Author/Activist Michael Mills is Our Guest for September
Please join the North Fulton Democrats Tuesday evening, Sept. 14, at 7:30 PM. Our guest will be Author/Activist and former Georgia Secretary of State candidate Michael Mills. He’ll discuss the upcoming elections and the state of civic duty and activism in American politics – drawing from his book Battling Democracy’s Decline: Lessons From The Trenches.
His biography is a study of hard work, commitment to change and passion for implementing common sense public policy. With a master’s degree in communications from Georgia State University, Mills began his career in politics by serving as legislative aide to former Secretary of State Lewis Massey. He next moved to the campaign trail as press secretary on Mark Taylor’s successful bid for lieutenant governor in 1998.
Mills made a natural transition to the public policy world, working at PR firms to shape health care, environmental and transportation legislation. Highlights included building a statewide coalition to educate elected officials about the Kyoto Protocol and global warming, and serving as a key strategist for the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce’s Clean Water Initiative.
But election and civic participation issues have always been central to Michael’s work. His grad school thesis included a plan for increasing youth voter turnout. He served as a board member for the League of Women Voters of Georgia. And launched Vote for America-Georgia, a non-profit dedicated to improving educated voter turnout across the metro Atlanta region. This last organization registered thousands of voters, mobilized volunteers and helped raise 2002 voter turnout by more than seven percent, which bucked traditional double digit declines in off-year elections.
Mills combined the lessons from these varied experiences into the book Battling Democracy’s Decline: Lessons From The Trenches, which was published this year. The book chronicles the history of American civic participation, explains our declining participation and provides real world examples of what inspires people to action.
Mills also has institutional leadership experience, previously running public affairs across the southeast for one of Fortune Magazine’s top five companies. In that role, he advanced the company’s policies and actions on environmental sustainability, health care and employment. He also supported non-profits by driving corporate philanthropy and service, while empowering small and medium-sized businesses to work with one of the world’s largest brands – enhancing local revenues and creating jobs in the process.
WHAT: The North Fulton Democrats
WHEN: Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010
WHERE: UUMAN Fellowship Hall, 11420 Crabapple Rd., Roswell, 30075
State Senator Dr. Horacena Tate – Our August Guest
Please join the North Fulton Democrats Tuesday, August 10th at 7:30PM. Our guest is State Senator Dr. Horacena Tate. Dr. Tate was first elected to the Georgia State Senate from the 38th District in 1998. She represents part of Fulton County. In the Senate, Sen. Tate currently is serving on the Appropriation, Education and Youth, Health and Human Services, Rules, Retirement and Urban Affairs committees. She is the chair of the Atlanta/Fulton County Delegation.
Sen. Tate received The Public Servant Award from Coalition on Hunger in 2001, The Distinguished Public Servant Award from the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive Merchant Association in 2000, the Legislator of the Year Award from the National Association of Social Workers, Georgia Chapter in 2000, the Leader of Distinction Award from Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. in 1999, 2000 and 2003, the Outstanding Leadership Award from The Medical Staff of Southwest Hospital and Medical Center in 2000, the Outstanding Achievement Award from the National Women of Achievement in 1999, and the Unity Award from the Atlanta Job Corps in 2001.
WHAT: State Senator Horacena Tate
WHERE: Fellowship Hall of UUMAN – 11420 Crabapple Road, Roswell, GA 30075
WHEN: Tuesday Night, 7:30, August 10, 2010.
In July, Democratic Candidates for Secretary of State
Join the North Fulton Democrats Tuesday, July 13, 7:30 PM as we welcome Democratic candidates for Georgia Secretary of State. Our invited guests are:
Gail Buckner
Website: www.gailbuckner.com
Georganna Sinkfield
Website: www.sinkfield2010.com
Gary Horlacher
Website: http://garyforsecretary.com
Michael Mills
Website: www.michaelmills2010.com
Angela “Miss Angela” Moore
Website: www.mooreforgeorgia.com
WHAT: Meet the Candidates for Secretary of State
WHERE: Fellowship Hall of UUMAN – 11420 Crabapple Road, Roswell, GA 30075
WHEN: Tuesday Night, 7:30, July 13, 2010.
Ken Hodges, State Attorney General Candidate
In September the North Fulton Democrats welcomed State Rep. Rob Teilhet, candidate for State Attorney General. This month, join us in welcoming another Democrat running in that primary race – Ken Hodges.
Ken Hodges has dedicated his life to serving the people of Georgia. After graduating from law school at the University of Georgia, Hodges worked at an Atlanta law firm for a couple years before deciding to go back to his hometown Albany, Georgia where he ran as District Attorney in 1996 beating an incumbent with 65% of the vote.
Ken Hodges served as District Attorney for 12 years and was re-elected in 2000 and 2004 by wide margins. It was in his hometown courthouse where Hodges stood at the prosecutor’s table again and again helping to protect his community.
