September Minutes
Democratic Party of Baxter County
Meeting Minutes
Donald W. Reynolds Baxter County Library
9/2/23
Vice-Chair JoAnn Baeten called the meeting to order at 10:16 a.m.
JoAnn Baeten: Pledge of allegiance
Minutes: Called for any changes to August minutes, there were none. Called for approval of minutes, Paulette Riley made the motion, Barbara Baeten 2nd, all were in favor. The August minutes were accepted.
Treasury report: Treasurer Karen Breton reported that the current account balance is $4,521.24.
The only debits from the account so far were $200 for VAN, and $150 for Chamber of Commerce membership
UPDATE: Collected $230 in donations at this meeting. Karen thanked all who have personally donated and for those recurring donations through ActBlue.
A one-page Treasurer's Report/Annual Accounting Balance sheet was passed around for members’ viewing.
Reports of Officers and Committees:
Legislative: Nothing new at this time from the Legislative Watch Committee.
History: Mike Breton spoke about his efforts to highlight outstanding Democrats of North Central Arkansas. Mike's first effort resulted from an interview with retired County Judge/ Mayor, Joe Dillard. That report can be viewed at baxtercountydemocrats.com under the News tab. The next spotlight will be on our former State House and State Senate member, Vada Sheid. Mike visited with her son recently, but recommended that members check out her autobiography, “Vada, Nothing Personal, Just Politics.” The library has several copies.
Local Beats: Mary O’Shields, our delegate to the DPA reported on her attendance at the City Council meeting on August 24. She informed us about the City’s move to install cameras at certain traffic lights. These are for traffic monitoring, not law enforcement. She encourages more of our members to attend the next meeting at 6 PM on September 7th at City Hall.
JoAnn shared that Bob Bodenhamer, our representative to the Election Commission, reported that Gary Smith has been appointed by the Republican Committee to serve as the third member of the Commission. This was long overdue and a positive sign for reasonable oversight of our elections. Also the newly appointed Election Clerk was appointed, so that loose end is now settled.
New Business:
JoAnn: There are preliminary plans to have a fun/fundraising “event” of some kind for the October or November meeting. Possibilities are to have live music, interesting speakers (Chris Jones, or AP African American History teachers, or…?)
Discussion/Questions: People talked about the LEARNS Act/CAPES effort, the AP African-American History controversy, upcoming elections and that candidates need to get 400 signatures before the end of October to waive the filing fee. Johnny Rickman shared his observations after doing CAPES work in Fulton County. He let us know about the signage, hand out cards and other activities that make them visible to the community and that we’d be well-served to do some of the same.
Special Note: JoAnn read a message from Derek regarding why he couldn’t come to this meeting due to the loss of his nephew. The tragic details have spurred him to again run for our Senate seat in hopes of addressing some of the circumstances that led to this tragedy.
Vice-Chair JoAnn Baeten adjourned the meeting at 11:11 a.m.
Next DPBC Meetings: (1st Saturdays)
October 7th: Back Forty 10:00 a.m.
November 4th: Baxter County Library 10:15 a.m.
December 2nd: Baxter County Library 10:15 a.m.
City Council Meetings: (1st and 3rd Thursdays)
September 7th:City Hall 6 p.m.
September 21: City Hall 6 p.m.
County Quorum Court Meetings: (1st Wednesday)
September 6th, County Courthouse 6 pm
Mountain Home School Board Meetings: (3rd Thursdays)
September 21: District Office 6 pm