Wednesday, May 9th, 2012
WASHINGTON COUNTY DEMOCRATS
Meeting, May 9, 2012
Fifteen Washington County Democrats met Wednesday, May 9, 2012, at 7
p.m. in a second floor meeting room of the Washington Public Library. Eighteen
people attended.
Chairman Peter Morrison called the meeting to order and led the group in
the Pledge of Allegiance.
There was no comment on the April minutes, so Pete said they would be
filed for the record. Treasure Kay Ciha presented the treasurer’s report and
had printed copies of the report available for everyone. Cash on hand on
4/11/12 was $2,638.09. Income from memberships, from 4/11 to 5/9/12, was $225.
Expenses for the same period totaled $200, for the 2012 Washington County Fair
booth rent, and this will be for a double booth. Cash available on 5/9/12 was
$2,663.09. Kay said this figure was still a little less than what we had in
2008, but not by much. The report will be filed for audit.
Pete gave the Report of the Chair on the 2nd District Convention, which
he said was somewhat uneventful. The Wi Fi system was overloaded. Although it
was in a high school, it was patched into another system and the process was
somewhat snarled. Adhali Larios was named Affirmative Action Chair for 2nd
District, and U.S. Representative Loebsack’s office is wanting to talk to him.
Terry Philips was elected Liaison for Veterans Caucus. Terry said the
Arrangements Committee had done a fantastic job of getting things set up for
2nd District Convention. The state convention will be June 16.
Old Business. Pete had begun working on the parade event schedule.
Ridiculous Day has been scheduled after all for June 2, 2012. Mayor Sandra
Johnson explained that Washington is now a Main Street community, and Main
Street had taken over managing Ridiculous Day from the Chamber. They decided
there was not enough interest or revenue to hold the event this year and had
announced that it would be canceled. Chamber retail director Dean Kurtz had
recruited pledges of support and funds and interest, and the Chamber again took
over control of the event, which will take place this year after all. We were
reminded that there will also, be an American Legion pancake breakfast
available June 2. Our involvement in Ridiculous Day will be a float or some
representation. Steve Maxon will provide the donkey and a truck/trailer?
We discussed the Brighton Whoopee Days parade and the Kalona event,
which are traditionally scheduled for the same day. In this case, that is June
16, which is also the day of the state convention. We need to decide about
which one to participate in, or perhaps we should have representation in both.
Kay, a candidate in District One, will need to be in Brighton.
Trek Fest will be the last weekend in June, and Bob Spenner could have
the trailer available for the parade in Riverside. The lineup is at 9 a.m.,
with the parade, at 10 a.m.
We also discussed the desirability of a Web site or Facebook page to
keep people informed about upcoming events. Karen Gorham said it was attempted
once by the Chamber but was not kept up to date. She said it was better not to
do it at all than to have it be outdated. (consensus agreement)
Pete announced that since the redistricting, Keokuk County and
Washington County will share, the same House district. Keokuk County
representatives would like to get together with Washington County and probably
also Jefferson County, and suggested the place should be the Lake Darling
Center. They are talking about a joint effort fundraiser to promote
Representative Dave Loebsack. This is something that we will have to figure
out, and we will probably want to participate in that. Lake Darling was
designed for use with Jefferson County, Keokuk County and Washington County; is
used a lot for recreation; and seems a logical center for such a session. They
want more than one joint committee event this year before the presidential
election. Pete suggested having something there in June.
In 2006 and again in 2008 we had a Democratic rally in Central Park with
speakers like Rep. Loebsack. Whether we want to do that again in July is
questionable. The county fair begins July 15 through that week. We need to set
up our booth on the Sunday of that week.
We will include the Wellman July 4 parade in our plans.
We will meet again June 13 and at that meeting can plan for the county
fair and a possible rally. OFA is working on plans for Washington County, for a
big joint campaign with IDP, etc., and there will be people here ready to do
things like door-knocking.
New Business. The budget should get some attention, because we need to
make some decisions about the grant money we received for membership
recruitment and development, as well as renting a site for Democratic Party
headquarters. It was mentioned that the earliest we should need a campaign
office would be August. We also need to remember our other financial
commitments, such as rent for the 4-H building for the fundraiser dinner in the
fall.
The meeting was adjourned at 8 p.m. so the library staff could close the
library. Bob Spenner expressed his preference to return to Halcyon House as a
meeting place so that we wouldn’t have to conclude promptly at 8 p.m.
Next meeting will be at 7 p.m., June 13, in the second floor meeting
room of the Washington Public Library.
.
Respectfully submitted,
Nan Stark, Secretary
