2015 town caucus organizer example packet

Paid for by the Vermont Democratic Party and not authorized by any candidate of candidates committee.

www.vtdemocrats.org printed in house.

To: Town Caucus Organizers From: Cameron Russell, VDP Field Director Re: Reorganization Information Packet Date: July 21st, 2015

Thank you for your help with the Vermont Democratic Party Reorganization efforts! In 2013 we were effective in reorganizing nearly 190 towns in Vermont, but we have to keep pushing. After a challenging 2014 General Election and in anticipation of whats sure to be a historic 2016 Election, we need to buckle down and build a strong, united community of Vermont Democrats. With more and more Super PACs making their way to Vermont, we cant afford to sit idly by weve got to act! As Senator Patrick Leahy told the VT Young Democrats recently: The Republicans can spend money in Vermont, but we have to show them that Vermonters arent for sale. Lets make this years reorganization more than the process required by law. Lets use this years reorganization to ground our committees within the strong communities of Democrats all across the State of Vermont. Together, we can and will make a difference.

Enclosed you will find everything you need for reorganizing your town on Monday, September 21st, 2015. Town organizing is important because only organized towns can legally raise money, help fill elected office vacancies, and send members to attend state and national conventions. Furthermore, building and cultivating leadership at the local level is the bedrock of success for our Party. Though Democrats are organized in more towns in Vermont than Republicans, we currently have fewer town committee members across the state! Weve got work to do both to increase the number of organized towns and to make sure that we have over 200 Vermont Democratic Town Committees by the end of 2015!

Once youve scheduled your Town Caucus, please email me at: [email protected]. The email should include the date, time, and location of your meeting. We will post all of the meeting times and locations on the VDP website closer to the date of the caucuses. (www.vtdemocrats.org) Please try to schedule your town meeting no later than Friday, July 31st, 2015!

Please note that the County Committee Reorganization meetings are to be held on Tuesday, October 27th, and the State Committee Reorganization meeting will be held on Saturday, November 21st.

Enclosed in this packet are the following: 1. County Specific Information Sheet 2. 2015 Reorganization Timeline 3. Five Steps to Town Committee Organization/Reorganization 4. Town and County Chairs Guide 5. Town Democratic Caucus Meeting Flyer Notice (2 copies) 6. Sample Caucus Agenda 7. Certification Forms (Make 3 copies of completed and signed form and additional contact sheets) 8. Contact Sheets for additional Committee Members &County Delegates and Alternates 9. 3 Pre-addressed envelopes for mailing Certification Forms, and copies of Notices/Advertisements

We have developed this packet by using both best practices from previous reorganization years and by including the input of many party activists who have previously participated in the process.

If you have any concerns, please feel free to contact me directly at [email protected] or (802) 734-1561.

Thanks in advance for your help in making the 2015 Reorganization process the strongest yet!



Town Specific Information

Town Name: Delegates to County Committee: Over 3000 Residents /Must post Caucus Notice in Newspaper/Online?

Yes Over 3000 Residents (If yes, please coordinate newspaper advertisements with your County Committee)

No Under 3000 Residents

Rutland County Contacts and Resources

County Chair: Kathy Hall Email: [email protected] Phone: (802) 483-2979

VDP Summer Fellow: Cooper Babbitt Email: [email protected] Phone: (802) 282-6896

Field Director (VDP Staff Point Person) Cameron Russell Email: [email protected] Phone: (802) 734-1561

Additional Resources:

2015 Reorganization Webpage This section of the VDP Website will contain electronic copies of the Town Caucus Reorganization Packet, contact information, and answers to anticipated frequently asked questions. Dont hesitate to let the Field Director, Cameron Russell, know if there are additional resources that you would like to see listed on the webpage. Please note that this section of the website is for Caucus Organizer/Committee use only!

Web Address: www.vtdemocrats.org/2015-party-reorganization Password: september21



2015 VDP REORGANIZATION TIMELINE

Weeks of August 3rd - 17th

Fellows work with existing activists and volunteers to organize town committees/increase attendance

Town Caucus Meeting Time and Place scheduled (Date is set at September 21st)

Weeks of August 24th September 7th

Calls to boost Town Caucus attendance

State Chair to send formal notification of Town Caucuses to Town Clerks and to all current Town and County Chairs by September 7th (two weeks before caucuses)

Reconfirm Town Caucus Meeting Time and Place for September 21st

Week of September 14th

Town Caucus Confirm Calls Fellows will need help from County Chairs and Activists

Public Notices (and Newspaper/Online News Source where applicable) must be posted by SEPTEMBER 16th!

