Johnson County Democratic Party Central Committee Meeting
March 7, 2023
Bomber Mountain Civic Center, Room 108
Call to Order:
Greg Haas called the meeting to order at 6:01 pm.
Attendance :
Kim McCoy, Suzi Black, Dudley Case, Sharon Case, Mary Van Auken, Lois Petersen, Kelli Roadifer, Linda Wilson, Greg Haas
Agenda:
Linda asked that JC-FFF report be added to Old Business.
Dudley made motion to accept agenda as amended. Suzi seconded motion. Motion passed.
Credentials:
Greg explained that, under the Bylaws and WY statute, precinct committee men and women are the only people who can vote in the election of officers. Officers cannot vote unless they are also precinct committeemen or women. All registered Democrats can make officer and state committeeman and woman nominations.
Voting members present are Greg Haas, Mary Van Auken, Dudley Case, Suzi Black, Lois Petersen and Linda Wilson. Mitch Black and Vikki Chenette are also voting members but are not present at the meeting.
Secretary Report:
The minutes were approved as written with one correction that Greg made online.
Treasurer Report:
Suzi reported that the amount of funds in the Scholarship account and the JC Dems general account.
Chair Announcements:
Nellie Tayloe Ross Event was postponed until April 15 and will be held in Cheyenne.
Hot Springs Mardi Gras was held in Thermopolis on February 19 at 4:00 pm. There was potluck Cajun food and Mayor Adam Estenson was the keynote speaker. The event was non-partisan and open to everyone. Greg said there was a really good positive atmosphere to the whole event. Kim Bartlett also spoke at the event. Only local issues were addressed at the event. The following week the GOP hosted a very negative event.
Legislative Update:
Greg said the 2023 legislative session is finally over. Voter registration deadlines will be earlier next year.
Kim said we should be proactive as far as legislative bills go rather than be reactive.
Old Business:
William D. McIntyre Scholarship Committee report – Dudley
Lois got almost a full-page ad into The Mini about the scholarship. And Vikki created a quilt flyer which will be displayed below her quilt in the library. The library staff will sell the raffle tickets and collect the money. The Quilt Show will run the entire month of March. Lois has already picked up $160 from the quilt raffle sales.
The committee has received two applications by mail. One from a student in Kaycee and one from a student in Buffalo.
The next committee meeting will be March 15 at 1:00 pm in the library. The application deadline is March 31 and the scholarship awards will be made on May 1.
JC-FFF report – Linda
Food will be distributed from JCFFF warehouse by JC Dems to mini Food Bank Box #5 at the Cornerstone Pharmacy. Sponsor signs will be put on each box.
JCDems is committed indefinitely to helping JC-FFF with food distribution to this box. This is a 1 to 2 times per week commitment.
New Business:
Officer Elections – Nominations and Votes:
- Chair
- Suzi nominated Greg and Greg accepted. He was voted in by acclimation.
- Vice Chair
- Lois nominated Mary and Mary accepted. She was voted in by acclimation.
- Secretary
- Lois nominated Vikki and Greg said Vikki told Lois that she would accept the nomination. Vikki was voted in by acclimation.
- Treasurer
- Lois nominated Dudley and he accepted. He was voted in by acclimation.
- State Committeewoman
- Suzi nominated Lois and Lois accepted. She was voted in by acclimation.
- State Committeeman
- There were no nominations. The position is vacant for now.
Greg said we need many more precinct committeemen and women for the County Central Committee.
Announcements from the Floor:
- Lois talked to Danielle Arnoux (Chair, Sheridan) about a Sheridan Dems/JCDems event and she is agreeable to holding the event. Lois, Vikki and maybe Jim Shell have volunteered to help with the event. And Mary volunteered her daughter, Casey, to also help with the event.
A date and location are still needed for the event. Maybe around Summer solstice or end of May. Vikki thinks they may be able to get the Fire Ants band.
- Dudley said on April 6, 2022 JCDems had 372 members, but on March 4, 2023 we were down to 161 members. This is mainly due to JCDems switching parties to vote for Liz Cheney. Dudley suggested reaching out to these people and find out if they will rejoin JCDems. Kim suggested sending a letter to the people who changed parties asking them to reregister as Democrats. Greg is skeptical that spending much energy on those voters is wise at this juncture; they are less likely to become precinct committee people, for example.
- Dudley said according to a Zoom meeting he attended, David Frum said Democrats had the best midterm election since the 1930s. The Dems held the Senate and also held all the state legislatures and governorships they did before the election. And Dems also picked up four state legislatures they didn’t have before the election.
- Greg thinks we need to get more Dems on the election ballot, and we need to be more welcoming to people to get them to participate in JCDems.
- Greg mentioned needing a club for electioneering and finding candidates in the next few months.
- Kim thought that CCC meetings should be announced in the County Bounty. She will check on how much it costs to do an announcement.
Upcoming Meetings:
Next Monthly JCDems CCC Meeting – April 4, 2023 at 6:00 pm in Room 108.
All County Officer Round Table – Zoom – March 23, 2023 at 6:00 pm.
State Central Committee (SCC) Meeting on April 16, 2023 in person in Cheyenne
Nellie Tayloe Ross Banquet & Trainings – April 15, 2023 in person in Cheyenne
Suzi mentioned a Friends of the Library book sale March 23 thru March 25, 2023
SCC meetings will be at the end of May and early in September
Adjourn:6:54 pm