April Monthly Meeting of the Washington County Democrats

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

April Minutes

Minutes of April Meeting

The Washington County Democrats met in the Game Room at the Halcyon House on Tuesday, April 13th, 2010, with 27 individuals present. The Chair, Louise Frakes, called the meeting to order at 7:01 pm with the group reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and singing America the Beautiful.

Minutes of the last two meetings (February 9^th and March 13, 2010) were available in written form for the group. Minutes were also posted on the blog and sent to all of those with e-mail addresses. A request for any changes or additions to these two meetings was made and hearing none, the minutes were approved as written.

Treasurer Kay Ciha presented the current Treasurer’s Report for both February and March, and written copies were provided to the group. The report reflected a balance of $3,844.44, as of April 13, 2010. There were no questions about the treasurer's report and no further bills were presented. The report will be filed for audit.

The Chairperson asked Becky Schmitz to speak. Becky introduced her new campaign representative/coordinator, Shayna Kurland. Becky announced that she had a fundraiser planned for May 12, 2010 between 5:00-7:00 p.m. at the 4H building at the Fairgrounds in Washington. The featured speaker will be Christie Vilsack. Further details were discussed during the new business session.

Linda Brown, supervisor candidate in District 5 spoke to the group about her decision to run, what she was doing to prepare for the campaign and what she hoped to do if elected. Her campaign slogan is "Linda Brown Listens." Her website is lindabrownlistens.com. Linda stated that she had received a survey from the anti-zoning group, Free County and that she was also ask to speak at a Tea party meeting. She has decided not to fill out the Free County survey nor attend the Tea party meeting at this time.

Barb Edmondson spoke on her race for County Attorney. She stated that she plans to spend more time out the in community and would like to speak to as many groups as possible since the race for county attorney will be contested this year.

Larry Marek gave an overview of the actions and accomplishments of the legislature this past session. Larry indicated he was eager to take on his opponent who will probably be Jared Klein again this election season.

Terry Philips announced that he has taken over as chair of the Iowa Democratic Veterans' Caucus previously held by Bob Krause, and that Tom Antosiak has been elected to fill his former position at the county level. Terry stated that more had been accomplished for veterans in the past couple of years than in the previous decade. Tom Antosiak made a short presentation to the group.

Lauren Brainerd, the new area coordinator with the IDP, stated that she would be focusing on the coordinated campaign efforts, with get out the vote and organization priorities. She volunteered to be the leader for our County retreat and even to bring treat to that event!

Steve Maxon and Doris Park reported on the recent 2nd District Central Committee meeting. They announced that the 2nd District Convention will be held in Fairfield this year. Harold Frakes noted he had attended the first Rules Committee meeting. Patrick Finney attended the subsequent meetings and was a huge help to that committee as they developed a new balloting procedure.

Old Business:

The Chair thanked all those individuals that helped in so many different ways at the Washington County Convention. She offered a special thanks to Patrick Finney for his work with the technology during the convention and to Matt Schaeffer for his work with the platform committee. She also thanked Rose Jaynes and her committee for finding candidates to run for County Supervisor positions.

Discussion was held to finalize dates, place and times for a County Retreat that will focus our efforts on this election cycle. A motion was made and passed that the dates of the Retreat are the Monday, May 3rd and Thursday, May 6th from 6 -8 p.m. each night. The Retreat will be held in the Washington Public Library. People who have laptop computers were asked to bring those to the Thursday session. The library has Wi-Fi access which we will use for that session.

New Business:

The first item of new business was the organization of the Becky Schmitz fundraiser. The Fundraiser will be held Wednesday evening, 5-7 p.m. May 12th at the new 4H building at the Washington County Fair Grounds. As previously noted, Christie Vilsack will be the featured speaker.

Ione Burham agreed to head up the food committee. Kay Ciha and Louise Frakes volunteered to be on the committee. A goal of raising $3,000 was set. Becky is calling individuals to serve as Hosts, those who pledge $250-350, and Sponsors, those who pledge $100-249. A 'letter stuffing' meeting will be held later in April to invite all Democrats to attend this important Fundraiser.

Next was the presentation of the revised budget for the period 7/01/2010 through 6/30/2011. The executive committee had met previously and reviewed the original budget created and approved by the group in 2009. That original budget covered the 2-year period 7/01/2002 through 6/30/2011. However it was noted that since this was the first time a budget process was undertaken, the actual results for the first year differed greatly from the original budget. In revising the second year budget, the actual income and expenses were used to more realistically set the budget. Pete Morrison made the motion to approve the revised budget, seconded by Terry Philips. Motion carried.

Kay Ciha presented figures and information on the possible location for the Democratic headquarters for Washington County this election cycle. Comments were made about the location being handicap accessible. After a review of two alternatives, it was suggested that a counter offer be made to the owner of 119 W. Washington, which is located on the square. The cost of this building was significantly higher than the other buildings being considered. Kay Ciha will contact the owner of 119 W. Washington and see if she can make a better deal.

