Washington County Democrat Meeting - May 12, 2015

The Washington County Democrats met at Art Domestique on Tuesday, May 12, 2015 with 13 county Democrats present. Chairperson Lorraine Williams called the meeting to order at 7:03 pm. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited followed by the singing of “God Bless America”.

Jim Gorham moved to approve the minutes as sent out, seconded by John Greener. Motion passed. Kay gave the treasurer’s report. She has paid for a double fair booth and there were 2 new memberships.

Report of the Chair:
1. The cost of having the 2nd District workshop at the Washington Kirkwood center would be $150. We would be expected to provide the lunch which participants would purchase. The fund raiser for the county party would be the Wine Down afterwards where we would serve wine, soft drinks, and appetizers. It would cost participants to attend the wine down. The date will be set by June 30. The location is between us and Oskaloosa.
2. Lorraine suggested we purchase 14 30-second ads to run on KCII through June. The cost would be $109.12. There was much discussion about the pros and cons of doing that at this time. Robin moved that we defer buying radio ads at this time. John seconded. Motion passed.
3. Lorraine said the radio is a great way to reach out to people and asked that each person bring one idea to the June meeting of the message we want to get out.
4. Lorraine announced that Dave Loebsack will be at the Coffee Shop on Saturday, May 16 from 10:00 - 11:00 am.

Old Business:
1. Cowboy Cards. Neither Terry or Matt was present so there was no presentation on this. However it was suggested that one side be in English and the other in Spanish.
2. Farmer’s Market was discussed. It was suggested that we try to do one Thursday each month June through September. Lorraine will contact Bob Shepherd for exact dates. When we are not part of the official market, we will set up outside of Art Domestique. We will hand out flashlights and cowboy cards.

New Business:
1. County Convention size. Louise moved that we have it be 65. Bob Spenner seconded. Motion passed. Lorraine will contact Josie and relay that message.
2. Places of the Precinct caucus are as follows:
    1. Ainsworth — undecided
    2. Brighton — Rose Jaynes home
    3. Kalona — undecided
    4. Riverside — Bob Spenner’s home
    5. All 4 Washington wards — Washington High School
    6. Wellman — Wellman library
    7. West Chester — West Chester Community building

Committee Reports:
Affirmative Action — Sandy Johnson
Their committee (Gary M, Sandy J, Harold F., Shirley P., Isabella S) has met. Each one is to contact a bi-lingual person to help set up events. Sandy recommended that all of us attend Latino Night in the park on June 7. The committee also wants to create an event to explain the voting process. They plan to contact Louise County Democrat party for suggestions as they have had success with this. Jim Gorham suggested having a “meet & greet” with simple refreshments where we simply talk about why we are Democrats. He also suggested that we visit with the Latino people who are at the Farmer’s Market — make friends with them. Robin suggested we design a new Democrat shirt with one side in English and the other side in Spanish. Doris will work on a design. Greg D. said there are a lot of people feeling left out and we need to reach out to all. Nan said some county parties are providing identity cards and that maybe we could consider doing that.

Candidate Development — Jim Gorham
Jim reported that he has on a potential candidate for House 78 seat to run against Jared Klein. He hopes to be able to tell us who at the June meeting. The County Supervisor seats currently held by Jack Seward, Bob Yoder, and Stoops will be up for election. Everyone please be thinking of people we could run for these positions.

Community Events — John Greener
a.) April 29 Pot Luck. John apologized for not using his committee but said his contact information failed so he had Richard & Robin and Harold & Louise help him. It was a “fabulous success” with speakers Andy McGuire, Tom Fiegen and Lillie Catlin.
b.) The parade committee of Will Hart, Alesandro, and Sara Williams has not met yet, but the parades will go on. The first one is June 6th. We will set up at John’s house 603 West Washington.
c.) There is one box of candy in the closet at Art Domestique. Lorraine will order more. Motion by Bob S. Motion passed.
d.) Lillie said that she will have people from the Hillary campaign walk with us.
e.) Kay announced that Richmond is having their 175th celebration on July 25 and moved that we attend their parade. Motion passed. John will register us by July 1.

