February Minutes
Democratic Party of Baxter County
Meeting Minutes
Donald W. Reynolds Baxter County Library
2/3/24
Chair Derek Huber called the meeting to order at 10:21 a.m.
Pledge of Allegiance: Derek Huber (Keep Donnie in your thoughts are he is recovering from heart surgery.)
Minutes: Called for any changes to January minutes. Called for approval of minutes. Johnny Rickman made the motion. Mary O’Shields 2nd and all were in favor. January minutes were accepted.
Treasury Report: Mike and Karen Breton.
Mike reported that we have a balance of $7059.00 as of the end of January 2024. Reminder, that $300 per month for ads was approved last month, to promote information regarding the Democrat Party of Baxter County across meta networks. We will be supporting candidates as election season comes into play, so it's important to continue to encourage monetary support of Baxter County Democrats.
Update: We collected $101 in donations at this meeting.
Chair Update: Derek Huber
The goal of today’s meeting is to establish sub-committees: Local Beat, Legislative Watch, and History & Education. Looking ahead to the March meeting, the goal will be to get the VAN team up and running in order to support candidates and initiatives.
Derek presented a picture diagram of the different sub-committees, what the groups do, team leads, and preferred methods of communication.
Local Beat: This group keeps up with local meetings and happenings within the county and reports back to the group.
-Team Lead-Derek Huber
-Quorum Court-Derek Huber
-City Council-Mary O’Shields
-School Board-JoAnn Baeten
Legislative Watch: This group monitors and follows Arkansas legislation, with a watch on local representatives and how they vote.
-Team Lead-Mary O’Shields
-Members - Glenda Huffine, Johnny Rickman
History and Education: This group explores and researches people and events important to the history of Baxter County and how democrats have had an important place advancing the county in positive ways.
-Team Lead-Mike Breton
-Members-Robert Shurley, Janet Timmerman
New Business/Discussions: The board has accepted the resignation of Secretary Ashley Huber. The floor was opened for nominations for secretary. Karen Breton nominated Jennifer Coffman. No other nominations were made. The vote was taken, with a unanimous yes. Jennifer accepted the nomination.
There were several new visitors in attendance. The board members, group members, and visitors did quick introductions for the group.
Beth VanDerStek shared an article from the Perspectives portion of the Arkansas Dem Gazette. The writer wrote that while the argument to not vote for Trump is strong, people's arguments for voting for Trump should not be ignored or dismissed. They also wrote that we should look for repair and restoration when speaking with voters with opposing opinions.
Announcements:
Early voting starts on February 20th, 2024, for primaries.
Reminder: You can vote in the Republican primary and still vote Democrat in the general election.
Several members completed the poll worker training that was offered in January/February. JoAnn will contact Lindsay (the poll worker training contact) to ask about make-up training (due to the weather).
Upcoming: 3 petitions are in the pipeline within the state, petition signing will be starting soon to get these ballot initiatives on upcoming ballots.
Women’s Healthcare and Reproductive Rights
Freedom in Information Act
Learns Act/CAPES/ForARKids
Chair Derek Huber adjourned the meeting at 11:06 a.m.
Next DPBC Meetings: (1st Saturdays)
March 2nd: Baxter County Library 10:15 a.m.
April 6th: TBD
May 4th: Baxter County Library 10:15 a.m.
June 1st: 10:00 a.m. Pending Location
July 6th: 10:00 a.m. Pending Location
Aug 3rd: 10:00 a.m. Pending Location
Sept 7th: Baxter County Library 10:15 a.m.
Oct 5th: Baxter County Library 10:15 a.m.
Nov 2nd: Baxter County Library 10:15 a.m.
Dec 7th: Baxter County Library 10:15 a.m.
City Council Meetings: (1st and 3rd Thursdays)
Mar 7th: City Hall 5 p.m.
Mar 21st: City Hall 5 p.m.
April 4th: City Hall 5 p.m.
County Quorum Court Meetings: (1st Tuesday)
Mar 5th: County Courthouse 6 p.m.
April 2nd: County Courthouse 6 p.m.
Mountain Home School Board Meetings: (3rd Thursdays)
Mar 21st: Central Office 6 p.m.
April 18th: Central Office 6 p.m.
