PCD-CC Minutes 10/11/07

MINUTES

Polk County Democratic Party

Regular monthly meeting of the Central Committee, Oct. 11, 2007

Salem Electric Building, 633 7th St., West Salem

Acronyms that may be found in these minutes:

PCD - Polk County Democrats

PCP - Precinct Committeeperson

CC - Central Committee of the Polk County Democrats (whose members are the PCP's)

EC - Executive Committee of the Polk County Democrats (consisting of the PCDCC Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary,

Treasurer, and Immediate Past Chair)

CD - Congressional District (Polk County is in Oregon's 5th CD, represented by Darlene Hooley)

DPO - Democratic Party of Oregon

DNC - Democratic National Committee

Vice Chair Suzanne Price welcomed our speakers and the audience. Twenty-one people were in attendance: JeanAstrinsky, Wendy Brokaw, Fred Brown, Jason Brown, Gary Deming, Tom Ferron, Kris Heath, Marcia Kelley, Kristin Kuhns, Dennis McCaffrey, David Papen, Lisanne Pearcy, Suzanne Price, Richard Riggs, Nan Rittall, Timothe Seelbach, Kathy Smits, Valerie Unger, John Westall, Pat Wheeler and Linda Williams.

The first guest speaker began at approximately 7:05 pm.

Guest Speaker Valerie Unger, Polk County Clerk, presented information on ballot security and changes to balloting procedures for Polk County, including expanded drop-box hours and locations (see Attachment 1). Discussion followed, in which Val answered questions about the way ballots are processed and problems we have experienced with ballot boxes in past elections.

Guest Speaker Marcia Kelley, Measure 50 "Heathy Kids Initiative," presented the basics of what this Measure would do: Add into the state constitution a tobacco tax of 84 cents per pack of cigarettes, with the funds to be used for health insurance for uninsured children, tobacco prevention programs for children, and safety-net clinics for people of all ages. For more information and talking points, email marciakelley@gmail.com.

- Break -

The business meeting was called to order by Vice Chair Suzanne Price at 8:20 pm.

Sixteen people were present for the business meeting: JeanAstrinsky, Wendy Brokaw, Fred Brown, Jason Brown, Tom Ferron, Kris Heath, Dennis McCaffrey, David Papen, Lisanne Pearcy, Suzanne Price, Richard Riggs, Timothe Seelbach, Kathy Smits, John Westall, Pat Wheeler and Linda Williams. The Chair and the Secretary were absent. The Vice Chair presided and Lisanne Pearcy took the minutes. John Westall acted as parliamentarian.

Minutes from our regular September meeting were approved on voice vote without dissent, including minor amendments submitted to the Vice Chair from Linda Williams and Lisanne Pearcy. (Finalized minutes will be posted on our website.)

Old Business.

A. Treasurer Linda Williams presented a Proposed Budget Adjustment for 2007 (see Attachment 2). The purpose was to correct numerical errors in the original budget. During discussion of the budget, Linda also reminded the group of the importance of having a regular income flow. She encouraged every member to set up regular monthly donations - even $5-10/month is meaningful and will help us with planning (see Attachment 3). Richard Riggs moved that we approve the Budget Adjustment as presented.

The motion carried on voice vote without dissent.

B. Three proposed policies were presented by the Process & Rules Committee and recommended for CC approval (see Attachment 4). Process & Rules Committee Chair Timothe Seelbach introduced the policies by explaining that our bylaws are the laws we operate under, while our policies and procedures are the "recipes" for accomplishing what is in the bylaws.

1. Committee Policy 01: Communications between Executive Committee and Other Standing Committees.

This policy was discussed and then approved by voice vote without dissent.

2. Committee Policy 02: Officers. This policy was discussed and then approved by voice vote without dissent.

3. Finance Policy 01: Expenditures and In-Kind Contributions. This policy was discussed and then approved by voice vote without dissent.

C. Lisanne Pearcy gave an update on the "Yes on Measure 49" campaign, which is working to revise land-use law in Oregon. Lisanne explained the GOTV (get-out-the-vote) process and called for volunteers. Josh Balloch, campaign manager for Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties brought targeted voter lists, which volunteers could chose from and take home to begin phoning and/or walking their turfs. Anyone wishing to volunteer should contact Lisanne.

New Business.

A. Suzanne Price announced that the position of committee chair for the Candidate Committee is vacant. Anyone interested in this position should contact our Chair Alan Holland upon his return.

B. Jason Brown reported on the Oregon Summit, which took place October 5-7 in Sunriver. Rich Riggs also attended the event. The Keynote Speaker was the Democratic Governor of Montana.

C. Jason Brown announced that he is willing to run again as a candidate for state representative in House District 23, providing he gets strong early support (commitments of both money and volunteers). Jason distributed donation envelopes and circulated a list for people to sign up to pledge time and/or money to his campaign.

D. David Papen made a motion that we contribute $100 to the "Yes on Measure 50" campaign. The motion carried on voice vote without dissent.

E. Wendy Brokaw and Suzanne Price spoke about the Polk Democrat e-newsletter and distributed paper copies (see Attachment 5). Wendy publishes the newsletter monthly on the polkdems.org website. The purpose of the newsletter is to give examples and show how active and dynamic the Polk County Democrats are. Anyone with photos or ideas for articles, please submit them to wendybrokaw@msn.com.

F. Wendy Brokaw honored our Vice Chair Suzanne Price with a certificate of award from Chair Alan Holland for her dedicated service to the Polk County Democrats. Wendy read the text of the award aloud:

"Suzi Price has been extremely busy keeping the Polk Dems presence visible and active at all the local fairs and festivals throughout the summer. With little support from others, she has spent many hours setting up and staffing booths at the County Fair, and festivals in Independence, Monmouth, and Dallas. Additionally, Suzi has been a regular at the Wednesday peace rallies in Monmouth. All this has been done while maintaining her responsibilities and guiding the leadership of the county party, as well as contributing among the Congressional District delegation. Suzi has been the "Rock;" a constant and stabilizing force to keep this county party on track, honest, and moving ahead. As county chair, I would be greatly diminished or even lost without her and am most grateful for her unselfish efforts. Much of the success and recognition for this county party is due directly to Suzi or the efforts of her encouragement and gracious guidance of others. Thank you, Suzanne Price. -- Alan Holland, Chair, Polk County Democratic Central Committee" Committee & Officer Reports.

Treasurer: Linda Williams distributed copies of the monthly financial report (see Attachment 6). Our current cash in the bank is $5,804.77.

Executive Committee: No report. The Chair will return on October 22nd.

Process & Rules Committee: Timothe Seelbach reported that the committee is working on developing policies and procedures to help the PCD run more smoothly.

Volunteer Recruitment and PCP Support Committee: David Papen reported that he attended the DNCsponsored training in Salem on October 10 and was impressed with its content. Dawn Reynolds is hosting a party in her home to welcome new Dallas-area volunteers on November 4th.

Fundraising Committee: Fred Brown discussed options for a year-end fundraiser mailing and telephone drive, given its $500 expense budget.

Events Committee: Kathy Smits reported that next month's program will address alternative energy and is entitled "How to Go Solar in Oregon" with speaker James Reismiller of Abundant Solar LLC.

Communications Committee: Wendy Brokaw had already presented during New Business.

Candidate Committee: Rich Riggs stated he still working with Paul Evans to persuade him to run for House District 20 in 2008. Paul should be announcing his decision by the new year.

Announcements/For the Good of the Order.

Fred Brown announced that the highway litter clean-up needs to be rescheduled because not enough people showed up on October 7th.

The meeting adjourned at approximately 10:20pm.

Next Meeting: 7pm, Thursday November 8, at Christ Church, 412 W. Clay St., Monmouth. Program title:

"How to Go Solar in Oregon" by James Reismiller of Abundant Solar LLC.

Minutes by Lisanne Pearcy, acting in absence of the Secretary. These minutes were submitted for publication on the polkdems website on October 22, 2007. Please submit corrections to

lisanne@firstserver.com.