September 21st - Town Committee Caucuses

Final confirm calls should be made evening of September 20th

September 22nd

Reminder Calls to All Town Chairs to submit paperwork (to SOS, VDP, and County Chair) using provided pre-addressed envelopes

September 24th

ALL Paperwork postmarked to be sent to SOS, Town Clerk, VDP, and County Chair o Certification of Town Committee & County Delegates o Copy of Public Notice o Copy of Newspaper/Online Media Outlet Notice if applicable

Weeks of September 28th - October 12th

Calls to all Town Committee participants to boost County Caucus attendance

Field Director works with County Chairs and remaining Fellows to document Town Reorganization

Notification of County Caucuses sent by Chair of the Party by October 17th

Week of October 19th

County Caucus Confirm Calls

October 27th - County Committee Caucuses

Final confirm calls should be made evening of October 26th

October 30th

ALL Paperwork postmarked to be sent to SOS & VDP o Certification of County Committee & State Delegates

Weeks of November 2nd - 16th

Reminder Calls to State Committee Members and County Chairs

State Chair to send official notice of State Committee Meeting by November 14th

November 21st - State Committee Meeting

December 1st

Final Reorganization Paperwork Filed with SOS by this date



Five Steps to Town Committee Organization/Reorganization

STEP 1: Reserve Location for September 21st, 2015 Reserve an easily accessible public space, preferably one that has been used before for similar purposes.

Make sure that it is ADA accessible.

Call as soon as possible to reserve the public space for your Caucus. We recommend reserving your space by early August.

Schedule the Town Caucus in the evening so that as many people as possible can attend.

In order to allow your County Committee to help with town level advertising, it is especially important that the Town Caucus be held on September 21st, the date set by the State Party Chair. If this is not possible, please contact Field Director, Cameron Russell, at: [email protected].

Inform your County Chair of the location and time of your Caucus.

Inform the VDP Field Director, Cameron Russell, of your Town Caucus time and location so that it can be posted on the VDP website at: www.vtdemocrats.org

STEP 2: Organize! Although it technically only takes three registered voters to hold a Town Caucus, it is critical that we involve as many community members as possible in the Caucus process!

First, contact the Summer Fellow in your area to see how you can collaborate! o Please Reference the County Info Sheet Included in this packet for Summer Fellow contact info

Start by contacting every current Town Committee member

The VDP can also provide you with a list of Strong Democrats in your area to invite. You can help build for attendance by holding a phone banking party to invite everyone on the list.

Send an email out to your town committee list. If you have the funds, send a postcard invite to Strong Democrats as well.

It is advisable to invite all Democratic elected officeholders from your area including Representatives, Senators, Select Board members, Justices of the Peace, etc.

Call, email, and send a postcard to all contacts made two weeks before the Town Caucus, and then send a reminder email and complete follow up-calls two days before the meeting as well.

Work in collaboration with your County Chair to aid in organizing efforts.

A well-attended caucus is the first step to a strong Democratic victory in 2016. If you make it your top priority to reach out to as many people as possible, you can see a great increase in participation in your town committee.

Additionally, consider planning summer events in your town or in collaboration with neighboring towns to increase local awareness and to welcome new membership well in advance of the Town Caucus. Ideally, the Town Caucus, though important, will serve as more of a formality than the sole purpose of bringing together your local Democratic community.

Make the caucus fun! Arrange to offer refreshments or invite a prominent Democratic officeholder or special guest. Feel free to go above and beyond the mere statutory requirements: advertise frequently and well in advance of the Town Caucus. This isnt just about forming a Town Committee; its about building an organization thats capable of local grassroots organizing, recruiting candidates, electing officeholders, and that can inform the public policy decisions that directly affect Vermonters!



STEP 3: Post Notices and Advertisements Post a "Notice of Democratic Town Caucus" in your Town Clerks Office and at least one other public

location 5 days before the Town Caucus. The public library, post office, or local convenient store would be appropriate examples. Please feel free to use the sample notice in this packet.

