Friday, April 20, 2007

Veterans Caucus-- "SECOND CALL TO DUTY'

The immediate goal of our group is to elevate veterans and veterans issues during the build-up to Iowa's first-in-the-nation Presidential precinct caucuses. As the first in the nation, what we do here in Iowa will set the stage for veterans all over the country. Please consider this a second call to duty!

We hope to hold caucus events around the state, and this meeting will be in Dubuque, IA on Saturday April 28. We especially invite those from Northeast Iowa to come for a special organizational meeting of veterans from the First & Second Congressional District, which will be held in conjunction with the state-wide meeting. The location will be at the United Auto Workers Hall at 3450 Central Avenue in Dubuque, and begins at 10:30. Lunch will be served by the locals at a reasonable price. We hope to end around 1:30 PM. See you there, and THANKYOU FOR SERVING!!

Bob Krause, Chair, Democratic Veterans Caucus
501 West Adams Ave #3
Fairfield, Iowa 52556
Ph. 319-961-0830

AGENDA April 28, Dubuque, IA
1. Introduction
2. Election of a Secretary and Treasurer
3. Create a Bylaws Committee
4. Sub-Committee Chairs Reports
A. Platform -- Tom Howe
B. Fundraiser -- Dave Campbell
C. Organizational Liaison -- Ron Healey
D. Communications -- Kent Sovern
5. Other New State Business
6. Lunch (RSVP)
BREAKOUT FOR SUBCOMMITTEE MEETINGS AND DISTRICT ORGANIZATIONAL
MEETINGS 7.ADJOURN>>****************************************************************************>>District

2nd District Representative Information
-- Terry K. Phillips
1605 Riverside Road
Riverside, IA 52327
Ph. 319-430-8536

John Pomberg,
1062 172nd Ave
Solon, IA 52649
Ph. 319-469-2002

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

April Meeting of the Washington County Democrats

Washington County Democrats met Tuesday, April 3, 2007 at 6:30 for pizza atBreadeaux Pizza in Washington. At 7:00 pm, Sandra Johnson, chair, calledthe business meeting to order. Twenty-four people were present. Sandra welcomed those who have not come for a while as well as Jim Clegg and RobertSpinner who had been ill. She thanked everyone for coming to work togetherto promote the Democratic Party. A news article was circulated which said that a survey by the nonpartisanPew Research Center for the People and the Press found that since 2002 half of those surveyed identified with or leaned towards Democrats, while only 35 percent aligned with Republicans. What good news!

There were three guests: Craig Muenzer, for the Iowa Democratic Party;Graham Wilson, from the Obama campaign; and Beryl Butterbaugh, from the TerryPhilips 2006 campaign. Graham Wilson reported that Obama would be in Iowa on Thursday. Terry said he would talk to Graham after the meeting about possible office space for the Obama campaign. Craig Muenzer said he will be our contact person to the state party and that we should contact him with any questions we have. IDP will help us with training, organizing the caucus, provide access to information, helping draw up a master time line for when things need to be done, etc. He asked if we had other ideas of how IDP could help us. There was about half an hour of discussion. It was announced that the next caucus would be January 14, 2008.

Next there were reports of Special Projects. Terry Philips reported on the Iowa Democratic Veterans Caucus that he attended last Saturday in Des Moines. He said their goal is to have at least one person in each county to be a Veteran coordinator. John Greener moved that Terry Philips be our Veteran Affairs coordinator and that we be a committee of the whole to support him. Motion passed. Linda Boston gave an overview of the Renewable Energy on Parade Expo. The main job for our group will be to organize the Democratic Candidates event, which will take place on Saturday, Sept. 22, from 2 ­ 5:30 pm. at theWashington Fairgrounds. Our representatives to the planning group are JohnGreener, Kay Ciha, and Harold Frakes.

The minutes of the previous month's meeting and the County Convention were approved by acclamation. Treasurer, Kay Ciha, reported a balance of $616.87. She presented a bill of $30.00 for printing the 1500 fund raising letters. John Greener moved to pay this bill. Bob Spinner seconded the motion. Motion passed. Tom Antosiak volunteered to help fold the letters and stuff the envelopes.

