The next regular meeting of the Democratic Party of Sierra County will be held at 405 Main Ave, T or C, on Wednesday, May 17, 2023 at 5:30 PM. Light refreshments will be served. Topics will include outreach to rural areas of the county and ways to fundraise for the party.
Please reach out to this email address with any questions or comments: contact@demssierracounty.com
The April 19th Meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. at 405 Main Street, T or C. The guest speaker will be T or C city manager Bruce Swingle.
Light refreshments will be offered after the meeting. Stay and socialize with your fellow Dems.
We have a new email address: contact@demssierracounty.com
Please use it instead of the old g-mail address.
Elections for Party Chair and Vice Chair Wednesday, March 15 at 5:30 at 405 Main, Truth or Consequences. You must be a registered Democrat in Sierra County for 30 days prior to be able to vote at the meetings.
We will offer Zoom as an option for people unable to attend in person. To receive a Zoom link, or a phone number to dial in, contact Suzanne Carlstedt at tmya@yahoo.com at least 24 hours before the meetings.
Please read this letter from our party chair:
February 20, 2023
Pursuant to the official call from the Democratic Party of New Mexico (DPNM) for county parties to hold ward meetings and elect party officers, I am writing to provide you with the call to the Sierra County Ward meetings and elections.
We are required by DPNM rules to hold two Ward meetings (based on the population of our county), and elect a County Central Committee (CCC). The County Central Committee, elected by our two Wards, will elect the County Party Chair and Vice Chair. The newly elected County Party Chair and Vice Chair will also represent our county on the DPNM State Central Committee for the next two years.
Our Ward meetings will be held on Wednesday, March 15 at 5:30 at 405 Main, Truth or Consequences. You must be a registered Democrat in Sierra County for 30 days prior to our Ward meetings to be able to vote at the meetings. Each Ward will elect a chair and County Central Committee members. The Ward Chairs and the current Party Chair and Vice Chair are part of the County Central Committee, along with newly elected Committee members.
We will offer Zoom as an option for people unable to attend the meeting in person. To receive a Zoom link, or a phone number to dial in, contact Suzanne Carlstedt at tmya@yahoo.com at least 24 hours before the meetings.
Sincerely,
/s/ Sid Bryan
Please take time to review the social studies textbooks proposed for our public schools, especially the elementary school texts, and submit your comments. The books are available at the T or C Schools Central Service building at 910 No. Date off Date Street behind the Circle K, from 8:00am to 4:00pm Monday thru Friday until March 10th. Inside the entrance, the books are on the right in the board room. You can review any grade you like. While Danny was there, four other people were there; they were planning to protest what they perceive as CRT and sexual perversion in the books, and they will be talking to churches to urge church members to speak up. If at all possible, please counter this viewpoint. Submit your comments at the next School Board meeting March 13th 5:30 p.m. during Public Comment. Or by email to Dr. Castro at: Dr. Edgardo Castro, Director of Learning Services, ecastro@torcschools.net.
You can track legislation via the New Mexico legislature web site. Use the bill tracker: https://www.nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Bill_Finder and view live or recorded hearings on the webcasting section.
Barbara is tracking legislation on education. There’s a proposal to reduce credits for graduation from 26 credits to 22. 22 is the norm nationally, but is not better for academic rigor. There is also a proposal to increase the hours kids and teachers would be in school. HB 130 and HB 194 present similar ideas. High school would move from 1080 to 1149 hours, but more is not necessarily better. Teacher professional development (60 hours per school) would require teachers to come to school a week before and a week after school. School board prefers HB 130. Tara Jaramillo spent over an hour with our school board. All were impressed with her. You can call Senator Crystal Diamond or Tara to advocate for bills.
It is not too soon to start recruiting candidates for public offices, including a Democrat from State House District 49. So far, none has emerged.
We have party elections coming up at the March meeting. Sid is interested in continuing as party chair. However, Suzanne would like to see new people run for vice chair. She requests that the vice chair have the support of four or five volunteers to whom she can delegate some of the many tasks involved. Please consider becoming part of that team. Note: Chair and Vice Chair must be opposite sexes according to party rules. Secretary and treasurer are not elected positions.
Can you help with fund raising? The Sierra County Democrats spent heavily during the last election, and we are running low on funds. If you can help out, please go the Act Blue DONATE link on our web site’s home page https://sierracountynewmexicodemocrats.org. Thank you.
Agenda Democratic Party of Sierra County February 15, 2023 Meeting
Meeting will be held at 405 Main St. T or C
Pledge of Allegiance
New Mexico State Pledge: I salute the flag of the State of New Mexico and the Zia symbol of perfect friendship among United cultures.
Treasurers Report -Sid
Approve October and January minutes – Sid
Candidate recruitment – Danny Diaz
Tracking New Mexico legislation
-bill finder on New Mexico Legislature website https://www.nmlegis.gov/legislation/bill_finder
– subscribe to Retake our Democracy email list https://retakeourdemocracy.org/
Review of social studies books for our public schools – Barbara Pearlman
Brainstorm: Plans for 2023: Fundraising, Events, Outreach – all
March 15: Ward Meeting, Election of County Central Committee and Committee Chair, Election of Party Officers – Suzanne. Nominations accepted tonight, but may also be made at the March meeting scheduled for Wednesday, 3/15 at 5:30 at 405 Main. To participate in voting, you must be a registered Democrat in Sierra County for at least 30 days prior to this meeting. Zoom will also be available for this meeting. We will elect members of a County Central Committee (CCC), and a CCC Chair. The CCC members will vote to elect the county party chair and vice chair.
