Sunday, August 17, 2008

August Meeting

Washington County Democrats
August Meeting, 2008

The Washington County Democratic Party met in the Day Lounge at Halcyon House on Tuesday, August 12, 2008. Chairperson Sandra Johnson called the meeting to order at 7:08 pm with twenty-eight individuals present.

Vice Chair Richard Gilmore introduced Clint Britt for the Loebsack campaign. Clint asked for volunteers to help that campaign.

Dave Schweitzer thanked Harold and Louise for the ice cream social. He also said he had helped at the Larry Marek work night, that Brett Pfeiffer is his campaign manager, and that he will be attending the Brighton wiener roast on September 28th.

Larry Marek also thanked the Frakes for the ice cream social and all those who had come to his work night the night before. He said he has signs at the Democratic office that volunteers may pick up and place around the county. He will be attending the Lone Tree Parade August 16. Lastly, he updated us on the Wind Farm that is starting to happen in Washington County.

Ferd Marie moved to approve the minutes of the July meeting as amended. Seconded by Terry Philips. Motion passed.

Tamara Schrock gave the web site report. That committee has met three times. The committee consists of Jay Santana, Harold Frakes, Ceanne Alvine, Kay Ciha and herself. She talked a little about what the website will contain and said they hope to have it up and running soon.

Kay Ciha gave the financial report. As of tonight we have $1209.81. She also reported that the Obama campaign has made a commitment to help us with expenses. She reported that the follow amounts of money had been raised at the Ice Cream Social: $775 for Loebsack; $175 for Larry Marek; $250 for Dave Schweitzer; $65 for the County Party and $100 in cash. She asked how we wanted to divide the cash raised at the ice cream social. Harold Frakes moved to divide the cash between the two Supervisor candidates who attended. Thus, Bob Goodrich and Merle Hagie would each receive $50. Dave Schweitzer seconded and the motion passed. Kay will write checks to Bob and Merle.

Sandra Johnson reported that she will check to see where the Second District will be holding their meeting as there had been some talk of holding it in our office. None of our representations to Second District had been notified of the meeting.

Terry Philips reported on the Veterans Affairs Caucus. He said McCain has voted against veterans 42 times. He also reminded the group that Sue Rich is the director of veteran affairs for Washington County.

Kay Ciha reported that we now have 71 paid households. We need to continue to work to get paid members.

Under old business, Chair Sandra Johnson tabled the discussion on unpaid precinct chairs.
The wiener roast at Ferd Marie’s was scheduled for September 14th. Everyone is to bring food to share.

The County Pork Loin Fund Raiser Dinner was set for October 12th. Ione will be in charge. We will sell 200 tickets for $10 each. Suggested keynote speakers: Tom Vilsack, Tom Harkin, Pat Murphy, Michelle Obama, and Chet Culver. Louise Frakes reported that she has filled out paper work at the United Methodist Church and the 4-H building to temporarily hold for us. The church is to let us know Thursday night if we can use their facility.

Sandra also reported that a second Precinct chair has been added to Ward 2. The new co-chair is Brett Evanovich.

Next Sandra reported on the Special Convention which was held August 9th. Six delegates attended and nominated Merle Hagie as our Supervisor candidate for District 4. Sandra moved that Steve’s letter to the auditor and the State code dealing with filling vacancies be added to the minutes of that convention. Ferd Marie seconded and motion passed.

Sandra thanked all those who had worked at the County Fair Booth. She suggested we do fake “ta-toos” next year.

John Stellmach reported that 7 or 8 people attended the meeting to help form the Democratic Platform. Louise Frakes read a note from Jay Santana that two of the Washington County Platform planks have been selected for the National Platform.

Under new business, Chair Sandra Johnson asked Clint Britt to take information to Representative Loebsack that small farmers of less than 10 acres will not receive CRP payments this year because of changes in the new Farm Bill. She is requesting Representative Loebsack to help correct this injustice.

Sandra reminded everyone that the National Convention is August 25 – 28. The party would like to see house parties in very precinct on August 28th. A note from Jay Santana also said that the office will be open that night for those who would like to watch the convention there.

