Newsletter of the Platte County Democratic
Central Committee
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Volume 12 No. 8 August 2020 |
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Calendar
September 7 - Labor Day
September 14 - Platte County Federated Women's Club - Virtual meeting. Members who want to join in should contact Rita McGuire: ritakay638@gmail.com , 816-225-4506.
September 17 - Platte County Democratic Central Committee - Virtual meeting. 7:00 pm. Contact dems@plattedems.org for Zoom link.
September 22 - In person Absentee voting begins. Allowed for Absentee but NOT mail-in ballots; mail-in ballots must be submitted by mail and RECEIVED (not post-marked) no later than November 3.
Other Events:
Clay County Democrats - click here.
Jackson County Democrats - click here.
Indivisible Kansas City - click here.
Greater KC Women's Caucus - click here.
Heartland Alliance for Progress - click here.
Northland Progress - click here.
ResistHate KC - click here.
Buchanan County Democrats - click here.
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Information on 2020 Democratic Candidates |
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Information on our local, state and national candidates is available on our website. Click here.
This includes websites, Facebook and Twitter connections. Remember they need your help now with their campaigns and donations to fuel the fire.
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Biden/Harris Yard Signs Now Available !!! |
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We have plenty!
Get one for yourself and one for your friend!
A $10 contribution to Platte County Democrats
for each Biden Yard Sign will get it DELIVERED to your home!
All proceeds will be used to help Platte County candidates
in the 2020 Fall election.
You can also request free yard signs from
our other candidates to be delivered with your Biden/Harris sign
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Platte County Democrats Virtual Election Headquarters |
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Due to Covid-19, we are protecting the health of our volunteers, the public and our candidates by having a virtual headquarters this year.
We have set up a webpage that provides all the information available for an Election Headquarters during a pandemic. Information concerning volunteers, yard signs, notaries and more to be added soon.
You can access our Virtual Election Headquarters information here !
The hard work by all of us will be sure to Turn Platte Blue!
Platte County Democratic Central Committee
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Views on Platte County Government by David Park |
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DID PLATTE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS BREAK THE LAW?
The commissioners wanted voters to approve the Parks and Police issues on the August ballot so they paid over $43,000 to Clout Public Affairs to help “provide information” to the public. It might be more accurate to say you and I paid $43,000 because the commissioners used our money to make the payment.
Consider Missouri State Law:
“Section 115.646 RSMo. Public funds expenditure by political subdivision officer or employee, prohibited – personal appearances permitted. No contribution or expenditure of public funds shall be made directly by any officer, employee or agent of any political subdivision to advocate, support, or oppose any ballot measure or candidate for public office. This section shall not be construed to prohibit any public official of a political subdivision from making public appearances or from issuing press releases concerning any such ballot measure. (emphasis added).”
Perhaps you received one of the seven mailers prepared and mailed by Clout Public Affairs. I received all of them. In small print in the corner, each says “Paid For By The Platte County Commission For Information Purposes Only”. Were these mailers designed and mailed “to inform voters” or “to advocate for or support” the ballot measures? That is the question to be answered to determine whether they violated the law.
There are almost 64,000 registered voters in Platte County. The contract with Clout Public Affairs indicated seven mailers would be sent to 7,230 separate addresses to reach a total of 9,476 voters. Doing the math reveals that taxpayers spent $4.54 for each voter that commissioners deemed worthy of being informed. For the same money, one less costly mailer could have been sent to all registered voters. This looks more like a campaign strategy designed to “advocate or support” the ballot questions rather than simply an effort to provide information.
Consider the design of the mailers as well. Could you have been informed about the ballot questions with smaller, less glitzy mailers? They looked like typical campaign mailers to me.
Whether a violation of state law or not, in my opinion it was at least wasteful spending.
