Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

Now is the time to get involved.  Go to www.steel-city.org for information on how to join so you can vote for the new members of the Board AND the slate for 2008.  I just like to rhyme slate and 2008.  It has been a long day.  What can I say?

Here's the press release for the Board elections.  I personally know only one of these people and can say without hesitation that I fully endorse Dr. Emilia Lombardi for a seat on the Board.   Ledcat knows Toeknee Bailey and plans to vote for her.  The rest of the crew is a pretty diverse bunch, always a good thing.  So check them out here, let me know if you have any insight and plan to be there on Sunday, February 24, 2008.

 the 2008 Board Elections & Democratic Primary Endorsement Vote

Sunday, February 24

3 – 5:30 PM

First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh

605 Morewood Avenue in Shadyside/Oakland.

This event will serve to elect candidates to the Steel-City Stonewall Board of Directors and to endorse Candidates running in the Democratic Primary.

3:00 – 3:30 Informal Meet & Greet.

3:30 – 4:00 Nomination & Introduction of Candidates for Board, Introduction of Candidates for Public Office, Explanation of Voting Procedures.

4:00 – 5:30 Informal Meet & Greet.

5:00 Voting for Board of Directors will close.

5:30 Voting for the Endorsements will close.

Board elections – The out-going Board will present a slate of candidates for the incoming Board.  Write-ins and nominations from the floor will also be allowed. Biographies of the slated Board Candidates are listed below and will also be on hand at the event for all to review.  Individuals nominated from the floor will be allowed to speak briefly at the meeting.

Endorsements for political office – Candidates for a variety of state and national offices are expected to attend, including the Pennsylvania Legislature, the United States Congress, and surrogates for the Presidential Candidates.  Questionnaires from the candidates will be posted in advance at www.steel-city.org  and will be on hand at the event for all to review.  This is a great time to ask questions of both the Board Candidates and Endorsement Candidates.   For a full description of rules and procedures for voting, please visit our website: www.steel-city.org

Light refreshments and beverages including beer and wine will be served.  Members in good standing will be admitted free of charge. Non-members will be required to pay a nominal entry fee of $5.00 to help cover costs of the event. Non-members will not be eligible to vote in either election. 

In order to insure your eligibility to vote in our Board Elections and the 2008 Primary Endorsements please join SCSD or renew your membership for 2008 in advance of our Board and Endorsement Votes.  Family Membership, which includes votes for two individuals, is $50.00. Individual Membership is $35.00, and a student/low income membership is $15.00.  Membership in Steel-City Stonewall Democrats includes membership in National Stonewall Democrats.

You can renew or join via PayPal on our web site: www.steel-city.org , or by sending a check and contact information to:

Steel City Stonewall Democrats

SMC 1015

5032 Forbes Ave

Pittsburgh, PA 15289

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you on February 24, 2008.

Biographies of Board Candidates

Toeknee Bailey – A native of Pittsburgh, Toeknee has served on the boards of Persad, PAAR, and the Renaissance City Choirs.  She currently works as a legal assistant for Neighborhood Legal Services and is a drumming performer and instructor.  In addition, Toeknee enjoys writing, singing and theater arts.

Joanne Bostjanick retired from teaching in the Pittsburgh Public Schools where she taught at the Elementary Gifted Center and at A. Leo Weil School in the Hill District.  Prior to teaching in Pittsburgh, Joanne taught in Butler and in Houston, Texas.  She worked on the campaigns of Judge Kathryn Hens Greco and County Councilman Jim Burn and has served as Judge of Elections in Shaler for the past few years.  Joanne enjoys yard work and traveling with her partner Lee Marcuzzi.  Some of their favorite destinations have included Alaska, the Panaman Canal, the Mediterranean, Kenya and Zimbabwe.

Michael Braxton is a major gift officer for Carnegie Mellon University.  Prior to joining Carnegie Mellon in 2004, he practiced law for 8 years in Pittsburgh law firms.  Michael has served as a member of the board of directors of the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force and as that organization’s two-term president. He was a vestryman of Calvary Episcopal Church, a member of the board of the City Theatre, the Pittsburgh Symphony New Leadership Board and Blind & Vision Services of Western Pennsylvania.  He was also involved locally with the Howard Dean campaign – volunteering in Iowa prior to the 2004 Iowa caucuses and helping to organize with fundraising.  Michael currently sits on the board of Conservation Consultants, Inc., an organization dedicated to promoting efficient energy use in homes.  Michael is a graduate of Princeton University and Columbia Law School where he was a notes editor of the Columbia Journal of Law & Society.

Nachum Golan is a native of Israel, but has lived in Pittsburgh over 40 years.  He is active the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network and was instrumental in bringing to the Jewish Community Center an exhibit about homosexuals in the holocaust. In addition, he has been involved in the Persad Center, the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force, the Sheperd Wellness Center, and Bit Tikvah.

Mike Haye has worked in health care administration for the past 25 years, after earning his master’s degree from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.  Originally from Virginia, Mike did his undergraduate work at Clemson University in South Carolina.  He now enjoys Pennsylvania and has lived and worked in the Pittsburgh area for the last 15 years.  He has been involved politically with campaigns in Texas for governor Ann Richards.  In Pennsylvania he worked for the “get out the vote” effort for Gore and Kerry through Move On and participated in the Casey campaign for Senate.   

Emilia Lombardi, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Public Health, Dept of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology at the University of Pittsburgh. She received her degree (in sociology) from the University of Akron in Ohio in 1997.  She had served as the principal investigator of a study entitled “Substance Use and Treatment Experiences of Transgender/Transsexual Men and Women.” She currently works on a project studying HIV-prevention, and she is currently working on a research study that will examine the social and medical process of transitioning from one gender to another.  Dr. Lombardi is also a member of the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Research on Health and Sexual Orientation.  She has been a transactivist for over ten years and has been involved in many groups focused on transgender issues (Akron, Oh; Los Angeles, CA, Pittsburgh, PA).  She has also chaired the West Hollywood Transgender Task Force.     

Jay Molluso is a 63 year old lawyer, formerly a senior deputy attorney general, who now services as general counsel for a private tax collection company.  He and his partner of 15 years Bill Volbrecht reside in Mt Washington.   Jay has volunteered for PERSAD as well as the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force over the years and was previously a Stonewall board member. 

Kris Rust has been a member of Steel City Stonewall Democrats for several years and served on its board as interim Co-chair since August 2007.  In the past he has been involved with MoveOn.org and the judicial campaigns of Kathryn Hens Greco and his partner Hugh McGough.  Kris is musician and teacher.  He has been involved with the Renaissance City Choirs, the Pittsburgh chapter of the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network, the First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh, the Nine Mile Run Watershed Association and the Western PA Conservancy.

Janis Williams, a Democratic Committee woman in the City of Pittsburgh, currently serves as the Steel-City Stonewall Political Director. Engaged in politics since 2003, Janis was very active in the Presidential Campaign of John Kerry, organizing outreach and voter registration drives. She went to the Democratic National Convention in 2004 as a member of the Platform Committee, and has been the Political Director for Steel-City Stonewall since 2005.  The Stonewall National Convention, featuring DNC Chairman Howard Dean, was held in Pittsburgh in 2005, and Janis worked extensively on the Organizing Committee. Janis believes that Steel-City has unlimited potential to make equality a forefront issue and to give a voice to the GLBT community. Further, she feels that the organization needs to set aggressive goals for 2008 in order to bring focus, and to rally around the issues that are most crucial to our members and their families.