In other new business, Harold Frakes moved that the delegate fees for 2nd District Convention delegate registration fees and Iowa State Convention delegate registration fees be paid this fiscal year by the County party. Terry Philips seconded that motion. The motion passed.

The Chair called for any other new business and finding none, the meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m.

Members were invited to stay for “refreshment and treats” and continue their discussions of the evening’s business after the meeting adjourned. The Mitchell’s provided delicious treats for this evenings meeting.

Next meeting will be held Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Peter G. Morrison, Secretary and

Louise Frakes, Chair

Special Organizing for America Reception - March 25, 2010

Both Lt. Gov. Patty Judge and Governor Chet Culver spoke to a group of several hundred at the afternoon event held after the talk by President Barack Obama. The event was held to emphasize the efforts of the Organizing for America team and volunteers that devoted many hours to the Health Care Reform initiative over more than a year of effort.

Governor Culver noted that our work is cut out for us over the remainder of this year helping the democratic team in their re-election bid.

Bob Krause Candidate for the U.S. Senate seat, now held by Chuck Grassley, attended the event with his wife. He indicated to me that everything was going well, and looked forward to the months of campaigning leading up to the primaries and general election in November.

Final 2010 Listening Tour - Legislators

Legislators Iowa Senator Becky Schmitz and Iowa House Representative Larry Marek, [pictured at right] present the final summary of events of this legislative session. The event is the final of three scheduled meetings in Washington, Iowa, giving residents an opportunity to listen and ask questions about the action the Iowa legislators have taken on behalf of the state this session.

Washington County Democratic Chairperson, Louise Frakes, listens to the proceedings prior to her opportunity to speak. [pictured left]

Normal Republican participation was noticeably absent at this meeting.

Highlights of the discussion:

Texting while driving is very slowly making it through the legislative process. This observer asked if the substantial number of states that had previously enacted legislation in their states, would not aid Iowa legislatures in their efforts.

New provisions in gun legislation in the area of restraining orders was enacted. The legislation was 10 years in the making. Republicans in particular are resistant to any form of gun laws.

A number of topics were covered that are still considered work in progress.

We want to thank our excellent legislators for their effort this session, especially in these difficult economic times.

Washington County Democratic Convention - 2010

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Washington County Democratic Convention

Minutes of the Convention Proceedings

The Washington County Democrats met at the Washington Public Library on Saturday, March 13th, 2010. The meeting was preceded with a breakfast beginning at 8:30 a.m., furnished by volunteers. A free will offering was taken for the breakfast.

The Temporary Chairperson, Louise Frakes, called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. All Washington County delegates, alternates, and registered Democrats were seated for a total of 36 participants. This fulfilled the number needed for a quorum as required by the state constitution. She called for election of both a permanent chair and a secretary.

Fred Stark made the motion, 2^nd by Dave Ciha that Louise Frakes, be elected to the position of permanent chair. The motion was approved.

Harold Frakes made the motion 2^nd by Terry Phillips that Peter Morrison, be appointed permanent secretary and that motion was approved.

Representative Larry Marek, Senator Becky Schmitz, Supervisor Candidate Linda Brown, State Vet Caucus chair Terry Philips, and County Attorney Barb Edmonson, spoke on their decision to run for office in the upcoming November 2010 election.

Following a discussion, the following individuals were elected, as the required 9 delegates, and 1 youth delegate, to both the District and State conventions:

Peter Morrison

Matt Schaeffer

Doris Park

Harold Frakes

Bob Spenner

Kay Ciha

Katrina Schaeffer

Sandra Johnson

Louise Frakes

Eliza Schaeffer, was elected to the position of youth delegate

As also required, the following individuals were elected as alternates:

Diane Schaeffer

Steve Maxon

Patrick Finney

John Greener

Tom Antosiak

Terry Philips

David Smithers

Mary Smith

Ron Neff

Linda Brown

Merle Davis

Carol Ray

Rodney Stogdill

Monte Asbury

As further required, the following individuals were elected to serve on the various committees, providing one delegate for each of the committees as follows:

Rules and Nominations: Harold Frakes

Credentials: Sandra Johnson

Arrangements: Diane Schaeffer

Platform: Matt Schaeffer

That following a lively discussion, the county Convention Platform for 2010, was adopted with some items modified, deleted and added as approved. Chairman Matt Schaeffer and the platform committee did a great job and were congratulated for a difficult task.

An ad hoc committee will be formed to plan a retreat and that they will report at the April meeting.

Patrick Finney was a great host/help and the library was a wonderful place to hold the convention.

The Convention concluded at 1:15 p.m., having completed all requirements.

Next regular meeting of the Washington County Democrats will be held April 13, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. at the regular location in the Halcyon House, Game Room.

Respectfully submitted,

Peter G. Morrison, Secretary

2nd Legislative Briefings - Washington County

The 2nd of 3 Legislative Briefings, was held Saturday morning, February 20, 2010 at the Washington County Court House. The primary focus of this legislative session has been to balance the budget in these difficult fiscal times. With stark reductions in revenue due to our economic times, we get a bit of a feel of what the reality would be like during even the best of times during a Republican administration.

