August Minutes
August Minutes
Democrat Party of Baxter County
Meeting Minutes
La Paloma Restaurant
8/2/24
Chair Mary O’Shields called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m.
Pledge of Allegiance: Donnie led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance
Minutes: Called for any changes to Jun minutes. Called for approval of minutes. Randa Caja made the motion. Linda Stanton 2nd and all were in favor. June minutes were accepted.
Treasury Report: Shane Tilley
Shane reported that as of the end of June 2025 and with ACT Blue contributions the ending balance is $9413.29.
Update: $325 was collected in donations at the meeting
Chair Update: Mary O’Shields
Mary began the meeting by introducing officers and new members to our meeting. We welcomed at least 10 new visitors today and we are so excited to see all these new faces!
Mary updated the group regarding the Bodenhamer dinner to honor the Bodenhamer family. This event will be Saturday September 27th at Gaston’s Conference Center. The cost will be $20 and the food will be catered from Holy Smokes BBQ. This dinner is a way to honor the Bodenhamer family, a family with endless contributions to the party over many decades in Baxter County. Come enjoy food, fellowship and a speaker. Tickets are available by calling/texting 773-370-1887 or 870-565-2061. You may also get tickets at our next monthly meeting (September).
New Business:
A resolution letter to be sent to Arkansas Legislators to urge them to push for the Epstein Files to be released was drafted and brought before the committee. Discussion was brought both for and against making a resolution. Donnie Huffine made a motion to pass that the resolution letter be drafted and sent to legislators. This was 2nd by Johnny Rickman and the motion passed with a majority vote. Letter is available to be read on our website.
Speaker: Dustin Parsons
Dustin Parsons was our guest speaker at the meeting. He is the Vice Chair of Counties for the Democrat Party of Arkansas (DPA). He first spoke of the upcoming election of a new chair for the DPA. Grant Tenille recently stepped down after a four year tenure. There are two candidates, Marcus Jones and Jannie Cotton, vying for the new Chair seat (Marcus Jones was selected at the state meeting Saturday August 16th).
Dustin said we must take it one day at time-when thinking about progress in our state party and during local and state elections. He spoke about the candidate progress within the state and ballot access requirements. The Democratic Party of Baxter County board will discuss our local access requirements before the September meeting, because the deadline to run for office will soon be up (Monday 11/3). Before running, Dustin said that one must know their district and be aware of what may be a difficult road to climb. He said it’s very important to look at areas where there may be clumps of democrat voters and see if we have democrats running in those areas.
He also said to remember-if you’re thinking about running for office-it's the position, not the person. We live in a small area, often we personally know the elected people that represent us, especially in local positions (city council, quorum court, etc) even if they are not aligned with our personal values.
Announcements:
Mary has made a BlueSky account for our group: @baxterdemocrats.bluesky.social
If you would like to discuss something or add something to the agenda please contact Mary at meaoshields@gmail.com or Jennifer at jennifer@baxtercountydemocrats.com and we will work to add that. Remember we allow time for discussion at the end of the meeting for these items.
Chair Mary O’Shields adjourned the meeting at 11:00 a.m.
DPBC Meetings: (1st Saturdays)
September 6th: 10:15 Baxter County Library (300 Library Hill Ln, Mountain Home, AR 72653)
October 4th: 10:15 Baxter County Library (300 Library Hill Ln, Mountain Home, AR 72653)
November 1st: TBA
City Council Meetings: (1st and 3rd Thursdays)
Meetings take place at City Hall-720 Hickory St, Mountain Home, AR 72653
August 21st: City Hall 5 p.m.
September 4th: City Hall 5 p.m.
September 18th: City Hall 5 p.m.
County Quorum Court Meetings: (1st Tuesday)
Meetings take place at Baxter County Courthouse- 1 East 7th Street, Mountain Home, AR 72653
September 2nd: County Courthouse 6 p.m.
October 7th: County Courthouse 6 p.m.
November 4th: County Courthouse 6 p.m.
Mountain Home School Board Meetings (3rd Thursday)
Meetings take place at Central Office-2465 Rodeo Drive, Mountain Home, AR 72653
August 19th: Central Office 6 p.m
September 18th: Central Office 6 p.m
October 16th: Central Office 6 p.m
