Burnt Orange Report

Report on The Texas State Democratic Party State Democratic Executive Committee (SDEC) Meeting yesterday, 4/16/05, in Austin, by John McConnell

I attended the general session of the SDEC in Austin on Saturday, April 16, 2005. The session began about 1:15 p.m. with a few opening remarks by Chairman Soechting followed by an invocation by Morris Overstreet and the Pledge of Allegiance led by Betty Richie. From where I sat, the session got off to a bad start and went downhill from there. I came away from the meeting deeply concerned for the future of The Texas Democratic Party. First of all, the room was small and a tight fit for those who attended, and the air conditioning wasn’t working at first. Doors to the outside were opened and that helped temperature-wise but it let in street noise. Those turned out to be relatively minor problems. The major problem preventing good communications was the lack of microphones on the floor. There was but one microphone in the room—that provided for the Chairman. The SDEC members had no way of making themselves heard except by shouting--and there was a lot of that. I was able to hear but little of what the members on the floor had to say. Only a few of them made the attempt to gain the floor. Even among those speaking from the podium, it was difficult to hear anyone but those with deep and powerful voices. All of this, coupled with a great deal of “caucusing” in the back and corners of the room by those not interested in what those granted the floor had to say—or the rights of others to hear them---did not lead to an enlightening and productive meeting.

The roll was called (by Secretary Ruby Jensen?) after the Pledge of Allegiance. There appeared to be a good turnout with most SDEC member’s chairs filled. Several of those absent, including Ken Molberg, and Nancy Russell, were represented by proxy. It was impossible to make an accurate count from the floor because an up-to-date list of SDEC members was not furnished, and it was difficult to hear the names called and those responding. Throughout the roll call, Bob Slagle was wandering about the room doing whatever it was he was doing—shaking hands and whispering in ears. I believe he was supposed to be acting as parliamentarian and, in that role, should have stayed close to the Chair should a question of procedure have arisen. Since parliamentary procedures were, for the most part, ignored, I suppose it didn’t make much difference.

After the roll was called, Chairman Soechting declared a quorum and called the meeting to order. There was no provision for the addition of items on the Agenda from the floor or the approval of the Agenda by the members. As far as I could tell, the Agenda was never approved. There was no protest of these omissions by members. They did not appear to be aware that the Agenda requires their majority approval to be official. Once approved, the Agenda can not be changed except by suspension of the rules. Such suspension requires a two-thirds vote of the membership.

Chairman Soechting then called for the reading and approval of the minutes of the SDEC meeting of January 10, 2005. I believe there were one or two corrections, but I can’t be sure. According to these minutes, there were no motions made and acted on concerning unfinished or new business during the January 10th meeting. Did none of the SDEC members or their proxies bring the concerns of their constituents before the SDEC at this, the second meeting of the SDEC since the 2004 Convention? Exactly what is it that the SDEC members are supposed to do at SDEC meetings? Certainly they should be doing more than approving whatever the Chair and his staff propose.

Next on the Agenda was “Introduction of Special Guest.” Carlos Truan presented a Plaque to Oscar Soliz whose family was with him. I could not hear the reading of the inscription on the Plaque by Truan. During this presentation, Ken Bailey and others were wandering around the room a la Bob Slagle. Others were caucusing in the corners. Not a good way to show respect for Oscar or Carlos who have served the Party faithfully and well.

The next item on the Agenda was the Treasurer’s Report. I will have to read the minutes to find out what was in that report. Next came a rambling report by the Chair, little of which I could comprehend. Several speakers, not on the Agenda, were allowed to speak for long periods. While they spoke, the Chair was conducting business here and there. In most cases, the speakers told us what Democratic activists already know. We know that the Republicans are up to no good. Why must we be constantly lectured on the subject? What we need are new ideas for fighting back. In all cases, the speakers were well informed and well meaning but they took up time that should have been spent in conducting the business of the SDEC.

Committee reports were called for, apparently, at the whim of the Chair. The Finance Committee report, which was listed first under Committee Reports, was not given until after 3 p.m. During this report by Dennis Speight, the room way was in total disorder. Chairman Soechting was out of the chair; Bob Slagle was caucusing in the back of the room. Other members were wandering about. Many had left the room. A member complained that he or she couldn’t hear a word Speight was saying.

There was no provision on the Agenda for Unfinished Business. No member seemed to have any unfinished business to bring up. New Business was called for almost as an afterthought at 3:25 p.m. There were no motions from the floor regarding new business. Is nothing going on in the Senatorial Districts or Organizations represented by SDEC members that should have been addressed?

Well, enough of the gory details. I have been having hearing problems lately and wear hearing aids when necessary. I can hear fairly well when there isn’t too much back ground noise. But the room yesterday was not quiet and orderly.
The lack of an adequate sound system makes it appear that those who made the arrangements were not interested in what the SDEC members had to say or that they be able to hear one another. The business of the Texas Democratic Party can not be conducted in a democratic manner under such conditions.

The SDEC is charged with carrying on the activities of the Party between conventions. The state chair is elected to preside over, not to rule, the meetings of the SDEC. It appeared to me, yesterday, that few SDEC members are aware of what “preside” means.
The duties of a presiding officer are described in the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised, our parliamentary authority.

The Texas Democratic Party is disorganized because our so-called leaders have tried to exercise more authority than democracy allows. As we have seen, this has not—cannot—work. Those of us who are elected officials of the Party owe it to those who elected us to do our very best in learning the law and the rules which govern political parties such as ours and in carrying out the duties placed on us by The Election Code and The Rules of the Texas Democratic Party. Unless we do that, we share the blame for the continuing and dangerous excesses of the Republican Party. Learning our jobs and doing them will take time and effort, but I think that is better than standing by and watching the Republicans dismantle those benefits of democracy that we still enjoy.

Finally, I am deeply troubled by the Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance on the Agenda. The Democratic Party is made up of representatives of every religion and philosophy. If we are to have invocations at our meetings, the majority must approve such activities after discussion and debate. In fairness, if we are to have one point of view, every point of view must have the opportunity to be expressed by someone sharing that point of view. If that were that to happen it would make for a long meeting. In all my days, I have heard but one Jewish prayer at a political meeting. All the other occurrences have been strictly Christian appeals to "God." That can not help but be divisive and does nothing to bring non-Christians into our party whose numbers and support we must have if we are to prevail,

The Pledge of Allegiance has been a Christian religious activity since 1954 when the right wing led by the McCarthyites managed to slip in the phrase "under God." Dwight Eisenhower who was no Democrat signed it into law. That was a violation of the Establishment Clause as confirmed by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2002. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on the matter in June. Regardless of the outcome, The Texas Democratic Party should not be fostering such an unnecessary affront to even a few of its members. As a military retiree, I am offended by being asked to publicly reconfirm my patriotism by persons who may or may not have adequately demonstrated their own.

Respectfully submitted by John McConnell, Democratic Precinct Chair
Precinct 3047
Bexar County, Texas