MELISSA TAYLOR NAMED NEW DIRECTOR OF PARTY ADMINISTRATION

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Ms. Taylor, who will be discharging the responsibilities of both positions during the interim, is a native Houstonian and graduated from Texas A & M University. An active Howard Dean supporter, she traveled twice to New Hampshire to campaign for the governor during the 2004 presidential campaign. After the Dean campaign, Ms. Taylor returned to Houston where she served as volunteer coordinator for the Richard Morrison for Congress campaign. In that capacity, she managed efforts to recruit supporters, educate and register voters and raise funds and directed various field operations and GOTV efforts.

Ms. Taylor has been active in the Democracy for Houston organization, where she serves on the executive steering committee. She has strengths in fundraising, event organizing, and field operations. She also has been involved in the commercial real estate industry for more than eight years as analyst, researcher, and strategic planner. In addition Ms. Taylor brings her international experience and geography background to this position, having passed the examinations to be admitted to the United States Foreign Service as a diplomat in the State Department, as well as receiving federal security clearance commensurate with that position.

Ms. Taylor was selected upon the unanimous recommendation of the sixteen person screening committee at the conclusion of an exhaustive process. First a a three person search committee solicited applicants reaching out to and affirmatively recruiting in all constituent communities. Then, the sixteen member screening committee, which received resumes from nearly forty applicants, reviewed and discussed all resumes, conducted full, in-person interviews of eighteen candidates, and performed reference checks and other background investigations on the top five. (The process got delayed when Hurricane Rita forced postponement of eight interviews scheduled between September 21 and September 24.) In the end, all committee members attending the final committee meeting concurred and recommended to the county chair that Ms. Taylor be offered the position. The chair accepted the unanimous recommendation of the committee.

Ms. Taylor will start her new position with the Harris County Democratic Party on December 1. “We’re all looking to Melissa for great things,” county chair Gerry Birnberg stated, “and I’m sure she’ll be able to deliver. There was an impressive group of applicants interviewed, and Melissa’s ability to rise to the top of that list evidences her strong desire and her great ability to succeed. Those are qualities we know we can count on to help us re-take Harris County for Democrats.”

“I also want to thank the members of both the search committee and the screening committee,” Birnberg added. “They performed yeoman service. We met nearly a dozen times, often late into the evenings and for lengthy periods on Saturdays. It was a grueling task, but a tremendously important one for the Harris County Democratic Party. I am very proud of how the committees performed their jobs and how the process worked. A big, big “Thank You” is due to each of them from all of us.”

Welcome aboard, Melissa. Now, let’s all get busy beating Republicans!

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