Minutes from April 12, 2025 Meeting
Minutes from March Meeting
Budget for March Meeting:
From February 2025 Meeting
Minutes – DRAFT
Chequamegon Democrats Membership Meeting
Chequamegon Dems Office, Ashland, Wisconsin
February 8, 2025
1. Call to Order. Chairperson Kathleen Adee called the meeting to order at 10:01 a.m. Unless otherwise noted, the items described below were presented by Kathleen.
2. Introductions. We all went around the room and introduced ourselves. Annabelle Jones, our new Field Organizer, introduced herself. Joyce Neumann concluded the introductions with an inspirational reading.
3. Canvassing report. Canvassing for the Spring election has begun. We had a very busy weekend last week, and covered all of the turfs that Annabelle had cut for us. Next weekend will be a GOTV push for the primary on February 18.
5. Treasurer’s report. Kathleen gave the Treasurer’s Report on behalf of Treasurer Madelaine Kemp. Reports were shared on the screen. The December, 2024, report showed that we finished the year with $4,948.11. Motion (Sandy Raspotnik), second (Joyce Neumann) to accept the Treasurer’s report for December, 2024. Carried unanimously. The January, 2025, report showed that we had income of $1,335.42 and expenses of $1,043.98, ending the month with $5,239.55. Motion (Joyce Neumann), second (Deb Lewis) to accept the Treasurer’s report for January, 2025. Carried unanimously.
6. Signs. Susan Crawford signs are here. Kathleen encouraged everyone to take two.
7. Zoom. We will be using Zoom as our platform for remote/hybrid meetings for the rest of 2025.
8. Postcards. We have 1200 GOTV postcards that need to be filled out and then mailed on March 14. The organization providing the cards has provided us with non-partisan scripts to use for their completion. The membership discussed the pros and cons of the different scripts and of adding extra language to the cards.
9. Party conventions. The 7th CD convention will be on April 26 in Hayward. We will have more information on that after the officers meet with Nancy Stencil, 7th CD chair, later this month. The state convention of the Wisconsin Democratic Party will be June 14-15 at Wisconsin Dells. Anyone who wishes to be a delegate from the CheqDems to either convention should contact Kathleen.
10. 5 Calls app. Vice Chair Mike Radtke described this app and encouraged people to look into it. It provides an easy way to contact Tammy Baldwin, Ron Johnson, and Tom Tiffany.
11. Approval of December, 2024, and January, 2025, meeting minutes. Copies of the minutes were circulated in the room prior to this vote. Motion (Joyce Neumann), second (Sandy Raspotnik) to approve the minutes for December, 2024. Carried unanimously. Motion (Angela Stroud), second (Sandy Raspotnik) to approve the minutes for January, 2025. Carried unanimously. Secretary David Siegler noted that we are trying to figure out a way to get the minutes distributed to all members prior to the meeting. David also encouraged people to sign up to staff the office on Saturdays and Thursdays.
12. Drinks with Dems. Katie Saarinen announced a new event, Drinks with Dems, to take place February 19, from 5-7 p.m., at The Alley in Ashland. The idea of the event is to give our members and like-minded individuals a venue to have informal chats and get to know each other, without a formal meeting. Cheq Dems will pay for snacks. Individuals will buy their own drinks, whether an ice tea or lemonade, or something alcoholic. Katie asked everyone to share the Facebook event that will soon be published. Ellie Braddock and Alex Strachota also shared that they organize a weekly potluck at the Washbun Public Library on Wednesdays, starting at 5:30 with a potluck and moving into a meeting at 6:00 p.m., and invited people to sign up for more information.
13. Angela Stroud. Kathleen introduced our 73rd Assembly District Representative, Angela Stroud, and gave her the floor. Angela gave a rousing talk, and entertained comments and questions. She expressed a desire to meet with us every month or as often as we can accommodate her, encouraged everyone to sign up for her newsletter, and urged us all to amplify and share her social media posts, as well as to provide information to her. She told us that phone calls and demonstrations work, and encouraged everyone to keep contacting all of our representatives—the ones we know will support Democratic initiatives and the ones we suspect will not—to encourage them and to let them know their legislative actions are being watched and either appreciated or not.
She discussed how threats to Medicaid are threats to the entire community and not just to people who qualify for Medicaid because of low income. Medicaid funds a lot of services, including mental health and nursing home care, and contributes huge amounts to our economy. Cuts to Medicaid will be felt throughout our communities. Linda Jorgensen and Barb Sorensen added good points to the Medicaid discussion. Angela did express hope that the “Medicaid Post-partum Expansion” bill would have majority support from both parties, but fears that Robin Vos will keep it from the floor simply because it has Democratic support. She recommended that when contacting state legislators we restrict ourselves to contacting our own legislators, (Sen. Romaine Quinn and either Chanz Green in the southern part of our counties, or Angela for the northern tier) with one exception- Robin Vos.
She discussed and endorsed efforts taken by our Attorney General and Governor to resist the Trump agenda, and reiterated how important it is to continue to apply pressure on our elected representatives.
14. Line 5. Jan Penn invited everyone to take a self-guided tour of the proposed Line 5 route. She also invited people to climate justice events, including kite flying during the Snowsnake events at Madeline Island on February 15, and origami fish making at the BATB tent also on February 15.
15. Next meeting. Our next meeting will be Saturday, March 8, 2025, at 10:00 a.m.
16. Adjournment. Motion (Joyce Neumann), second (David Siegler) to adjourn. Carried unanimously. We adjourned at 11:40 a.m.
Respectfully submitted:
David Siegler
Secretary