Johnson County Democratic Party Meeting
May 3, 2022 at 7:00 PM
Bomber Mountain Civic Center, Rm 108
Agenda
Johnson County Democratic Party
Monthly Meeting
April 5, 2022
Call to Order:
Greg Haas called the meeting to order at 7:04pm.
Attendance: Greg Haas, Jim Shell, Sharon Case, Dudley Case, Mary Van Auken, Lorajane Kessler, Lois Petersen
Secretary Report:
Lois Petersen made a motion to approve the minutes from the March 1 meeting and Mary van Auken seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Treasurer’s Report:
Greg Haas reported the balance in the bank account. There were three deposits and 2 withdrawals since March 1.
Chair Announcements:
Greg Haas announced that he received a letter from the County Clerk asking for volunteers to be election judges. The Clerk also said that on July 7th at 9:00 am in the small meeting room there would be public testing of the early voting machines and on July 29 at 9:00 am in the small meeting room there would be public testing of the remaining voting machines. The early voting machines would also be publicly tested on September 29 at 9:00 am in the small meeting room, and the remaining voting machines would be publicly tested on October 6th at 9:00 am in the small meeting room. The primary election will be held on August 16 and the general election will be held on November 8.
Old Business:
1. William D. McIntyre Memorial Scholarship Report
Dudley Case reported that the Scholarship Committee (Lorajane Kessler, Lois Petersen, Vikki Chenette, Dudley Case) met on March 25 and discussed setting up a scholarship. The committee consensus was that they wanted a Johnson County Democratic Party scholarship rather than a scholarship that would be independent of the Democratic Party. The committee also decided that it did not want to use a corporation with a 501(c)(3) exemption to run the scholarship. The committee also reviewed Greg Haas’ draft scholarship documents and made some changes to the documents. Lois Petersen volunteered to take the newly revised documents to Dixie McIntyre so she could review the documents and make comments on them. A few days later Dixie called Lois and told her that she would like the name of the scholarship to continue to be called the William D. McIntyre Memorial Scholarship rather than the Johnson County Democratic Party Scholarship, and she suggested that there could be a line in the heading that stated that the scholarship was offered by the Johnson County Democratic Party. She also suggested that some mention be made in the documents that scholarships could be awarded to graduating high school students who had been home schooled and would be attending a college, trade or vocational school.
The committee decided that they would like to make the initial announcement of the scholarship at the county convention on April 23rd and if possible also kick off the scholarship fundraising effort at the county convention, assuming that the scholarship documents can be put into a finalized version that can be voted on by the convention members on April 23rd.
Greg Haas asked why the scholarship committee decided to not use an independent 501(c)(3) exempt corporation for the scholarship and instead wanted the scholarship committee to operate directly under the Johnson County Democratic Party and Lorajane Kessler explained the committee’s reasoning on this matter.
Dudley Case made a motion that the official title of the scholarship should be the “William D. McIntyre Memorial Scholarship Offered by the Johnson County Democratic Party”. Lois Petersen seconded the motion. The motion passed.
The next Scholarship Committee meeting will be held on Friday, April 15th at 11:00 am at the Johnson County Library.
2. State Central Committee (SCC) Reports
Greg Haas stated that the Wyoming Women’s Caucus brought up a resolution that was submitted to the SCC board that stated support for redistricting to be handled by an independent commission to reduce the partisanship in designing voting districts, making the strange districts set up in Sheridan this year less likely to happen in the future. The Wyoming Democratic Party, Sheridan County Democrats and Johnson County Democrats are working together to create a statement on the redistricting done in Sheridan County this year..
Lois Petersen also mentioned some of the local candidates who will be running in the election this year in various counties.
3. County Convention
Greg Haas announced that the county convention will be held on Saturday, April 23 from 10:00 am to Noon at the Senior Center in Buffalo if he can get a room reserved there. Greg Haas also passed around copies of the Johnson County Democratic Party Proxy Vote form. This form can be used by anyone who is not able to attend the convention and wishes to allow someone else to vote for them at the convention. Greg Haas also shared copies of the State Convention Delegate Nomination Form and the draft agenda to which he will add discussion and consideration of the Scholarship Committee’s scholarship documents. Johnson County will be allowed five delegates to the State Convention.
