Minutes 2022 County Convention

Johnson County Democratic Party
County Convention
April 30, 2022
Buffalo Senior Center

Attendees:

Ernest and Lynda Champlin, Kathleen Sherwood, Mary Carlson, Dudley Case, Suzi and Mitch Black, Vikki Chenette, Lois Petersen, Linda Wilson, Mary Van Auken, Lorajane Kessler, Gregory Haas.

Call to Order:

County Party Chairman, Greg Haas, called the convention to order at 10:00 am. Convention said the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

Additional Agenda Item:

Greg Haas stated that the selection of a Convention Chair needed to be added to the agenda with a motion.
Lois Petersen made a motion that the selection of a Convention Chair be added to the agenda. Vikki Chenette seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Selection of Convention Chair:

Suzi Black nominated Greg Haas to be Convention Chair. There were no other nominations. The Convention members selected Greg Haas by voice vote.

Report of the Credentials and Ballots Committee:

Dudley Case, on behalf of the committee, reported that there were 13 qualified Democrats present and participating at this convention.

Election of Delegates to the State Convention:

State Convention:

Greg Haas stated that the State Convention will be in Rock Springs. The convention dinner will be held on Friday June 10 and the convention will be held on Saturday June 11. Masks will be required and there will be no food or beverages in the theatre.

Vote on sending full or half delegates to the State Convention:

Lois Petersen made a motion to send full delegates. Mitch Black seconded the motion. The motion passed.

Nomination of delegates:

Mary Van Auken, Lois Petersen, Greg Haas and Mary Carlson nominated themselves. Lois Petersen nominated Kate Sherwood.
Vikki Chenette made a motion to elect these five nominees as delegates to the State Convention. Linda Wilson seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Lois Petersen made a motion for the convention to take a 5 minute beverage and snack break. Vikki Chenette seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Consideration of the Platform and Resolution:

Linda Wilson, Chair of the Platform and Resolutions Committee, explained and presented the seven changes to the Platform that would be voted on. Greg Haas showed the changes with a digital projector and screen. The changes are as follows:

1. Plank 8. Taxation/Revenue
   Removal of the last sentence: “We support the formation of a Senior Citizen Service District in Johnson County as described in State Statute 18-15-101.”
2. Plank 10. Protecting Our Democracy
   Adding a sentence: “We support the use of ranked-choice voting in primary elections.”
   Adding a sentence: “We support an independent commission for the determination of legislative districts.”
   Adding a sentence: “We support reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine.”
3. Plank 12. Protecting Our Personal Rights:
   Removal of the second sentence of the second paragraph: “No person should be discriminated against based on the following, including but not limited to, actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion or non-religion, age, disability, economic status, political beliefs, sex, gender identity, gender expression, and/or sexual orientation.”
   Adding a sentence: “We believe that until all of us matter, none of us matter.”
4. Plank 13: Integrity in Foreign Relations
   Adding the word “all” in the third paragraph: “We recognize the use of force may be required to protect these fundamental principles only when all peaceful international efforts have failed.”

Lois Petersen made a motion to accept the seven platform changes as presented. Mary Van Auken seconded the motion.

Lois Petersen then proposed a friendly amendment to the first sentence added to Plank 10, so that the sentence would read: “We support the use of ranked choice voting and open primary elections.” Lois Petersen and Mary Van Auken agreed to this amendment.

The motion with the friendly amendment passed.

Other Business:

William D. McIntyre Memorial Scholarship

Greg Haas explained how the idea of having a William D. McIntyre Memorial Scholarship came about after Bill passed away, his talk with Dixie McIntyre about the idea of having a scholarship in Bill’s name and her discussion of this idea with her relatives. Greg also talked about his drafting of Bill’s biography, the scholarship application, the Scholarship Committee guidelines and rules, the Scholarship Committee membership page and the donation form.

Dudley Case then introduced the Scholarship Committee -Lois Petersen, Lorajane Kessler, Vikki Chenette and himself. Dudley then briefly explained that the committee had met several times to turn the draft scholarship documents into a final version that the JC Dems could vote on and had thus made a number of changes to the draft documents, including the date for accepting the first applications. The committee also had decided not to use a corporation with a 501(c)(3) tax exemption to run the scholarship, due to the time, effort and expense it would take to use a corporation. He also stated that the committee had decided to take Bill’s biography off of the application and put it on a separate page for inclusion on the scholarship website. The committee also decided to remove from the Scholarship Committee Guidelines and Rules page the sentence that gave special regard to Kaycee High School students since the committee felt that this might discourage Buffalo High School students from applying for the scholarship. Dudley also mentioned that the JC Dems Treasurer, Suzi Black, had suggested to the committee that a separate JCDems bank account be set up to receive donations for the scholarship.

Greg Haas then suggested that a motion be made to formally accept the scholarship documents as revised by the scholarship committee and to launch the scholarship by means of fundraising, setting up a scholarship bank account and creating a press release. Suzi Black made the motion and Linda Wilson seconded the motion.

As part of the discussion of this motion, Greg Haas suggested two friendly amendments to the part of the motion concerning the scholarship documents as revised by the scholarship committee. One, to reincorporate Bill’s biography at the beginning of the scholarship application. So that applicants would know about Bill’s life and the values for which he stood. Two, to add back to the internal document entitled “Scholarship Committee’s Guidelines and Rules” the sentence: “Special regard will be given graduates of the Kaycee High School in Kaycee, Wyoming.” Greg stated that since the guidelines and rules are an internal document that only the scholarship committee would see, this should not discourage students at the Buffalo High School from applying for the scholarship.

Suzi Black, who made the motion, and Linda Wilson, who seconded the motion, both accepted these friendly amendments. The motion with the friendly amendments was then voted on and passed.

Greg Haas said he would create a press release for the scholarship and will distribute it statewide. And Lois Petersen said she would contact Dixie McIntyre and get her the revised documents.

Greg Haas adjourned the convention at 11:28 am.