Everett Burham addressed the group about his concern that so few people attend the monthly meeting. He said he sets out 50 chairs each month and we need to work to fill them.

Chris Street reported that the Harkin Steak Fry is September 14th so we need to move Ferd’s wiener roast. It was decided to move the wiener roast to September 21st.

Louise Frakes read a letter from Jay Santana. He had a plea for volunteers at the party office. Please let him know if you can help. Also, he said the office is in need of the following items: paper towels, toilet tissue, some munchies, beverages, and more paper for our printers. He reminded people that we can still order polo shirts and t-shirts. He reported that as of August 1st, he is the State Director of the LGBT vote and the Organizer for Keokuk, Washington, Louisa, and Muscatine Counties in SE Iowa. He will need help making phone calls, knocking doors, writing letters, etc. Please let him know how you can help.

Jay’s letter also reported on the Rural Policy Round Table that was held at the library in Washington. Mike Dunn facilitated the discussion and people from five counties came. It was a good event. Mr. Dunn will be taking our concerns to the National level.

Jay’s letter also reported that it has been officially announced that Senator Obama will be making a trip to Iowa during his “First 100 Days in Office” when he is elected President.

Meeting adjourned at 8:48 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Louise Frakes

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Special Convention August 9, 2008

Special County Convention
August 9, 2008

A special reconvened County Convention for the delegates and alternates of District 4 was held Saturday, August 9, at 10:00 am in the Democratic Headquarters office in Washington, Iowa. The purpose of the meeting was to select a new candidate to run for County Supervisor from District 4 because Steve Butler is leaving the state.

Temporary Chair Sandra Johnson called the Convention to order at 10:38 am with five delegates and twelve total people present. John Greener moved that the temporary officers be made permanent officers for this Convention. Barb Edmonson seconded. Motion passed. Officers are Sandra Johnson, chair; Louise Frakes, secretary; John Greener, rules; Terry Philips, Sergeant at Arms.

Chair Sandra Johnson announced that there were 13 delegates selected from District 4 to the County Convention. The rules state that 40% must be present to hold the Convention so we need 5.2 people. Just to be on the safe side, Ms. Johnson said we will wait for the 6th person before taking official action.

Chair Johnson explained the reason for the special session (see Appendix A and B) and introduced the suggested nominee, Merle Hagie. Merle spoke to the group about his background, qualifications, and goals. He answered questions from the group.

At 10:40, the sixth delegate arrived. John Greener moved that we make Merle Hagie our supervisor candidate for District 4. Patrick Finney seconded. The vote was unanimous.

Terry Philips will send an article to the Washington Journal about the Special Convention. The Journal should also publish an interview with Merle Hagie.

The delegates asked how they could help Merle. Chair Johnson said he needs 35 signatures from District 4 to file at the Court House and anyone could help collect those. There was lots of discussion about other ways to help.

At 10:50, the Convention officially adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,
Louise Frakes

Appendix A
427 East Main St. Washington, Iowa 52353-2018
June 11, 2008

Mr. William c. Fredrick Washington county Auditor P.O. Box 889
Washington, IA 52353-0889

Dear Mr. Frederick:

I am moving out of my county supervisor district. Therefore, I will not be eligible to run for the office in the November, 2008 general election.

Please remove my name from the ballot so that the Democratic Party may nominate someone in my place.

Sincerely yours,


Stephen A. Butler

cc: Washington county Democratic Party

Appendix B

43.77 What constitutes a ballot vacancy.

A vacancy on the general election ballot exists when any political party lacks a candidate for an office to be filled at the general election because:

1. No person filed under section 43.11 as a candidate for the party's nomination for that office in the primary election were found to lack the requisite qualifications for the office or died before the date of the primary election, and no candidate received a sufficient number of write-in votes to be nominated.

