Tuesday, May 12th, 2009
Minutes of May Meeting
The Washington County Democrats met at the Day Lounge at Halcyon House on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 with 23 members present. The Chairperson Louise Frakes called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm with the group reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and singing “America the Beautiful”.
Minutes of the last meeting were provided in written form for the group. Minutes were also posted on the blog. Motion was made by Bob Spenner and seconded by Mimi Jacoby, that the minutes be approved. Motion carried.
Treasurer Kay Ciha presented the current Treasurer’s Report, and written copies were provided to the group, said report reflected a balance of $1,686.86 and will be filed for audit.
The Treasurer gave a membership report. We had 61 households who have paid their 2009 dues. Membership written report will be filed for record.
The Chairperson called for reports from the standing committees, as follows:
Affirmative Action – Kathleen Salazar, Chairperson – It was noted that Kathleen was not present and no written report was available.
Platform – Matt Schaeffer, Chairperson – It was noted that Matt was not present and no written report was available.
Candidate Development – Rose Jaynes, Chairperson – It was noted that Rose was not present and no written report was available.
Community Events – Harold Frakes, Chairperson – Harold provided an events and activities listing. This sheet is attached for your review. The group was asked to vote on the Democratic Groups participation in the parades, events and activities. The group voted for participation in the following parades:
Ridiculous Day: June 6, Kalona Day: June 20, Riverside Trekfest: June 27, Wellman 4th: July 4th, all other the group opted not to have a presence at.
The group voted to have or participate in the following activities:
All activities the Washington County Democrats will have a presence at or participate in. Candidate fundraisers will be subject to date determinations and RAGBRAI information will be finalized after a meeting, which the Jefferson County representative will attend.
Veterans Caucus – Terry Phillips, Chairperson – Terry talked briefly about the veterans group possibly finding a woman representative on their commission.
Old Business:
Mimi Jacoby and Shirley Pfeiffer, presented completed quilt blocks pursuant to last months request.
Doris Parks indicated that she planned on making the cake quilt block.
The Chairperson presented a brief description of the executive breakfast with the Jefferson County executive committee. Becky Schmitz was present and Larry Marek was unable to attend.
The Chairperson called for other old business and finding none moved to new Business.
New Business:
The Chairperson introduced Jennifer Tuttle, a representative of SEIU group Change that Works. She talked briefly about the Health Care debate in Congress and the agenda. She passed out material to the group on the SEIU stance on the issue. I am providing an attachment to the minutes, of the SEIU material.
The Chairperson indicated that there had been some inquiry about changing the meeting date from the 2nd Tuesday of the month to the first Tuesday of the month. After a short discussion, Terry Philips made a motion, with a second by Bob Spenner to make the change to the first Tuesday of the month. The motion failed and the meeting time would remain the second Tuesday of every month.
The Chairperson presented to the group the political questions as follows:
“Under some circumstances, is it OK to use torture?” The general consensus of the group was that it was not OK.
Should we hold the Bush administration accountable and investigate and prosecute members of the administration for war crimes? The group was mixed on the levels of action on the issue, but most wanted the administration investigated.
The group was encouraged to discuss the political issues further after the close of the meeting.
At the request of the Chair, an Executive meeting was scheduled for June 7th, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. at the Frakes residence.
It was noted by the Chair that Becky Schmitz is holding a Veteran’s Listening Post across the district on Tuesday, May 26th, 2009, and the nearest meeting is at the Fairfield Public Library at 11:00 a.m.
For your information: Contact information for Senator Schmitz directly is: Home phone: 641-472-2341 and her E-mail address is: becky.schmitz@legis.state.ia.us
It was further indicated that the Second District would next meet at the Riverside Methodist Church, on Sunday, May 17th at 1:00 p.m.
The Chair indicated that the next meeting would be held Tuesday, June 9th, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. at the Halcyon House.
Members were invited to stay for “refreshment and treats” and continue their discussions of the evening’s business after the meeting is adjourned. Kay and Dave Ciha and Peter Morrison were in charge of the refreshments and treats. Members were encouraged to sign up to bring treats at future meetings.
The Chair called for any other business and finding none the meeting was adjourned at 8:03 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Peter G. Morrison, Secretary
