We have been privileged to have had a wide variety of interesting speakers. These are the people that share their stories, provide our motivation, and lift our spirits. Please enjoy this recap of our speakers, as well as topics we cover in our monthly meetings. If you have suggestions for future meetings, contact our programs chair.
April 26, 2010
On April 26th, a full house heard Andrea White give her passionate support to her husband, Bill White, who is running for Governor of Texas on the Democratic ticket. Andrea, who has a successful career of her own as an author and blogger, told the crowd that her husband would work tirelessly for the people of Texas. She defers policy questions to Bill and his aides in favor of letting people know the kind of quality individual her husband is and touting his numerous successes as Mayor of Houston. Andrea will be a wonderful First Lady of Texas!
February 22, 2010
TDWCC continued its mission to educate with an informative program from “green Realtor” Bob McCranie. Using his own home as an example, Bob explained the steps he took to reduce his energy usage by 40%. Beginning with an energy audit to identify areas of waste, he outlined numerous ways to go green, save cash and decrease energy consumption. From major purchases such as new HVAC systems and fuel efficient cars to smaller endeavors including collecting rainwater, composting and replacing light bulbs, Bob was able to chart your potential savings. To learn more about being energy conscious, check out the City of Plano’s Live Green Expo being held on April 17th from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Plano Centre. Bob will be an exhibitor at this annual event along with many other experts in the field of sustainable living.
July 27, 2009
Kathy Miller, President/Executive Director of Texas Freedom Network, was the featured speaker at the TDWCC meeting in July. The topic was “Just Say Don’t Know: The State of Sexuality Education in Texas.”
The Texas Freedom Network advances a mainstream agenda of religious freedom and individual liberties and most recently published a report that conclusively demonstrates Texas is failing families and students when it comes to sexuality education.
The report “Just Say Don’t Know: Sexuality Education in Texas Public Schools,” reveals what the public schools are actually teaching students about sexuality education in their classrooms, which to a large degree is medically inaccurate and of concern since there is now clear proof that abstinence-only sexuality education does not work.
- Texas has the highest rate of births and repeat births to teens in the country
- 60% of teen mothers fail to graduate from high school
- Every ten minutes a teen in Texas becomes pregnant
- Over a 13-year period, teen births in Texas are estimated to cost taxpayers
$15.1 billion
June 22, 2009
Kim Soto, Environmental Education Coordinator for the City of Plano, spoke about what we can do as a community to reduce, reuse, and recycle. She covered information on city resources, energy efficiency and conservation.
May 18, 2009
Keith Self, Collin County Judge of the Commissioners’ Court was the guest speaker. He agreed to an informal question and answer session with questions being asked by Micky Mayer of the program committee. Judge Self was asked questions on a variety of subjects of interest to the members, ranging from health care and services for indigent residents to toll roads and gas taxes. He was also asked specific questions such as the lawsuit that the County Commissioners filed and lost against the county auditor which resulted in the taxpayers having to pay the $400,000 court costs. He was also asked about the controversial Fusion Center that awarded a no bid contract to an individual that happens to be the son of Congressman Sam Johnson from Collin County. The exchange was very civil and polite with Judge Self answering each question with facts and some details.
April 27, 2009
Lynne Sipiora, Director of the Samaritan Inn, was the guest speaker for April. The Samaritan Inn in McKinney is the only homeless shelter in Collin County. Lynne spoke about the services provided and the different types of families and their situations that come to the shelter. TDWCC members brought donations of paper goods to the meeting for use by the Samaritan Inn.
March 23, 2009
Some candidates in the May Collin County city council and school board races each gave presentations about their candidacy and issues that they supported. They answered questions from a panel of members about issues in their races. Afterwards, the candidates mingled with the members and members were able to ask more questions about their race.
February 23, 2009
Jill Cumnock, Executive Director of Frisco Family Services, spoke to the group. Frisco Family Services is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide social services to individuals and families in need and to assist them in becoming productive members of the Frisco community. The agency’s service area includes Frisco and Frisco ISD; parts of Little Elm, Plano, and McKinney. TDWCC members brought donations of personal care items (toothpaste, brushes, shampoo, etc.) to the meeting to donate to the Frisco Family Services.
January 26, 2009
Kelly Hart, Director of Public Affairs, and Dawna Cornelissen, Community Advocate, of Planned Parenthood of North Texas presented the first program of 2009. They shared the services that are provided in the 29 health care facilities in North Texas that served over 88,000 people this past year. These clinics focus on preventive health for women and also provide some services to men. They shared statistics which are not improving in Texas regarding unwanted pregnancies, lack of access to contraceptives and comprehensive sex education, and the bills in the upcoming Texas Legislative session that are of interest to Planned Parenthood. Only 2.5% of their funds go to abortions and these are all donated by private individuals and no tax money is used.
