CALL FOR ENTRIES TO THE PROGRESSIVE ACTION VIDEO CONTEST

ADD TO THE PROGRESSIVE MESSAGE!

ENTRIES DUE APRIL 9.

Your video could be about civil liberties under siege, checking the power of corporations, LGBT rights, global climate change, Marcellus Shale gas drilling, a parody of certain news hosts, or opportunities for minorities (race, ethnicity, ways of thinking, etc.) and women in politics, whatever YOU care about and want other people to care about, too.
...
We have prize money to award! There's no fee to enter. ENTRIES ARE DUE APRIL 9

INFORMATION SESSION SUNDAY MARCH 13 AT 1PM AT THE SQUIRREL HILL LIBRARY

CONTEST RULES ARE:
Enter by April 9 - an email or comment in Facebook suffices as intent to enter. Entry is acknowledged when YouTube or other video sharing link is sent or digital copy is physically submitted.
Previous work is acceptable but must have been produced from 2007 to the present.
Maximum length is 15 minutes.
Two awards: Juries Award and People's Choice Award. Judges' decisions is final. The winner of each of these awards will receive $300 from the 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club.
Criteria are (loosely-these are guidelines): relevance to current compelling issues, impact of the video's message, creativity in making your point. Technical considerations are not primary.
Fully protected by the First Amendment! Keep in mind that we can promote the video more the more it is suitable for general audiences.
Entries will of course remain the intellectual property of the contestant, but the PGH 14WIDC requests permission to screen them with attribution or link to them from its web site, etc.
Good luck!

Terri Klein Ron Gaydos
Event Co-Chairs


ABOUT THE PITTSBURGH 14th WARD INDEPENDENT DEMOCRATIC CLUB:

The Club is the oldest continuously-operating independent Democratic club in the country. Our members are registered Democratic Party members in Pittsburgh's 14th Ward (Squirrel Hill, Point Breeze, and North Point Breeze) who believe in progressive, traditional Democratic Party ideals. Many of its members come from activist backgrounds and have worked for peace,justice, economic equity, civil rights, equal rights, and other issues.

Although members are all Democrats, the club is not a part of the official Democratic Party.

More information will be available at www.pgh14widc.org soon.

Each Spring, before the Primary Election, the Club has an endorsement meeting during which members evaluate the candidates and vote to endorse for the upcoming Democratic Primary. Our endorsements are printed in a Voters Guide which is mailed to all registered Democrats in the Ward. We believe our reputation for an open process of allowing our members to hear the candidates and vote for those that match their values gives our endorsements credibility in the community. The Club's endorsement has helped candidates to receive a larger number of votes than they would have received without our endorsement.

The Club holds an annual fundraiser - previous events have featured Andy Borowitz (The Borowitz Report), Dan Perkins (Tom Tomorrow of the comic This Modern World), Asif Manvi of The Daily Show, and the edgy Squonk Opera. We hope to feature YOU this year!

2009 ENDORSED CANDIDATES

CITY OFFICES

Patrick Dowd for Mayor www.dowdformayor.com

The Club endorses Patrick Dowd for Mayor. We are impressed by his grasp of the issues, dedication, and genuine enthusiasm for public service. Council Member Dowd recognizes that “pay for play” is not the way to run the City and has called for campaign finance and other reforms that should make city government transparent and more effective.

Some examples are ending the practice of awarding no-bid contracts, and making campaign finance reports immediately available on the Internet in a searchable data base that compares donations with businesses who have contracts with the city.

Bill Peduto for City Council District 8

Running unopposed but it's very interesting that in this election year he's having an uncanny effect on the Mayor's race, with green initiatives, campaign finance, and anti-pay-to-play measures enacted by the current administration, initiatives Bill Peduto consistently championed as City Councilman.

