Last year, 2022, was the year most everyone seemed fired up about elections. However, I’m here to tell you that the most significant and consequential elections for you as a Weld County Democrat are coming up this month. The Weld County Central Committee Reorganization and elections will be on Saturday, February 11th. These elections will determine who your county party leaders will be. We will be electing bonus members to the State Central Committee, and these members will determine who your state party leaders will be, as well as serving on the Weld County Executive Committee. The County Central Committee is the governing body of the party, and it is responsible for electing the Executive Committee, Bonus members, District leaders and establishing vacancy committee members.
County Central Committee meeting attendance is the one obligatory, mandatory responsibility of a Precinct Organizer (PO). As an elected Precinct Organizer from caucus, you have several responsibilities to your precinct, but the most important, is to represent your precinct at County Central Committee. Any Weld County Democrat can attend the meeting, and even be nominated for office or as a bonus member, but only Precinct Organizers and County Central Committee members get to vote. On a very basic level, this is the foundation of all party activity and all elections. It can be a very powerful element in the political process especially when it comes to appointing any vacancies. According to the Colorado Sun, 25 percent of the Colorado legislature gained their seats at some time through vacancy committee appointments, not by election. Boulder County is in the middle of filling a vacancy now, and this is not the first one they have had to deal with in the last two years. Participation by POs and Central Committee members in the Reorganization Meeting is very important. State Statute clearly indicates that the Vacancy Committee will consist of at a minimum, the County Central Committee. This is a mandate that requires participation.
I have often said that Democracy is not a spectator sport. This means that active participation is necessary, and not just to vote. We need candidates to vote for, and county leadership, state and national leadership to make our system of government work. This brings me to urging you to run for something. If you would like to be a bonus member, and have a vote in state leadership, or if you would like to have a chance of Weld County Office leadership, or district leadership, you need to let your intentions be known right away. You should have received an email with the forms information and procedures. The email was sent on January 26. Please check your Spam or Promotions mail folders as the email may have landed there. If you did not receive the email, or can’t find or open it, here is more information and a form to fill out: https://www.weldcountydems.org/2023/01/biennial-reorganization-meeting-february-11-2023/
All registered Democrats in the county may run for countywide positions and party offices in their districts. Candidates do not have to be members of the central committee to be eligible. To have your name on the ballot, please fill out the form on the Weld County Dems website https://www.weldcountydems.org/2023/01/biennial-reorganization-meeting-february-11-2023/ or email the following information to
wd.centralcomm@gmail.com with subject line “Reorganization Candidate Information” by February 1: your name, address, phone, email address, and the office(s) you are interested in. Names may be added during the meeting on February 11; but will not be included in advance publicity about candidates. If you decide to run and would like a list of Central Committee members to contact about your candidacy before the meeting, email wd.centralcomm@gmail.com to request a list. For job descriptions of the county officers’ duties:
https://www.coloradodems.org/county-party-reorg
County Officer Job Descriptions
COUNTY CHAIR – The County Chair is officially responsible for (1) running caucuses and assemblies; (2) running re organization elections; (3) recruiting and filling PCP (precinct leader) positions; (4) raising money to fund the county budget; (5) creating and overseeing the county budget; (6) signing any contracts; (7) planning county party dinners, fundraisers or candidate forums; (8) recruiting great candidates to run for every level of office, in conjunction with the state party and other community leaders; (9) Presiding over county central and executive committee meetings; (10) Training other officers in district; (11) follow state & county rules and state statutes. The Chair should additionally make sure the party is welcoming and inclusive and try any new ideas that can engage volunteers and voters to make the best impact possible.
COUNTY VICE CHAIR(S) – The Vice-Chair (1) does the work needed to support the Chair; (2) runs meetings when the Chair is unavailable, and (3) acts in the Chair’s absence. Vice-Chairs should additionally make sure the party is welcoming and inclusive and try any news ideas that can engage volunteers and voters to make the best impact possible. Many Vice-Chairs assist in outreach or can specialize in a given area (communications, digital, data, outreach).
COUNTY TREASURER – The Treasurer is the person who (1) is responsible for balancing the bank accounts; (2) timely files required campaign finance reports with TRACER; (3) helps create the county budget; and (4) assists in fundraising efforts. The County Party Treasurer is responsible for cooperating in the transition to subsequent County Party Treasurers by providing all financial records, bank account information, logins / passwords, and signing of any bank documents necessary to allow the new treasurer to resume the duties of the role without missing any deadlines or information.
COUNTY SECRETARY – The Secretary (1) takes the minutes and timely prepares them for approval; (2) serves as the records-custodian for the party (caucus results, re-org results, PCP tracking, data entry). The Secretary sometimes takes the role of preparing e-newsletters, tracking data integrity of lists in VAN and sending meeting calls.
Every county is different and each county leadership team should work together to maximize everyone’s strengths and compensate for any weaknesses. There are minimum requirements that must be done under state law and rules. But have fun, create, experiment, include, engage and win! All party officers must remain neutral in Democratic primaries.
Weld County Democrats worked very hard to find and elect good candidates. Dems deliver, and I have faith that good people will step up and do their part to make our reorganization successful and set us on a path to continue to keep Colorado blue. We also will strive to make Weld County a blue county. We can’t do it without you, so please register and show up for our virtual Reorg. At 10 a.m. on the 11th , run for something now and step up to keep our momentum going.
We are planning an after meeting meet and greet event on the 11 th in Windsor. It will be a chance to come meet other Weld Dems, meet some of our State Party candidates and other representatives and enjoy some food and fellowship. Watch for more coming details in your email and on the Weld County Dems web page. Please join us.
-Beverly Wallace, Chair of the Weld County Democratic Party
