Democrats Revive Dormant Executive Committee

American humorist Will Rogers famous quip that "I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat" is no longer true of Franklin County.

About 20 Democrats from around the county met Sept. 24 at the Water Street Hotel and re-organized the county's Democratic Executive Committee after several years of it being dormant.

Named temporary chair of the new committee, until new elections are held either in late December or early January, is Apalachicola attorney Barbara Sanders, who wasted no time in signaling her intent to revitalize the local Democratic effort.

"We want to register as many voters as we can and get as many people to the polls as we can," she said, following the two-hour meeting. "We're looking forward to getting a Democrat in the White House.

The members at the meeting also unanimously selected Curt Blair, of Apalachicola, to serve as vice chairman; Brenda Ash, of Apalachicola, to be treasurer; and Glynda Ratliff, of St. George Island, as secretary.

The committee also set about selecting a committeeman and committeewoman for each of the eight precincts. In addition, as many as four other at-large committee members may be selected as well.

 Several people volunteered for those positions and their applications are now being reviewed to see who is eligible for which slots. All elected Democratic public officials of the county are also ex-officio members of the executive committee.

Just as is the case with the Republican Executive Committee, all members of the Democratic Executive Committee must sign a so-called "loyalty oath," that they will not "actively and/or publicly oppose" the election of any Democrat running for local office. Committee members are also required to affirm support for the Constitution and can not hold elected office.

The new committee begins with about $4,500 in "seed money," thanks to the county's recent supervisor of elections race.

Because of Doris Gibb's timing in deciding not to run for a seventh term, both Democratic candidates, Ida Elliott and Renee Griffin, each had to pay a $4,446 fee to qualify for the ballot, representing 6 percent of the supervisor's $74,094 annual salary.

This now leaves about $4,446 in the hands of the new committee, since the two fees are to be split between Franklin County Democrats and the state party.

Mary Mooney, chairman of the committee for county outreach for the Democratic Small County Coalition, provided an overview of the new county committee and answered questions from those in attendance.

In addition to Betty Croom, who heads the Franklin County Democratic Women's Committee, Apalachicola Mayor Van Johnson among those on hand, as well as his opponent in last fall's election, Mark Browne.

"Our mission is to find and elect good people to local office," said Mooney. "Our focus is to change the legislature in Tallahassee.

"The (county executive committee) evolves how you want it to evolve," she stressed. "It reflects your community."

Blair, who once served as county commissioner in Monroe County, encouraged the committee to focus on four priorities, to disseminate public information, to register new voters, and on Election Day to both "get out the vote" and watch the polls.

Mooney and Sanders made tentative plans for Eric Perot, a staffer with the Florida Democratic Party, to speak to the new committee on Wednesday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. at the Water Street Hotel.

Perot is an expert in the party's Voter Activation Network, a grassroots effort, targeted by demographics, to get Democrats registered to vote and have them cast ballots in the upcoming general election.

Individuals have until Monday, Oct. 6 to register to vote for the general election.

The new committee plans to meet at least quarterly, and possibly monthly, and indicated their interest in holding luncheon meetings at restaurants throughout the county, similar to how the Republicans do it.