Greg Haas also announced that the Platform and Resolutions Committee so far has one change to the platform that will be voted on at the convention. If anyone else has any other platform changes or resolutions that they would like to see brought forward at the convention, please contact either Linda Wilson or Greg Haas.
Dudley Case mentioned that a list of Johnson County Democrats as of April 8 and April 19 will be needed to determine who is qualified to be a State Convention delegate and who is qualified to vote at the county convention.
Greg Haas also would like to place an ad about the convention in the Buffalo Bulletin and the “Around Town”.
Lois Petersen suggested that there should be some food and drinks for convention attendees. Both Lois and Mary van Auken volunteered to coordinate the food and drinks for the convention.
4. Platform/Position Paper
Greg Haas mentioned that this paper is on hold right now.
New Business:
Lois Petersen made a motion that the Johnson County Democratic Party should donate $100 to Sheridan College in thanks for them allowing the party to use Room 108 for its monthly meetings. Mary van Auken seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Adjournment:
Greg Haas adjourned the meeting at 8:30 pm.
Our 2022 Convention has been rescheduled for 10:00am Saturday, April 30, 2022 and will take place at the Buffalo Senior Center.
Johnson County Democratic Party
County Convention
April 30, 2022
Location: Buffalo Senior Center (671 W Fetterman St, Buffalo, WY 82834)
Registration open at 9:30 AM
Call to Order at 10:00 AM
Call To Convene
Johnson County Convention Proxy Form
2022 Delegate Nomination Form
Agenda Documents
Proposed Changes to Platform-2022
Scholarship Documents for Vote
10:00am Call to Order – County Party Chairman
Report of the Credentials and Ballots Committee
Election of Delegates to the State Convention
Consideration of the Platform and Resolutions
Other Business
Adjourn 12:00pm
Johnson County Democratic Party Meeting
April 5, 2022 at 7:00 PM
Bomber Mountain Civic Center, Rm 108
DRAFT Agenda DRAFT
Johnson County Democratic Party Meeting
March 1, 2022 at 6:00 PM <<<— Time changed to accommodate the POTUS State of the Union Address
Bomber Mountain Civic Center, Rm 108
Agenda
You can click here to read the original.
An open letter to Senator Lummis
Feb 15, 2022
Senator Lummis, when you ran for office, you promised to fight for the people of Wyoming. You said you were one of us: a gritty, hardworking, roll-up-your-sleeves and get the work done kind of person. You said you would bring Wyoming values to Washington.
So you can imagine our surprise when you simply didn’t show up to work today.
When did not working become a Wyoming value?
There are days when we’ve all wished we didn’t have to go to work; we’ve all looked at what needed to be done and wanted to throw up our hands and walk away. But normal people have bills to pay, have jobs to keep, have responsibilities and decency and values.
Wyomingites are facing a lot right now, and need someone fighting for us. President Biden and congressional Democrats are working hard to address things like inflation, and key to that is having a full and confirmed Federal Reserve Board. Yet on the very day that was set to happen, you were MIA.
Economists agree the nominees are qualified; they are experienced and leaders in their fields. You’ve decided that’s not good enough for you, even though you’re not an economist.
Instead of showing up to fight for what you believe in – instead of working to find a solution – you decided to leave Wyoming behind and pull a stunt. It’s one thing to disagree; it’s another to simply refuse to do your job.
In any other career, you would have been fired. Your campaign slogan has been, “All Wyoming, all the time.”
Frankly, you’re looking and behaving a lot more like DC nowadays.
Johnson County Democratic Party
Business Meeting
February 1, 2021
Meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by Greg Haas, Chair.
Attendance in person: Greg Haas, Jim Shell, Lois Petersen, Suzi Black, Mitch Black, Sharon Case, Dudley Case
Treasurer’s Report:
Suzi Black reported the balance in the bank account, that there is a check from Act Blue that has not been deposited yet. Also, the amount remaining from donations that were received for Bill McIntyre’s funeral flowers.
