Secky Fascione and Maxine Nelson, Jan 6, 1999

We're writing to tell you of some important recent developments -- political, staffing, and leadership-wise -- in the New Party.

On the political side, we are pleased to report that, contrary to earlier reports, our sister party in New York, the Working Families Party, indeed did qualify for permanent ballot status in New York. (The first vote tally showed us falling just short of the 50,000 votes needed to achieve this status, but a recount put us over the top at better than 51,000 votes.)

This, in addition to winning 35 of 39 races in November made 1998 a very successful year for the NP, and has sparked renewed interest in our vision of building an independent political organization within labor and progressive communities. For more information on the rest of our fall victories, see our website or look out for our next newsletter.

The WFP is the first community-labor party in decades to achieve such ballot status in New York, one of the very few fusion states in the country. It's a tremendous accomplishment, and sets the stage for the hard work of actual county-by-county party-building in specific geographic jurisdictions across the state.

The New Party played a crucial role in the WFP's success. Both our Long Island chapter and the national NP staff were deeply involved in all aspects of the campaign. We can all be extremely proud of the role we played, and we're looking forward to building an ongoing relationship with the WFP over time.

In victory, the New York WFP showed good sense and offered the job of interim state coordinator to our own Dan Cantor, with our blessing. Dan accepted the offer, and as a result has stepped down as the NP's National Organizer/Executive Director to take on this exciting state party-building project. He will continue to be involved in the NP as one of our "first families" siblings. Zach Polett continues in his role as New Party National Organizer for Field Operations.

The officers of the NP are meeting soon to discuss our overall staffing plans for 1999, but we want to take this moment to say "thanks" to one of the party's stalwart organizers. Dan's vision and sense of humor sustained and nourished us through our first 6 years, and shaped our shared culture from the bumper sticker "Make your children proud -- Join the New Party" through the penguin fundraising strategy (let's all jump in this icy water together!). Consideration is being given to doing a fundraising "roast" of Dan: your input is eagerly sought.

In another significant national development, the New Party this fall adopted a permanent constitution and governance structure and went to its grassroots to elect four new officers to lead the party into the next century.

The four newly elected officers are:

We were honored to be elected to the top leadership positions in the party and are excited to build on the excellent electoral and programmatic work being done in all of our chapters and in our national programs. A tiny bit of background on us:

Secky Fascione is the Secretary-Treasurer and chief executive officer of Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (HERE) Local 427 in Montana and one of the founding members of the Missoula New Party. Her local union, actively organizing in the Montana's growing hospitality industry, is now an organizational member of the Missoula New Party.

Maxine Nelson is a registered nurse, the first African-American woman elected to the Watson Chapel School Board in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, one of the founders of the Arkansas New Party, and the chair of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) national politics committee. ACORN, the nation's largest low-to-moderate income community organization, is a national organizational affiliate of the New Party.

Suzanne Wall is organizing director of the 20,000 member Oregon Public Employees Union, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), AFL-CIO as SEIU Local 503. She has also taken a lead role in statewide and local organizing around human rights issues and the fight against anti-gay and lesbian ballot measures.

Tom Israel, from Montgomery County, Maryland, is the Executive Director of the Montgomery County Education Association/NEA, the second largest chapter of the National Education Association and one of the founding members of the local New Party affiliate, Progressive Montgomery.

In addition to the duties enumerated in the newly ratified New Party Constitution, the four national officers have also taken on roles as liaisons with New Party local chapters, working with local leadership to assist in developing organizing, fundraising and political plans, and working with the national staff to develop expansion recommendations. Secky attended the national year end/year beginning meeting of the NP field staff, and reports that our staff has matured into a wonderful group of seasoned, battle-hardened and extremely competent political organizers, who have ambitious plans for all of us for 1999. We can help their work by signing up new members and asking people to join at a higher sustainer rate. The national officers meet (usually by phone) at least once a month, in between the meetings or conference calls of the full NEC.

Onward to the next battle then, and send your dues in soon!

Wishing you many victories and peace and justice in the new year,

Secky Fascione and Maxine Nelson, Co-Chairs