PPNT supports Education Works! (HB 714/SB 515) – legislation that would require Texas’ sex education programs to teach:
- Medically-accurate information.
- About abstinence, but also the benefits and risks of contraceptives and condoms.
- Strategies to promote family communications and healthy life skills.
- Goal setting and responsible decision making about sexuality.
TDWCC members voted unanimously to join the coalition in support of Education Works. Our name will be listed with other supporters in their communications.
Some TDWCC members and others from Collin County and Dallas County will be taking a bus trip to Austin on Thursday, March 12th for Planned Parenthood Lobby Day. You can sign up through TDWCC (President@tdwcc.org) or go to http://www.ppnt.org.
November 24, 2008
At the November meeting the Bylaws Review Committee presented changes that were approved and the Nominations Committee invited nominations for officers to be elected in January. There was a year-end review of the accomplishments of TDWCC in 2008 and a discussion of actions or issues members would like to focus on in 2009. These included:
- Focus on Education issues and the workings of the State Board of Education; finding a candidate to run in District 9 in 2010.
- Encourage women to run for local school boards and city council. Municipal Elections are in May and it may be too late to file this year. Organize to know filing dates and vacancies in the 31 cities in Collin County!
- Offer strong programs to bring in new members .
- Develop more outreach and publicity; create more awareness about TDWCC.
- Consider opening another office. The GOTV office turned out to be an excellent idea.
- Raise money for candidates.
- Work to present legislation on voter protection.
- Offer more training.
- Work on more collaboration with DPCC.
October 27, 2008
Battleground States Experiences: TDWCC members and guests heard wonderful stories from Kevin Walters who traveled to Cincinnati, Ohio, Sharlene Miragliotta, who spent a week in Jacksonville, Florida, and Winston Estridge who was in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with his wife Rosie. Their were common themes through their stories and they shared delightful anecdotes showing how diverse their experiences were. In Texas we have spoken of block walking while it was more common to hear the activity referred to as canvassing.Preparing the lists of addresses is calling “cutting turf.” Common to all experiences was the great number of Obama supporters and the enthusiasm of voters making a difference, so many of them for the first time.
September 22, 2008
Jean Power is running for County Commissioner in Precinct 4. We are excited to have a woman candidate in Collin County to support. We had a roundtable discussion with Jean about the issues she will face on the Commissioner’s Court. From there we moved to a discussion of writing letters to the editor. We reviewed tips for writing letters and shared ideas of topics to cover and letters that have been published. Writing letters is another powerful way to educate, activate and elect.
July 28, 2008
The focus of our July meeting was the state of the State Board of Education (SBOE). Dot Pitts and Judy Gasser are long-time educators and consultants with a deep understanding of the operations, and failings, of the current board. In May 2008 there was a disturbing vote by nine of the fifteen members of the SBOE to accept revisions to the state’s English Language Arts and Reading curriculum standards. This vote was contrary to recommendations made by Texas teachers and rejected a highly research-based draft written by teachers appointed by the TEA. It omits reading comprehension and cohesive writing and will greatly handicap our children competing for colleges and jobs in the 21st century.
Dot and Judy shared their stories and were very informative in giving us history, background, organizational chart, and the polticis of this board. We are grateful to their expertise and vigilance and will work with them to field a strong candidate in 2010 to challenge Don McElroy in SBOE District 9.
June 23, 2008
At the monthly meeting members voted unanimously (with one abstention) to endorse Presidential Candidate Senator Barack Obama. Members also approved the Board’s recommendation to donate $6000 to eight endorsed candidates. See the link to TDWCC in the Press for the full article and details. Other business included encouraging members to get involved in ongoing GOTV activities.
May 19, 2008
In May we were able to hear first hand how an individual can truly make a difference in the lives of many. Paulette and Bob Cole described their trip to Darfur with an organization called “Thirst No More.” The goal of the organization and its volunteers is to repair water wells and dig new wells to provide much-needed water to the country.
