AYD President Gordon Simonett takes a seat in the Virginia House Chamber
Dear AYD Community,
The 2010 AYD’s are wrapping up another successful year of political action and issue activism, and looking back at our accomplishments this year, it’s easy to see why AYD is considered by many to be the most active young democrat chapter in Virginia, and one of the most active in the country.
My goals for this year included the following:
1) MAKING A DIFFERENCE:
Build a strong volunteer base for issue campaigns and competitive races, while fostering stronger relationships between AYD and elected officials at all levels. Whether the interest was field, phone calls, fundraising, or just having fun, there was a place for you to make a difference in AYD.
2) ACTIVISM:
A renewed focus on important policy and issue campaigns. AYD would actively support policies, elected officials, and groups addressing reproductive health, health care, transportation, clean energy, the environment, etc. and partner with leading local, state, and national organizations advocating for progressive action in these areas.
3) EMPHASIS ON PROGRAMMING:
Engaging our members with exciting political, social, and networking programming (e.g. networking on the Hill, events with our elected officials, engaging speakers, AYD happy hours and rally-style events) while using new media communication tools to help us stay in touch with our members and the community.
4) UNITY:
Encouraging membership unity and growth by bringing together our caucus (African-American Asian-American, Latino, LGBT, and Women’s, etc.) and community service groups with the AYD general membership, through joint events that we can all benefit from.
I am proud to say that the 2010 AYD Executive Board delivered in a big way; promises made, promises kept.
This year, AYD contributed hundreds of volunteer hours to a total of ten political campaigns including Marsden for Sentate, Filler-Corn for Delegate, Degner for Delegate, Coakley for Senate, Moran for Congress, Connolly for Congress, Perriello for Congress, Kratovil for Congress, Zimmerman for County Board and Baird for School Board. This does not include all the other campaigns that AYD’s worked on professionally.
Additionally, AYD’s across the board took advantage of high-profile leadership roles. They include:
*Arlington County Democratic Committee (ACDC) Chair Mike Lieberman
*ACDC Joint-Campaign Co-Chair and ACDC Precinct Operations Chair, Kip Malinosky
*AYD Party Representative Kim Klingler co-managing the Chris Zimmerman for County Board campaign with Krysta Jones
*Young Democrats of America Mid-Atlantic Region Chair Atima Omara-Alwala heading up the Jim Moran for Congress field operations out of ACDC HQ
*Virginia Partisans Vice-President and AYD LGBT Caucus Chair Tiffany Joslyn, managing Sally Baird’s campaign.
Of course, this does not include the many AYD’s that took roles to be precinct captains, or to head up ACDC Joint-Campaign initiatives like the annual Chili Cook-Off and metro flyering.
In 2010, AYD launched four additional special interest caucuses (Disability, Environment,Faith, and Veterans) to bring their total amount of caucuses to nine, and also launched a youth outreach initiative and a highly successful careers and networking group.
AYD wrote and passed three resolutions focusing on:
1) A call for dedicated metro funding
2) A call for comprehensive immigration reform in Virginia
3) A rejection of the Change in County Government Petition circulated in Arlington County
This was in addition to my representing AYD before the Arlington County Board asking for a passage of a comprehensive snow removal ordinance, which subsequently passed a few months later by a vote of 4-1.
AYD donated hundreds of hours of community service projects and raised money to support groups including the Arlington Food Assistance Center, Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network, Community Residences, and the Blue Ridge Abortion Assistance Fund.
AYD worked hard to involve the community with events such as their African-American History month discussion with Dr. Talmedge Williams, our first annual Faith and Politics Forum, the Women’s Suffrage Anniversary Reception with many local and state elected officials in attendance, and of course, the very popular GOTV Rally this past October with Terry McAuliffe, Brian Moran, and Mike Signer, which was attended by over 80 people.
A successful year by any measure, and AYD’s are looking forward to being on the front lines again next year to elect democrats and engage our community.
AYD will hold our office elections on December 8th. I hope you will consider joining us in 2011 as an elected officer or as a part of any one of our very active committees and caucuses. To find out more about how to run, please visit here: http://www.arlingtonyoungdems.org/2010/11/how-the-ayd-elections-work/
Please make sure to join by December 1st if you have not already paid dues to AYD, and make sure to renew your dues by December 8th if you have joined within the past year. Dues are only $20 for the year and you can renew here: http://arlingtonyoungdems.org/join/
On behalf of the 2010 executive board, and caucus chairs, I would like to thank you for your support and most of all, for your time.
It was an honor to serve as your president, and I look forward to seeing AYD’s leaders in 2011 continue AYD’s very strong tradition of being the premier social, poltical, and community service minded young professional organization in Virginia.
Democratically Yours,
-Gordon
Gordon Simonett
President
Arlington Young Democrats
president@arlingtonyoungdems.org
