Changing America one election at a time.

At last night's Northside DFA meeting Ed Mullen was elected as our new chair by a unanimous vote. Congratulations to Ed! This means that this will be my last email as Northside DFA chair. From now on you can expect to get emails from Ed with upcoming events, meeting notices and other important information. You will be getting an email from Ed with contact information specifically for him, however our general email address won't change -- northsidedfa@gmail.com.

I co-founded Northside DFA five years ago in part because I was tired of asking my local Democratic ward committeeman when the next meeting was and being told "we'll let you know." Five years later we have had 68 monthly meetings, over 100 guest speakers, several hundred attendees, and provided thousands of volunteer hours and dollars to progressive candidates that were chosen by a vote of our members. We have grown from a small neighborhood group into one of the largest, most active, and most influential progressive political organizations on Chicago's north side. And we have provided a political home for progressive activists from all over the city and suburbs.

I fully expect that under Ed's leadership Northside DFA will grow even bigger and do even more to fulfill our group's mission "to elect socially progressive, fiscally responsible, and ethically committed Democrats to office at all levels of government, with the overarching goal of increasing the progressive nature of government." With the innumerable challenges facing us at the city, state and federal level now is not the time to rest on our laurels, now is the time to do even more to bring about the change we so desperately need.

From now on if you need to reach me please email me at sjv60640@gmail.com or sandra.verthein@gmail.com or call me at 773-981-0031. For the next few days (until Ed and I have a chance to officially do the transition) I will also be checking our northsidedfa@gmail.com account.

Last but not least, we have a full list of upcoming activities for our endorsed and adopted candidates. Details an information on how to RSVP is below. Please sign up for any and all you can do! Also, my apologies to Forrest Claypool -- I completely forgot to include him on our list of endorsed candidates at last night's meeting so just for the record our current Northside DFA endorsed and adopted candidates for the 2010 general elections are: Dan Seals (adopted), Daniel Biss (adopted), Alexi Giannoulias, Pat Quinn/Shelia Simon, Toni Preckwinkle, Mairyana Spyropoulos and Forrest Claypool. These candidates need our help so please, be generous with your time and money.

Peace,
Sandra Verthein
Former Chair, Northside Democracy for America
www.northsidedfa.com
northsidedfa@gmail.com
Contribute to NDFA and to our NDFA candidates at:
http://www.actblue.com/page/ndfa2010

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UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES:
(Note: items marked ** count towards NDFA voting membership, as does any volunteer work for the campaigns of our endorsed or adopted candidates. Report your activities to northsidedfa@gmail.com.)

**NDFA DANIEL BISS ACTION DAY
- Sunday, August 8, 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.
- Meet at Biss Campaign HQ, 3351 W. Dempster, Skokie, IL
- We will go door to door talking to voters. Training provided and new people will be paired up with experienced volunteers.
- RSVP to NDFA Steering Committee member Jeff Waldhoff at jwaldhoff@hotmail.com or call 773-255-3271 or email northsidedfa@gmail.com. Let Jeff know if you need a ride or can give rides. You can also get there by taking the 250 PACE bus from the CTA Purple Line Davis Street station.

**DFA/Quinn Petition Delivery
- next week, exact time and place TBA
- over 750 DFA members across the state have signed a petition asking Lt. Governor candidate Jason Plummer to release his tax records. National DFA would like local members to participate in a press conference with members of the Quinn campaign and deliver these signatures
- email northsidedfa@gmail.com or call 773-981-0031 to sign up

** Young Professionals for Dan Seals
Come and meet Dan!
- Tuesday, August 10, 6:30pm - 8:30pm
- HUB 51 (Sub 51 Room) 51 West Hubbard, Chicago
- Individual tickets are $40 ($25 for students), and include appetizers and drink
- To RSVP contact Mary-Ryan Douglass at 847.945.8900, or e-mail her at mrdouglass@dansealsforcongress.com

NDFA Voting Member Retreat
- Saturday, August 14
- 9:30 a.m. coffee and donuts, 10:00 meeting, lasts until 2:00 p.m., lunch included
- Open to all NDFA voting members. Location and other details will be emailed to NDFA voting members.
- RSVP to northsidedfa@gmail.com or call 773-981-0031

** NDFA DAN SEALS ACTION DAY
- Saturday, August 21, noon
- Meet at Seals Headquarters: 405 Lake Cook Road, Deerfield , IL 60015, (847.945.8900) The office is in a strip mall one block east of the Lake Cook Metra station, on the second floor (take the stairs just south of the Secretary of State's office).
- More voter outreach - canvassing and phone calls - but other activities will be available This is our chance to really make a difference! The summer interns are going back to school, and there are still a lot of voters to contact.
- RSVP to Mary Koczorowski at mary.koczorowski@northsidedfa.com or call her at 773.525.3719. Let Mary know if you have a car and can drive others to the event ( we'll try to work out a carpool if needed) or if you need directions to the office.

NDFA September Meeting
NOTE 2ND MONDAY DATE!
- Monday, September 13, 6pm dinner ($15, optional), 7pm meeting
- Fizz Bar, 3220 N. Lincoln, Chicago (2 blocks south of Paulina CTA Brown Line stop, $1/hour city parking lot behind building)
- RSVP at
http://www.democracyforamerica.com/events/34089-ndfa-september-meeting