Meet Sharene Shealey – 14th Ward’s Endorsed Candidate for School Board from
District 1

We are excited to introduce you to Sharene Shealey, our endorsed candidate for School Board from District 1. Sharene is a native Pittsburgher and environmental engineer who lives with her three daughters in her home in North Point Breeze. She received her Bachelors of Science degree from Howard University in 1994 and her Masters of Science from Carnegie Mellon University in 1997, attending both universities on full scholarship. Her two older girls
attend Colfax Accelerated Learning Academy, a Pittsburgh Public School (“PPS”) in Squirrel Hill. Her son received special education services at Pioneer, another PPS, until his death last year.

Sharene impressed the endorsement committee with her commitment to education and her passion for improving the PPS. She was the first member of her immediate family to graduate college and credits her professional and academic success to the committed teachers and quality education she received in the District, as a student at Friendship, Rogers CAPA, and Peabody schools. As an involved parent, Sharene realizes that not every child in every PPS is
experiencing the same rich educational opportunities she enjoyed. If elected to the School Board, Sharene pledges to work with Superintendent Roosevelt and the other Board members to see that every child receives the education necessary to compete and thrive in today’s global economy. She also promises to use her training and skills as an engineer to comb the school budget for wasteful spending and ensure that academic progress does not come at the expense of raising taxes.

Please join us in supporting Sharene Shealey for School Board on May 19th.

For more information, if you would like to get involved in Sharene’s campaign, or to donate money, please visit www.shealey4schools.com.

Pittsburgh School Board District 5

No Endorsement

JUDGES

Voters will be electing a Justice of the State Supreme Court, and Judges to the State Superior Court, State Commonwealth Court and the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. It is difficult to find enough information to evaluate the various judicial candidates even though
decisions that judges make can have dramatic impacts on our lives and laws. Judges are as important as any official, perhaps more so, as recent misconduct by three Common Pleas Judges in Luzerne County shows. Club members have endorsed the following outstanding
candidates and we hope you will consider them.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice - Jack Panella (unopposed in the primary)

Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge
Anne E. Lazarus - www.lazarusforsuperiorcourt.org - a sitting Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge - also endorsed by the Steel City Stonewall Democrats - "Highly Recommended" by the PA Bar Assn.

John Younge - www.judgejohnyounge.org - "Recommended" by the PA Bar Assn. - also endorsed by the Gertrude Stein Political Club, Liberty City Stonewall Democrats, and PA NOW PAC

Kevin Francis McCarthy - www.mccarthyforsuperiorcourt.com - "Recommended" by the PA Bar Association - also endorsed by the Steel City Stonewall Democrats, "Highly Recommended" by the Allegheny County Bar Association. Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Judge

Linda S. Judson - www.lindajudsonforjudge.com - "Recommended" by the PA Bar Association - also endorsed by PA NOW PAC

Barbara Behrend Ernsberger - www.ernsbergerforjudge.com - also endorsed by the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers

Court of Common Pleas Judge

SusanEvashavik Dilucente - http://judgesusan.com - a 2-term sitting District Magistrate - "Recommended" by the Allegheny County Bar Association

Joe Williams - www.judgejoewilliams.com - a sitting judge in the Criminal Division - "Highly Recommended" by the Allegheny County Bar Association - also endorsed by the Allegheny County Labor Council and the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers

Alex Bicket - http://bicket4judge.com - former teacher - "Highly Recommended" by the Allegheny County Bar Association

Hugh Fitzpatrick McGough - www.mcgough4judge.com - "Highly Recommended" by the Allegheny County Bar Association - also endorsed by the SEIU/Workers United and Progress Pittsburgh

County Party Debates New Rules 2/7/2009

A recent text message conversation between two committee members (a true story!):

