless that the special interests are now in control of the local party.

Political parties are essential to our democracy. For our democracy to have any chance of working, political parties must themselves be democratic. We now have less than four weeks to alert and involve Montgomery County Democrats — before the February 18 deadline.

The application to have your name put on the ballot is simple — it only requires your signature. You can download a copy here. Precinct names have changed and I have the voter list in my computer. Send me an e-mail at mbock@att.net, and I will send you your precinct name and number.

You are invited to join my Dayton Democrats group on Facebook.

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To Reform Our “Political Class” System, We Need A Grassroots Movement To Reform Our Political Parties

Posted on January 21, 2010 by Mike Bock

I’m back.

Martin Gottlieb, writing in today’s DDN, “Massachusetts phenomenon visible early in Dayton,” makes a comparison between the defeat of Democrat Martha Coakley in Massachusetts and the defeat of Democrat Rhine McLin in Dayton. Writes Gottlieb, “The city of Dayton is far more Democratic than Massachusetts … Yet a Democratic mayor just fell here…. The discontent with the Democrats was and is clear.”

The defeat of Democrats Coakley and McLin, within heavily concentrated Democratic areas, shows discontent not just with the candidates, but also with the Democratic Party.

Voters slapped down both Coakley and McLin, in part, because both projected a sense of entitlement.

Andrew Romano of Newsweek says that Scott Brown got votes by successfully framing Coakley as an arrogant elitist. Romano writes, “The key moment came in the Jan. 13 debate, when moderator David Gergen referred to ‘Teddy Kennedy’s seat’ and Brown stepped in to correct him. ‘With all due respect,’ Brown said, ‘it’s not the Kennedys’ seat, it’s not the Democrats’ seat, it’s the people’s seat.’”

“It’s the people’s seat,” is a powerful concept at the heart of our representative democracy. Our history rejects the notion that power belongs to an aristocracy, and holds to the idea that power should belong to the people. Voters don’t like politicians who project an air of entitlement and voters increasingly are identifying politicians as a “political class” aristocracy that deserves to be slapped down.

More and more voters are convinced that our democracy is not working. We have a Democratic President, a Democratic congress, yet things still are not being accomplished. The rejection of Coakley and McLin, in part, can be seen as a protest against the dysfunction of the system.

The emergence of a “political class” aristocracy, with its sense of entitlement, I believe, can be rightfully blamed on our clique dominated, antidemocratic political parties. To reform and vitalize our democracy we need to reform and vitalize our political parties.

A Montgomery Country Democratic Party member was recently defending the Party’s antidemocratic policies as, “WE think this, WE want that, etc.” Yes, the clique always thinks they are right. But a political party, by law, cannot simply do whatever it wants. A political party is not free to set its own rules, as if it is a private club. It is not free to organize and operate oligarchically. It must follow the law. And the law says that it must organize and operate democratically, based upon free and open elections.

The reason our Montgomery County Democratic Party operates as a cliquish, antidemocratic group — see articles listed below — is that Montgomery County Democrats have allowed this to happen. In 2006, at the last reorganization meeting, only about 18% of precincts were represented. Creating a vitalized, democratic Montgomery County Democratic Party would simply require more Democrats to become involved in the local party.

if Montgomery County Democrats want a vitalized, local democratic party, a revolution in local politics, they don’t need to storm party headquarters. They simply need to follow the law and elect sufficient reform minded Democrats to the Central Committee. Every four years there is a precinct by precinct election and, now, 2010, this is the year for Montgomery County Democrats to reorganize. The deadline is February 18, 4:00 PM, to get one’s application to the Montgomery County Board of Elections, in order to get one’s name on the ballot. And, this year, all that is required is one’s own signature on this form. (In previous elections, a candidate, was required to get five additional signatures.)

In Dayton, regardless that it was obvious that many Daytonians wanted a replacement for Rhine McLin, the Montgomery County Democratic Party early on gave McLin its wholehearted endorsement and actively suppressed any primary competition to McLin. The endorsement was not an effort to empower Dayton voters, nor was it an effort to help Dayton solve its problems. It was simply an effort by insiders in the Party to keep McLin in power. It was an expression of a sense of entitlement.

Similarly, two years ago, the Montgomery County Democratic Party for the 40th OHD, to replace Fred Strahorn, endorsed Roland Winburn. Because of the Republican gerrymandering, the 40th OHD regularly votes 70% Democratic. A small clique of Dayton Democrats leaders showed a big sense of entitlement to the right to name Fred’s successor, rather than allowing an honest and open Primary. This small clique pushed Roland Winburn, and justified their actions by saying that Winburn was entitled to the position.

The rejection of Coakley and McLin may deliver the message that voters are sick of the sense of entitlement projected by a political aristocracy, it may deliver the message that voters want a vitalized democracy.

But the current cliques in control in either political party probably won’t hear that message. What is needed are citizens who hear the wake-up call for reform. We need a grassroots movement centered on reforming our political parties. We are empowered by law. Between now and February 18, I plan on working to help grassroots Montgomery County Democrats hear the message.