Legislative Briefing 3/19/2011

The last of three legislative briefings was held again at the Court House in Washington on Saturday morning, March 19, 2010. Sandy Greiner and Jared Klein were on hand to address the crowd of about 30+ people throughout the 2 hour session.

Unfortunately not much has taken place in Des Moines so far, and of course the two legislators blamed the senate Democrats for holding up legislation previously passed by the House. I guess that the fact that the House, had pushed through a radical right wing agenda, had no part to play in the delay.

It was my guess that the two-year period following the 2010 election would be mostly deadlock. I predicted that even an annual budget would be hard to establish with the hard right positions of the new Republican House, clashing with the more moderate views of the Iowa Senate.

Washington County Democrats Meeting March 2011

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

March Minutes

Minutes of March Meeting

The Washington County Democrats met in the 2^nd floor meeting room of the Washington Public Library on Wednesday, March 16th, 2011 with 18 members and guests present. The Chairperson, Louise Frakes, called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm with the group reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and singing, America the Beautiful.

Minutes of the last meeting [February 2011] were provided in written form for the group. Those minutes were also previously, posted on the blog and sent to all of those with e-mail addresses. A request for any changes or additions was made and hearing none, the minutes were approved as written.

Treasurer Kay Ciha presented the current Treasurer’s Report, and written copies were provided to the group, the report reflected a balance of $957.17 and will be filed for audit.

The Chairperson indicated that the Main focus of tonight's meeting is to elect new officers, Standing Committee Chairs, Delegates to 2^nd District Central Committee, and County Convention Chairs for Arrangements, Rules and Nominations, and Credentials Committees. (constitution Article III section 5).

Harvey Ross from the 2^nd District was scheduled as a guest speaker, but he had not arrived and would be given a later opportunity to speak.

There were no legislative committee reports.

Old Business:

Nan Stark presented a report of the audit committee and provided a statement that will be filed with the minutes of this meeting.

The Chair indicated that a motion to suspend the rules be made in order to transact constitutional changes.

Changes in County Constitution, as follows:

ARTICLE XII - AMENDMENTS

This Constitution may be amended at any County Convention by a majority of the accredited delegates so assembled. All proposed amendments must be submitted to the Convention in writing, and must be delivered to the Chair of the Washington County Democratic Party at least 14 days prior to the call of the County Convention.

Upon motion made by Robin Plattenberger and 2^nd by Pete Morrison, the motion passed to suspend the rules.

Article VI Sec. 4 of Constitution

Strike Sec. 4. Duties of the Immediate Past Chair shall be. The Immediate Past Chair shall assume the duties of the Chair in the absence of both the Chair and the Vice Chair, and shall otherwise assist the Chair in the performance of his or her duties, and shall chair the Community Events Standing Committee. Said Sec. 4 shall be replaced with, “The Community Events Standing Committee and chair shall be elected at large or appointed by the Chair.” Upon motion made by Richard Gilmore and 2^nd by Steve Maxon, the motion passed.

Article III section 5

Motion was made by Pete Morrison and 2^nd by Bob Spenner that the wording be added: “Off Year Caucus” to the title “Reorganization Meeting” Motion passed.

As Harvey Ross had arrived, he was given the opportunity to talk on the subject of the Stonewall Caucus and the 2^nd District and after his presentation, Jared Hershberger, representing Dave Loebsack’s office spoke briefly. Nick Kariya who was with Harvey Ross and representing the Minority caucus made a short presentation on his caucus.

New Business:

There were no committee reports.

The next order of business was the election of new officers: The Chair asked Harvey Ross and Jared Hershberger to assist in counting the ballots.

The following members were elected for the next two years to the noted elected positions:

Chairman: Peter G. Morrison

Vice-Chair.: Richard Gilmore

Secretary: Nan Stark

Treasurer: Kay Ciha

Congratulations to the newly elected officers.

Upon motion by Pete and 2^nd by Dave Ciha, the officers were seated.

Finding no nominations for committee chairs, motion was made by Louise Frakes and 2^nd by Barb Edmondson, that the Chair appoint the committee chairs and members as constituted. Motion carried.

It was noted that due to re-districting, that the Washington County Democrats, would have to appoint members to the re-districting committee. Pete would follow-up on that matter.

The Chair is one member or would appoint his 2^nd District representative, plus two additional delegates and alternates would be selected next month at the meeting.

The group discussed the establishment of a meeting time, place and date. It was decided that the meeting place, subject to change, would be the Washington Public Library, on the 2^nd Wednesday of every month, and the time would remain the same at 7:00 p.m. Motion carried. Pete to follow-up with the Library on that issue and establish scheduling with them.

The chair asked for any additional new business and found none.

The Chair announced upcoming events as follows:

Legislative Briefing on Saturday, March 19, 2011 at 10:00 a.m., to be held at the Washington County Court House.

The Chair called for any other business and finding none the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Kay Ciha provided refreshments.

The next meeting will be on Wednesday, April 13, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. at the Washington Library on the 2^nd floor. Doris Park and Steve Maxon will provide treats and beverage.

Respectfully submitted,

Nan Stark, Secretary

Peter G. Morrison, Secretary and now Chairman

New Officers to be elected

New officers of the Washington County Democrats will be elected March 16, 2011. [ see March minutes for details. ]

February 2011 Minutes of the Washington Co. Democrats

Monday, February 7th, 2011

February Minutes

Minutes of February Meeting

The Washington County Democrats met in the 2^nd floor meeting room of the Washington Public Library on Monday, February 7th, 2011 with 10 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, You’re a Grand Old Flag.