You going to the County Democrats by-laws meeting? I really don't like that proposal to punish committee members who buck the slate.
I committed to volunteering for the Food Bank this morning. Unless my vote is really needed, I'm here. Let me know if the sanctions rule comes up.
They have danish!
Marzipan?
Sorry, no marzipan. A Tom Foerster butter sculpture, though.
Any fire and brimstone?
A discussion of the treasurer amendment.
What's the room look like there as far as pro or con groups go?
Old.
Think they're the old guard?
Party regulars for sure. .......Your friend the uke player just sat down.
Are there demos of the sanctions? A la Gitmo?
I think I just saw Lyndie England!
Well, you go to the campaign with the party you got...
They've got a quorum.
You should speak up for alternative ways of engaging the committee rather than punishment!
G thx. When you coming?
What about the treasurer amendment?
Passed. :-p
Now Glenfield gets 20% more votes!
Party discipline thingie tabled.
Good job! You swayed them!
4 now.

Time's A-Wastin'

VOTE!!!

Yes, you matter. You matter even more if you're involved in choosing progressive candidates. Join the Pittsburgh 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club today!

http://www.pgh14widc.org/

PGH 14th WIDC Fundraiser and Endorsement Vote March 29 & 30!

So we're the new New Hampshire, hmm?!

All this attention we're getting from Hillary and Obama is going to our heads! But remember all of those legislative and statewide row office elections coming up, too? We haven't. We haven't forgetten that running the 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club takes a little money, either.

So, we'll be holding a first-of-its-kind political game show night (it leaves a Night at the Races in the dust!) fundraiser on Saturday March 29th at the Schenley Park Ice Rink Lodge.

Hosted by Chris Moore from WQED and Allen Kukovich from the Governor's western PA office, try your luck, test your knowledge, risk public humiliation (in a friendly way, of course) during an event that's sure to get the full participation of local, regional, statewide, and presidential candidates and your friends and neighbors, too. (I should add that the games have no less technical razzle dazzle than the ones on TV!

So please join the 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club for an evening of political fun with friends at our fundraiser event. Come on down to the Schenley Ice Skating Rink Lodge and test your knowledge of local politics and the national scene, or just enjoy the social chatter over delicious appetizers, drinks and desserts.

See our site for more information. Complete and return this form to buy advance tickets.

ON SUNDAY March 30 we'll hold our annual Endorsement Election, which is a very influential evaluation of all Democratic candidates before the primaries on April 22nd.

Sunday, March 30, 2008
from Noon to 3 p.m. Candidates are present to speak and answer questions.
Schenley Ice Skating Rink Lodge

Club members vote for the Club’s endorsement of candidates. All members are encouraged to come and vote. Voting is continuous from 12 noon to 3 p.m.

Candidates will speak from 12:30 until about 2:30. While you’re here, connect with the Clinton and Obama campaigns, get buttons, and sign up to volunteer!

Also, don’t forget to join us for Political Game Night on the 29th!

Remember Timothy Sullivan

A great friend of Pittsburgh progressive causes, Timothy Sullivan, husband of Jeanne Clark and friend to so many of us, passed away on March 10. His obituary (Post-Gazette below) omitted this family's wishes that memorial contributions be made to help ensure a Democratic victory in this years elections. SO THERE IT IS. GIVE GENEROUSLY IN MEMORY OF TIM.