If your town has a population larger than 3,000 people, you will also have to advertise in either: o A newspaper having general circulation in the town; or o In a nonpartisan electronic news media website that specializes in news of the State or the

community. o If three voters arrange to call the caucus in a currently unorganized town, the voters shall designate

one of the three to perform the duties prescribed above, normally completed by the town chair. o Call your County Committee about sharing this responsibility as necessary. o You can use the same general format as the example public notice that is enclosed in this packet.

Make and file 3 copies of both the public notice and any advertisements (if applicable) to send in after the Town Caucus Please see Step 5 for further clarification.

**Please remember that the above steps are mandated by State Law and not something that the VDP can negotiate. If you feel you cant complete these steps, please let Cameron Russell know ASAP.**

STEP 4: Hold the Town Caucus The first order of business when you convene your Town Caucus is to form your Town Committee.

Members must be registered voters and should be self-declared Democrats. Members names, addresses and phone numbers must be listed on the Certification Form (Copies of Form Enclosed) for them to be considered an official member of the Committee. Also, members cannot be part of a caucus of another political party, as this would be against State Law.

It is extremely important to collect contact info from everyone present, especially their email addresses, in order for future communication. If attendees do not want to put their contact info on the Secretary of State forms, please use the separate sign-up sheet for the VDPs use only.

Elect your Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer, and Secretary. One person may hold more than one office. However, the same person cannot be Chair and Vice-Chair, and the same person cannot be Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer. For smaller towns, its recommended that the Chair and Secretary be the same because those two officers must often sign forms, and its easier if it is a single person.

Elect Delegates to your County Committee. The maximum number of Delegates you may elect is arrived at by a formula based on your town's Democratic votes for Governor in 2014. Enclosed is a County Committee Delegates Sheet for your county that will tell you the maximum number of Delegates you can elect. o PLEASE NOTE: No one, even the elected Town Chair, is automatically a Delegate to the County

Committee. Delegates must all be elected, with the total number of Delegates not to exceed the number specified by the County Committee Delegates Sheet.

Inform the attendees that the County Committee Reorganization Meeting will take place on October 27th. o Your County Chair will inform you of the time and location when it is chosen. o It is important to elect County Committee Delegates who are interested, willing, and able to attend

County Committee meetings so your town will be well represented at the county level. o Non-delegates are also welcome to attend County Committee meetings, but are not voting members.

Once the Town Committee is formed, you will adjourn your Town Caucus and immediately proceed to conduct business as the newly formed Town Committee.

Use the Town Committee meeting as an opportunity to talk about what Town Committees can do to really make a difference: o Register new voters o Hold issues forums, dialogues, presentations, etc. o Recruit candidates o Feel free to refer to the Town and County Chairs Guide for more examples.



At this meeting, you should also vote to allow the Town Chair to be able to add new members to the Town Committee at any time, to make members present a quorum at future meetings, and schedule the next committee meeting preferably at a regular time, like the 3rd Tuesday of each month (can be less frequently ie: Meet once every quarter or more often in election years).

STEP 5: Mail Certifications, Notices, and Advertisements Completely fill in the form titled Certification of Town Committee & County Delegates

o The Town Chair and the Secretary must sign the form. Be sure to fill out all three copies of the Certification Form and any additional pages containing Committee or County Delegate names.

Put a copy of each of the following items in each of the pre-addressed envelopes: o Certification of Town Committee & County Delegates and any additional sheets containing Delegate

names o A copy of the public notice that was posted at the Town Clerk and one other public location 5 Days

before the Town Caucus o If you live in a town with more than 3,000 people, you must also include a copy of the notice that was

posted in either: A newspaper having general circulation in the town; or In a nonpartisan electronic news media website that specializes in news of the State or the

community If your County Chair is orchestrating this advertisement, please make sure to have them send

you a copy or cut the advertisement out of your local paper/online news source.

Mail all documents listed above within 72 hours (three days) of the Town Caucus to the following places: o The Secretary of States Office o The Vermont Democratic Party o The County Democratic Chair o All towns will be provided with three envelopes pre-addressed to the above contacts.

NOTE: The above steps must be done to complete the reorganization process. If the forms are not delivered, your town will not be on record as organized and will not be able to send delegates to state

or national conventions! Please dont hesitate to contact your Summer Fellow or the VDP Field Director, Cameron Russell, at [email protected], with any additional questions!

Thanks in advance for all of the hard work put forth in making the 2015 Party Reorganization process run smoothly.



