John White, Jyoti and I have been busy organizing new precincts for the Democratic Party in Mecklenburg County.  Since May we have organized 12 new precincts.  Last night we had another successful precinct organized in South Charlotte with the help of Connie Green-Johnson.  12 people came to the meeting!

Republicans in the NC General Assembly this week released their “slash and burn” budget. And the Raleigh News and Observer called it like it is, “Republicans in the state House have failed. They have failed the state and its people.” Our Democratic representatives are fighting tooth and nail to protect jobs and education but they need YOUR help in spreading the word. Post this on your blog, Facebook, and Tweet about it. Educate North Carolina about the destructive hand of the Republican-controlled General Assembly; because if they have their way, the state will be set back “to a point from which it might never recover.”

Proposed deep cuts to early childhood education: http://bit.ly/gnboBQ

Billion dollar cut to UNC system and K-12 education: http://bit.ly/eg4Pad

Eliminate 1,400 jobs, cut public safety and prison funding by 10%: http://bit.ly/ezz8BB

Take education to “bare-bones” level: http://bit.ly/fPxd3Y

Eliminate more than 8,600 teaching positions http://bit.ly/g8Mhgi

Increased auto insurance rates: http://bit.ly/hTVtxm

Republican assault on the environment: http://bit.ly/grSexm

Still determined to kill federal high speed rail grant that would bring more than 4,000 jobs: http://bit.ly/eGsHhC

Held hostage unemployment benefits for 37k North Carolinians for political gain: http://bit.ly/hHSG6l

Click the link below for the full story.

Democratic chairman blasts GOP for tying jobless benefits, budget cuts | CharlotteObserver.com & The Charlotte Observer Newspaper.

On April 15, North Carolina Democratic Party Chair David Parker and Mecklenburg County Democratic Party Chair Aisha Dew held a press conference in front of East Mecklenburg High School to highlight the Republican attempt to require budget cuts to public education in order to extend benefits for the unemployed in North Carolina.

Photo by Henk Jonker

Pictured (left to right) are Rep. Rodney Moore, Douglas Wilson (NCDP 2nd Vice Chair), David Parker (NCDP Chair), Marc Friedland (MCDP Secretary) and Frank Deaton (MCDP 1st Vice Chair)

On Wednesday, April 13, my wife Jyoti, my daughter Mainjari and I joined a Democracy North Carolina rally in front of the North Carolina legislature building  in Raleigh to protest the Republican proposed voter ID bill in the North Carolina General Assembly.  The bill was supposed to be presented that day on the House floor, but the sight of 100 people in the gallery in red shirts opposing the bill showed the Republicans’ chicken heart when they refused to present the bill with the full gallery. See photos below.

Around 40 people got on the bus in Charlotte at 7:00 am to go to Raleigh. We were joined by more along the way and still more in Raleigh. Speakers at the rally included several NC legislators from Charlotte led by Rep. Rodney Moore and others from around the state. Also the President of the NC NAACP gave a very inspired speech that clearly explained how the voter ID bill was an abridgement of the right to vote. Also speaking were representative of Homeless Helping Homeless from Charlotte who would be directly impacted by the proposed law.

After the rally, we had a meeting with Rep. Rodney Moore inside the legislature building where we heard from the President of Democracy North Carolina, Rep. Moore, Becky Carney and others. After the meeting we visited the offices of Speaker Tillis and other legislators to leave a pile of notices voicing our opposition to the bill.

This is a difficult time for our Democratic legislators in Raleigh as the Republican control of the NC House and Senate gives them little chance of moderating the Republican onslaught that hasn’t created one new job.

On April 9, 2011, the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party conducted its annual convention.  The main agenda item at the convention was the election of new officers of the County Executive Committee.  There was a 6 way election for Chair of which I was one of the candidates.  After three rounds of voting, Ms. Aisha Dew was elected the first African-American woman Chair of the MCDP.  Other elected officials are Mr. Frank Deaton, 1st Vice-Chair; Mr. Darrin Rankin, 2nd Vice-Chair; Mr. Ralph Belk, 3rd Vice Chair; myself, Marc Friedland, Secretary; and Mr. Gray Newman, Treasurer.  Congratulations to all on their election.

I want to thank all my friends and supporters that worked hard on my campaign for Chair.  My election as Secretary will give me the opportunity to continue to work to build the Party and elect more Democrats to public offices.  There are a lot of opportunities to help contribute to the MCDP and I encourage all Democrats to get active and get organized.  Please check the MCDP website at www.mecklenburgdemocrat.org for informaton and calendar.  We need lots of volunteers, so if you want to help, please use the contact form on this site to send me a message and I’ll be in touch with you to tell you how you can help.

Help stop the voter ID bill: