Our Democratic County Convention this year will take place on April 13, 2024.

Location: Twing Meeting Room, Johnson County Library, Buffalo, WY
Time: Check-in begins at 9:00am; Check-in ends at 10:00am; Convention begins at 10:15am

Don’t be late, we can’t let anyone in after the doors close and we start counting voters at 10:00am.

All voters registered as Democrats prior to April 9, 2024 are encouraged to participate. We will declare our presidential preference (via caucus), adopt a platform and pass any resolutions brought forth. We will review the County Central Committee’s Strategic Plan.

A delicious lunch will be provided after the meeting.

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.

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

• Pledge of Allegiance, Opening Remarks, and Recognitions

Report of the Credentials and Ballots Committee
Election of Delegates to the State Convention

• Convention votes whether to send full or half delegates to the State Convention.
• Convention nominates and selects Delegates.

Consideration of the Platform and Resolutions

• Platform is presented by Chair of the Platform and Resolutions Committee.
• Platform is debated and amended by convention
• Platform is adopted by the convention

Other Business

• William D. McIntyre Memorial Scholarship

Adjourn 12:00pm

Minutes – JC Dems County Convention – 6pm, Tues., May 19, 2020 via Zoom
In Attendance: Greg Haas (C), Lois Petersen (S), Bill McIntyre (SCM), Mary VanAuken, Jim Shell (T), Mitch Black, Suzi Black, Dudley Case, Mikel Carmon, Bill McIntyre, and Fawna Hunt (WDP tech assistant).

Meeting was called to order at 6:03 pm.

Meeting goals:
Elect delegates to the WY State Delegation
Adopt our county platform
Determine any resolutions to be added from the floor

Greg thanked WDP staff members Sarah Hunt, Fawna Hunt, Erin O’Doherty as well as Ben Rowland for their support in a variety of ways.

Dudley Case (chair of ballot and convention committee) reported there were 8 qualified JC Democrats present and participating in this evening’s convention.

JC is allowed 5 delegates to the state convention – and those could be full or half delegates. Lois made a motion to send 5 whole delegates rather than 10 half delegates. Dudley 2nd. Motion passed unanimously.

Delegates were elected: (number of delegates per candidate determined by votes received.)
4 delegates for Joe Biden – Bill McIntyre, Jim Shell, Dudley Case and Greg Haas. Motion to approve these delegates – Dudley, 2nd by Mary
1 alternate delegate for Joe Biden – Mitch Black – Motion to approve – Dudley, 2nd by Suzi
1 delegate for Bernie Sanders – Mikel Carmon – Motion to approve – Lois, 2nd by Bill

Greg presented the current JC platform and allowed discussion on 3 recommended changes and 2 additions to the existing platform. Mitch made a motion to accept the recommended changes and additions, Dudley 2nd and the motion passed unanimously.

Greg presented an opportunity to propose amendments to the platform, allowing 1 minute to comment on proposed amendments. No amendments were presented or discussed.

Greg presented an opportunity to propose resolutions. None were shared earlier with the committee and none were proposed from the floor.

State convention will be on Sat., June 6 via Zoom- agenda will be sent to county chairs and delegates.

Next meeting of the JC Dems will be on Tues., June 2nd, 7 pm via Jitsi or Zoom

Adjourned at 7:30 pm

Johnson County Democratic Party
County Convention Minutes
March 23, 2019

Call to order
Chairman McIntyre called the meeting to order at 10:10 AM. Allegiance to flag was pledged. 17 present including Chairman McIntyre, Treasurer Shell and Secretary Haas.

Reports and Announcements
Minutes from March 5th meeting were reviewed. John Tinnen moved to accept as written, Mitch Black seconded and motion carried unopposed.
Treasurer reported checking balance of $1547.87 which does not include cost of promoting this convention.
Secretary reported 17 registered as voters for this convention.

Election of County Committee Officers
Prior to any nominations, two additional registered democrats arrived and signed in.
Bill McIntyre nominated Greg Haas for Chairman. Kathie Day seconded. Haas accepted nomination. Mitch Black nominated Jim Shell for Chairman, Jim declined prior to a second. Election of Haas as Chair passed by voice vote.
Kathie Day nominated Lois Petersen for Vice Chair seat. Lois declined prior to a second. Mitch Black nominated Carol Cox for the Vice Chair seat. Lois Petersen seconded. Carol accepted the nomination and election passed by voice vote.
Will Cox nominated Jim Shell for Treasurer, Mitch Black seconded. Jim accepted nomination and election passed by voice vote.
There was another person nominated for Treasurer, I think, but it was declined. Was it Bob Day?
Kathie Day nominated Lois Petersen for Secretary seat. Mitch Black seconded. Lois accepted nomination and election passed by voice vote.
Mitch Black nominated Bill McIntyre for State Committeeman seat. Jim Shell seconded. Bill accepted the nomination and election passed by voice vote.
Will Cox nominated Kathie Day for State Committeewoman seat. John Tinnen seconded. Kathie accepted nomination and election passed by voice vote.
Results are as follows:

Chair:			Greg Haas
Vice Chair:			Carol Cox
Treasurer:			Jim Shell
Secretary:			Lois Petersen
State Committeeman:		Bill McIntyre
State Committeewoman:		Kathie Day

Old Business
There are 16 precincts in Johnson County and, since each precinct is eligible to have 2 elected committee members – one male and one female -there are 32 eligible positions in JC. Note that the Chair can also appoint people to fill these positions after the election if the position wasn’t filled through the vote. At present there are only five of these positions filled, but there were several who voiced some interest in knowing more about the requirements of these positions for the future.

New Business
A representative from WDP was expected to be at this meeting to provide an update on Wyoming Democratic Party goals and news, as well as answer questions. However, this was not to be.
Greg noted that the State Party has recently been providing more assistance to JC than was evident previously, and that this help is much appreciated. He says the state’s Facebook page is a good place to get information. Also, he recommended Nate Martin’s website (betterwyo.org) for good coverage of statewide political issues.
No report on the Nellie Tayloe Ross weekend as no one present at this meeting attended this year.
Greg’s Goals as Chair:
He has draft resolutions he may want to propose at an upcoming meeting, designed to help get issues of importance to our county (and to Democrats statewide) in front of legislators.
He noted a goal to raise $4000 before the next election – money to be used to support candidates in both state and local elections.
He reminded us that there is no one way to meet our goals, and that we should strive to support each other and a variety of efforts to move us together toward our common goals.

Adjournment
There being none opposed, meeting was adjourned at 11:55 AM.

Next meeting:
April 9th at 7 pm in room 108, Bomber Mountain.
Please note: meetings are regularly scheduled for the first Tues of each month.

Submitted by Lois Petersen