Town and County Chair Guide Building Strong Democratic Communities Across Vermont



Town and County Chair Guide Contents:

I. The Duties of the Town/County Chair Statutory Duties

Party Building Responsibilities

Election Responsibilities

II. How Do I Make This Work? How to build and maintain an effective local committee and

community

III. Committee Roles Defined Chair

Treasurer

Secretary

Executive Committee

IV. Campaign Finance Laws Summary

V. Staying Connected List of Resources



I. The Duties of the Town/County Chair

Summary: Statutory Duties: Organize and lead County/Town Committee in compliance with State law and conduct a

caucus on election years to nominate Justices of the Peace.

Party Building Responsibilities: Engage with local activists to expand party outreach, recruit and support Democratic candidates for House and Senate races, and raise money to support town and county activities. Foster local Democratic community membership and articulate importance of citizen involvement in local Democratic politics.

Election Responsibilities: Help recruit volunteers and provide grassroots resources to the Vermont Democratic Partys coordinated campaign and support Democratic candidates for office.

Statutory Duties of the Town/County Chair There are only a few duties that the chair of a town or county committee is obligated to perform during their two-year cycle. Although the list below is quite comprehensive, remember that these responsibilities only encompass three meetings that are required:

1. Off-election year town and county caucus 2. Election-year caucus to select delegates to the State Party Convention 3. Nomination meeting for Justice of the Peace candidates.

o (Note: The latter two can be combined.)

What a Town/County Chair does in: Party Reorganization Years

Call a caucus or a meeting of the town/county committee for the purpose of organizing or reorganizing a town/county committee between September 10th and 30th in odd-numbered years. This year, town caucuses will be held on September 21st and county caucuses will be held on October 27th.

Preside over the caucus to elect the town/county committee until a new chair is elected. (You can reelect someone multiple times as there are no term limits)

Convene the first meeting of the town/county committee immediately following the caucus.

Ensure that the required forms and notices are sent to the Secretary of States office, the VDP, and the County Committee. The VDP will include this paperwork in our reorganization packets.

Ensure that the town/county committee treasurer provides campaign finance information to the state party chair and relevant VDP staffers.

Election Years Call a caucus or committee meeting to nominate candidates for Justice of the Peace on or before the first

Tuesday in September in even-numbered years. Call a caucus when needed to fill a Justice of the Peace vacancy or House or Senate vacancy.

National Election Years Holds a caucus to elect Delegates to the State Convention during March after the Presidential Primary. The

Delegates will meet at the National Delegate Selection Convention (The State Party Convention) in May and elect delegates to the National Convention.



What Else Does a Town Committee Do? Under State law, the Town Committees of each House and Senate district serve as members of the District

Representative/Senate Committee. This means that when a legislator leaves the Legislature during their term, the committee is in charge of caucusing and, by majority vote, recommending candidates to the Governor for an appointment to complete the term of the departing legislator.

Party Building Responsibilities We all need to remember that underlying purpose of all town and county committees is to build the Party by engaging activists and community members, and to elect Democrat candidates to office.

Here are some ways committee members can achieve those goals: Raise funds to support town/county committee activities and Democratic candidates:

o Host potluck dinners, yard sales, a town hall dance, or a house party with opportunities to donate o Send out fundraising letters o To recruit people to help with these events, the VDP can train you on VoteBuilder, as well as provide you

with targeted lists of active and supportive Democrats in your area.

Register voters in the community. You can do this easily at colleges, fairs, shopping malls, and senior centers. Once youve registered a voter, invite them to be a part of your committee!

Participate in party decision-making by making sure your Delegates attend the County and State committee meetings.

Create a visible presence for Democrats in the town by participating in parades, setting up booths at fairs, hosting community events, and writing letters to the editor.

Educate yourself and your community by holding issue forums, watching films, or hosting breakfasts with your legislators.

Engage in service politics. Wear your Democratic t-shirts and volunteer together at Green-Up Day. Hold a clothing drive, a Christmas toy drive, or start a meals program for the elderly, and provide groceries for your local food shelf.

Participate in the early-voter program in each election cycle. Working with the VDP, you can help identify and canvass probable early voters and ensure that they return their ballots in a timely manner. Connect with your local VDP field organizer on election years!

Set up a committee email list, Twitter feed, and/or Facebook page. If you need help with social media, let the VDP know. We can help you grow your audience.

Act as a liaison for state and local candidates. Keep them informed of local events and facilitate their campaign and other activities in your area.

