Messages

9/12 - 9/19

Dear Cape & Islands Town Committee Chairs:

I am writing at the suggestion of State Committee Chairman Darrell Crate. Each week, on Sunday night, Mr. Crate holds a conference call with all State Committee members in order to inform them of future events and plans. Tonight, he suggested that the State Committee people inform the Town Committee Chairs of what was discussed, in order to keep them ‘in the loop’ and to better enable them to work for their candidates by knowing what issues would be coming up in the next week. This is going to the chairs of Harwich, Orleans, Brewster, Nantucket, Barnstable, Yarmouth and Mashpee. I have left a message for the Dennis chair, but do not have anything east of Orleans or on Martha’s Vineyard. I would appreciate knowing email address and names of other chairs in the Cape and Islands district that I do not already have. I will forward this to them, and include them in future weekly bulletins.

First, to recap the call of 9/12. Mr. Crate talked about the need to look beyond November, and focus on party building and the election of county and municipal officials in 2005. He would like for you to send to us names of any interested parties, and the State Committee will, for the first time, be offering assistance in this area. Also, we need to know the dates of the town elections and town meetings so we can attend and observe (save for Barnstable). To that end, I am in the process of transforming my legislative campaign web site into a State Party web site for the Cape, with a response card that you can refer people to and other information links. These changes will be accomplished within this next week, so I am sending that web site address to you now (under my signature) so if you know of anybody who is interested in Selectman, School Committee, etc., you can refer them to me to send to Mr. Crate and Andrew Goodrich, our Southeastern Mass. Coordinator.

Tonight’s call centered around about auto insurance as the issue that the Governor intends to highlight this coming week. He will be doing candidate events, for Tim Duncan closest to us, at which he will speak to the need for reform. The Governor first mentioned this in his State of the State address last January. No matter which legislative candidate you are working for, the arbitrary and inefficient auto insurance system of Massachusetts resonates with voters everywhere, and is indirectly involved with our homeowner’s insurance crisis by keeping major carriers like Allstate and Nationwide out of the state. I am working on talking points for Mr. Crate to share, and would appreciate any ideas of thoughts you might have – I spent 10 years in the industry, and sometimes you can be too close to a problem to see a solution. ANY idea or comment is appreciated.

For the mainland folks, Randy Norris is the Acting Chair of the newly formed Nantucket State Committee, which Bob Dwyer and I initiated on Sept. 17. The starting group is 11, and they hope to be able to reach a full complement of 35 with associates soon.

By copy/pasting email addresses, or hitting a ‘Reply to All’ button, you town committee chairs will also be able to speak with one another, and coordinate events. For instance, this Wednesday, there is a function for Gail Lese sponsored by the Dennis Town Committee, and the same night is the annual Meeting of the Barnstable County Republican Club at the Cape Codder. Hopefully, we can avoid such conflicts by communicating better. The only other events I know of at this time are:

Sept. 20 – Birthday Party for Gail Lese, Mattakese Wharf
Sept. 28 – fundraiser for Ann Canedy, Yarmouth House

Another event is the Gomes Rally in Harwich on Sunday, Sept. 26 from 1 to 3 pm, and I hope the committees in her district will attend and support her.

I will try to do this on a weekly basis in order to keep it shorter, and bi-weekly at least. Please do not hesitate to call me with any comment or concern you may have.

Cynthia E. Stead

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