April 28, 2008
In April TDWCC members voted on which Democratic candidates to endorse. Candidates seeking endorsement filled out the TDWCC survey and many of them came to the April meeting to speak and answer questions. Candidates who spoke were:
Tom Daley for United States Representative, District 3
Glenn Melancon for United States Representative, District 4
Eric Roberson for United States Representative, District 32
Jim Jordan for Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice
Don B. Chae for 5th Court of Appeals Justice, Place 3
Shawn Stevens spoke as a representative for Rick Noriega for United States Senator March 24, 2008
Many of our speakers are from organizations and speak to us about issues near and dear to the hearts of Democrats, but sometimes we like to mix it up. In March we had the unique opportunity to hear from Mike Howard, retired US Secret Service agent. He worked with several Presidents and first families and was assigned to protect Lee Harvey Oswald’s family after the assassination. He retired as the head of President Johnson’s protection division. Mike is an excellent story teller and kept the group entertained the whole time. Feb. 25, 2008
In February we didn’t just have one outstanding speaker, but three! TDWCC Board Member Jeanne Rubin put together an informative panel on LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) issues, politics, and advocacy. Board members from Stonewall Democrats, Collin County Gay & Lesbian Alliance and Equality Texas spoke about the missions of their organizations and how straight allies can get involved at the local, state and national levels. Jan. 28, 2008 Instead of a monthly meeting in December, TDWCC had a Holiday Party. In January we started the new year by welcoming speaker Hayedeh Jahansouz, Interim Executive Director of Hope’s Door. Hope’s Door is a shelter and counseling center serving individuals and families affected by domestic violence in Collin County. Nov. 26, 2007
Our guest speaker for November was long time KERA journalist Marla Crockett. Her presentation was entitled “The FCC: Why We Care About It and Other Issues in Public Life.” She spoke about how Corporate media giants are silencing diverse voices, abandoning quality journalism and eliminating local content. She believes that our democracy needs better media — but to get it, we need to fight for better media policies from Congress and the FCC. Oct. 22, 2007
Marcia Mainord, president of Texas Democratic Women spoke at our October meeting. She spoke about the activities that TDW groups are involved in and the history of the Texas Democratic Women.
Bill Baumbach (www.baumbach.org), who ran for County Commissioner against Jerry Hoagland, spoke at this meeting. He presented information about three propositions on a $328.9 million county bond up for a vote and makes a good case for its passage. County Judge Self is opposed to it and many Republicans are speaking against it. November 6, 2007 is election day and although we do not have any candidates up for election there are 3 county bond issues to consider and 16 state constitutional amendments. You can download a voter’s guide on the amendments from www.lwvtexas.org and you can talk to any Democrat in the county for a view on the bond issues. Bill Baumbach now reports on The Collin County Observer blog at www.baumbach.org – great up-to-date information on county issues. Sept. 24, 2007 Our guest speaker for September, Mickey Morris, is a scribe for the National Association of Letter Carriers Union (NALC). With over 300,000 members the NALC is the union of city delivery letter carriers working for the United States Postal Service. Morris writes a political column for the union newspaper, is active in union negotiations and was just elected president of the Texas State Association of Letter Carriers Union. Aug. 27, 2007 In August, we welcomed special guest Jo-Hannah Whitsett. Jo-Hannah is the Political Director of Texas Freedom Network, a nonpartisan, grassroots organization that acts as the state’s watchdog, monitoring far-right issues, organizations, money and leaders. TFN has been instrumental in defeating initiatives backed by the religious right in Texas, including private school vouchers, textbook censorship and faith-based deregulation. She updated us on key issues in the 80th legislative session. July 23, 2007 In July, our Special Guest speaker Robin Al-haddad, Public Relations & Outreach Coordinator for International Rescue Committee/Dallas discussed humanitarian aid efforts overseas as well as domestic refugee resettlement programs here in the Metroplex. June 25, 2007 In June, our fellow TDWCC member, Karin Hosenfeld, who is DPCC Coordinator of Precinct Chairs was our special guest. Karen talked about the value of precinct work and being active at the precinct level, what a precinct chair does, and the process for becoming one. To find your precinct, go to http://www.collindems.us/civicspace/Voterinfo April 23, 2007 In April, Rev. William McElvaney, Board member from the Dallas Peace Center gave an outstanding presentation about his opposition to the Bush Library and Think Tank that is planned for the SMU campus. He is professor emeritus at the Perkins School of Theology, and together with another professor started the campus dialogue about the library.
March 26, 2007
Charles R. Embry, Professor of Political Science from Texas A&M University-Commerce spoke at the March meeting. He has taught political science since 1969, specifically American and Texas Government. Other courses he has taught: European Political Philosophy from antiquity to the present, European Political Systems, Russian Music and Politics, Love and Death in Western Civilization, The Idea of Civilization, and Totalitarianism. Mr Embry answered our questions about how our political process works, specifically in Texas.
Feb. 26, 2007
Ann Drumm, Chair of the Dallas Sierra Club spoke to the Texas Democratic Women of Collin County (TDWCC). Coincidently Ms Drumm’s topical presentation on global warming and the proposed coal-fired power plants was on the same day as the TXU sale announcement. Texas ranks #1 among US states in CO2 emissions. We learned about the Cool Cities Campaign and how several Collin County cities have taken the lead in becoming more energy efficient. Most powerful was the message that individual’s can make a big difference by making our own lifestyles more energy efficient.<
Jan. 22, 2007
Selena Hoffman from Planned Parenthood of North Texas discussed Legislative Days in Austin.