Motion to Adjourn
Message from Democratic Party of New Mexico
From: Sean Ward
Hey team,
I’m at the DNC meeting in Philadelphia learning, listening, and proudly representing New Mexico. As many of you know, I’ve done a lot of election work in Pennsylvania. It’s an honor to be back here working on behalf of my home state.
This is the first DNC meeting since the election. I cannot tell you how many people come up to the New Mexico delegation to thank us for our tremendous work in 2022. People thank me for flipping CD02 as soon as I mention where I’m from. I want to relay that to you all, the people who put in the hard work and continue to do so. The roles we play aren’t glamorous but we shape our country by being the boots on the ground.
Two quick things.
Help with the state of the union address
I am hoping you all might be able to help me on something. We would like to highlight the work President Biden has done on capping the price of insulin. I am searching for someone who can share their personal story. If you have someone who can help speak to this issue, please email me. sean@nmdemocrats.org
Texting to build for your meetings
The Democratic Party of New Mexico believes in building from the ground up and bringing in new voices. We want to live that motto. We are offering to pay for 1000 texts in each county to build for your county party meetings.
If you would like to text Democrats in your county to build for your meetings, please let us know. Brian can help you build your lists. We can set you up in our texting platform, Scale to Win, and get you doing effective texting outreach.
Thank you,
Sean
Are You a Low-Tech Volunteer? Write Letters
This non-partisan group urges people to vote all over the country. Turnout usually helps Dems. https://votefwd.org/instructions
Note: To receive minutes of previous meetings, subscribe to our mailing list.
Democratic Party of Sierra County Agenda January 18, 2023
Pledge of Allegiance
New Mexico State Pledge: I salute the flag of the State of New Mexico and the Zia symbol of perfect friendship among united cultures.
Guest Speaker: Sandy Jones, Sierra County Flood Commissioner
Approval of October Minutes – Sid Bryan
Treasurer’s Report – Sid Bryan
Schedule Ward Meeting/Election of Officers – Suzanne Carlstedt
Request for Donations (fill out a donation envelope) – Sid Bryan
Schedule Silent Auction Fundraiser – Liz Telea
Candidate Recruitment -School Board and other positions -Danny Diaz
Member Input
Motion to Adjourn
Note: Minutes of October meeting will either be sent separately or read at the meeting.
From the Democratic Party of New Mexico:
Dear CD2 Democrats:
We want to wish you a happy New Year and invite you to join us next month as we review last year’s election and work toward the future. Last November’s results gave us many successes to celebrate, but revealed a number of shortcomings to address. Join us as we take a look at what worked and what didn’t work in our diverse Congressional District. Working together we hope to build toward a strong and sustainable Democratic majority in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District. Working together let’s build the future of Blue CD2.
So, please join us for a “CD2 Election Recap and Strategy Session” to be held via Zoom on Saturday, February 4, 2023 from 10:00 a.m. to noon. In addition to County Party leaders and active members, we will be joined by folks from like-minded groups such as Blue CD2 NM and the DPNM Hispanic, Rural, and Veterans Caucuses.
The first hour of the agenda will be devoted to analysis of the good, the bad, and the ugly of the 2022 election. Confirmed speakers include Sally Davis, Eddie Estrada, Stephen Jones, Claudia Risner, and Evelyn Vinogradov. The next hour will be a facilitated discussion of the status of the Democratic Party in CD-2, where we want it to be before the next election, and what steps we will take to get it there. A major focus of the discussion will be how to include rural communities in election communications and GOTV efforts.
Please feel free to share this invitation with your fellow Democrats so that we can hear ideas from many perspectives. (To register for this event, please request the registration link.)
We will send out a detailed agenda closer to the event. Meanwhile, please feel free to email either of us with your ideas/comments for seeding discussion, especially if you cannot make it to the event on February 4th.
Thanks,
Mona and Stephen
DPNM CD-2 Vice Chairs
Note: For Zoom links to the upcoming meeting or for registering with the DPNM event, please email sierracountydems@gmail.com We don’t publish Zoom links on the internet.
Town Halls in Sierra County
Tuesday, January 10
Public Comment on New Oil and Gas Leases in New Mexico
If this topic is of importance to you, you may wish to read the following article from KRQE, read the environmental assessment, and then submit comments. Links to both are contained in the article. https://www.krqe.com/news/environment/bureau-of-land-management-seeks-public-comment-on-new-mexico-oil-and-gas-leases/
Also of interest: https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/do-you-have-right-clean-environment-2023-legislation-would-call-nm-voters-decide
Thank you to all the volunteers who knocked on doors, made calls, sent postcards, and staffed party headquarters. Thank you for the signs in your yards and for the conversations you had with friends and neighbors. Thank you for the events you organized and showed up for. Thanks also to those who donated to our candidates.
National media takes New Mexico for granted as a blue state, but we know we have to work for it. And work you did.
Gracias.
Reminder: There will be no party meeting in November.
Gabe Vasquez will be at our campaign Headquarters at 405 Main St. T or C Monday morning at 10:00 to launch a final canvass. Be there! Show up for him, show your support, and then head out to reach every last voter we can before Election Day. Getting him elected is important for us in CD2, to have someone who truly will represent us, and it’s important for the country to have another Democrat in Congress.
We also need canvassers and phone callers this weekend. We have some canvassing lists in the headquarters, and Rick Lass can get people set up to make calls. Contact Rick at 505-920-0540.
Three more days! You can make a difference. Every effort adds up. Volunteer as if democracy depends on you. It does.
Sierra County New Mexico Democrats 
You must be logged in to post a comment.