Democratic Wards hard to access- I thought democrats were open and honest?

We have been trying for three months to contact all of the democratic wards and speak with these people who are the backbone of the Democratic Party. Only about half of the Wards have responded to us. We sent the following letter to state democratic party. Before we did so, we called them up and they also told us they were having great trouble getting in touch with some of them or even identifying them. It has been a big surprise how unorganized, and in some cases, undemocratic the democratic party has been.


Jeff Sostak218 W Springifeld StBoston, MA 02118(617)-267-2453

Massachusetts Democratic Party56 Roland StreetNorth Lobby Suite 203Boston , MA 02129

July 20, 2005

Dear Sirs

Lifelong Democrat Kevin McCrea is running for a Boston City Council At Large seat this upcoming fall and as a registered Democrat he would like to talk to all of the Democratic Ward committees in the City of Boston. Therefore, we have been attempting to contact all the Wards in an effort to meet and talk to the members about his vision for Boston. Part of Kevin's goals are to get out to all parts of the city and actually listen and represent the people. Therefore, we have made it a priority to meet with all Ward Committees.

The following Wards we have been able to contact and meet with their members or set up meetings:
Ward 4 We called Kimberly Vermeer at 617-267-2522 and met with the committee at the June 23rd Candidates Forum.
Ward 5 We called Michael George at 617-267-1694 and met with the committee at the June 23rd Candidate Forum.
Ward 9 We called Jeanette Boone at 617-437-0789 and met with the committee at a June 4th meeting and the June 23rd Candidate Forum.
Ward 11 We called Marie Turley at 617-522-1643 and met with the committee at the June 27th meeting.
Ward 12 We called Victoria Williams at 617-445-6280 and set up a meeting for September 15. Ward 13 We called Martin Walsh at 617-825-4916 and exchanged email addresses to be informed of the next meeting.
Ward 15 We called Sandi Bagley at 617-436-8256 and exchanged contact information to be informed of the next Ward 15 meeting.
Ward 17 We called Margaret Weeks at 617-296-7696 and told to contact her after Labor Day when the Ward meetings will continue.
Ward 19 We contacted Robert Pulster at 617-899-7385 and met with the committee at the July 11 meeting.
Ward 20 We called Daniel Settana at 617-327-4422 and met with the committee at the June 23rd meeting.
Ward 21 We contacted Nan Evans at 617-***-**** and met with the committee at the June 22nd meeting.
These Wards we have no contact information for the committee chairs:
Ward 1 We have no committee chair name or phone number to contact.
Ward 2 We have no committee chair name or phone number to contact.
Ward 8 We have no committee chair name or phone number to contact.

The following Wards we have repeatedly called and left numerous voice mails and no calls have been returned:
Ward 3 We called William Ferullo at 617-523-2805 and left unreturned messages more than 4 times.
Ward 7 We called James Kelly at 617-268-5319 and left unreturned messages more than 4 times.
Ward 10 We called Craig Lankhorst at 617-734-3226 and left unreturned messages more than 2 times.
Ward 16 We called James Hunt at 617-265-1622 and left unreturned messages more than 4 times.
Ward 18 We called James Gillooly at 617-361-2594 and left unreturned messages more than 4 times.
Ward 22 We called Mary McCusker at 617-782-9332 and left unreturned messages more than 4 times.
These Wards we have contacted but will not tell us meeting times and locations for the Democratic Ward Meetings:
Ward 6 We called Andrew Donovan at 617-268-4277 and left a message with a person who told me to call back after 7pm. We called back after 7 and another gentleman told me to call back later. We called later in the week and were told to contact Senator Jack Hart and he will have the information we are seeking. We called the Senator's office and one of the office aids took my name, phone number, and information. We received a call back where we were told, “The senator is not in right now and there's nothing on the schedule but if the chief of staff feels like contacting you she will.”
Ward14 We called Darryl Smith at 617-282-7086 and reached a person at the number, when asked to speak with Mr. Smith he told me, “He's not in right now.” When we asked him if we could leave a message, he said, “He's not in right now.” we also asked him if he knew when the next Ward 14 meeting is, he once again said “He's not in right now.”

The lack of openness and the lack of replies is most disheartening because of what Kevin believes the Democratic Party is supposed to stand for, “a strong, cohesive party- honest, open, and accessible to all,” which is taken from the preamble of the charter on the website, http://www.massdems.org/.
We have included the names and phone numbers of who we called in case there is a mistake on who to contact. Please let us know of anything else we might be able to do to contact the Wards we have not been able to contact and set up times to meet with the Ward Members.
Sincerely,

Jeff Sostak