Senator Becky Schmitz and Representative Larry Marek indicated that attempts are being made to keep reductions to counties at a minimum. They indicated that there was a concerted effort to avoid reducing road use funds, as an example.

They expressed concern regarding the increase of Wellmark Blue Cross health premiums by 18% this next year. Wellmark Blue Cross carries 71% of the health coverage in the state of Iowa. Legislation is pending requiring transparency in what constitutes the reasoning behind the dramatic increase.

The cell phone texting bill is moving through the legislature this session. Texting/cell phone use while driving has become a major cause in traffic accidents in Iowa.

This legislative session is slated to end on March 31, 2010 if all goes as planned, creating a savings due to the shorter session.

Washington County Democratic Convention - 2010

Washington County Democratic Convention

When: Saturday, March 13, 2010

Where: The New Washington Public Library on the 2nd floor in the meeting rooms. The Library is located on the South side of the square in downtown Washington for those out of town guests.

Agenda: 8:30 a.m. a continental breakfast will be served. 9:00 a.m. the Convention will begin.

February 2010 Meeting Minutes

Monday, February 15th, 2010

February Minutes

Minutes of February Meeting

The Washington County Democrats met in the Day Lounge at Halcyon House on Monday, February 15th, 2010, with 13 individuals present. The Chair, Louise Frakes, called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm with the group reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Minutes of the last meeting held on January 12, 2010 were provided in written form for the group. Minutes were also 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 $3,538.68, she further noted that several members had paid their dues for 2010 and handouts outlining 2010 dues notice were handed out at the meeting and also sent to those with e-mail addresses, the report was approved and will be filed for audit.

The Chairperson asked Barb Edmonson as the Washington County attorney and running for re-election to speak. Barb indicated that she now had a person running on the Republican ticket against her. She commented that this would be a more difficult campaign with an opponent, and outlined that she will be working harder to win in a Republican County like Washington, but that she had the experience and skills to beat her opponent.

Steve Maxon and Doris Park commented on the affairs of the 2^nd District and indicated that the 2^nd District Convention would be held in Fairfield this year.

Old Business:

The Chairperson reported on the Precinct Caucuses, as follows:

· New precinct captains were named, and a listing of those individuals, were provided to the group.

· Delegates to the County Convention were named, and a listing of those individuals, were provided to the group.

· Alternate Delegates to the County Convention were named, and a listing of those individuals, were provided to the group.

· The members elected to the Platform & Committee on Committees were announced and a listing of those individuals was provided to the group.

· Some suggestions for changes: How to get more people out? How to fill the number of delegate spots? Also, phoning and e-mail of those elected was suggested.

An update on the status of the web site was requested and Pete Morrison indicated that the home page was only lacking a few links and that the other 4 pages were being designed. He also noted that the site was contracted for 3 years and at a much lower cost than the budgeted amount.

The Chair indicated that plans needed to be made regarding the County Convention in March, as follows:

· It was decided that a continental breakfast would be served with coffee, tea and juice, noting that water is available.

· The starting time of the breakfast would be 8:30 a.m. and the convention would start at 9:00 a.m., at the new Washington Public Library in the 2^nd floor meeting rooms.

· Any changes to the By-laws or Constitution needs to be out to members by 14 days before the Call to Convention.

· The question was asked about how we felt about a Saturday Convention/Caucus? Everyone seemed to agree that it was OK.

· The Platform committee, should meet before the convention, Matt Schaeffer is the Chair.

· The Committee on Committees should meet before the convention, and the Chairs are Diane Schaeffer & Tamara Schweitzer.

It was suggested that alternates be elected to attend 2^nd District meetings. Pete Morrison and Kay Ciha volunteered to act as alternates. Steve Maxon made a motion to elect Pete Morrison and Kay Ciha as alternates, seconded by Pete Morrison, and all approved.

Rose Jaynes was not present, so the chair mentioned that a few prospective candidates were in the works to be proposed in the future.

The Chairperson called for other old business and finding none moved to new Business.

New Business:

The chair brought up the idea of having a retreat for the purpose of future planning. After a brief discussion, it was determined that we needed to solicit ideas via e-mail to members and tackle that issue at the March meeting.

A request was made to consider a fundraiser for Dave Loebsack. Carol Ray made the motion to schedule a fundraiser for Dave Loebsack, seconded by Steve Maxon and motion carried.

The Chair indicated that the following events are scheduled:

· Washington County Convention: March 13, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. to be held at the new Washington Public Library in the 2^nd floor meeting rooms.

· The District Convention: April 24, 2010 in Fairfield, Iowa.

· The State Convention: June 12, 2010 in Des Moines.

Members were invited to stay for “refreshment and treats” and continue their discussions of the evening’s business after the meeting is adjourned. Louise Frakes provided treats for this evenings meeting.

The Chair called for any other business and finding none, the meeting was adjourned at 8:03 p.m.

Next meeting will be held March 9, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Peter G. Morrison, Secretary