The Hamilton County Democratic Party say they are taking the alarming rise in Covid cases in the region as a very serious concern. With an abundance of caution, the HCDP Executive Committee has approved a framework for handling its biennial Reorganization Committee as an interactive online event. Originally scheduled as an in-person event at the South Chattanooga Youth and Family Development Center on Aug. 21, the virtual meeting will take place on Aug. 28.
The HCDP Reorganization Convention takes place every two years and serves to elect local party leaders. At the Aug.
28 meeting, participants will vote on the chair, vice chair, treasurer, and secretary, as well as district leaders, for nine Hamilton County districts. Only registered voters are allowed to participate. The new leadership team will sign a pledge to fully support the Democratic Party and its candidates.
Rodney Strong, chair of the local Democrats, stated “The Delta Variant of Covid is dangerous and there is simply too much risk to the health and safety of our community members to meet in-person. It is disappointing that we have to take this action. However, we have been successfully using online tools such as Zoom to meet and conduct our business for well over a year. We are confident that we can create an experience for our local Party that is interactive, transparent and fair.” The HCDP has received approval from the Tennessee Democratic Party to move to an online format.
“We will be able to personally help our Democrats who need assistance with the technologies that we will employ for the Reorganization Convention. We feel that in some ways our online approach will actually extend the opportunity to engage in the election of our leadership team,” said Mr. Strong.
The complete details on the event and how Hamilton County Democrats can play a part in shaping the future direction for the Party will be announced early next week.