March 21, 2009 Minutes

The bimonthly meeting of the Democratic Women of Johnson County was called to order by President Belinda Gelman March 21, 2009, 10:05 AM with guest Janet Meek and five members-President Gelman, Jill Bontrager, Kathleen Gehr, Bobbie Smith, and Evelyn Cook in attendance.

Neither the Minutes of the January meeting nor the Treasurer's report was available.

Under old business, the requisite second vote was taken confirming Katherine Hegemann as the group's legislative representative.

President Gelman asked that members continue the previous meeting's activity of sharing experiences with the group. Jill Bontrager volunteered career and personal stories to included the fact that even though she was raised in a Republican family, she discovered that she shared the values found in the Democratic Party.

During a discussion concerning the future of our organization, Kathleen Gehr suggested that we reach out to other Democratic women's groups in the area. Great emphasis was placed on the need for our members to be actively engaged in recruiting new members and working for out party in general. President Gelman stressed the point that we owe President Obama the same energetic support we gave during the election year.

Our guest speaker Janet Meek underscored the pressing need for activity in our state election. Ms. Meek is head of the Democratic Resource Center in Johnson City and has been active in the Democratic Party for years.

A theme of her speech was thinking "outside the box". "We are in a critical time for the Democratic Party in Tennessee and must be actively engaged," she said. She echoed Gehr's suggestion that we team up with other groups in our area in order to strengthen our position. She noted that of the 878 Democratic votes in the Johnson County Presidential election, 516 were women, all potential members for our organization, though she did add that some of the women were registered Republicans.

"We need action," she reiterated. "Build some email lists. Find and support some good women candidates. Start supporting people well before they declare for office, thereby helping to get their names before the public."

"I have learned so much in the past six months," she said. "I find that people do not understand state politics. We must educate them."

She announced a meeting of the Tennessee Health Care Coalition Workshop, April 18th, 9:30-4:30 pm at Northeast State University and encouraged us to attend.

President Gelman thanked Ms. Meek for a very informative talk and requested committee chairs to remind members of the next important meeting of our organization May 9, 10 am, Community Center.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 am.

Respectfully submitted
Evelyn Cook, Acting Secretary