On March 3, 2010, the Kendall County Democratic Central Committee held its Convention to elect officers. I am happy to have again been elected as Chairman for another two-year term. I also need to mention that the newly elected Executive Board is one of the strongest Boards we have ever fielded.
It’s important to note that I can’t take sole credit for what we have done, or where we are headed. Had I not had the driven, creative group that was the past Board, along with active and dedicated Party members working with me, the Party’s success wouldn’t be as great. With the new Board, elected PCP’s, and our members, I can see us building upon the success of the past in these upcoming two years.
The KCDCC can point to some very visible accomplishments, when reviewing the past two years:
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Our website (
www.kendall-democrats.org) is one of the most apparent achievements. Anyone wanting to understand who we are needs only to go to our website. Its professional appearance and navigational ease are quite evident.
- Our visibility on the social networks like Facebook and YouTube indicate our party’s embrace of the new networking possibilities.
- The KCDCC email news, events, and action alerts go out to nearly 700 people, informing them of what we’re doing and/or what they can do to join us in our efforts.
- The Public Address system we purchased a couple of years ago has nearly paid for itself, and it helps our functions go smoothly and professionally.
- For those of us who walked in the parades last year, the KCDCC Float made an impressive impact with parade watchers both visually and, with the PA system on board, audibly.
There were other tangible achievements that we can boast. Our events kept getting better, and we have had even greater attendance. Candidates clearly know that Kendall County is the place to go when meeting with, and talking to, voters. While we made outreach to those running for office, candidates also made the effort to contact the KCDCC to request a chance to introduce themselves to the Party. At our last Candidate Rally, over twenty candidates, or their surrogates, came to Kendall County, and many of them commented that they enjoyed coming here.
The Annual Golf Outing continues to be successful, and the first KCDCC Family BBQ went over so well that many attendees from the event have said that they look forward to our next.
With regard to less obvious activities, The KCDCC Bylaws were created and voted into existence. We now have an organizational framework to follow. Our work with the Precinct Committee People cannot be overlooked. We provided tools and training to our PCPs that helped them do what they were elected to do. Larry Quick of the Quick ‘N’ Clean Foundation met with PCPs and learned how to create Dynamic Precinct Structures. On a separate occasion, Senator Dick Durbin’s Springfield Chief of Staff, Bill Houlihan, spoke to us about how to work our precincts and gave us insight into what is happening on the state and national levels. Additionally, we held VoteBuilder training so that PCPs could create walklists and find targeted voters in their precincts.
In closing, I think the KCDCC has come far in the past two years, but it is not because of just one person. It is the difficult and time-consuming effort of many dedicated people, who want to see the Democratic Party grow and flourish in Kendall County, that make our Party a success. The casual observer may not see the planning, nor the outreach to candidates, unions, and the party faithful, or even the set-up, and the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to make an event or project successful. We all hope to continue the success of the past administration for another two years.
Chuck Sutcliff
Chairman, Kendall County Democratic Central Committee