MCDC Fundraiser/Award Dinner Canceled
The Mayoral control debate over Rochester City Schools claimed a victim today - the MCDC volunteer awards dinner. The Rochester Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation was planning to picket the event to protest mayoral control of the Rochester City Schools. via a RGVALF email
Rochester unions, parents and community members will gather in protest at the Monroe County Democratic Committee’s Annual Dinner, Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 4:30pm, at the Airport Holiday Inn, 911 Brooks Avenue, Rochester, NY 14624. As a result of growing frustration toward the lack of response from Joseph D. Morelle, Representative from Assembly District 132 and Chair of the Monroe County Democratic Committee, a picket has been organized on the issue of Mayoral Control of Schools
I’m not sure what kind of response they wanted - Morelle has been quite clear - he supports mayoral control. Anyway quite the victory for them. You can read MCDC Chairman Morelle’s explanation below the fold but let’s be clear - this is as much a fundraiser as an Award dinner. Tickets are $40 a pop so if it was simply a dinner acknowledging the endless sacrifice of the local volunteers one would think would be “free” for them.
Somewhere the local GOP leadership is smiling.
(update: Sean Hart from MCDC says in the comments this is not a fundraiser - please read)
The MCDC Chairman’s explanation below the fold (cut and pasted from an email)
Dear Committee Member:
I am writing to inform you that the 2010 MCDC Volunteer Recognition and Awards Dinner scheduled for Wednesday, February 17th has been canceled. The cancelation is the direct result of a decision by the Rochester Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation to picket our dinner as part of their efforts to prevent school governance reform in the City of Rochester.
It is unfortunate the federation chose to express their disagreement with a public policy proposal by picketing an MCDC event. MCDC has not taken a position on this proposal and has made no effort to make it a partisan issue.
The volunteer dinner is designed to honor our party’s dedicated volunteers. Our volunteers make countless personal and professional sacrifices on behalf of the party and deserve our respect and recognition. The dinner is not a venue to debate public policy questions; it is about our volunteers, the lifeblood of our party. This picket unfairly takes the focus of the event off our honorees and dedicated volunteers and squarely on our elected officials.
Unfortunately, the picket places both our volunteers and elected officials in a bad position. The Democratic Party has a long tradition of support for organized labor, and we will not allow a situation to occur which forces hard-working party volunteers to be faced with the prospect of crossing a picket line. It is a shame that an event organized to thank unpaid volunteers is being used to promote a particular public policy point of view, and to purposely put those volunteers in an awkward and untenable situation.
I commit to you that our volunteers will not go unrecognized. MCDC will present awards to the winners and will publically announce the recipients. My heartfelt thanks go out to the many people who contributed to this event. Your generosity is truly appreciated. Refunds for tickets purchased will be made available for you in the coming days.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Warmest personal regards,
Joseph Morelle, Chair
Monroe County Democratic Committee
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just cut and paste my comment from the previous post.
Shouldn’t progressive democrats be considering changes in leadership to stop this show,
Joe should have stepped down after the election debacle.
Morelle is already 3 months late in resigning.
Katie’s Law was probably meant to be his tarnish remover…how’s that working for him?
Dear Joe…it really, REALLY is time to listen to what the people are saying!
This is further evidence that Joe Morelle struggles in a game of checkers while the rest of the world, relatively speaking, can play three-dimensional chess while blindfolded.
If you want to scrap an event because there’s a labor action in progress — strike, lockout, whatever — that’s fine and appropriate. You shouldn’t be crossing a line of people fighting for their livelihoods when your party purports to be the protectorate of the people.
But this is nothing more than a protest. That’s all it is, a protest. Protests take place all the time. Sometimes they attract the attention of the media and the general public, sometimes they don’t.
But when you cower in the face of a protest largely aimed at a handful of people (one in particular, actually), you’ve lost the battle. You’re going to get the wrong sort of media attention and you’re going to raise doubts with the public regarding your ability to manage and to lead.
Morelle has just clinched the title of worst leader of the party of the last quarter century — or longer. C’mon, Joe. Pull a Susan John and decide to leave before the public (whether its just the MCDC or your elected office) makes the decision for you.
Clarification by Sean Hart about MCDC Dinner being a fundraiser
Sean Hart from MCDC sent this via email.
I think morelle was totally correct to cancel this event. When the unions said they were picketing and asked supporters not to cross the picket line, they made it impossible for party volunteers to attend this event which was to be held in their honor. I had no problem when these folks protested at morelle’s legislative office, but protesting the volunteer recognition dinner was the wrong move. Morelle could have simply not shown up to the event, but even if he did the volunteers who agree philosophically with the unions wouldve had to decide to cross a picket line, which many wouldn’t want to do no matter how much they wished to honor the party’s volunteers. The union leaders owe an apology to Democratic volunteers who worked hard last year.
In what capacity does Morelle support mayoral control of city schools?
As a city resident? Nope
As a state assemblyperson? Not sure, but if so, why?
As Dem Party chair???
The cost of that wonderful volunteer recognition dinner has always been cost prohibitive for many volunteers.
If it isn’t a fund raiser, let me say, having organized quite a few dinner events, the MCDC dinner is way overpriced.