Ask members to attend at least one VDP field training or Votebuilder training.

Work with the Vermont Democratic House Campaign and Vermont Senate Campaign to recruit candidates for the Legislature.

Organize and make change in your local communities in the name of your local Democratic Committee.

Local Elections Use Select Board or School Board races as a way to get your community involved!

Share ideas on how to engage your local constituents with other town and county committees some methods of engagement may work better in one town than another! This Engagement Idea Share could be a great topic for your local County Committee Meeting!



Election Responsibilities Over the course of the last decade, the technology behind effective campaigning has changed and developed significantly. This is both exciting and daunting. To best prepare, as town and county chairs, its important to

understand the technology and its capacity, while also recognizing its limits. While the data thats been collected over the last several years continues to make our field program stronger and stronger, we also need the local and historical context and knowledge of local citizens and committee members to continue to refine our efforts. In your role as town/county chair, its important to know the technology so that you can fully articulate to others what it can and cant do the more youre able to demystify the new technology for other committee members and citizens, the more effective the technology will be!

Engage in the VDP Field Program: With the Vermont Democratic Partys coordinated campaign field program, our efforts to elect Democratic candidates have become easier over the years. In 1999, only 30% of registered voters in Vermont were given a party identification. Now, over 2/3 of registered voters in Vermont have been assigned a party ID. This means that we have a good idea of how most people vote and can direct our collective efforts on targeting swing voters and voters who support Democrats, but do not always turn out for certain elections. From 2006 onward, our lists have become more and more accurate. Although the VDP requires the help of local volunteers to collect data from their town clerks, our central database is now entirely self-managed by our Data Director. Local activists no longer have to worry about collecting local lists and can instead engage in the most important part of a field plan: voter outreach.

VoteBuilder is accessible to all town and county chairs and can be a great tool outside of voter outreach. It can help you identify volunteers and Democrats in your communities to help build your committees, growing the local organization and connecting long-time activists with new voters and engaged citizens.

Volunteering: As a chair, you can play a leading role in helping the VDP recruit volunteers. We hope that most counties will have a coordinated campaign field office on election years. If you develop a strong relationship with the VDP Field Organizer, you can help them recruit local volunteers who can then become new committee members! On the grassroots level, field organizing is the most critical aspect of winning a campaign. You should make every effort to get your committee members to volunteer. Additionally, if you know someone interested in a Field Organizer role, please be sure to let us know so we can consider local candidates!

How can you help? Making phone calls- The only way to identify a supporter is to ask whether or not they support your

candidate. If they are supportive, the voter goes into the Get-Out-the-Vote list. If they are on the fence, we can persuade them to support our candidate. These persuasive calls are incredibly important. In 2014, over 8,000 Vermonters who probably would have not voted at all had they not been contacted by VDP volunteers, voted for Democratic candidates.

Knocking on doors- Talking to a fellow voter face-to-face is the most persuasive type of contact you can make in an election. Personal contact is invaluable, especially in Vermont. Connecting and talking with your neighbors is the most effective way to convince a voter who is sitting on the fence to support the Democratic candidates. People are much more likely to engage in real conversations with members of their community, and door to door canvassing is a great way to get this done.

Entering data- We need to collect and enter our data in a systematic way to maintain the integrity of our list. You can do this if youre not comfortable with making calls or knocking on doors.

Other opportunities- The three activities mentioned above are what helps us win elections. No other volunteer activity can have such a great impact on elections, but there are other activities you can engage in as well that help show your public support. Stamping envelopes, delivering yard signs, attending honk and waves, and holding banners at parades are auxiliary means of supporting the campaign.



II. How Do I Make This Work? We realize that its hard to balance work life and personal life. As working people, Democrats understand this. Often times, the reason that any given unorganized town has taken the steps towards organization has to do with the perception that organizing a Town Committee is just too much work.

Despite these perceptions, its important to remember that if a town isnt officially organized and registered with the Vermont Democratic Party and the Secretary of State, it cant raise money, cant elect delegates to the County Committee, and cant send Delegates to the National Convention. Maybe more importantly, its extremely difficult to organize to support local Democratic candidates without the representation and organized support of a local committee.

And, the fact is; being town or county chair does not have to be an all-consuming commitment! More importantly, it shouldnt feel like a burden to be chair of your local committee it should be seen as an opportunity to do right by your community and to represent the Vermont that we all care about.