Ken Hodges has argued in front of the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Georgia Supreme Court and supervised a staff of fifty individuals fighting for civil and criminal justice while always remaining fiscally responsible with taxpayer dollars.
Ken Hodges is known across the State for his leadership. He served as President of the Georgia District Attorney’s Association and in 2002 was given the prestigious honor of being recognized as Georgia’s District Attorney of the Year. He has also chaired the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council (PAC), and is a Fellow of the Lawyer’s Foundation of Georgia.
He is a graduate of Leadership Albany and Leadership Georgia, and was on the Board of Trustees for Leadership Georgia. He has been listed on Georgia Trend Magazine’s “40 under 40” and the Fulton County Daily Report’s “Attorneys on the Rise.”
Also addressing the North Fulton Democrats: Paul Kennedy, candidate for GA House 46. Kennedy has lived in the north Fulton area for fifteen years and I looks forward to serving his home community under the gold dome. Currently employed by Medshare International in Decatur and studying nursing at Kennesaw State University, Paul spent two years in the Peace Corps fighting AIDS in Jamaica.
WHAT: Ken Hodges, candidate for State Attorney General, with House District 46 candidate Paul Kennedy.
WHERE: Fellowship Hall of UUMAN – 11420 Crabapple Road, Roswell, GA 30075
WHEN: Tuesday Night, 7:30, June 8, 2010.
NFD Movie Night: Michael Moore’s ‘Capitalism.’
With Wall Street Reform in the news, The North Fulton Democrats present a timely and free showing of Academy Award winning filmmaker Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story. This patriotic call to arms seeks to ignite rage in the viewer who is tired of political stupidity resulting in poverty and hardship among a dwindling middle class. It begins by tracing the growing gap between the rich and poor, from the Depression through the 1950s “free enterprise” boom. Using clips of FDR and Jimmy Carter warning against greed and inequality, Moore shows how gradually Americans came to accept Reaganomics, corporate corruption, then Bush-era swindling over time. This history serves as context for his explanation of the housing crisis, the collapse of banks, and Bush’s covert, last-ditch efforts to pass sketchy bills on the cusp of Obama’s election. Moore asks several lawyers, senators, and bankers, “What the **** happened?” and each offers intelligent assessments of situations that many American viewers still struggle to comprehend. Capitalism: A Love Story does much to relay a complicated history that we all need to know for the sake of our own empowerment.
WHAT: Movie night at the May meeting of the North Fulton Democrats – Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story.
WHERE: Fellowship Hall of UUMAN – 11420 Crabapple Road, Roswell, GA 30075
WHEN: Tuesday Night, 7:30, May 11, 2010.
DETAILS: This is a FREE event but seating is limited. FREE popcorn and soda in limited quantities.
Carol Porter for Lt. Governor – At The NFD!
Please join the North Fulton Democrats in welcoming Carol Porter, candidate for Lt. Governor, to our April 13th meeting at 7:30PM.
Carol is an active volunteer and leader in civic organizations. She served as a Cub Scout Pack Leader for a group of underprivileged children, and as the troop grew, Carol recognized an opportunity for a larger organization to meet the needs of the children. This led to Carol founding and establishing a local chapter of the Boys and Girls Club. Carol was also a member of Erin Garden Club, Dublin Service League and Moms in Touch Prayer Group. She was a member of the Leadership Class of 1985 and president of the parent’s association at her sons’ school. She is also a graduate of the University of Georgia with a degree in Psychology.
Carol is an artist and uses her work to benefit community and state organizations. Money raised by just one of her projects led to the endowment of a non-profit foundation for the arts at the Dublin Campus of Middle Georgia College. Carol has donated art, raising more than $20,000 for multiple non-profit organizations. She also served as the president of Georgia Citizens for the Arts.
Born in rural Wrightsville, Georgia, Carol spent much of her childhood going on house calls with her father, William Asa Dodd, the only country doctor in an area with no county hospital. Playing with the children and family members while her father attended patients, Carol gained an inside view of life across vastly different social and economic lines. Her mother, Louise, a school teacher and cookbook author, taught Carol the important role of education and the opportunities it provides. Through these experiences, Carol came to realize that what separates most Georgians is neither demographics nor geography, but differences in economic and educational opportunities.
Carol began her career as a copywriter at The Courier Herald in Dublin, Georgia. It was during this time that she met DuBose, a young, single attorney and newly-elected state representative who shared her love for Georgia and her passion for bringing opportunity to its citizens. As Lieutenant Governor, Carol will focus on putting more Georgians into the workforce. Her experience researching and managing political campaigns for 26 years has crafted her understanding that government works best when it keeps the people’s voice first. Carol believes government should work for the people and not against them. Discovering the wishes of the voters and translating them into legislation that will move Georgia forward is her passion.
Please make sure to join your friends and neighbors Tuesday night, April 13, 7:30PM at Unitarian Universalist Metro Atlanta North.
