Washington County Democrats met Wednesday July 10, 2013 at 7:00 PM in a second floor meeting room at the Washington County Public Library. There were 14 members present for the meeting. Chair Richard Gilmore presided. The Minutes for June 12, 2013 were emailed to all of those members with email. No objections were brought forth. The minutes were approved and passed. Treasurer Kay Ciha presented the Financial Report. She also distributed copies of the report. Cash on hand for July 10, 2013 is $1,818.79. Income is $0.00. Expenses were $359.51 (Steve Maxon, candy for two parades $138.68. WalMart, for Trek Fest Parade $63.90. WalMart, for the 4th of July parade, $61.42. Total $359.51.) TOTAL FUNDS IN THE ACCOUNT $1,459.27. OLD BUSINESS Kay Ciha brought in an 8X11 copy of the poster she had made at Custom Impressions. This is a poster for Immigration Reform. There will be one copy in English and another in Spanish. Dave Ciha is making the easel for the posters. This was approved and seconded by the members. It was noted that we need more candidate literature. John will take care of the Braley literature. We still need Loebsack literature. Senate Office: Lorraine was asked to run for the Senate. She meticulously researched this possibility. She feels it is a full time job and then some to campaign. She feels that $100,000.00 must be raised to start of a new candidate. Lorraine felt she was not able to donate the number of hours needed, along with her other obligations. She felt that four steps were very important in relation to the election. 1. Put together a list of community events. 2.Candidate will need adequate financing to be competitive. 3. Enlist key volunteers who will be specially dedicated to this state senate race. 4. Identify a list of key leaders in the community that the candidate should meet. NEW BUSINESSS - GENERAL Everyone agreed that is extremely important to have the next Senate seat filled by a Democrat. Chair of the District wanted to meet with us concerning Fund Raising. Both Harold and Lorraine generously made campaign contributions. The Harkin Grant was discussed. The reasons we determined we need it for were: Infra Structure, Fund Raising and Out Reach. It was decided unanimously that the Washington County Democrats would apply for the Grant. Harold, Richard and John agreed to serve on the committee for this endeavor. They will meet on Tuesday, July 12, 2013 at 7:00 PM. NEW BUSINESS - ANNUAL DINNER The Dinner will be held at the Washington County Fairgrounds in October. This is our major fundraiser, having it catered was discussed, using Lorraine of the Café Dodici was discussed. It was decided that Ione would be asked to make the pies. She likes to remain active with our organization. A pie auction was discussed and it was suggested that we use Keith Murphy as the Auctioneer. It was suggested that we take note of the football schedule. It was agreed that Sunday was the best day of the week to hold the Fundraiser Dinner.


NEW BUSINESS - FAIR

Set up will be Sunday July 14, 2013. Members have volunteered to do this. Gloria will be taken to the Fair on this same day. Robin offered a foldout stool to make it easier for the kids to climb on Gloria's back. Kay will take photos if needed. Literature and candy will be distributed. The Democrats will also be selling t-shirts for $10.00 each. People will also be able to sign up for the chance to win a $5.00 Gift Certificate for lunch or a $10.00 certificate for dinner at the Café Dodici here in Washington. There will be 10 drawings each day. These certificates will expire in October 2013. There will be no passes to get into the fair. Just tell them you are working at the Fair.

Kay will supply Districts maps. Richard will supply a big fan. Sandy will bring a box fan and 4 folding chairs, and tablecloths. Bob, Lorraine and Sandy will supply tables.

The sign up sheet for staffing the Democratic Booth was passed around for signatures.

Respectively submitted

Mimi Jacoby

Dear Second District Democrats,

 

The second district central committee has selected the date of August 24, 2013, to hold the district workshop.  It will be at the technology center at William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa.  There will be a suggested and recommended $20 registration fee to attend the workshop.  A flyer and registration form will be forthcoming that will provide the schedule and contents of the program, which will consist of presentations concerning campaigns, technology, party building, organization and affirmative action, and the Affordable Care Act.  There will be a “wine down” after the workshop to allow those present and anyone else to discuss the topics presented at the workshop.  A lunch will be available on-site by the campus food service.

 

Yours truly,

Alan Bohanan

Second District Democratic Chair

Washington Co Fair

Monday 5-7 Richard & Lorrain
              7-9 Kay

Tuesday   1-3 Louise& Harold
                3-5John Greener& Kay
                5-7 Lorrain & Sandra
                 7-9 Robin & Richard

Wednesday  1-3  Kay Ciha & Memi Jo
                      3-5   open
                     5-7   open
                     7-9 Steve & Doris

Thursday  1-3 Louise& Harold
                  3-5 Kay
                  5-7  Steve & Doris
                  7-9 Sandra& Richard

Republicans in Congress constantly use the word 'entitlements' to refer to Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment. Sadly some in the liberal media also use the term entitlements. Here's the correct way to refer to these benefits.

