Johnson County Democratic Party
Business Meeting
May 3, 2022
Call to Order:
Greg Haas called the meeting to order at 7:01pm.
Attendance:
Greg Haas, Mitch Black, Suzi Black, Pat Barndt, Lois Petersen, Dudley Case, Sharon Case, Vikki Chenette, Shirley Gorman, Ernest Champlin, Lynda Champlin, Mary Van Auken, Mary Carlson
Chair Announcements:
Greg Haas asked people to introduce themselves, since there were a number of new attendees.
Greg then read the thank you card the JCDems received from the Hoofprints of the Past Museum for the JC Dems $350 donation to the museum in memory of Bill McIntyre.
Greg also brought attention to the April 28th Guest Columnist article in the Buffalo Bulletin by Cale Case, in which he opposes the Republican politics of hate and disparagement. He encourages moderate Republicans to run as precinct committee men and women and for public office.
And finally, Greg mentioned that Nina, the Communications Director in the Wyoming Democratic Party, has apparently taken employment elsewhere and he has not heard if the WDP will be opening that position.
Secretary Report:
Greg Haas asked if there were any changes to be made to the April 5 meeting minutes. Hearing none, the minutes were entered into the record.
Treasurer’s Report:
Suzi Black reported the balance currently in the bank account, the dollar amount of donations over the past month, which are earmarked for the William D. McIntyre Memorial Scholarship.
There was an invoiced, as yet unpaid, for three ads placed in the Buffalo Bulletin for the County Convention. Suzi reported the cost of each and the total due.
Suzi also reported the cost of the room rented at the Buffalo Senior Center for the County Convention.
Old Business:
JCDems County Convention Review by Greg Haas, Convention Chair
There were 13 Johnson County Democrats who participated in the convention. The convention voted to have 5 delegates participate in the State Convention. Greg will send the delegates’ contact information to the state party. The delegates are Lois Petersen, Mary Van Auken, Mary Carlson, Kathleen (Kate) Sherwood and Greg Haas.
The convention also voted to incorporate some changes into the JC Dems Platform, and these changes will be made by the Platform Committee and posted on the JC Dems website.
And finally, the convention voted to proceed with the William D. McIntyre Memorial Scholarship, to use the scholarship documents presented at the convention, to begin scholarship fundraising and to create any press releases necessary to the operation of the scholarship. As a side note, Greg stated that the scholarship was intended, at some point, to be expanded into adult education.
Greg also mentioned that he has started putting the scholarship documents onto the website, except for the Scholarship Committee Guidelines and Rules, which will remain an internal document and not be publicly displayed on the website. Greg will also send out the press release announcing the scholarship as soon as the website is ready, hopefully this week.
Lois Petersen will also get the finalized scholarship documents to Dixie McIntyre as soon as she can.
New Business:
Planning:
Greg Haas said he would like to start doing some social events planning for the rest of this year in order to help get more Democrats to participate in the party and he asked for suggestions for social events.
Vikki Chenette suggested a Labor Day Picnic.
It was suggested the luncheons that Bill McIntyre had started somehow continue.
Lois mentioned perhaps having another joint event at Kearney Hall with the JCDems and the Sheridan County Democrats.
Lynda Champlin then asked what the responsibilities of a precinct committee person were. Greg explained that the Democratic Party organization starts at the neighborhood level by organizing counties into precincts. He also explained that there should be both a precinct committee man and woman for each precinct. And that they represent and vote on matters for their precinct members at the JCDems monthly meetings and also vote for county party officers at election time. In the past they would also keep their precinct members informed of JC Dems meetings and events, but now that is being done mostly by emails to members who are on the listserv and by means of Facebook and Twitter. Precinct committee men and women are also listed on the county election ballot and voted on there. If there are not two precinct committee people for each precinct then the county chair can appoint precinct committee men and women.
Announcements from the Floor:
Suzi Black said that since she is setting up a separate bank account for the scholarship that she will need to have three signatories on the account and that any check written on the account will need two signatures. It was suggested that since the Party Chair, Secretary and Treasurer are the signatories on the JCDems bank account that they also be the signatories on the scholarship bank account. Everyone seemed to be in agreement on this suggestion, so she will set it up that way.
Upcoming Meetings:
The next JCDems monthly meeting will be held on June 7 in Room 108 of the Bomber Mountain Civic Center. The Party Chair may not be at this meeting and the Secretary will not be at this meeting. Lois Petersen has graciously consented to filling in for the Secretary at this meeting.
The Wyoming Democratic Party’s State Convention will be held in Rock Springs on Friday, June 10 and Saturday, June 11, with the possibility that the convention may also extend into Sunday, June 12 if it can’t be finished on Saturday.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:03 pm.