Paul Richard
“P.R.” Latta was one of the founders of the Wake County Progressive
Democrats. He was also a
grassroots labor union and Democratic Party activist for decades. Both the NC AFL-CIO and the Wake County
Young Democrats give an award named after P.R. Latta, because of his many years
of activism on behalf of labor and the Democratic Party. Mr. Latta passed away at the age of 95
on August 17, 2014.
P.R.
grew up a rural Democrat from West Virginia. During the depth of the Depression, while his family was
poor, they had a family garden to provide enough food for the family and others
in the community – a giving tradition PR continued in his own home garden in north
Raleigh until 2013. I worked in his
backyard garden to help him out in his later years, and he did share his
vegetables with me and my friends who also came there to help him.
But
even more important than the vegetables that he shared with me was the
knowledge and experience that he shared and the example he set. P.R. reminded me so much of my paternal
grandfather – not just because he had a garden and a basement workshop crammed
full of tools hanging from nails in the ceiling joists – but because P.R. was a
teacher and a mentor to those who sought him out.
After
I worked my butt off running the sign shop for the Wake County Democratic Party
in the primary and general election of 2008, I was invited to P.R.’s house on
Christmas and New Year’s Day to have egg-nog with P.R. and a handful of
Democratic luminaries. P.R. told
me that he invited me because I had proved myself as a hard worker who got the
job done and didn’t make excuses for failure. He was my “sea-daddy” – one of the best mentors any
grassroots Democratic Party activist could ever have. And after my father passed away in March 2013, P.R. became even
more of a father-figure to me.
P.R. Latta was a
fixture at every Democratic Party meeting I’ve been to, and all of our
Progressive potlucks we had. He
served as the first Vice President of the Wake County Progressive Democrats,
and later served as the Outreach Coordinator. When he finally stepped down from that office, I was deeply
honored that he asked me to take over that position.
Even though he
was slowing down in his later years, he attended Democratic Party events – like
the Wake Democratic Men’s Club where he set up the PA system, monthly Wake Dems
board meetings, SEC/CEC meetings, and county/district/state conventions. I helped him hold his 2014 precinct
organization meeting. He attended
all the conventions up to and including the 2014 NCDP State Convention held on
the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landing in WWII – an event he
participated in. He attended our
June 2014 potluck before his health started to seriously decline. After a few extended stays in the
hospital, a stay in a nursing/rehab facility in Zebulon, he transitioned to
hospice care and then passed away on August 17, 2014. I visited him often in the hospital and several times at the
nursing/rehab facility and several times in hospice – including shortly before
he passed away.
Several times
during the last year of his life, P.R. told me he was proud of me and the work
I was doing in the Democratic Party and specifically with the Wake County
Progressive Democrats. And every so often I talk with his family members –
specifically his daughter-in-law Lucy, and his sons Ricky and Ken. They thank me for protecting “Pappa’s
legacy” and for working to keep the Democratic Party honest.
P.R. was one of
the founding members of the Wake County Progressive Democrats back in
2004. That happened at roughly the
same time as other progressives attempted and failed to form a statewide
auxiliary group. Mr. Latta felt
that no county progressive auxiliary could ever hope to get much accomplished
unless it was part of a statewide group that had a seat on the NCDP Executive
Council. I know that P.R.
would be very proud that there is now a Progressive Caucus of the NCDP, and
that the Wake Progressive Democrats worked with so many other progressive
Democrats across the state to make that happen at the NCDP SEC meeting on
February 11, 2017.
A succession of
great progressive activists Democrats have been President of the Wake County
Progressive Democrats: P.J. Puryear, John Hollingsworth, Chris Lizak, Jesse
Goslen, and Tristy Evely. Each of
us handed over the office of President to someone who was worthy of the job –
because they had actually done something in the group to build it up and make
it better than it had been before.
When Tristy Evely got a new job and wasn’t able to handle the
responsibilities of the Presidency, she asked me if I would take over from her
because the then current Vice President didn’t feel he was up to the job. I was honored and deeply humbled that
she asked me. But I asked P.R.
first – and he told me I was up to the job and would be “a damned fool” if I
didn’t run for the office.
Grassroots
activism often takes a backseat to the millions if not billions of campaign
dollars used to influence voters.
Sadly we’ve gone and lost the last 4 election cycles by focusing more on
what money can buy instead of what volunteer activism can do.
Political
scientists have often said that activists can play an important role in
low-turnout midterm elections. As
former Congressman Brad Miller noted in his blog: “PR
and I did agree that democracy would be better if the personal endorsement of a
candidate’s sign in a citizen’s yard was as important in politics as big
money.”
At the church
during P.R.’s memorial service, I sat in the same row with the past Presidents
of the Wake County Progressive Democrats.
It dawned on me that the Wake County Progressive Democrats was P.R.’s
“garden” – and that I had a duty to preserve and protect the legacy that he and
other grassroots activists left us.
And to make sure that next President was also worthy of that
legacy. That’s why I am running for
another two-year term as President – to protect and preserve P.R. Latta’s grassroots
legacy.
I'm not running for other positions in the party other than Chair of my own precinct. I've done a great job there, increasing Democratic votes for some races by over 50%. Precinct Chair and President of the Wake County Progressive Democrats is all I want to do - and I have the time to do the job well. I am not going to spread myself too thin running for positions on other boards, nor promise to do work that I can't deliver or fail to show up to do the work. Now that we've got a full slate of great candidates who promise to show up to all meetings, and do all the work - we can really move forward to get more grassroots activists active and engaged in the Democratic Party.
Please vote for our slate so we can continue to do the work of preserving and protecting P.R. Latta's legacy.
We,
7 out of 9 current Executive Officers of the Wake County Progressive Democrats
whose names are listed at the end of this posting, do hereby endorse and
support the following candidates for upcoming Executive Officers on February
15, 2017:
President -
Chris Telesca ** (nominated at January potluck)
Vice President
- Mike Pierce ** (nominated at January potluck)
Activities
Co-Chair: Quanta Edwards ** (to be nominated at February potluck)
Activities
Co-Chair: Kelley Barker (to be nominated at February potluck)
Outreach Chair:
Randy Jones (nominated at January potluck)
Policy Chair:
Joshua Bradley ** (nominated at January potluck)
Communications
Chair: Stacey Piesche * (to be nominated at February potluck)
Tech Chair:
Grant Gordon (to be nominated at February potluck)
Secretary:
Christina Thompson (to be nominated at February potluck)
* - incumbent
officer seeking new position
**
- incumbent officer seeking same position