April Newsletter from Platte County Democrats

Newsletter of the Platte County Democratic

Central Committee

Volume 15 No. 4 April 2023

Calendar

May 8 - Platte County Federated Women's Democratic Club, KCPD North Patrol, 11000 NW Prairie View Road, KCMO.

May 16 - Northland Democratic Club, ACA Business Club, 1400 NW Vivion Road, KCMO. 7:00 pm. Special speaker event - ticket required due to limited space - see below.

April 20 - Platte County Democratic Central Committee, meeting will be held at Day Of Action Event. Details to be announced.

April 20 - Northland Day of Action. Details to be announced.

Northland Democratic Club - click here.

Platte County Federated Women's Democratic Club - click here.

Clay County Democrats - click here.

Jackson County Democrats - click here.

Indivisible Kansas City - click here.

Greater KC Women's Caucus - click here.

Buchanan County Democrats - click here.

Northland Democratic Club - May meeting

The Northland Democratic Club will host Jess Piper and Maggie Nurrenbern as guest speakers at their May 8 meeting. Jess is the "Dirt Road Democrat" from NW Missouri and Maggie is running for Missouri Senate District 17 in 2024. Due to limited space, tickets will be required to attend this meeting and can be obtained here.

Platte County Federated Women's Democratic Club

The Platte County Democratic Women’s Club held its last meeting at the Platte County Resource Center on April 10^th. Future meetings will be held at the KCPD North Patrol at 11000 NW Prairie View Road. The planned program featuring guest speaker Barbara Luetke, with the Washington Chapel CME Church as a potential partner in the proposed “Spring Cleaning” fund raising event but was cancelled due to the fact that the Church cannot partner with a political organization without putting their not-for-profit status at risk. Club members were disappointed and expressed great interest in inviting Barbara Luetke to a future meeting to speak on the progress of the Washington Chapel CME Restoration Project.

In lieu of a program, club members were asked to introduce themselves and name another group in which they are active. Guest and new member Melissa Hickman and longtime member Helen Weigman from Weston told the group about work they are doing in the northern part of Platte County: Weston, Camden Point, Dearborn and more. They explained that, following an outreach effort, this group planned to meet the following day (April 11^th) and that were up to 45 women who had expressed interest. They invited our Women’s Club to join them. The discussion then turned to the idea of uniting with northern county group to hold joint meetings – possibly alternating between northern and southern locations. We expect to follow up in the future.

Also discussed:

The need for a comprehensive list of elected offices, filing authorities and deadlines.

Reaching out to clubs previously affiliated with the 6^th Congressional District FWDC in an attempt to find a viable candidate to challenge Sam Graves in 2024.

Developing a list of places: organizations, schools, law schools, boards, churches, civic groups to seek out potential candidates.

Creating a list of places we can put up signs in each election to provide to candidates.

Dawn Dolbe challenged the group to come up with specific plans for strengthening/enhancing the Democratic Party in Platte County. She emphasized that we cannot rely on vapor – we all need to get to work. She noted that work is being done to create a list of Democrat supporting businesses. She asked if there are existing training resources and statistical information available that we can use.

Lee Karbaumer suggested the Indivisible Handbook that was developed shortly after the election of 2016. It has been updated. This is the current iteration.

Lead MO, a non-partisan not-for-profit organization designed to drive, convene, and cultivate a sustainable community around the human capital powering progress in Missouri https://leadmo.org/.

The Missouri Budget Project, another not-for-profit organization, ”improves the quality of life for all Missourians by informing public policy decisions through objective research and analysis of state budget, tax and economic issues.” https://www.mobudget.org/

The Missouri Federation of Women’s Democratic Clubs’ 91^st State Convention will be held in Independence June 2-4, 2023. The club voted to make a donation to the Hospitality Room and to buy an ad in the program. 50/50 raffle tickets will be available at the May meeting. They are $5 for one ticket, or 5 tickets for $20.