John Greener reported that he had seen Hilary Clinton in Iowa City today. Louise and Harold Frakes were also there. John presented Dave Ciha with a button of Bill Clinton, which read, "America¹s First Gentleman". He also presented Bonnie Banister with a Hilary button. John said he has now seenHilary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barrack Obama and thinks all three are really good candidates. Kay Ciha reported on the House party for Obama that was held at her home last Saturday. She thanked Pete Morrison for his help with all the technology. Eleven people attended the event.

A discussion was held about who might run for IA House seat 89. John reported that Jennifer Langford is interested. However, she would have to move in order to live in the district. Bonnie Banister added that Jennifer is chair of the Jefferson County Democratic Party and has worked in the State House for the last three years. No one has heard back from Mark Nolte or SteveMiller. Sandra appointed Terry Philips to contact Steve Miller and see if he is interested. She appointed John Greener to contact Mark Nolte and see if he is interested. The group felt that we should look for the strongest possible candidate and not just support anyone who is interested. Harold suggested that perhaps those who are interested should submit a resume of their qualifications and speak to the group.

Sandra reported that although we had discussed the 2007 State and District convention as reported in the minutes, we have found there is no 2007 State or District convention! The next District Convention is April 26, 2008 and the State Convention is June 14, 2008. It was reported that the Washington County Constitution and By-Laws have not been found. Craig Muenzer said he would look to see if there is one on file at the State level. John Greener moved that Steve Maxon, Doris Park, and Harold Frakes form the committee to work on creating a constitution and by-laws for Washington County and to bring it to next month' s meeting for the group to consider. Terry Philips seconded. Motion passed.

Terry Philips reported on the Special Election petition for how to elect the five supervisors. He said it would be great if this could be finished by the end of April. The last possible date to collect signatures would be May30th.

Under new business, Sandra read the list of precinct captains from 2004. The list from 2006 has not been located. Craig said he would check to see if the list was filed at the State level. Several people remembered who was elected or volunteered to fill in. Sandra would like to see each precinc thave a captain and alternate. Tom Antosiak presented information on free advertising on channel 18, MediaCom. Harold Frakes reported that many county constitutions have StandingCommittees. He asked that group if we would like to consider having standing committees. He felt it would be important to have one onA ffirmative Action since 6 ­- 7 % of the county is Hispanic. He moved that we create such a committee. John Greener seconded. After much discussion, Harold withdrew his motion pending development of the Constitution and By-Laws. Meeting adjourned at 8:55 pm.
Louise Frakes, secretary.
Veterans Caucus Hold First Organizational Meeting

Members of the Iowa Democratic Party’s Armed Forces Veterans Caucus met in Des Moines on March 31 to begin planning a charity barbecue. Tentatively scheduled for Iowa State Fair week, Veteran’s Caucus Chair Bob Krause, of Fairfield, hopes the benefit will raise enough funds to support several veterans’ organizations across Iowa.

The Veterans Caucus used this meeting to organize a steering committee made up of members from each of Iowa’s congressional districts. The Second District is represented by Terry Philips of Riverside and John Pomberg of Salem. Dave Campbell of Des Moines, former caucus chair, is responsible for organizing the August event. Tom Howe, of Dubuque, will head the platform committee and Ron Healey, of Durango, will coordinate the efforts of the IDP Veterans Caucus with other veterans’ organizations.

Third District Congressional Representative Leonard Boswell and wife Dody attended the Veterans Caucus Meeting. Also in attendance were Michelle Obama, wife of Presidential Candidate, Margaret Vernon from Senator Harkin’s office and representatives from the Senators Clinton and Obama campaigns. During the meeting Rep. Boswell spoke about the Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act. This bill provides that the Department of Veterans Affairs shall develop a comprehensive program to screen and monitor veterans for post traumatic stress disorder, and other factors related to combat. The bill is in honor of Joshua Omvig, a young man from Grundy Center who tragically took his own life after returning home from an 11-month tour in Iraq

With the conclusion of business, Alvin Flyr, of Des Moines, was elected vice chair of the Veterans Caucus. The seat was previously held by Dave Campbell, who vacated it to serve as a third district representative on the Iowa Democratic Party State Central Committee.

For more information about the Armed Forces Veterans Caucus, contact the Iowa Democratic Party at 515-244-7292 or Terry Philips at 319-430-8536.