43.78 Filling ballot vacancies.
1. A vacancy on the general election ballot may be filled by the political party in whose ticket the vacancy exists, as follows:

a. For senator in the Congress ofthe United States or any office listed in section 39.9, by the party's state convention, which may be reconvened by the state party chairperson if the vacancy occurs after the convention has been held or too late to be filled at the time it is held. However, a vacancy so occurring with respect to the offices of secretary of state, auditor of state, treasurer of state or secretary of agriculture may be filled by the party's state central committee in lieu of reconvening the state convention.

b. For representative in the Congress of the United States, by the party's congressional district convention, which may be convened or reconvened as appropriate by the state party chairperson.

c. For senator or representative in the general assembly, by the party precinct committee members whose precincts lie within the senatorial or representative district involved, who shall be convened or reconvened as appropriate by the state party chairperson. The party's state constitution or bylaws may allow the voting strength of each precinct represented at such a convention to be made proportionate to the vote cast for the party's candidate for the office in question in the respective precincts at the last general election for that office.

d. For any office to be filled by the voters of an entire county, by the party's county convention, which may be reconvened by the county party chairperson if the vacancy occurs after the convention has been held or too late to be filled at the time it is held.

f. For any other partisan office filled by the voters of a subdivision of a county, by those members of the party's county central committee who represent the precincts lying within that district, who shall be convened or reconvened as appropriate by the county party chairperson. However, this paragraph shall not apply to partisan city offices in special charter cities for which candidates are nominated under this chapter, but such ballot vacancies shall be filled as provided by section 43.116.


2. The name of any candidate designated to fill a vacancy on the general election ballot in accordance with subsection 1, paragraph "a", "b", or "c" shall be submitted in writing to the state commissioner not later than five o'clock p.m. on the eighty-first day before the date of the general election.

3. The name of any candidate designated to fill a vacancy on the general election ballot in accordance with subsection 1, paragraph "d", "e", or "f' shall be submitted in writing to the commissioner not later than five o'clock p.m. on the sixty-ninth day before the date of the general election.

4. Political party candidates for a vacant seat in the United States house of representatives, the board of supervisors, the elected county offices, or the general assembly which is to be filled at a special election called pursuant to section 69.14 or 69.l4A shall be nominated in the manner provided by subsection 1 of this section for filling a vacancy on the general election ballot for the same office. The name of a candidate so, nominated shall be submitted in writing to the appropriate commissioner, as required by section 43.88, at the earliest practicable time.

[S13, §1087-a24 - 1087-a27; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §604 - 607, 608, 609, 611, 614, 624, 633, 636, 637; C46, 50,54,58,62,66, 71, 73, §43.76 - 43.79, 43.81, 43.82, 43.84, 43.87, 43.97, 43.101, 43.106, 43.109, 43.110; ",.,r (,A'-' '7L A'l '70 A'1 Q1 A'1 Q') Ll1 Q4 41 'X.7 4.1 q7 4.1 10L 41.109. 43.110: C77. 79.81, &43.781

Executive Board Minutes July 13, 2008

Washington County Democratic Executive Board of Directors
Sunday, July 13, 2008

The Executive Board of the Washington County Democrats met Sunday, July 13, 2008 in the home of John Greener. All five officers were there as well as Ferd Marie and Jay Santana.

We discussed Fundraising dates and decided to offer these as our first preference:
• Ice Cream Social at Frakes’ on August 9 or 10 from 2:00 – 4:00 pm. Cans would be placed for each of the candidates for that area: Bob Goodrich, Dave Schweitzer, Larry Marek, and Dave Loebsack, as well as for the County Party. All Supervisor candidates would be encouraged to be present so everyone gets used to seeing their faces. The four listed above would be asked to speak. We also need to find a “Big Name” speaker, but no decision was made about this. Suggestions were Pat Murphy, Christi Vilsack, or Tom Harkin. Before anyone can be contacted as a guest speaker, we need to settle for sure on the date. We are waiting for the Dave Loebsack to check on his calendar.
• Wiener Roast at Ferd Marie’s on September 14 or 21 at 6:00 pm. Basically the same format as the Ice Cream social: cans for the various candidates and speakers.
• Pork Loin Dinner on October 5th or 12th at 1:00 p.m. Ione Burham would be in charge of organizing this. We would sell advanced tickets with the goal of selling at least 200 tickets at $10.00 each. We would need to get some big name speakers for this event and have all our candidates present. The money from the ticket sales would go to the County Party to help cover the expenses we have. We would try to get all the food donated. Richard will check on the availability of the Methodist Church for this event.

