Dolphin Democrats

Politics in the LGBT Community

Membership Meetings

Official Notice: August 12th Membership & Endorsement Meeting

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Official Notice: August 12th Membership & Endorsement Meeting
The Dolphin Democrats will host a Membership Meeting via Zoom on Wednesday, August 12, 2020 at 7:00pm and the members will consider endorsements to the following seats: 
Broward County Commission – District 7 & 9
Coral Springs Commission – Districts 3 & 5
Fort Lauderdale Mayor
Fort Lauderdale Commission – District 2
Oakland Park Commission – 3 At-Large Seats
Pompano Beach Mayor
Pompano Beach Commission Districts 4 & 5
Wilton Manors Mayor
Wilton Manors Commission – 2 At-Large Seats
See Completed Questionnaires HERE 
 
In addition, the members will also be ratifying the decision of the Board of Directors, made at a July 20, 2020 emergency meeting, to rescind the endorsement of Mr. David Williams Jr. for Florida State House of Representatives, District 102.   (See BOD Emergency Meeting Minutes: 07-20-2020_DolphinDems_BOD Emergency Meeting_Minutes)
MEETING VIA ZOOM
Wednesday, August  12, 2020
Zoom Registration Link will be emailed 2-3 days before the meeting.
6:30 pm – Check-In
7:00 pm – Meeting Starts
Vanessa Villaverde
Secretary
Dolphin Democrats

July 8th – Membership Meeting

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JULY MEMBERSHIP MEETING – Wednesday July 8, 2020
7:00pm – 8:30pm – Via Zoom

At  the July Membership Meeting The Dolphin Democrats will consider endorsements for Supervisor of Elections, State House Representative (Districts 94, 96, 101 104) , State Senate (Districts 29, 33, & 35) & Clerk of Courts.  We will also consider recommendations for Broward County Court & 17th Circuit Court Judicial candidates.

We highly encourage all voting members to read the questionnaires ahead of the meeting. You can read completed questionnaires by CLICKING HERE 

Please submit any follow up questions for the candidates to: [email protected]

This is a notice for the meeting and the endorsement consideration per the bylaws.  This not an agenda.  Agenda will be available to all paid members as they check-in the meeting. 

Please note that this will be the only endorsement meeting in July. We have moved-up  the Judicial Candidates recommendation and Clerk or Courts endorsement from July 9th to this meeting.

June Membership Meeting & Endorsements

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Join us on Wednesday, June 17, 2020 at our Membership Meeting.
7:00pm – Via Zoom
2020 Paid Members Only

We will be voting to endorse the following Seats in Broward County.
Sheriff
Supervisor of Election
Property Appraiser
School Board Districts 3, 5, & 9
Clerk of Circuit Court
State House Districts 93, 95, 103 & 105

You must be a member for at least 30 days by the day of the meeting to be able to vote.

For questions email us at [email protected]

May Membership Meeting & Endorsement

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We would like to remind all our 2020 paid members that we will be holding a membership meeting on Wednesday, May 13, 2020 at 7:00pm via Zoom. We will be endorsing a candidate for Public Defender and a candidate for State Attorney. Please see links to access the candidates endorsement questionnaire:

Public Defender & State Attorney

You can also access all the candidates forums by clicking HERE

In the next few days our team will be reaching out all our members to go over instructions on how to register and access the zoom meeting.

For questions please contact [email protected]

May Membership Meeting & Endorsements

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The Dolphin Democrats will be hosting their first ever Virtual Membership Meeting & Endorsement on Wednesday, May 13, 2020 at 7:00pm via www.zoom.com. At the meeting we will be endorsing one candidate to the State Attorney seat and one candidate to the Public Defender seat.

To maintain the integrity of the meeting and the endorsement process, this meeting will be open only to current members. A Zoom invitation to register will be emailed to members at least 1 day before the meeting. All voting members in attendance will be able to participate in the endorsement process that will take place by voting electronically during the meeting.  

In the next 2 weeks the Board of Directors will be calling and emailing all current members to confirm attendance and verify voting information. This is a new way to conduct business for all of us, so we ask for your patience as we transition to virtually support members, voters and candidates in the next few months. 

Our bylaws state that only members who have joined or renewed their membership 30 days prior to the meeting (April 14, 2020) will be allowed to vote in the endorsement process. Our bylaws also states that for a candidate to get the endorsement, they must get  2/3 of the votes.

Due to the large number of candidates, the following voting rounds will apply to each seat:

PUBLIC DEFENDER SEAT:  3 candidates have qualified.  We will have 2 voting rounds unless one of the 3 candidates gets 2/3 of the votes on the first round. 
1st voting round: the 2 candidates with the most votes will move to the next round. 
2nd & final voting round: the candidate who gets 2/3 of the votes will get the endorsement. 

Public Defender Candidates: 
Ruby Green
Tom Lynch
Gordon Weekes

STATE ATTORNEY SEAT: 8 candidates have qualified. 3 voting rounds will be done unless one of the 8 candidates gets 2/3 of the votes on the first or second round
1st voting round: the 5 candidates with the most votes will move to the next round
2nd voting round: the 2 candidates with the most votes will move to final round
3rd and final voting round:  the candidate who gets 2/3 of the votes will get the endorsement. 