While, technically, as town chair, you only need to hold one meeting on off-election years (to reorganize your committee) and once on election years (to select Justice of the Peace Candidates and to elect Delegates to the State Convention), were hoping that prospective chairs will see these minimum obligations as only a piece of the bigger picture that is needed to unite Democrats across our State.

Our goal is to have ACTIVE committees. Being organized for the sake of being organized is not what Democrats are about. Being a Vermont liberal does not mean passively accepting the responsibilities of a given role. Instead, please think of your role as Chair as an opportunity to actively foster a local Democratic community this is what makes the role fun and empowering to you and what can inspire potential members to join!

Some simple tips for balancing effective chairman/woman-ship with limited time!

Plan ahead. Set regular intervals between your meetings. When meetings are regular and predictable, you dont have to worry as much about turnout.

Delegate tasks. Dont try to do everything yourself in fact, if you do, youll quickly lose people who might have been willing members of your committee! Have your Committee Secretary send out email invitations for meetings and events. Have your Vice-Chair make follow-up calls. Have your Treasurer take the lead role on fundraising events. Give additional members of your Committee to-do items before the conclusion of each meeting it will keep them coming back!

Make it fun. Dont just meet for the sake of meeting. Have a barbeque fundraiser. Invite local candidates and activists to speak. The more diverse you can make each meeting (in setting, subject, purpose, etc.), the more fun it will be to organize, and the easier it will be to recruit and retain membership.

Transition smoothly when youre ready to move on. Dont burn out at the end of your term. If you know that youre going to step down in the future, make it known to the committee well in advance. Find someone to step up and take your place that is organized and feels supported by you and by the Committee.

A simple truth we must acknowledge is that well-run and active committees are more likely to both produce

good local candidates and to be able to support those candidates in successful electoral campaigns.

Call your county chair or the VDP for help. If youre stuck on something, if you need logistical support for pulling off a fundraiser or hosting a forum, please ask for help. Contact your County Chair, go to vtdemocrats.org for more information, or feel free to contact us directly. Its what were here for!



III. Committee Roles Defined A common question for new town committees is: What do we do? While different town committees define their roles and responsibilities differently, here are some simple definitions. Please understand that depending on the activity of your membership, different committee members and officers can take on varying levels of responsibility. For the purposes of organizing, however, the three positions recognized by the Secretary of State are those of Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary.

Town/County Chair: Leads the town/county committee. Calls meetings, runs meetings, and recruits people to attend meetings. Most town chairs (but not all) are also delegates to the county committee, and all county chairs are delegates to the State Committee.

Treasurer: The Treasurer is responsible for maintaining the committees accounts and filing campaign finance reports with the Secretary of State. The Treasurer should report any funds received and funds spent at each committee meeting. The Treasurer should also play an active role in fundraising for the committee. The Treasurer should be comfortable learning and using the newly required online campaign finance system adopted by the Secretary of States Office. Although the treasurer can request a Campaign Finance Guidebook from the Secretary of State, the VDP will also have someone on staff to help treasurers with report filing when necessary.

Secretary: The Secretary records the minutes of each meeting and reports them at the next meeting. The Secretary is in charge of amending the minutes if such an amendment is needed.

Executive Committee: The responsibilities of a Committee Chair are often more than any one individual can handle. When decisions need to be made fast, an executive committee can make decisions on behalf of the committee. Executive committees are given limited decision-making authority by the committee. Because an executive committee is comprised of fewer members than the full committee, theyre more efficient and effective at carrying out day-to-day operations. Executive committees are usually designated at the county level. Town committees generally dont have to set up an executive committee, but theyre certainly free to do so.

IV. Campaign Finance Laws Summary As of January 1st, 2015, electronic filing of campaign finance reports is MANDATORY. If your county or town committee intends to raise or spend ANY funds in the 2015-2016 election cycle, you MUST register your committee with the Secretary of State: https://campaignfinance.sec.state.vt.us/

The Vermont Democratic Party requests that the Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer of each town and county committee read the attached 2016 Campaign Finance Guide in full and be familiar with Vermonts campaign finance reporting requirements.

Once your committee has raised OR spent a total of $500 in the 2015-2016 election cycle, you must begin filing reports. You must continue to file reports for each reporting period for the remainder of the election cycle, regardless of the amount raised or spent in subsequent reporting periods.