The next item for discussion was the Web site. All were in favor of going ahead with this and going through “1 and 1”. Jay Santana and Harold Frakes would serve as the web masters. Sandra will contact the following people to see if they would serve on the initial committee to decide what should be on the web: Kay Ciha, Ceanne Alvine, Tamra Schrock, as well as Harold Frakes and Jay Santana. The price of the website for the first three months would be $4.99 a month. After that the price would be $9.99.

We briefly went over the re-convening of the County Convention. Louise is to contact the precinct chairs for District 4 and Merle Hagie and invite them to attend as well as the delegates and alternates who were selected for the original County Convention. This will be held August 9th at 10:00 am in the Democratic office headquarters. Sandra is checking with the Second District and State IDP to be sure we are doing this correctly.

Jay Santana suggested hosting the next Second District meeting and using it as a fund raiser. Sandra will send them an invitation. Richard will bring one of his big tables to the office as well as more chairs. Jay will check on places to get their lunch: possibly Subway or Hy Vee. The date of August 13th was suggested for this event.

Adding a second precinct chair to Ward 2 was discussed as they only elected one person. It was decided that we would offer this position to Brett Evanovich. Sandra will contact Brett.

The final item to be discussed was the County Fair Booth. Sandra announced that the frame is set up. The following decisions were made:
• Richard will take the tables and four chairs from headquarters out to the fair booth
• There will be order forms for the polo shirts at the booth and people will be encouraged to buy the County shirts. They must pay when they order.
• We will have stickers for as many of the candidates as possible
• There will be membership forms at the booth and we will encourage people to sign up and become members
• Kay Ciha will bring two 5-gallon containers and cups so that we will give away lemonade again this year.
• Sandra will bring two 5 gallon buckets for trash.

Meeting adjourned.
Louise Frakes, secretary

July Minutes 2008

Washington County Democrats
July Meeting, 2008

The Washington County Democratic Party met in the Day Lounge at Halcyon House on Tuesday, July 8, 2008. Chairperson Sandra Johnson called the meeting to order at 7:10 pm with twenty-five individuals present.

Events chair, John Greener, reported on the July 4th Parade in Wellman. He said there were lots of people and the Democrats were represented with 5 vehicles and lots of people.

Sheriff Candidate Dave Schweitzer reported that he had 9 walkers in the Wellman parade all in Schweitzer t-shirts. He has post cards, stickers, and signs for yards. He will be at the fair Monday and Wednesday during the day and Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

Candidate Larry Marek reported that he will have a birthday party fund raiser at John Greener’s on July 13th from 4 – 6 pm. He invited everyone to attend. He also said he has been very busy calling knocking on doors, attending parades, and attending coffees.

Terry Philips moved that the June minutes be approved as printed. Ferd Marie seconded. Motion passed.

Kay Ciha gave the treasurer’s report. Available cash is $1824.76. We will need to have a fund raiser to pay the rent and to help our candidates. John Greener moved that we pay Steve Maxon $20.00 for gas. Seconded by Bob Spenner. Motion passed.

Kay Ciha reported that as of July 5th we have 65 paid households. Louise Frakes brought up that some unpaid members are precinct chair-people and this may be in conflict with our constitution. Sandra stepped away from the chair to speak to this issue. She stated that she is opposed to asking them to pay. Bob Spenner agreed. Doris Park suggested inviting them to join and come to a meeting. Kay Ciha replied that they have all been sent a “request for membership” form. Heated discussion followed.