Timothy J. Sullivan Jr. / Former teacher and public defender
Oct. 18, 1938 - March 10, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
By Amy McConnell Schaarsmith, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Brave enough to jump from airplanes into the jungles of Vietnam and tough enough to get sober after years of alcoholism, Timothy J. Sullivan Jr. also was sweet enough to serve as the unofficial "dad" for struggling teenagers throughout the community until his death at home from a suspected heart attack or stroke on Monday afternoon. He was 69.
For Mr. Sullivan, of Shadyside, working to do right was a lifelong commitment.
"Kids were looking for somebody to be a dad and they would come to him," said his wife, Jeanne K.C. Clark. "We were always trying to get them into school and doing the right thing."
Mr. Sullivan, originally from Coraopolis and Moon, graduated from Moon High School and St. Joseph's College in Indiana, then returned to teach at Moon High in 1960. He was drafted the next year and served in Vietnam in the Special Forces for two years.
Returning to Pittsburgh in 1963, Mr. Sullivan attended Duquesne Law School at night and worked as a school community agent and probation officer during the day. He joined Reed Smith after passing the bar in the late 1960s, but discovered a love of defense work, especially for people who were poor and struggling, according to his wife.
Working in the Allegheny County public defender's office until 1988, Mr. Sullivan represented clients charged with everything from DUI to sexual assault to capital murder. While he always had a smile and a joke for colleagues -- he had the gift of the Irish blarney, said his wife -- he was a bulldog in court, said Bob Foreman, a former colleague.
"In the courtroom, he was ballsy," said Mr. Foreman, who still works as a public defender. "He certainly wasn't disrespectful to anyone, but he wasn't cowed by anyone. He was a fighter."
That fighting spirit had helped Mr. Sullivan get sober after battling alcoholism for years. He had his first drink at age 14, and struggled with a drinking problem even as he was raising his daughter, Maureen, and son, Tim III, while his first wife, Mary Elizabeth, was going through her own struggles with multiple sclerosis. She died in 1973.
Mr. Sullivan, who married Ms. Clark in 1975, quit drinking for good in 1979. After years of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and failed attempts to stay sober, Mr. Sullivan ultimately made it stick.
"That was really a lot of the heroism of it, that he would pick himself up and try again," said Ms. Clark. "Maybe it's that he didn't think he had another chance, that he got sober this time or he would die."
After leaving the field of law, Mr. Sullivan worked for several years at Barnes and Noble in Aspinwall, where many customers grew to know him well. He then began working at the Pittsburgh Public Schools, first as a day-to-day substitute, and then from 2002 to 2007 as a social studies teacher at Oliver High School.
During all those years, teenagers who needed a home found it with Mr. Sullivan and Ms. Clark. A nephew came to live for a while. So did their son's best friend when her mother decided to move to Africa and the girl didn't want to follow.
Now married with children of her own, that girl, Meuko Johnson, and her husband, Dwayne, recently retired from the military and moved their family back to Pittsburgh to be near Mr. Sullivan and Ms. Clark.
Mr. Sullivan was a member of Squirrel Hill NOW and a volunteer for the Freedom Unlimited Holiday Food Drive. He was a member of Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture) and a docent at Conservation Consultants Inc. He sang in the Sacred Heart Parish Choir. He also was a member of the 7th Ward Democratic Committee and assisted with successful judge campaigns throughout the state, from local district judge races to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by daughter Maureen and son Timothy III; sisters Carol A. Sullivan of Delaware, Mary Elizabeth Tillman of South Florida and Marilyn Huffman of Moon; and brother Fred Sullivan of Las Vegas.

THIS JUST IN! THE PITTSBURGH 14WIDC BLOG!!!

We'll just start this in medias res, which all you 14th Warders know means in the middle of things.

We're in the middle of the coming onslaught of compulsive tree-cutting, compulsive gambling losses, community benefits agreements negotiations, and, yeah, even a primary election!

After the usual uncontested General Election races for Mayor (although the Primary was curiously uncontested as well), City Council, and Controller, and now past the last ever mass row office elections (Recorder, Register, Clerk, and Prothonotary (yes, Virginia, there was a Prothonotary)), we're paying attention to the Presidential Primary.

Here in Pennsylvania, the Presidential Primary's all local, since we vote for the candidates' delegates, the contest between Hillary, Obama, Edwards, Kucinich, et al being just a beauty contest.

Will we be a rubber stamp for the decisions that little all-white rural states are making? Will BIG MEDIA be the king-or-queen-makers? Will the candidates keep sending us 15 email alerts every day? And will our own voices somehow shape the momentum building in other states? Stay tuned! That's coming up.