Saturday, May 26, 2012

May Monthly Meeting - 2012


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.
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Respectfully submitted,

Nan Stark, Secretary

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Dave Loebsack visits Washington, Iowa 05/05/2012

Dave Loebsack visited Washington, Iowa on Saturday, May 5th, 2012, attending a get together at the John Greener residence.  About 20 Washington County Democrats were present at the event.


Dave discussed a few of the important issues that the U.S. House of Representatives faces in this contentious election year.  Gridlock is probably our biggest obstacle in getting things done Dave indicates.  Republicans unreasonable demands have hampered progress.


After a brief statement, Dave took questions from the group present.  It was an enjoyable afternoon, and we hope Dave is able to return to Washington County this summer.

[Pictures complements of Terry Phillips]