Terry Philips moved that we send them a note saying their membership is being paid by someone else as Sandra offered to pay their membership. Sandra Johnson made a friendly amendment to establish a “scholarship for members’ so people won’t know who paid it. Louise seconded. Terry Philips called the question. Ione Burham questioned if paying for them might offend some and stated that the letter would need to be carefully written. Motion carried with two opposed. Terry Philips was appointed to write the letter, but to get Executive Board approval before sending it.

Sandra Johnson regained the chair and stated that she will call a meeting of the committee who originally drafted that Constitution and By-Laws. The committee would go over those documents again to see if changed need to be made.

It was reported that the Second District has lots of problems and wrong information on its website. Sandra has written to them to clarify this. Secretary Louise Frakes has also sent them updated information about our County party and officers.

Terry Philips reported on the Veterans Caucus. He said they have elected new officers. The Regional Conference is being postponed. The next meeting of the Veterans Caucus will be July 12 in North Liberty.

The Candidate Recruitment/Development Committee reported and asked Sandra Johnson to introduce Merle Hagie as a possible District 4 supervisor candidate. Merle spoke to the group. He said he is currently on the Washington City Council and various committees. He was one of the first to work for the establishment of five supervisors. He ended by saying, “Choose the candidate that you think is the most electable and will do the best job.”

Terry Philips asked for an explanation of how that position would be filled. Sandra read from the State code that the candidate would be selected by delegates fo that district to the County Convention. There were 13 delegates from District 4 so a special session of the County Convention involving those delegates would be held. That convention would need to be held between August 4 and August 27. The candidate’s name along with a petition of 30 signatures would have to be filed in the Auditor’s office by August 27th.

Jay Santana suggested holding the “mini-Convention at the Democratic office. Terry Philips moved to hold it Saturday, August 9th at 10:00 am at the Democratic office. Jay Santana seconded. Motion carried with 4 opposed.

Terry moved that if it appears that the convention will not meet quorum, the Executive Board may propose another date. Jay Santana seconded. Motion passed. Secretary Louise Frakes will call delegates and alternates from District 4 to determine if there would be a quorum. Jay Santana volunteered to help with the calling if needed.

Guest Faith Bromwich, from the Iowa City area, asked to speak to the group. She is a National Delegate and thanked the group for her support. She also spoke about the “Economics and Human Rights for All People” Caucus. She asked for donations to help her get to Denver to the Convention.

Jay Santana reported that only three Washington County delegates had attended the State Convention. This was a very disappointing number.

The County Fair Booth (July 13 – 18) was discussed. Jay Santana sent around a sign up sheet for workers. Sandra appointed Mike Roe, Bob Spenner, Terry Philips, and herself to set the booth up on Sunday, July 13, at 4:00 pm. She said they would welcome others to help them.

Sandra read a letter for Senator Barack Obama about5 the Democratic Platform asking for input from all. Those suggestions then will be sent to a national committee to weld them into the National Platform. Our county will meet July 26 at 2:00 at the Democratic Headquarters to work on this project.

Jay Santana reported on the availability of t-shirts and polo shirts with our new logo. Members were encouraged to purchase and wear these shirts.

Jay Santana reported on our Flood Relief project. He said two trips had already been made to deliver donations and the rest of the things would be taken there soon. Other members reported on other groups that were also making contributions to help with Flood Relief efforts.

Upcoming events include the County Fair, the Ice Cream Social at Frakes, the National Convention, the Regional Veterans Conference, July 12 Candidate Training, fall wiener roast at Ferd Marie’s, and a fund raiser dinner for the County Party.

Louise Frakes brought up the possibility of setting up a Washington County website. There was much discussion, especially about the cost. Dave Schweitzer said that we might be able to set up a website for $69 for 6 months through 1 and 1.com. Jay Santana volunteered to look into this and report back at the next meeting. The group gave approval to go ahead with the website if the cost seemed reasonable.

Chairman Sandra Johnson thanked the Executive Board for the flowers they sent for her mother’s funeral and thanked the group for the many cards she has received.

The next meeting will be August 12th at 7:00 pm at the Day Lounge at Halcyon House. Meeting adjourned at 8:45 pm.