April 4, 2017
In attendance: 58
Meeting opened @ 7:30 p.m.
Glory Days Restaurant, Rt. 40, Ellicott City
A. President & Treasurer Reports
Dan Medinger opened the meeting telling us we have work to do until Nov. 2018, as District 9 is represented by all Republicans in Annapolis.
Minutes from March 2017 – approved.
We need to post the Carroll County Victory dinner on FB and the website.
China Williams is the new FB administrator.
Together We Will spokesperson – shared politics 101 with us – on the website – PowerPoint presentation.
On April 19, HoCo Council will introduce CB 30 – was Referendum A. County Councilman Jon Weinstein explained it - citizen election fund, we want more people with good ideas for run and not have to worry about fundraising. First time in history this has stood alone on a ballot. It needs support. It may end up as a 4 – 1 vote. It won’t affect current officials in office but those who run in the future. This is an action item – write elected officials or sign up to testify.
Desserts for Democrats, hosted by the Medingers, was a big success. We had 13 from our Club attend.
March 16th – all area Club presidents met. Starting in Sept. – we will have joint meetings once a quarter.
May 2 will be a joint meeting at a new location with guest speaker Sen. Chris Van Hollen.
The Club handed out strategic plan summary based on the results from out breakout during the last meeting – we will form six committees: recruitment, neighborhood, communications, legislative, programming, and education.
B. Treasurer's report
– Balance $2,385.88. Income $880; Expenses $640.
Received approval to spend $40 for an ad in the Carroll County program for the Victory dinner.
C. Program:
Guest speaker: Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot
Discussed Pres. Trump and the concerns of we, as the citizens.
State of MD Comptroller’s office answers 500,000 phone calls a year. The wait time is two min. on average, improved over last year due to the hiring of additional professionals.
76,000 fraudulent tax returns being investigated to date.
10,000 victims of identity theft in the state.
He is concerned about the Democratic Party because much of the state is not represented by them. We need to reconnect with our constituents. We need to recruit candidates of stature. We need veterans or have civic participation and are known in the community. And we need to support Democrats from different areas who may not to be more flexible in some of their positions due to where they serve. We need a common sense agenda – focus on fiscal moderation, how government operates and judges itself on the results and not always the budget.
He likes Kathleen Matthews, new state Democratic Party leader. He won’t demonize Hogan as they’re working on common issues.
We need to be responsive to small businesses. You can’t be pro-education and anti-business.
He's very optimistic about the future and just believes our party has been hijacked.
D. Old and New Business
Next meeting May 2, 2017. Our guest will be Sen. Chris Van Hollen at a new location. Lisa Coster to research venue.
The meeting adjourned at 9 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by Lisa B. Coster, secretary