They’re not “entitlements” — which sounds like something a bunch of spoiled, lazy, undeserving people irrationally think they should get for nothing. Instead, try: Earned Benefits. This term not only sounds better for the progressive cause, it’s also more accurate! Programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Unemployment are all forms of insurance that we pay into all of our working lives — via a percentage of our income — and then collect from when the time comes.

Very simply put words matter.

I think we have finally figured out how to update our blog. Look for more information soon. In the meantime, here is an email, the party has received:

Amber asked me to put together a candidate primer for you to use to help the as-yet-unnamed Senate candidate.

For starters, we're still early here—there's on reason to worry that a candidate won't be able to be organized in plenty of time to wage a competitive race in SD39. To help him/her hit the ground running, there are several steps the area county party organizations can take to make sure a solid foundation is in place (in no particular order):

Have each county party put together a list of community events. This would include not only fairs and parades, but also county central committee meetings, city council meetings, chamber meetings, school board meetings, county board meetings, Kiwanis, Rotary, Elks, etc club meetings.

Whoever decides to run, this race is happening in a swing district and the candidate will need plenty of $$ to be competitive. Start raising money now so that the candidate will have some seed money from your party organizations when he/she decides to get in.

Identify key volunteers who will be dedicated specifically to this state senate race. Those volunteer duties should include (but not be limited to) in rough order of importance: voter contact- people to help knock doors and make phone calls; event planners/helpers/fundraisers; envelope stuffers; letter to the editor writers; parade volunteers; yard sign distributors; etc.

Identify a list of key leaders in the community that the candidate should meet. Examples include Mayors, city councillors, county supervisors, business leaders, former elected officials, high school superintendents, community college leaders (if applicable); local union leaders and so forth

February 2013 Meeting

WASHINGTON COUNTY DEMOCRATS

Meeting, Feb. 13, 2013

The Washington County Democrats met Wednesday, February 13, 2012; in a second floor back meeting room of the Washington Public Library.

Chairman Peter Morrison called the meeting to order and led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Minutes of the January monthly meeting were declared ready to be filed for the record, with no corrections suggested.  Minutes were sent to everyone on the email list and posted to the blog.

Treasure Kay Ciha gave the treasurer’s report and distributed printed copies. Cash on hand on Jan. 9, 2013, was $1,415.10. There was $275.00 income from memberships. Expenses were $0.00 for the month. Cash on hand on Feb. 13, 2013, was $1,690.10. Kay reminded us that it is time for annual dues.

Chairperson, Pete Morrison, indicated that the Off-year Convention/Election would be held at the regularly scheduled monthly meeting in March.  The Constitution, by-laws and rules of the Iowa Democratic Party had been changed to bring all of the counties in line with the off-year election procedure at the 2012 Convention. Washington County was one of several counties that already had followed that procedure for some time.

Terry Phillips provided some information on the Veterans Caucus and committee actions this past month.

Old Business:

It was noted that the regular monthly meeting would be effectively held at the same time as the elections convention.

New Business:

The County Convention will be held at the same room and location on the Washington Public Library at 7:00 p.m., on March 13, 2013 on the 2^nd floor.

Motion was made by Terry Phillips, and seconded, that we consider publishing the notice of the Off-year Convention, in addition to asking that the information be included in the free event calendar sections of the local newspapers and notice via email. He felt that this would give more people the opportunity to attend the meeting. It was suggested that Pete review the Iowa Constitution, by-laws and rules as amended and updated at the 2012 Iowa Convention to determine if there was a publication requirement.

Pete brought up the idea that we might have snacks at the meeting, and it was suggested that people bring something to offer if they wanted to.  It was the consensus of the group that this would work.

There was some discussion regarding the 2014 Elections and the positions of the legislative seats.  It was noted that Harkin had announced his intention not to run for re-election. Everything is very speculative at this point, and we are still very early in the process.  Harold Frakes indicated that he was planning on actively locating potential candidates for legislative and also local positions.   It was noted that we were also going to pursue finding potential candidates for local positions that would be up for re-election, including the County Attorney position.

Upcoming events were noted:  Legislative meeting at the Washington County Court House for February and March.  2^nd District was trying to plan a meeting probably in March.

Motion was made and seconded to adjourn, motion passed, and meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Pete Morrison, Acting Secretary & Chair