Newsletter of the Platte County Democratic  Central Committee

Volume 13 No. 11                               November 2021

Calendar  January 10 - Platte County Federated Women’s Democratic Club - 5:30 p.m. Platte County Resource Center, 11724 NW Plaza Circle, KCMO. The speaker will be Kevin Robinson, Platte County Auditor. January 18 - Northland Democratic Club, ACA Business Club, 1400 NW Vivion Road, KCMO. 6:30 check-in, 7:00 meeting. January 20 - Platte County Democratic Central Committee will meet at Platte County Resource Center, 11724 NW Plaza Circle, KCMO, 7:00 pm.. Northland 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. Northland Progress - click here. Buchanan County Democrats - click here.

Platte County Federated Women's Democratic Club

The Platte County Women’s Club met on November 8, 2021 at the Platte County Resource Center. The first order of business was to approve changes in the Club by-laws to make them consistent with changes that have been implemented over the last few years. Next was a discussion of the most recent version of the Democrat’s Believe card that has been in the works for several months. A version was approved to submit to the Platte County Democratic Central Committee at their next meeting. President Rita McGuire reminded the group that the Platte County Club as part of the 6th District is responsible for helping plan the June 3rd to the 5th State Convention in Jefferson City. She asked for a volunteer to work with the 6th District Committee. The question of how many raffle tickets in support of the state convention the club was interested in buying. Several people said they would be willing to purchase 5 tickets for $20 and Rita agreed to order the tickets. Club members discussed general dissatisfaction with the way the Platte County Commissioners handled the funding from the Federal Government for the Cares Act. Their questions were about public notification of availability of funds, the choice of who received funding and the apparent reluctance of the Commission to provide funding to the Platte County Health Department. They did ultimately provide funding to the Health Department toward the end of the funding process. (See below for more information) The final question of the meeting was whether or not to meet in December. The Club decided to have a holiday party for the December meeting with everyone bringing a treat to share.

Platte Country Democratic Central Committee

The Platte County Democratic Central Committee met at the Platte County Resource Center on November 18 at the Platte County Resource Center. Guest Michael Kelly who hopes to run for the 5th District at large in next year’s KC City Council election said that transportation, public health, infrastructure and affordable housing are his interests and priorities. Ken Hunt reported that the search for a regional director of campaign activities for Platte and Buchannan Counties is waiting on word about a grant from national Democratic Headquarters. They hope to sign a retainer by February 1st. The plan is to hire someone to supervise operations. The State will provide salary and benefits and we will office space. The coordinated campaign will work with the same person. David Christen noted that he has been contacted by a group who is interested in recruiting candidates to run as Democrats. He also noted that the filing period for school board elections has been moved up to December of 2021. Filing begins on December 7 and closes at 5:00 p.m. on December 28. The discussion made note of the fact that the National Republican Party is recruiting candidates for school boards and everything else as part of a national strategy. In view of this, the Committee decided to participate in an NDP Zoom meeting on December 8th. The Committee also decided to hold a brief Central Committee meeting in December to follow up on that call. Jamie Johnson and Marilyn Peace presented a detailed report on the venues they have explored as possible locations for the 2022 Spring Fling fund raiser. It was decided that the event should take place in early April and there are a few additional locations they will explore before the December meeting including The View at Briarcliff as the venue for the Spring Fling. The recommended date was Sunday April 10th. Because this is Palm Sunday, Jamie and Marilyn agreed to look into April 24th as an alternative (the 17th is Easter Sunday). The Committee agreed to allow them to make a decision and proceed to make a deposit on the space after consultation with the executive committee before our next meeting in January.

Northland Democratic Club

The Northland Democratic Club met at the ACA Club on November 16. The scheduled guest speaker, Spenser Toder, candidate for the U. S. Senate from Missouri was unable to attend. The Club welcomed John DeFoor, Club vice-president and candidate for Platte County Presiding Commissioner after his recovery from Covid-19 for which he was hospitalized for a month. His wife Rori DeFoor gave a presentation on a petition she is circulating that would put an issue on the November 2022 ballot that would legalize marijuana for recreational purposes in Missouri and automatically expunge and release individuals convicted of nonviolent marijuana-related crimes. For further information on the petition click here. The Club voted to re-elect current Club officers and held a secret ballot election to determine if the Club could make endorsements before a primary election. There was a lively discussion on this subject. The Club voted no to this issue. Sherry Duffett announced that the Clay County Women’s Club will resume meetings in January. Clay County Democrats are working on plans for Winterfest scheduled for February 2022. The next meeting of the Northland Democratic Club will be January 18, 2022 at the ACA Club 1400 NW Vivian Road at 6:30 pm.

How Platte County Commissioners Handled Covid-19 CARES Grants

Kevin Robinson, Platte County Auditor, has provided a spreadsheet with details of Platte County CARES grants. It starts with a summary of funding types and is followed by line item listing for each grant. You might gasp at some of the grants! Click here for the spreadsheet.

Paid for by PCDCC, John Kirchmeier Treasurer