It’s hard to believe that we’ve been living with COVID-19 for a more than year, and that the virus has cost more than 500,000 American lives. No one is unaffected, whether by the disease itself or the drastic changes the pandemic has forced us to make. Thankfully, many of us have been vaccinated, and we look forward to the day when all Americans will be able to say that.
Although headquarters remains closed, except by appointment, we are busy working on our strategic plan for 2021, which lays the groundwork for 2022 and a possible city election this year, depending on how the AZ Supreme Court rules. We are also forming a team for this year’s redistricting challenge.
There have been staff changes at headquarters. Joshua Polacheck, our Executive Director, has left PCDP, which was part of his plan when PCDP hired him. I have been interviewing candidates and will be making the decision on his replacement soon.
We have also hired a new Operations Coordinator: Miranda Lopez. Many of you might know Miranda from her work as a Mission for Arizona field organizer during the 2020 election cycle. I met Miranda when I chaired her territory in LD10 and saw firsthand how Miranda worked with volunteers, which is a big part of her new PCDP position. Because of her great work, Miranda was promoted to Regional Organizing Director at Mission for Arizona, managing the team of 13 field organizers. PCDP is lucky to have her, as she brings a wealth of organizing experience.
The Arizona Democratic Party kept me busy this month. Besides attending the County Chairs meeting, I attended the ADP budget meetings. Part of the budget process is for the counties to submit a grant application, which I did. Hopefully, we will get money from ADP to support our activities going forward.
Additionally, I attended my first ADP Executive Committee Meeting in February along with First Vice Chair Nathan Davis, and Second Vice Chair Kalyanraman Bharathan. ADP is looking for a new Executive Director, and a new building. More to come on both.
Nathan Davis has been planning Cat Dems events. The first, on March 7, featured Linda McNulty, a Democrat on the 2011 Independent Redistricting Commission. Please consider becoming a Cat Dem so you can attend these special events throughout the year. More on the event next month.
Precinct Committeeperson applications have been keeping Priya Sundareshan, our Corresponding Secretary, busy. We have had lots of applications for all LDs.
Once again, I attended the monthly LD Chairs call, as well as attending all the LD Committee Meetings in February.
Please continue to stay safe. Hopefully, April’s Chair Notes will say that headquarters is open!
-Bonnie Heidler