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Platte County Federated Women's Democratic Club |
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The Women’s Club met via Zoom on August 10th. The first order of business was deciding how to distribute donations to our candidates. We decided to support our candidate U. S. House of Representatives, Gina Ross; our candidate for Platte County Commissioner - District 2, David Park; our candidates for State Representative in District 11 - Brady O’Dell, Wade Kiefer -District 12, Victor Abundis - District 13 and Ashley Aune – District 14. Later the Club decided via email to make a donation to Maggie Nurrenbern – District 15.
Next, Paula Willmarth gave a report on the status of the Platte County Health Department with regard to CARES Act funding that is going through the Platte County Commission. The Commission has decided that CARES Act funding should go to a small business program. The Platte County Landmark has consistently reported on how the Commission is distributing the 12.2 Million Dollars allocated to Platte County. The Commission has allocated $0.00 to the Platte County Health Department. The Commission has allocated $0.00 dollars to Kansas City Missouri.
“The Platte County Commission has been in control of $12.2 million in federal CARES Act dollars that were passed on to the county through the state treasurer’s office, with distribution based on population.
The state treasurer early in the process asked the county to pass $6 million on to the City of Kansas City, since about half of Platte County’s population is made up of residents who live within the city limits of Kansas City. The county commission to this point has not passed any of the $12.2 million on to Kansas City or to any other public entity, such as the Platte County Health Department.” Platte County Landmark August 6, 2020. For more detail about how the Platte County Commission has handled CARES funding see the following articles:
“Lack of funding puts free Covid testing in Jeopardy” Plattte County Landmark, August 8, 2020
Following a discussion of the Platte County Commission’s handling of the CARES Act funding, the Women’s Club noted that David Park is an excellent Candidate for the County Commission District 2 but that we have no Democratic Candidate for District 1. If we are to have any hope of changing the direction of the County Commission we need to find a write-in Candidate for District 1. Please Platte County Democrats, if you are interested in running or know someone who might make a good Candidate, please contact us at dems@plattedems.org. The deadline to file form 5120 with the Platte County Board of Elections is October 24th. If we can find a candidate to file, we will do all we can to help organize the effort to get your name out to County voters.
The Women’s Club New Year began on July 1, 2020. If you have not paid your 2020-2021 dues please send $25 to: Helen Weigman, 21330 Burrus Rd, Weston MO 64098.
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Platte Country Democratic Central Committee |
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The PCDCC met August 13th for a virtual Zoom 2020 Organizing Meeting. The first order of business was the election of officers for the two years until 2022 Primary election. The New officers are: David Christian Chair, Wanda Park, Vice Chair; John Kirchmeier, Treasurer; and Alice Wadsworth, Secretary. The Chairman for the 13th District is Stacy Webb and the Vice Chair is Bob Dixon. The Chairman for the 14th District is Ken Hunt and the Vice Chair is Paula Willmarth.
David Christian announced that the State Democratic Committee will pay for the Coordinated Campaign and outreach to rural counties. They may do some meetings in support of statewide campaigns.
Wanda Park asked for volunteers to write post cards for David Park, Candidate for County Commission, District 2 to be mailed out in early October.
David Christian asked for volunteers to work on strategies for the 2020 campaign season including the decision on how much funding we want to contribute to various campaigns. The committee will be David Christian, Ken Hunt, Alice Wadsworth and John Kirchmeier.
Wanda Park raised the question of what we want to do for the Fall fundraiser. As it seems likely we will still be coping with the Covid-19 epidemic, we do not expect to hold an in-person event. An on-line fund raiser to request donations from individuals and Unions is being considered. We hope to consolidate our Facebook Pages and to keep them updated on a regular basis.
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Information From The Missouri Democratic Party |
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Democratic Insider - August 29 - From MDP. Click here.
New Voting information for November 3 - from MDP - Click here.
#AdoptAvote
Increase voter registration. From Missouri Democratic Party. Info.
TO GET CURRENT MDP UPDATES DIRECT TO YOUR MAILBOX - CLICK HERE
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Here’s Why an Accurate Census Count Is So Important, Click here.
If you have not filled out your 2020 CENSUS FORM - DO IT NOW!
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