November
27, 2005
Gordon blasts extension of Democratic state cmte seat terms; Sees effort to block progressive gains
by Kimberly Nevas
A North Cambridge resident and a founding
leader of the city’s Progressive Democrats failed to reverse the extension of
terms from two years to fours years of the special diversity seats on the
Democratic State Committee at its Nov. 15 meeting in Malden.
The extension cancels the party elections for the 80 of the
committee seats that were two-year term seat committee scheduled to be
contested early next year, said
The change, along with other charter
amendments passed at the May state party convention, is part of an effort to
keep more progressive members of the party, like himself, off the committee, he
said.
“They didn’t bring it up at all,” he said.
“The vote in May was the only vote they
needed to call off these elections. We had a whole lineup of people ready
to introduce the issue when they called it off,” he said.
Because Gordon is not a committee member,
he said he could not take the initiative to speak.
“Even the most cynical among us are
astounded at the blatancy of this anti-democratic display,” he said.
Carol Coakley, a committeewoman from Millis, said she regrets not speaking up
at the
“It was sketchy how the vote was handled
at the convention. They’re not allowing members to discuss and vote on so
many issues,” she said.
“While I would not be opposed to becoming
a four-year member, I think I should have to run for it,” she said.
Of the 372 seats, the 80 seats that always
had four years terms were determined by voting in the state’s presidential
primary. Those seats are filled by one man and one woman from each of the
state’s senate districts, Gordon said.
The 80 affected by the rules change are
among the special seats called: add-ons, which were meant to create a diverse
committee. Those members were selected by combined senate district members and those
whose membership was awarded for service to the party or by virtue of holding a
congressional or state constitutional office.
It allots nearly one third of the seats
for gender balance, ethnic minorities, homosexuals, veterans, union members,
the disabled, French and Portuguese-speakers, seniors and youth below the age
of 36.
Some candidates for these seats stand on
their own, while others are formally recommended by the Affirmative Action
sub-committee or by joining a slate assembled by one of the different
communities in the party, such as organized labor, said James Roosevelt, the
state committee’s chief counsel.
James Smith, the committeeman from
Swampscott said the system is akin to Noah’s
Although he was not at the
The extension was an attempt to keep the
party’s leadership more centralist and the party more appealing to a broader
swath of voters, said Mary Marrs, committeewoman from
Swampscott.
“I think it’s proven that we should try to
stay a little more moderate than ultra liberal. I honestly do not believe
that the majority of the people in this country are ultra-liberal,” she said.
Several committee members cited social
issues such as abortion, capital punishment and gay rights as points where
progressives and moderates diverge.
“On abortion, a progressive would be for
it. A moderate would, with restrictions,” said Sandra Carle, a
committeewoman from
“I know a couple of my friends that are a
little more moderate favor capital punishment. Whether someone is in favor
of gay marriage or even as far as civil unions, that’s where Democrats
sometimes run into problems,” said William Bradley, a committeeman from
Ware.
Committeewoman Carol Donovan of
“In most cases there isn’t a contest for
the two-year seats and it entailed holding a special caucus to do it. An extra
meeting would have to be held to have the election every two years. They
decided it was more efficient to do it every four years,” she said.
“But, I can see how they could see it that
way,” he said.
Others said they were caught surprised and
unaware by the controversy. “They’ve increased my term to four years?” asked
Carolyn Herrick a committeewoman from
Gordon said another example of how the
party establishment has sought to concentrate its power at the expense of the
up and coming progressives is the number of state committee seats that are held
by members of the same family.
Brian Hoose, a
committeeman from
One example is
Cabral said she rejects the notion that multiple family members on the
committee present an ethical dilemma.
Rather it reflects the lack of interest in
running for the seats, she said.
Her son ran for the seat because he saw
what was going on, nothing was being done, she said.
“You can’t get people to get
involved. It’s too bad,” she said.
One of the more glaring examples is in the
His wife’s election was actually elected
despite running alone opposite a slate of women supported by an ad-hoc
diversity committee, he said.
His daughter’s selection, similar to the
situation with Ron Cabral, came after no one could be found to fill the seat,
he said.
Theresa, a student at
This is not Gordon’s first run-in with the
state committee,
As a leader of the PDC and the creator of
its scorecard that holds elected Democrats accountable to the state party’s
platform, Gordon does not have permission from the state party to use the word:
Democrat, either in the PDC or with the scorecard, he said.
To rein in the unauthorized use of the
party’s name,
Although, it is a criminal violation of
state law,
Regardless of his scrimmages with the
state committee,