The slate of new officers for 2023-2025 was voted on. The new officers are: President, Rita McGuire; 1^st Vice President Elisa Nielson; 2^nd Vice President TBD; Treasurer Tracy Holthaus; Secretary Elizabeth Rae Marquet.

Platte Country Democratic Central Committee

The Platte County Democratic Central Committee met at the Platte County Resource Center on April 20^th. Guest speakers were Chris Gahagan candidate for KCMO City Council 1st District and Michael Kelly, candidate for the KCMO City Council 5^th District at-large - https://www.kelleyforkc.com/.

Chair Meredith Peace reported that she has been in contact with the Northland Democratic Club about a proposed Clay/Platte Democratic Day of service tentatively set for Saturday May 20^th at a location to be determined – possibly English Landing Park or another outdoor location. Sharen Hunt reported on t-shirt possibilities and presented the Committee with a variety of choices. The Committee selected the dark blue t-shirt with printing on the front The Committee voted to order 75 t-shirts @ $20 each be sold for $25 each that hopefully will be available before the May 20^th Day of Service. It was proposed that the Day of Service would take the place of the May 18 Central Committee meeting, the Committee agreed.

Guest Melissa Hickman representing a group of North Platte County women reported that this group of about 45 women has begun meeting the 2^nd Tuesday of each month to support Democratic activities in Platte County. She reported that the Platte County Federated Women’s Democratic Club had expressed interest in partnering with this new group for joint meetings, activities, presentations by candidates and other special events.

Paula Willmarth reported that Sarah Starnes has been working on providing support for voters to comply with new voter ID requirements. There will be an informational Zoom meeting on May 10^th at 7:00 p.m. for anyone interested in learning more about how to participate.

Chris Gahagen

Michael Kelley

Northland Democratic Club

The Northland Democratic Club met on April 18^th at the ACA Club.

Guest speaker candidate: Jim Bates, 2024 candidate for State Representative Missouri House District 38; this is how he describes himself on his Twitter account: “My name is Jim Bates. I'm a husband, father, life-long Missourian, and Democratic candidate for HD 38. After 20 plus years of Republicans driving Missouri to the bottom, a change is going to come.”

Lindsay French and Michael Kelley, candidates for KCMO City Council also attended.

Cody McElroy urged club members to write or call your state senators and representatives to express your opinion on critical legislation currently before the legislature; especially opposition to proposed changes to the initiative petition process. Misha Blake, NDC Policy/ Issues provided an update on the disturbing anti-LGBTQ legislation that has been proposed in this year’s Missouri legislative session.

Garrett Jacobson, NDC Secretary reported that he has been talking to Melissa Peace, Chair of the Platte County Central Committee about the possibility of sponsoring a Clay/Platte County Democratic Day of Action tentatively scheduled for Saturday, May 20^th at an outdoor location to be determined. He said that details are still being worked out.

John DeFoor reported that an ice cream social has been proposed for July. And the Club discussed the need to reach out to young Democrats.

The Northland Democratic Club voted to endorse the following candidates in the June 20^th Kansas City Missouri Municipal Election:

Mayor – Quinton Lucas

City Council

1^st District at-Large Kevin O’Neil 1^st District in District – Chris Gahagan

2^nd District at-Large Lindsay French 2^nd District in District – Wes Rogers

3^rd District at-Large Melissa Patterson-Hazley

4^th District at-Large Justin Short 4^th District in District - Eric Bunch

5^th District at-Large Michael Kelly

6^th District At-Large Andrea Bough

The May Northland Democratic Club meeting will feature “Dirt Road Democrat” Piper and Maggie Nurrenbern, State Representative for Missouri’s 15^th District and 2024 Candidate for Missouri State Senate District 17

Jim Bates

Lindsay French

Michael Kelley

Misha Blake

Cody McElroy

Paid for by PCDCC, John Kirchmeier Treasurer