Chesterfield Township Democrats (CTD) presented its first “programs” meeting to a near capacity crowd Tuesday evening.  Chesterfield Township Democrats chesterfielddemocrats.org is a newly reconstituted club welcoming members from not only Chesterfield, but Wildwood, Ellisville and any part of western St. Louis County.  Among the 31 people in attendance was Bill Haas, candidate for the Democratic nomination to challenge for the 2^nd Congressional District and Senator Scott Sifton, from the 1^st District in Missouri.  Additionally, numerous Committee Persons from surrounding townships were present.

On the dais was Mark Travers of StrongBlue, a political consulting group dedicated to grooming and supporting Democratic and Progressive candidates for upcoming election cycles.  Check out StrongBlue.us for specifics.

In this prepared talk, Mr. Travers offered two visions of Missouri.  Vision one was strikingly similar to today’s Republican sponsored status reflecting a state in which funding for education, healthcare, and infrastructure is being cut, driving Missouri’s rank among all states in services to its citizens to the lowest reaches.  The results, Travers pointed out, are that Missouri students are less well prepared to compete for jobs, Missourians are sicker and less able to obtain treatment that is available but beyond their financial reach, and deteriorating transportation systems that cost small and large businesses both customers and money. All three of these services play a large role in attracting, or not, businesses and jobs.

Travers counterpointed a second vision in which the focus is on raising Missouri’s standards for education, healthcare, and infrastructure so that it ranks , ultimately, among the top 5 states in the nation; a more hopeful and compelling vision with a strong Progressive underpinning.  Key to this presentation is the plethora of facts researched and validated by StrongBlue. The speech and others like it will be made available to any candidate interested in working with StrongBlue.

Preceding Mr. Travers’ presentation was an equally fact loaded brief on DACA and the current administration’s declaration of non-support.  The timely presentation was made by Pedro Guerrero, a legislative aide in the Missouri House of Representatives, and a member of the Chesterfield Township Democrats.

The evening opened with a hospitality hour affording attendees the chance to mingle, order food and beverage and otherwise get acquainted with their fellow Democrats.  Most refreshing, however, was that, after the meeting adjourned, people stayed to get acquainted, talk and further build a Democratic and Progressive community positioning itself to act.

The next meeting of the CTD is scheduled for October 3 at the Chesterfield City Hall starting at 6:30 p.m.  This meeting will focus on club organization and mobilization plans.

By Mark Kumming

Mark Travers, former Marketing Executive and Tim O’Sullivan former Trial Attorney joined together several month ago to form StrongBlue, a consulting and advisory LLC dedicated to finding, grooming, training and supporting Democratic and Progressive candidates for local, regional and national races.

Mark Travers, Principle at StrongBlue, will speak at the monthly meeting of Chesterfield Township Democrats on September 5^th at the Walnut Grill in Ellisville (Dierberg Shopping Center at the Corner of Clayton and Clarkson Rd.)  A 6:30 start time is scheduled.  Drink and Food menus will be available.

“We’re providing centralized marketing and campaign management services at economies of scale to candidates for the Missouri House and Senate.”  Travers stated.  To date, their accomplishments include:

• The development of digital resources for use by candidates around the state
• Policy papers for new candidates to quickly get them up to speed on significant issues of interest to Missourians
• Establishing a social media presence through Facebook, Twitter and the website, www.StrongBlue.us
• Commentary on the website about the Republican legislature and its mismanagement of state resources
• The creation of a contribution guideline chart, and other tools.

At the Tuesday evening meeting, Travers will share some of the work his company has developed, and he will use us as a test group for a speech that is being prepped for Democratic candidates.  StrongBlue has been working with a small group of candidates so far.

Be sure to put this meeting on your schedule.  You don’t have to be a member of Chesterfield Township Democrats to attend or even live in Chesterfield.  Anyone interested in learning more about StrongBlue and their strategies for electoral success is welcome and should attend.  And even if you are just interested in what StrongBlue is all about, join us.

 

Sixteen people attended a meeting of the Chesterfield Township Democrats (CTD) on Tuesday, August 1^st at the Chesterfield City Hall.  The meeting focused on club development for sustainability.   An official website – www.chesterfielddemocrats.org and a club branding logo and tag line were introduced as was a formalized club registration procedure.  Dues for the club were fixed at $25.00 annually for adults and $10 for students.

CTD adopted a meeting structure that will alternate between Educational/Informational meetings and Mobilization meetings.  The Educational/Informational meetings will feature topical programs, speakers, and candidate forums and the Mobilization meetings will be what were formerly referred to as “business meetings”.  Meeting sites will vary.  Check back on this site for details of meeting dates, locations, and topics.  CTD also adopted a 6:30 start time for all meetings in the future.

Speaking at the meeting was Mark Osmack, newly announced candidate for the District 2 Congressional seat currently held by Ann Wagner.  Mr. Osmack briefly described his qualifications.  Candidate Osmack talked passionately about the need for affordable, sensible health care for all citizens as well as accessibility to quality education for all Missourians.

A spirited discussion took place during brainstorming of topics for “educational and informational” programs that will be scheduled on alternating months.  Among the ideas generated by the group was inviting members of Planned Parenthood to speak on the comprehensive spectrum of services it provides to women in our community.  Other topics included City/County merger and its economic impact, organizing and funding Campaign with the help of Strong Blue.us, and Clean Missouri to name a few.  A formal committee was organized to further design and develop these programs.  Details will be announced soon.

The next meeting of Chesterfield Township Democrats will be on Tuesday, September 5^th at the Walnut Grille in Ellisville beginning at 6:30.  Watch this site and social media for more details on the program and please bring a friend.

By Mark Kumming

Imagine if the Missouri 2^nd District Congressperson was from Chesterfield, Missouri, was a working mother with strong Union ties and a back story in common with the constituents she would serve.  Imagine if the Missouri 2^nd  District was represented by someone who was willing to face her constituents, represent their needs in Congress and, in fact, knew what it was like to try to live and raise a young family in an ever polarizing economy, education system, and health care environment.

Well, there is no longer a need to dream or imagine or wait for this.  Earlier this week the Missouri Times announced that Bryan Cave Director, Kelli Dunaway, “is running for Congress on a platform of education equality; accessible healthcare for all, regardless of ZIP code or income; and economic opportunity for every family.”  And she lives right here in Chesterfield.

At this month’s meeting of the West County Democrats, Bill Otto, former State Representative from Missouri and former candidate for the congressional seat in Missouri’s 2^nd District ended speculation that he would run again.  But with a magnanimous gesture, he introduced Kelli to the WCD membership, a powerful Democratic Club in Western St. Louis County.

On Tuesday evening, candidate Dunaway spoke at the Chesterfield Township Democratic Club meeting held at the Walnut Grill in Ellisville, and was again introduced by Rep. Otto. In both appearances, Kelli presented as a personable, articulate, impassioned, and courageous candidate.  As a Democrat, Kelli indicated how important she thought it was to be bi-partisan and bring people of differing views together to face and solve problems common to all of us.

No doubt Candidate Dunaway will be quite busy in the next several weeks and months introducing herself to her potential constituents at township and club meetings all around the district as well as organizing her campaign and raising money. So, seek an opportunity to meet her and hear the compelling success story of this hometown Chesterfield woman.