Update [2006-3-5 1:16:38 by albert]: I got the required amount of sigs to get me on the ballot! A little update here
So, I done decided to do it. I’m running for committeeperson in Ward 5 Division 8 of Philadelphia County. Why? Because I really want to get involved. More so than just going to meetings, talking to friends, writing, commenting… I want to have a bigger voice, even if it is only amplified by a tenth of a percent via the authority of committeeperson.
I’m doing this because I’ve been inspired by people I’ve known through the years and by people I’ve only met in these last twenty months in Philadelphia and in the land o’ blogs.
I was inspired by one of my best friends, Austin, who drove from Chicago all over Iowa for Dean in 2004. I’m inspired by Chuck Pennacchio [for whom I am a volunteer] because he was fed up with the losing campaigns the Dems here in PA have ran for fourteen years and he wants a better Pennsylvania and a better United States for his family, his students and the whole lot of us. I was inspired by Chris Bowers from mydd.com who shook the political organizational tree out in West Philly by becoming a committeeperson and organizing his ward to oust their inactive Ward Leader. I’ve been inspired by the activists and groups of activists I’ve met online and offline and their enthusiasm for everything for which they stick their necks out. And by my friends here in Philly who are also running or have ran: Sabra, Danie, Aaron, Andrea, Hannah…
And I’m committed to this city of Philadelphia where I moved to after some shitty times back home in NY. A city that has taken me in with open arms and never asked questions.
But what the hell does a committeeperson [CP] even do? I’m not sure how local politics works all over the country – fuck, I’m not even 100& sure how it works here – but here in Philadelphia, it starts with the committeepeople.
From what I understand…
A CP is the first point of contact between the citizens and their elected officials. CPs are unpaid. There are two Democrats and two Republicans voted into their voting districts every four years. They represent a tiny fraction of the entire city. Each Division is between 500 and 1000 people, about four square blocks in my area of town.
The main task of the CP is to get out the vote. Each CP has a “Street List” with the names, addresses and sometimes phone numbers of all the registered Dems in their division. It’s incumbent on them [and all those other GOTV groups] to go knock on doors and get people out to the polls to fulfill their civic duty, it is the least people can do on Tuesday. CPs are supposed to report to the polling spot at 6.30a to help set things up. In my case, my polling spot is actually, no joke, the maintenance shed of the park in my division. I was quite shocked when I went to vote there in the May primary. I circled the block once to make sure I had the right address and then I saw people going in and out of the shed so I went in. About enough space for a few booths, a folding table and a few storage lockers and a wheelbarrow.
And the CP is to head back to the polls when they close at 8p to watch the recount/tally. Each CP is usually given poll watcher certificates by their ward leader to have access inside the polling place before and after the polls are open/closed.
That, in a nutshell, is what I’m getting involved to do right now. But first, I gotta get on the ballot to run which means I need ten signatures from registered Dems in my division. I’m going to do that through the weekend and file in City Hall on Monday. Wish me luck folks and soon, I could be Committeperson Yee! Now doesn’t that sound powerful and authoritative? Nevertheless, everyone will have to respect my authori-tay if I am elected.