11420 Crabapple Road, Roswell, GA 30075
John Eaves Joins The NFD March 9
Fulton County Commission Chairman John Eaves is kicking off his re-election campaign and joins us for the MARCH Meeting of the North Fulton Democrats. 2010 will be a year of great challenges and Chairman Eaves intends to continue to champion several initiatives including youth empowerment programs, regional transit expansion, expansion of healthcare to the needy and lowering the recidivism rate in the criminal justice system.
Since his election in November 2006, Chairman Eaves has implemented an ambitious agenda that has included transforming the leadership structure and seeking alternative funding sources to support Grady Memorial Hospital; encouraging the collaboration of law enforcement and the community to reduce the rate of juvenile crime throughout Fulton County; and utilizing existing funding to renovate facilities and improve resources within the Atlanta-Fulton County Library System.
Most recently, he spearheaded the successful launch of the Fulton County Global Youth Leadership Program. This initiative is a student-exchange program that sent several high-school students from Fulton to South Africa. Later, the County hosted several South African students on their visit to Atlanta and Fulton County.
So please make sure to join your friends and neighbors Tuesday night, March 9, 7:30PM at Unitarian Universalist Metro Atlanta North.
11420 Crabapple Road, Roswell, GA 30075
RJ Hadley, Candidate For US Senate, Is Our Guest For February
Please join the North Fulton Democrats Tuesday night, Feb. 9, as we welcome Democratic Senatorial candidate RJ Hadley. Having served most recently as Chief of Staff for Rockdale County, Hadley is the only candidate announced to take on Republican Johnny Isakson.
A lifelong Democrat, RJ was born in New York although his family hails from Thomasville, Georgia. RJ is a graduate of Dartmouth College where he met his wife Dr. Tarah Hadley.
After college, RJ worked as a social worker in the New Jersey juvenile court system. As an advocate for at-risk children, RJ learned first-hand the importance of education in the future of our youth. After four years of public service, RJ returned to college and earned his degree in computer science.
He worked in the U.S. and abroad in the areas of software development/project management with the Federal Aviation Administration, Motorola and Logica. He later entered law school and clerked for the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, DC. In 2006, RJ moved to Rockdale County and joined the local party. He eventually became the party’s Communications Chair. RJ was one of the first volunteers to join the Obama for America office in Atlanta. He went on to work with the campaign throughout Georgia as well as South Carolina, Texas, and North Carolina. RJ was honored to be selected as an at-large Obama delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. He was also campaign manager for Commissioner Richard Oden’s historic 2008 successful bid for Chairman of Rockdale County. RJ helped to register over 10,000 new voters in Rockdale and was active in turning the county Blue.
WHAT: RJ Hadley at The North Fulton Democrats
WHERE: Fellowship Hall of UUMAN - 11420 Crabapple Road, Roswell, GA 30075
WHEN: Tuesday Night, 7:30, Feb. 9, 2010.
The NFD Activist Fair
You’re well aware 2010 is a pivotal election year in Georgia. From the race for Governor all the way down the ticket, the state GOP is showing severe signs of weakness. The North Fulton Democrat would like to help put the Georgia Republican party out of its misery. We’re nice like that!
Next Tuesday join us for our first ever Activist Fair. Along with Anne Bartoletti, former chair of the NFD and a lieutenant in Howard Dean’s 50 State Strategy, we’ll be signing up volunteers to work for and with the NFD and local Democratic candidates. We’ll be forming important committees in the following areas to better optimize our efforts:
Keyboard Warriors: New Media – this committee will utilize social media and web 2.0 to spread the Democratic agenda. This was a very important aspect of President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign!
Old School Activists: Print and Phone – this committee will write letters to newspaper editors, congressmen and senators. They’ll also participate in phone banking.
Boots On The Ground Brigade: This committee will primarily organize and participate in door to door canvassing and literature drops, AKA “dropaganda.”
Party for the Party! This committee will organize social events, parties, and outreach events for Democrats across north Fulton!
BONUS! We want you to bring your friends and get them involved so we’re having a contest. The person who brings the most friends with them will win a signed copy of Senator Max Cleland’s new book “Heart of a Patriot: How I Found the Courage to Survive Vietnam, Walter Reed and Karl Rove.” Just click here for details!
Please join Tuesday night and help us take back Georgia!
WHAT: The NFD Activist Fair
WHERE: Fellowship Hall of UUMAN - 11420 Crabapple Road, Roswell, GA 30075
WHEN: Tuesday Night, 7:15, January 12, 2010.
NFD Holiday Mix and Mingle
The holiday season is in full swing. This year the North Fulton Democrats is having a mix and mingle at Tony’s Sports Bar in lieu of our regular monthly meeting. Some of you may have been to this establishment before – they hosted several events during President Obama’s campaign. So please stop by Tuesday, December 8th, for food, drink, and some casual fun and conversation among fellow Democrats.
WHAT: The 2009 NFD Holiday Mix and Mingle
WHERE: Tony’s Sports Bar, 8610 Roswell Rd., Sandy Springs (map)
WHEN: Tues, Dec. 8th, 7PM until 9PM