Greg Haas said he will ask Dixie if she needs help with any of the funeral expenses.
Old and New Business:
Electioneering/Campaigning – Greg Haas said the Wyoming Democratic Party has set up three training sessions for potential candidates: February 2 at 7:00 pm, March 10 at 11:30 am, and April 6 at 7:00 pm.
Wyoming Democratic Legislative Watch Committee – Greg Haas stated that the Wyoming Democratic Party is setting up its annual Legislative Watch Committee. The committee tracks bills during the legislative session and works with the Wyoming Democratic Party staff to create Action Alerts, mobilize activist, and help hold our legislators accountable. The committee is looking for volunteers. If you would like to volunteer, please contact the Wyoming Democratic Party. The deadline for volunteering is February 10.
Redistricting – The Wyoming Democratic Party is looking for volunteers to write letters to the editor about the Wyoming Legislature’s redistricting plans. Please contact the Wyoming Democratic Party if you are interested in volunteering.
JC Dems Platform/Position Paper – At the December 7 meeting the six priority issues that were identified in the platform were: vaccines, women’s health, gun rights, voting rights, racism and climate change. Greg Haas volunteered to pull out those sections of the platform which best apply to these issues and to put together an outline of the topics to cover under each of these issues when we talk to JC Dems members.
Chamber of Commerce – Lois Petersen said she is interested in the JC Dems joining the Chamber of Commerce so that the party can get some free advertising thru the chamber. The Republican Party is already a member of the chamber. Jim Shell made a motion for the party to investigate joining the Chamber of Commerce, including what the annual membership fee is. Suzi Black seconded the motion. After some discussion the motion passed unanimously.
William D. McIntyre Memorial Scholarship:
Greg Haas presented to the members the four documents that he and the scholarship committee created in connection with this scholarship, namely, the Scholarship Application, Committee Guidelines and Rules, Roster of Scholarship Committee Members, and Donation Form.
Greg then reviewed each form and asked for the members comments and input on each form.
The group decided that for now no logo and/or photo of Bill McIntyre would be put on the forms. Also, that the application and supporting documents and any donation checks would be mailed to the William D. McIntyre Memorial Scholarship rather than to the Johnson County Democratic Party but using the party’s P.O. Box. Greg said he will make the necessary changes on all the documents.
It was also decided that the giant reusable check to be presented to scholarship winners would have the title William D. McIntyre Memorial Scholarship.
Dudley Case made a motion to approve the scholarship documents as presented by Greg Haas with the changes agreed to at the meeting. Motion was seconded by Suzi Black. Motion was passed unanimously.
Announcements from the Floor:
Lois Petersen announced that there will be a seminar entitled Investing in Solar Energy for your home, farm and business sponsored by the Sheridan County Democrats and the Wyoming Solar Energy Association on Wednesday, February 16 at 7:00 pm.
Lois Petersen announced that there will be a Zoom presentation entitled America at a Crossroads presented by Jonathan Greenblatt with Madeleine Brand on Wednesday, February 2 at 5:00 pm. This presentation is being sponsored by Jews United for Democracy and Justice. Jonathan Greenblatt is the author of the book “It Could Happen Here – Why America is Tipping from Hate to the Unthinkable and How We Can Stop It”. The book can be ordered on Amazon and other booksellers. You may sign up for the presentation at the sponsor’s website: http://jewsunitedfordemocracy.org.
Johnson County Democratic Party Meeting
February 1, 2022 at 7:00 PM
Bomber Mountain Civic Center, Rm 108
Agenda
We will hold a work session on Dec 7, 2021. We’ll start early this month; meet at 6pm*. Stay as long as you’d like. If you can’t make it at 6pm, feel free to stop in at 7. I think there’s more than one hour of work to do!
We’ll spend some time working on elements of the position paper and also cards/communications for contacting precinct residents.
P.S. There’s good info about the Diego Rivera Mural (pictured above) to be found at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
The 7 o’clock time is in conflict with the Buffalo High School xmas music concert.