State Attorney Candidates: 
David Canady
Teresa Williams
Joe Kimok
James Lewis
Justin McCormack
Sarahnell Murphy
Harold Pryor
Joshua Rydell

We encourage members who don’t have a  free Zoom account to get one before the May 13th meeting. Zoom meetings work best on PCs or Laptops, but it is also possible to attend one via Smart Phone.  A call-in option will be available for those who prefer that; however, voting on the endorsements will be done electronically and you must have access to the internet to be able to participate. 

We would like to thank you in advance for your patience with this process. We are confident that together we will be able to successfully hold a meeting and endorse these candidates. 

March Membership Meeting

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Join us on Wednesday, March 11, 2020 at our Membership Meeting. We will be hosting all the Democratic candidates for Broward County State Attorney and will be electing a Secretary to the currently vacant position. Meeting is held at The Pride Center in Wilton Manors. Doors open at 6:30pm and meeting will start promptly at 7:00pm.

Update 03/11/2020

February Minutes

March Agenda

We look forward to seeing you there!

Michael Bloomberg wins Presidential Preference straw poll at Dolphin Dems Meeting

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Wilton Manors, FL – Members of the Dolphin Democrats conducted a Presidential Preference Primary Straw Poll at their Feb. 12 monthly meeting. Michael R. Bloomberg won the straw poll garnering 32 percent of the votes. Coming in second was Pete Buttigieg at 25 percent, and third was Elizabeth Warren at 23 percent. Amy Klobuchar received 8.51 percent of the vote; Joe Biden received 6.38 percent; Bernie Sanders received 4.36 percent; and Tom Steyer received 0 percent.

 “We’re always looking for ways to excite LGBTQ+ Democrats in Broward County,” said Alfredo Olvera, President of the Dolphin Democrats. “The straw poll is a fun and exciting way to energize Democrats and find out the pulse of our caucus, but I want to stress it is not an official endorsement of the organization.

“I encourage all LGBTQ+ Broward Democrats to fight for their respective candidates with all their heart and passion, but in the end, we must come together to defeat President Trump.”

The Dolphin Democrats’ mission this election year is to Unite, Ignite, and Win.

The Dolphin Democrats will conduct a second and final straw poll at their Wednesday, March 11 membership meeting.

For more information, please visit https://www.dolphindems.org

CLICK HERE FOR FULL PRESS RELEASE

The Census is coming!

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March 12-20: Invite to respond Online

March 16-24: A reminder letter

If you haven’t responded:

March 26-April 3: A reminder postcard

April 8-16: A reminder letter and paper form

April 20-27: A final reminder, before in person follow up

Learn more at: https://2020census.gov/en.html

February Annual Membership Meeting – Board of Directors Election

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February Annual Membership Meeting – Board of Directors Election

At our February 12, 2020 Annual Membership Meeting we will be electing 5 Directors with terms expiring on February, 2022.  We will also be electing a Secretary with term expiring on February 2021. 

Any person who would like to participate in the election as a candidate or a voter, must renew their membership or join by December 29, 2019.  Candidates shall also be registered as a Democrat living in Broward County, and be able and willing to attend and actively participate in the monthly membership meeting and Board of Directors meeting.

The Dolphin Democrats Board of Directors is a very active Board united in a common purpose, to strengthen and further the ideals and principles of the Democratic Party, which recognizes and promotes diversity, good will, and respect for all members of the community.   

Anyone interested in running for Director or Secretary must submit their names at [email protected] no later than February 2, 2020 

Join us today and become part of the change.

Official Notice: January Membership Meeting – Bylaws Amendments

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Official Notice: January Membership Meeting Bylaws Amendments

At our Wednesday, January 8, 2020 Membership meeting, the Bylaws Committee will be be presenting for membership vote the following proposed amendments to sections of the Bylaws:

1.Changed LGBTA to LGBTQ+ throughout the entire document. This is consistent with the state caucus.

2. Article VI, Sec. 5(c)(iii) – Reduced voting eligibility for officer and director elections from 45 to 40 days. This aligns the eligibility deadline better with the meeting schedule to increase eligible voters for the elections.

3. Article VIII, Sec. 2 – Added a requirement that all board of directors must receive Voter Registration Training within 6 months of assuming or being appointed to their position.

4. Article VIII, Sec. 6 Removed the word “board” from board member attendance at meetings and clarified that board members may only miss 4 meetings either board or general membership.

We encourage all of our members to review the updates before the meeting.  According to our current Bylaws, all amendments can only be approved by 2/3 of the members in attendance at the membership meetings, while meeting quorum.

For questions or concerns, please email Alfredo Olvera at [email protected]

See below links to print a copy of the “Bylaws Amendment Summary Sheet” and a copy of the Bylaws with the recommended changes red-lined.

Bylaw Amendments Summary Sheet – Jan 2020

Dolphin Democrats Bylaw Proposed Amendments – January 2020