Carroll County Democratic Central Committee Meeting Minutes July 18th, 2013 Committee members in attendance Anita Riley Corynne Courpas, Don West, Neil Ridgely, Dorothy Scanlan, Jackie Jones and Jackie Schrenker-Case. Other attendees Frank Rammes and Greg Pecoraro Meeting was held in the Large Meeting Room of the Finksburg Branch of the CCPL and was called to order by Jackie Jones, Chair, at 7:10 pm and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. Chair's Report Jackie J. announced that Mary E. has resigned form the Central Committee due to personal reasons. Jackie expressed her appreciation to Mary for her service, and she related that Mary has agreed to continue to help in an unofficial capacity. Her resignation e-mail is attached to these minutes. Dorothy S., Corresponding Secretary, was to send her a thank you letter from the CCDCC. There was a re-cap of the recent official grand opening of Congressman Van Hollen's Mount Airy field office, held on June 24th, 2013. Jackie attended the recent Taneytown Chamber of Commerce breakfast that was held at the bowling alley in Taneytown. Congressman Van Hollen was the featured guest. Secretary's Report June's minutes were sent to CCDCC members via e-mail. A motion to approve minutes was made by Corynne C., 2nd by Jackie S-C., vote unanimous. Treasurer's Report Treasurer's report was sent out via e-mail to the members and showed a current balance of $10,034.44. Motion to approve report by Don W., 2nd by Dorothy S., vote unanimous. Club Reports none Committee Reports Neil R. gave his Local Politics report, including fear of drones over Carroll County, the spread of Common Core curriculum, comprehensive planning around these parts, 'growing' billboards on open farmland, proposed watering down of local building codes for the benefit of developers and builders, recent censure of a Loudin County, VA supervisor for using county staff and resources for operating a political campaign, assistance by Van Hollen and Ben Cardin, upcoming discussion on the Ethics Ordinance before the BoCC, recently announced commissioner candidates, CC Times circuit court lawsuit against our BoCC on the redaction of e-mail addresses, education slush fun for home-schoolers, and the looming possibility of a Statewide 'open' Republican primary. Corynne C. reported the Election Committee is still having ongoing discussions with potential candidates. There will be a committee meeting scheduled sometime in August. Corynne will invite Robert Wack to the next meeting. Anita R. announced in her Fundraising report that we will host our CCDCC Fall Breakfast on Saturday, October 26th, 2013, at the Best Western Conference Center in Westminster. Tom Schaller will be the featured speaker that morning. Tickets will be $40/person. There were no Events, Grassroots/Outreach, or Communications reports. Old Business There was a discussion of the formal censure of CCDCC member Jason Officer that was passed at a recent special meeting on July 3rd, 2013. It was decided that the Recording Secretary should submit minutes for that special meeting, including the text of the formal censure motion. Don W. made a motion that, once approved, those minutes will appear on the website without the actual text of the censure motion, 2nd by Neil R., vote unanimous. That censure motion was sent to Mr. Officer via email and registered mail. Don W. gave an update on the gift for Congressman Chris Van Hollen. New Business Neil R. recommended that we arrange a presentation on Common Core curriculum at some time in the near future. There was a lengthy discussion about adding new CCDCC members. Don W. made a motion that Greg Pecoraro be invited to participate in the meetings of the CCDCC because he is an officer in the Maryland Democratic Party who resides locally. He will not have an official vote on matters before the CCDCC, 2nd by Neil R., vote unanimous. Frank Rammes, also a former CCDCC member, was also in attendance. Anita R. motioned that Frank R. be invited to join the CCDCC as a member from District 5, 2nd by Neil R., vote unanimous. Welcome aboard Greg and Frank! We revisited the CCDCC's ability to add new members who reside in election districts that are already occupied. By previous approved motion (April 2013), the CCDCC reserved the ability to do just that. Anita R. agreed to re-work that part of our By-Laws that has led to confusion in the past. CCDCC participation at Fallfest in September was discussed, and Jackie J. agreed she would follow-up on our application. Jackie S-C. volunteered to take over the Events Committee, as that position is currently vacant. Anita R. relayed a request that she received that, in addition to our minutes, our monthly agenda be posted on the website. After a discussion, Don W. motioned that the agenda not be posted, 2nd by Corynne c., vote unanimous. Announcements Frank R. announced that Jason O. has resigned as president of the CC Dems. The annual picnic will be at Union Mills on Sunday, July, 21st, starting at 1 pm. The next regular meeting for the CCDCC will be Thursday, August 15th, 2013, starting at 7 pm, in the Large Meeting Room of the Westminster Branch of the CCPL. Meeting adjourned at 8:41 pm. Respectfully submitted, Don West, Recording Secretary CCDCC From: maryellis1945@gmail.com
To: JSDLJONES@aol.com
Sent: 7/7/2013 10:04:00 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: CCDCC Dear Jackie, It is with regret that I tender to you as chair my resignation from the Carroll County Democratic Central Committee.  As you may have noticed, my contributions to Committee functions and discussions have become ever more sparse over the past months, mainly because of having to help my brother Frank recover from an alarming series of illnesses.  He no longer needs these services but is still far from being able to live on his own or even in a minimal care establishment.  In fact, I have just been informed that he will, for the foreseeable future, require 24-hour supervision.    Regarding the rest of my political activities, I believe that continuing as president of the SCDC will not be difficult as Anita has pretty much mapped out our activities for the coming year.  However, I will probably not be delivering my monthly club report in person. If it's all right with you, I shall e-mail the report to you and Anita before meetings so it can be read into the minutes.  I will continue publishing the Bulletin as, by now, it pretty much takes care of itself.  I would be happy if Committee members would continue to send me links to articles of interest as well as any important event dates for dissemination.  If you want me to keep up compiling lists and doing research in VAN, I think I can manage that as well since the Committee doesn't often request such information.  However, if there is to be a Headquarters for 2014, I will not be available to help with that, except possibly to compile call and walk lists from VAN. I wish you all the best in finding qualified candidates for 2014. Respectfully, Mary Snyder Ellis PS— I wrote this before reading all the emails about the Don W./Michelle J. flap.  Good luck with that.  What a mess!