Upcoming events:
June 6 — Ridiculous Day Parade
June 9 — Democrat meeting at Arts Domestique
June 13 — FDR Revival at Lake Darling Lodge (hopefully)
June 14 — Ice Cream Social — Meet & Greet for Tom Fiegen at Richard & Robin’s home.
June 20 — Brighton parade and Kalona parade
June 27 — Trek Fest Parade in Riverside

Meeting adjourned at 8:20 pm for refreshments by Shirley Pfeiffer.

Respectfully submitted,
Louise Frakes, secretary.

Those present: Louise Frakes, Kay Ciha, John Greener, Nan Stark, Sandra Johnson, LeAnn
Hassman, Robert Spenner, Greg Davis, Steve Maxon, Doris Park, Shirley Pfeiffer, Lillie Catlin,
Lorraine Williams.

Washington County Democrat Meeting - April 14, 2015

The Washington County Democrats met at Arts Domestique on Tuesday, April 14, 2015 at 7:00 pm. Harold Frakes called the meeting to order and served as Chair in the absence of Lorraine Williams who was in Italy and Richard Gilmore who was on a cruise. There were 12 county Democrats present. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited followed by the singing of America the Beautiful. Congratulations was given to Lorraine on the arrival of her new grandson.

The minutes were approved as sent out and the treasurer’s report was given. Kay reported that our old web site is no longer active. John moved and Terry seconded that we reserve a double booth at the County Fair for $200. Motion passed with one Nay vote.

Report of the Chair:
1. Harold passed out a map showing the number of pipelines in the US and how dangerous the leaks are. He said companies are using “eminent domain” to obtain land to use for pipelines.
2. The second handout showed the cost of living in Washington county. Iowa last raised the minimum wage in 2008 and the handout showed that you cannot live on minimum wage. This provoked a lot of discussion.
3. The third handout was about Nutrient Reduction of nitrate levels in our water. The legislature has set a goal of 45% reduction, but there is no baseline on which to measure nor a standard to know if the goal has been reached. Harold asked Matt Schaeffer to write a letter to the editor on this matter. Others are also encouraged to write letters.
4. A flyer was passed around about the Trivia Extravaganza event hosted by Hospice as a fund raiser on Friday, April 24 at 7:00 pm in the 4-H building. He encouraged people to join our Democrat team for this event.

Old Business:
1. There was a report on our Kite flying event in March. It was deemed successful as our first event of this kind.
2. The Pot-Luck “Banquet for the Common People” will be Wednesday, April 29 at 6:30 pm. Andy McGuire, IDP chair, will be present as will Tom Fiegen. Both will speak. John sent around a sign up sheet for food. Terry Philips volunteered to contact the Hillary people.
3. FDR Revival to be held Saturday, June 13 at Lake Darling Lodge was discussed.
4. Farmers Market was discussed. We can set up 4 times as a guest. The other times we could set up outside Arts Domestique. LeAnn suggested we have a theme each week. Diane suggested we have
something to hand out each time.
5. Harold brought up the idea of having “cowboy” cards to let people know what we stand for. We could then pass them out at the County Fair and at the Farmer’s Market. Terry and Matt will work
on how to develop this and will bring their ideas to the May meeting.

New Business:
none

Committee reports:
Affirmative Action: has not met yet
Candidate Development: Jim Gorham reported in Ceanne’s absence. They have met and discussed how to meet the 50/50 by 20/20, recruiting people for County offices, school boards, other county boards, someone to run against Klein, and that there are 3 Supervisors seats to be filled. He asked everyone to be thinking of people to contact. We need to let no position go without a Democrat running for it.

Karen Gorham announced that Lorraine has been appointed to the Kirkwood Board. She will have to run again this fall for this position.

It was suggested to have Karen Gorham talk about what Branstad is doing to education under his leadership. Leanne will share ideas for the Farmer’s Market, and the Float Design Committee will report in May.

Next meeting is Tuesday, May 12 at Arts Domestique at 7:00 pm.

Meeting adjourned at 8:05 for “Coffee & Conversation.” Treats given by Doris Park. Next month, June 9, treats will be furnished by Shirley Pfeiffer.

Respectfully submitted,
Louise Frakes, secretary

Upcoming Events:
June 6 — Ridiculous Day Parade
June 9 — Democrat meeting at Arts Domestique
June 13 — FDR Revival at Lake Darling Lodge
June 14 — Ice Cream Social — Meet & Greet for Tom Fiegen at Richard & Robin’s home.
June 20 — Brighton parade and Kalona parade
June 27 — Trek Fest Parade in Riverside