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Hillsborough Democratic Party
Platform Committee
Report of the Platform Committee meeting on Thursday, June 4, from 4:30-6:30 pm at the Michael Steinberg
Law Offices of Michael A. Steinberg, Fountain Square II, 4925 Independence Parkway, Suite 195, Tampa, FL
33634-7540
Members of the Committee, appointed by HCDEC Chairwoman Elizabeth Belcher: Alvin Wolfe, chair,
with members Kent Bailey, Barbara Bartlett, Chris Cano, Bill Guerra, Howard Harris, Bob Keenan,
Anne and John McGrath, Brandy McNeill, Robert Price (ex officio, as Vice Chair of HCDEC), Nikki Rae
Redding, Phyllis Roth, Anna Scott, Susan Smith, and Michael Steinberg.
Present at this meeting: Bob Keenan, Susan Smith, Michael Steinberg, and Alvin Wolfe, committee
chair.
Agenda distributed prior to the meeting of Thurs, June 4, 2015.
Agenda Item I. Report of May Meeting was available via web:
<http://lutzliberals.us/RecentPlatformReport.pdf>
Agenda Item II. HCDEC Events since Last Meeting. Not much happened since the May meeting other
than Alvin Wolfe’s representing the Hillsborough Democratic Veteran’s Caucus on the Veterans Honor
Flight 21 on May 19th.
Agenda Item III. Work on the new DRAFT five-section Platform:
Prior to meeting each member was asked to read what the committee has done so far and then each was
to come up with improvements on the DRAFT Platform a copy of which was to available at:
< http://lutzliberals.us/DRAFTPlatformUnderConstruction.pdf>
Members who sent in their editorial suggestions to awolfe1@tampabay.rr.com were:
Brandy McNeill suggested that in Section IV we include “living arrangements” in the paragraph describing
issues that become problematic when ex-felons do not have their rights reinstated after they serve their
sentences. The Committee worked on that, so that the paragraph now reads:
Restore the civil rights of felons upon completion of court-ordered sentences. The Hillsborough County
Democratic Party recognizes that civil rights must be restored to those who have paid their debt to society. Our
communities and the state save resources by automatically restoring the civil rights of felons who have
completed their court-ordered sentences. The Party notes especially that the rights these people have lost often
include more than just voting rights. They have also lost rights we often think of as inalienable, rights having to
do with health, education, employment and housing.
Phyllis Roth suggested In that same paragraph the we remove the word “just” in the sentence “The Party notes
especially that the rights these people have lost often include more than just voting rights.” The Committee
decided to keep the word, as you can read above. Ms. Roth also said she likes the section called “Respect for
Veterans.”
Alvin Wolfe used Word “track changes” to have a record of the editing so that the progress at this meeting on
all five sections would be recorded:
Section I. Economic Development and Jobs in Hillsborough County
Section II. Rebuilding Hillsborough's Public Educational System
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Section III. A Healthy Hillsborough is a strong Hillsborough
Section IV. Justice For All
Section V. Hillsborough Needs Strong Infrastructure
All Committee members and other readers of this report can see the current draft of all five sections at:
< http://lutzliberals.us/DRAFTPlatformUnderConstruction.pdf>
Agenda Item IV. Plans for getting Platform to DEC. The committee discussed the suggestion the plan that
we expect the entire DEC to be asked to approve the completed platform “in a few months.” The result:
1. Get whole committee to approve or make small edits during month of June.
2. Send to Steering Committee in July, informing them that we would like an early DEC vote.
3. Send well-edited draft to all members of DEC in time to have up-or-down approval on the agenda for
August.
4. If voted down in August (or if there is not a quorum) schedule a final vote in September.
NEXT Platform Committee Meeting. After this June Meeting, the next meeting of the Platform
Committee is on Thursday, July 2, from 4:30-6:30 pm (Our usual time) at the Michael Steinberg Law
Offices (Michael A. Steinberg, Fountain Square II, 4925 Independence Parkway, Suite 195, Tampa, FL
33634-7540.
Alvin W. Wolfe, Ph.D., Chair, Platform Committee Hillsborough County Democratic Party
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