Minutes of the last meeting [January 2011] were provided in written form for the group. Those minutes were also previously, posted on the blog and sent to all of those with e-mail addresses. A request for any changes or additions was made and hearing none, the minutes were approved as written.

Treasurer Kay Ciha presented the current Treasurer’s Report, and written copies were provided to the group, said report reflected a balance of $677.17 and will be filed for audit.

The Chairperson indicated that we must work on a renewal membership drive. A membership request will be made.

There were no legislative committee reports.

Old Business:

There were no reports of either the audit or nomination committees.

The chair issued a reminder that changes would be requested at the County “off year caucus/Reorganizational meeting next month.

Chair noted that the 2011-2012 dues of the Washington County Democrats are due and requested. A reminder will be distributed, and Kay will supply Pete with copy for email distribution.

New Business:

Some of the issues that are being discussed in the State House, included the gun issue, tax issues and budget issues. People are encouraged to write letters to the editor referencing issues that they believe are important.

3 County supervisor positions are up for election in 2012, and we need to find candidates now for those positions.

There were no committee reports.

It was determined that the March meeting would be held at the Washington Public Library. The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 9^th, 2011. The meeting time and date was established at the prior months meeting and confirmed by the Chair. Kay Ciha will provide refreshments.

The chair asked for any additional new business and found none.

The Chair announced upcoming events as follows:

Legislative Briefing on Saturday, February 19, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. and also, on Saturday, March 19, 2011 at 10:00 a.m., both to be held at the Washington County Court House.

The Chair called for any other business and finding none the meeting was adjourned at 8:12 p.m. Mike and Susan Mitchell provided refreshments.

Respectfully submitted,

Peter G. Morrison, Secretary

January 2011 Minutes of the Washington Co. Democrats

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

January Minutes

Minutes of January Meeting

The Washington County Democrats met in the 2^nd floor meeting room of the Washington Public Library on Wednesday, January 19th, 2011 with 15 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 the star spangled banner.

Minutes of the last meeting [October 2010] were provided in written form for the group. Those minutes were also previously, posted on the blog and sent to all of those with e-mail addresses. A request for any changes or additions was made and hearing none, the minutes were approved upon motion by Bob Spenner and 2^nd by Ferd Marie.

Treasurer Kay Ciha presented the current Treasurer’s Report, and written copies were provided to the group, said report reflected a balance of $487.17 and will be filed for audit.

The Chairperson indicated that we need to work on getting Democrats elected and outlined some of her thoughts.

There were no legislative committee reports.

Louise reported on the legislative session held at the Washington County Court House the previous Saturday. Kay Ciha was also present at the meeting and provided some comments.

Old Business:

Barb Edmondson provided some comments about her feelings/impressions after the election and some discussion developed regarding election procedure.

New Business:

The re-organizational meeting was discussed and it was decided that we would hold that meeting in March, at the time of and in conjunction with our regular March monthly meeting. It was determined by consensus that the Off-Year-Caucus/Reorganizational meeting would be held March 9^th, 2010 at 6:30 p.m., and further that the meeting would be held in the large 2^nd floor meeting room of the Washington Public Library. The date, time and place was later confirmed by the Chair. Additional details of the March meeting will be provided at the February meeting and included in the February meeting minutes.

The Appointment of the Audit Committee was as follows: Patty Roe and Nan Stark would handle the audit in addition to the Treasurer, Kay Ciha.

The Appointment of the Nominating Committee was as follows: Kay Ciha, Richard Gilmore, Sandra Johnson, Mike Pierson and Susan Mitchell.

It was indicated by the Chair, that the Community Events chairperson, was the past president and that needed to be changed. We also need add “off year caucus” to the Reorganizational Meeting. It was suggested that the procedure for doing so would be to ask for and receive, a suspention of the rules, during that meeting.

The Chair asked if we want to have refreshments after future meetings. It was determined that the group consensus was to continue the practice. The Mitchell’s volunteered to bring the refreshments to the February meeting. Kay Ciha volunteered to bring refreshments to the March meeting.

It was determined that the February meeting would be held at the Washington Public Library. The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, February 7^th, 2011. The meeting time and date was later confirmed by the Chair.

The chair asked for any additional new business and found none.

The Chair called for any other business and finding none the meeting was adjourned at 8:47 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Peter G. Morrison, Secretary

Governor Chet Culver comes to Washington

Chet Culver toured Washington’s improvement of our downtown, which included the use of I-Jobs funds and Main Street Iowa funding.

Governor Culver also was able to meet with guests at the Washington County Democrats headquarters and heard the concerns of the assembled group. He emphasized that the polls had tightened and it won’t be over until the final vote is cast on November 2nd. But Chet indicated that he was very impressed with the hard work that had been the effort of the Washington Community over the past couple of years.

Rally for Becky is a Success

On Saturday, October 23, 2010 IA Senator Becky Schmitz held a final Fundraiser and rally in Washington County before the November 2nd elections.

The main speaker for the event was U.S. Senator Tom Harkin who entertained the group with some informative comments on past performance in Iowa and good comparison statistics of Becky’s opponent.

Tom was pointed in emphasizing that if Democrats get out the vote, Democrats win.

Becky also was very confident that if we are able to get out our Democratic supporters to vote early and get our friends and neighbors to vote, she is confident that she will win!

Everyone seemed to enjoy the afternoon event, as Becky outlined what she felt were her accomplishments over the past four years.