Minutes from June 5 meeting
Herb
Minutes
Oconee County Democratic Committee meeting
June 5, 2008
Oconee County Courthouse, Watkinsville, Georgia
Committee members present: Becky Vaughn (7-2), Chair; Jonathan Veit (6-3), Vice-Chair; Bill Yarbrough (3-1), Vice-Chair; Herb West (4-2), Secretary; Violet Dawe (1-1), Treasurer; Pat Adams (2-2); Sarajane Love (2-3); Myrna Adams West (4-3); Linda Elkins (6-1); Rita Bennett (6-2); Pat Priest (7-3)
Committee members absent (excused): Diana Jeffreys (5-1).
Committee members absent (unexcused): Fred Johnson (1-2); Steve Holzman (1-3); Dan Matthews (2-1);David Payne (3-2); Vicky Moody (3-3); Rich Rusk (4-1); Fred Sloan (5-2); Ken Miller (5-3).
Chair Becky Vaughn called the meeting to order at 7:25 pm.
A quorum was declared present.
Minutes: The minutes from the April 3, 2008 meeting were approved unanimously after a motion by Pat Priest and second by Jonathan Veit. There was no meeting held in May.
Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Violet Dawe reported the bank account has a balance of $1,074.18. Bill gave her a check for $27.50 which was our half of the qualifying fee for our lone local Democrat, Rich Clark, for Board of Education. Becky also requested a check for $25 for annual dues to GADCC.
10th District U.S. Congress race: George Birchby, Campaign Manager (678-644-8355)
Community Service:
o Adopt-a-Road: Only a small group participated in the road clean up on May 31. The next road cleanup will be in August so that the OCHS YDs can participate. Exact date TBD.
Fundraising Opportunities:
o Bike Ride: The bike ride will be held in the fall in conjunction with the OCAF Perspectives event, which runs the weekends of 8/30, 9/6, and 9/13. We want to hold the ride on the same weekend as the pottery studio tour. As soon as Jonathan gets that date, he will schedule the ride and we will begin working on plans at our July meeting.
Public Awareness—Pat Priest:
o Book Group: The next meeting will be held on Thursday, June 19 at the Five Points Deli on Epps Bridge Parkway starting at 6:00 pm to discuss On Bended Knee, the book about the press and the Reagan Presidency. The book for July 17 will be Founding Brothers.
o Movie Night: The most recent event was successful. Events continue to be scheduled when good movies at Ciné are to be shown.
o Fourth Sunday Series: The “Sustainability Showcase” on April 27 was a great success. This series will take a vacation this summer, and we will discuss ideas at our next meeting in order to try to develop a schedule for 2008-2009.
o Athfest: Several committee members volunteered to help staff a booth/table sponsored by area Democrats (Clarke, Madison, Oglethorpe, Oconee) during Athfest on Saturday, June 21. We will hand out literature for local and regional candidates, as well as hope to have some Obama materials. Herb will look into getting Oconee Democrats bumperstickers.
New Business:
o July 15 Primary: We discussed pros and cons of voting the Republican ballot in the July 15 primary since most local races (except for Post 5, BOE, for which we have a Democratic candidate, Rich Clark) will be decided in the primary. As long as there are no Democratic candidates, we as individuals are free to endorse who we want, although the Committee as an entity can’t endorse any Republican candidates.
o June 14 Caucus: The county party caucus to elect new committee members is scheduled for 11 am on Saturday, June 14, at the courthouse. Herb outlined the process he thought would work. Notices have been printed in the Enterprise, Leader, and Banner Herald since the middle of May, satisfying our 30-day advance notice requirement. Emails have also gone out to our mailing list. Anyone interested in running for a committee post should attend the caucus or, if unable to attend, let Herb know of their interest.
o Dinner/BBQ/Ice Cream Social/Breakfast: Several possibilities for gatherings for discussions or information or fund raising continue to be discussed. Sometime in August, after the primary is over and after kids have returned to school, an ice cream social was suggested—location TBD. A breakfast gathering was also suggested, although a good location (where breakfast can be provided and served) is practically non-existent.
o Athens Area Democrats Breakfast: The next breakfast will be June 14 at 9:00 am at Trumps. Speakers will be representatives of the local print and radio media. There will still be time to get from the breakfast to the county caucus in Watkinsville.
Blue Hats: Blue Hats will meet June 14 at Krimson Kafe. No topic was assigned. Alternatives to this Saturday lunch gathering were discussed, since that particular day and time isn’t suitable for everyone, especially young parents who want to spend weekends with family. A weeknight at a location that serves alcohol was suggested, although there are currently few possibilities in Oconee County (until locations in unincorporated Oconee County open up with pouring licenses). Locations in Clarke County, especially close to the Clarke/Oconee line, were suggested. No locations or dates were finalized. We will discuss further at our next meeting.
Next meeting: Since the first Thursday in July is the 3rd, and many people will be out of town for the holiday, the committee decided to reschedule that meeting for Tuesday, June 15, in the courthouse. We realize that is the date of the primary, and there will be lots of people in the courthouse waiting for results (and, consequently, very limited parking in the vicinity). Becky agreed to reserve the room for that date.
As there was no further business, the rather lengthy meeting was adjourned at 9:30 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Herb West
Secretary
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