Campaign finance reporting dates 2015-2016 (all reports due by 5pm): July 15, 2015 March 15, 2016 July 15, 2016 August 15, 2016 September 1, 2016 October 1, 2016 November 1, 2016 November 22, 2016 December 15, 2016 (Year-end report)



Getting help with campaign finance issues: In an effort to support all of our committees in staying in compliance with campaign finance law, the Vermont Democratic Party retains a year-round Compliance Consultant, Selene Hofer-Shall. She is available to answer any financial compliance questions, provide help with book-keeping best practices for county and town committees, and provide assistance in compiling financial reports for the Secretary of State. She can be contacted any time at [email protected] or 802-578-7250.

The Elections Division of the Secretary of States office is also available to take questions. They can be reached from Monday-Friday from 8am-4pm at 802-828-2363.

V. Staying Connected Its important to stay engaged. If you want to know whats going on in Montpelier, or, just as importantly, whats going on in your community - please stay in touch. The following links are resources to help you stay informed and to help you connect with other Democrats.

http://www.vtdemocrats.org - Our website. Go-to for event listings, press releases, blogs and other important information concerning the Vermont Democratic Party.

http://www.vtdemocrats.org/staff -Our staff bios, with contact information. (Contact us!)

www.facebook.com/vtdems -The official VDP Facebook page.

https://twitter.com/VTdems - The official VDP Twitter feed.

http://www.vtdemocrats.org/about/bylaws - The VDP By-Laws

http://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/constitution-of-the-state-of-vermont/ - The Vermont State Constitution

http://legislature.vermont.gov/ - Vermont State Legislature Home Page

Blogs http://www.vtdemocrats.org/blog - The official VDP blog http://www.greenmountaindaily.com/ - Green Mountain Daily http://blogs.burlingtonfreepress.com/politics/ - Vermont Buzz (Burlington Free Press) http://7d.blogs.com/offmessage/ - Seven Days Blog http://vtdigger.org/category/politic/ - VTDigger http://thevpo.org/ - The Vermont Political Observer



Federal Delegation:

Senator Patrick Leahy

437 Russell Senate Building 199 Main Street, 4th Floor, US Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510 Burlington, VT 05401 (202) 224-4242 (802) 863-2525 [email protected]

Senator Bernie Sanders:

332 Dirksen Building 1 Church Street, Suite 300 US Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510 Burlington, VT 05401 (202) 224-5141 (802) 862-0697 www.sanders.senate.gov

Representative Peter Welch:

2303 Rayburn House Office Building 128 Lakeside Avenue, Suite 235 Washington, DC 20515 Burlington, VT 05401 (202) 225-4115 (802) 652-2450 www.welch.house.gov

State Elected Officials Governor Peter Shumlin

109 State Street, Pavilion Montpelier, VT 05609 (802) 828-3333 [email protected]

Senate President John Campbell

Office of the President Pro Tempore 115 State Street Montpelier, VT 05633 (802) 828-3806 [email protected]

Speaker of the House Shap Smith

Office of the Speaker 115 State Street Montpelier, VT 05633 Phone: (802) 828-2245

[email protected]



NOTICE TOWN DEMOCRATIC PARTY CAUCUS

Town: Date:

Time:

Location:

The purpose of this caucus is to elect a Democratic Town or City Committee. Any registered voter of the town or city, who has not participated in the caucus process of another political party, is invited to attend. The first meeting of the newly formed committee will follow immediately after the caucus.

Meeting Agenda

I. Election of Town Committee II. Election of Officers by the Town Committee III. Election of County Committee Members IV. New Business

Town Chair/Organizer: ______________________________________

Notice in accordance with 17 V.S.A. 2303



Sample Agenda

I. Election of Town Committee (by paper ballot) II. Election of Officers by the Town Committee

III. Election of County Committee Members IV. New Business

Newly Formed Town Committee Agenda:

I. Vote to allow Town Chair to add members to the Town Committee at any

time II. Vote to make members present at a Town Committee meeting a

quorum. (This means that there will always be a quorum declared and that

you will be able to conduct business regardless of how many people are

present) III. Talk about what your Town Committee would like to do. (See Town and

County Chairs Guide) IV. Announcements/Other business V. Plan next meeting/Action steps/Etc.

VI. Adjourn

2015 town caucus organizer example packet

Documents

town meeting

state of vermont

years reorganization

town organizing

fewer town committee

town caucus organizers

reorganization timeline

previous reorganization