Dublin Republican Club
Regular Membership Meeting – Thursday, March 12, 2015
6:30 PM @ Shades at Muirfield
Dublin, Ohio
Minutes
Leadership Team Attendees: Charles McClenaghan, President, JD Kaplan, VP/ Co-Chair Communications & Publicity, Stephanie Ramsey, Secretary, Dennis Damon, Co-Chair Events, Parade Subcommittee: Steve Brown, and Reagan Brown, Madysen George, guest Brittany Hinkle, Dublin Scioto High School Student Republican Stars.
Complete attendance roster on file.
After thirty minutes informal social, the meeting was called to order by President Chas McClenaghan at 7:00PM. He welcomed attendees and introduced Dublin Vice Mayor, Rick Gerber who greeted the group and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Chas then introduced Tony Paat, candidate for Judge of the Franklin County Municipal Court and current Magistrate in that court. He was invited to provide information on his background and, especially, duties and experience as Magistrate. His overview provided the following: Served as Magistrate for 26 on the Municipal Court and served as prosecutor prior to that. He discussed the difference between the jurisdiction of the Municipal and Common Pleas Courts and the role of the Magistrate in addressing the docket of the Municipal Court Judge. The office of Franklin County Magistrate is the busiest in the state. Following his comments, he led the assembly in an opening prayer.
Chas reintroduced Vice Mayor Rick Gerber who left the meeting at that point because of a conflicting commitment. Before he left, he gave a short overview of the role of the Vice Mayor in the Dublin City Council and particularly, as he saw his role as representative of the citizens of Dublin addressing the critical community issues of taxation and city operating expenses, property taxes and income taxes. He emphasized the goals of constantly trying to attract and keep businesses in the community as well as maintaining the highest credit rating held by Dublin. He confirmed his intention to run for City Council office in the next election. Prior to leaving the meeting he thanked the group for the invitation to attend and participate.
Tony Paat also left the meeting at this point due to schedule conflict.
Officer Reports: Chas requested Officer Reports as follows:
Ø Secretary’s Report: Motion to waive reading of the Minutes of the previous meeting was approved unanimously. (Noted that Minutes are posted on the DRC website.)
Ø Treasurer’s Report: JD Kaplan reported that the treasury balance is approximately $900.00. Most recent significant expense is $135.00 for website renewal. He noted that future expense may include that of arranging a larger venue for the appearance of Secretary of State John Husted in May as the current location will most likely not be large enough to accommodate the expected attendance.
Ø Membership Committee: Not available
Ø Volunteer Committee: Mary Mulroy reported that the Volunteer Committee is growing especially with the addition of our high school group and their parents.
Ø Communications Committee: JD Kaplan
· JD reported that the DRC contributed 22 pounds of food to the Dublin Food Bank last month!
· The website continues to grow and provide lots of news, general information and useful links.
· Addresses for e-mail blasts has grown from 146 to 1070!
· JD requested that attendees take the time to complete a survey available on site to provide feedback, recommendations, etc. on the DRC before leaving the meeting in order to assist the further development of DRC program
· This year’s Franklin County GOP annual LINCOLN-REAGAN Dinner is scheduled for March 28, 2015 and will be held at the Hyatt Regency on North High Street in Columbus. The standard admission price is $100.00. HOWEVER, DRC members pay only $50.00 per person. DRC goal is to reserve 10 tables of 10. Details on DRC website.
Ø Events Committee: Dennis Damon
· Dennis thanked Brandi Wielgopolski (absent) for her efforts on the committee, the Parade Sub-committee and elected/candidate attendees (Senator Jim Hughes, Vice Mayor Rick Gerber and candidate Tony Paat) for joining the DRC meeting.
· He announced that Mike Duffey, Ohio Representative 21st District will be speaker at the Regular meeting in April. Secretary of State, John Husted will be speaker in May.
· He invited Stephanie Ramsey, Steve Brown, and Reagan Brown to report on plans for DRC participation at the Dublin St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday, March 14. Details of member participation and logistics were provided to the group.
President’s Comments:
· Chas recognized the two young women in attendance from Dublin Scioto High School, Reagan Brown and Madysen George who were both selected to be representatives to the Buckeye Girls State. Each were interviewed and, for the first time, there was a tie for the award! Each will participate in the 8 days of civic exercises learning about the workings of government and the duties of various offices as well as a mock government exercise and competition for election of Governor. Reagan and Madysen commented that their motivation was to address the startling lack of political knowledge among their peer group by working to increase awareness and knowledge of governance. To that end, they expressed their goal of increasing their own knowledge and involvement in the political process
· Lincoln-Reagan Dinner: Ushers for the dinner are being recruited among young volunteers. Ushers will be admitted at no charge to the dinner. Chas invited the Dublin Scioto High Schoolers to consider the opportunity and to spread the word among their peers.
· Chas recognize Susie O’Brien, member of the State Central Committee in attendance.
Introduction of Senator Jim Hughes: Chas introduced the evening’s speaker Senator Jim Hughes giving a brief summary of his professional career as he continues to serve his second term in the Ohio Senate representing the 16th District. He currently serves as Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Financial Institutions, is a member of the Criminal Justice Committee, Finance Committee, Insurance Committee, Civil Justice Committee, Rules & Reference Committee and the Finance Higher Education Subcommittee.
Senator Hughes began his remarks acknowledging the contributions and hard work of Dublin Vice Mayor Rick Gerber and that of Judicial candidate Tony Paat. He expressed his appreciation on having someone of Rick’s caliber to work with on the issues that affect his large district of which Dublin is a part. He also noted the significant experience that Tony Paat brings to his candidacy, including service as prosecutor under Ron O’Brien.
He reflected on his own background growing up in politics with his father serving Dublin in office. Senator Hughes began his career in public service as a bailiff court constable in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. He later became an assistant prosecutor in the Columbus City Prosecutor's Office and later, an Assistant County Prosecutor for Franklin County. In late 2000, he was selected to serve the remainder of a term in the Ohio House of Representatives and was re-elected to that post four times. In 2008, he was elected to the Ohio Senate, a position he was re-elected to in 2012. He also spoke with pride of his family.
He addressed the important issue of the budget situation in Ohio and pointed out that 90% of Dublin tax dollars is used to fund our own schools. Other bills under consideration/development include:
· Revision of statute of limitations on rape. Over thirty states do not have that limitation
· Revamping the mortgage payoff penalty
· Renaming the airport segment of I-670 in honor of the late Mayor Buck Reinhart who worked hard for the extension and secured funding in 1984 for the project
· Attorney General Mike DeWIne’s legislative initiative to increase the penalty on the 1% of those who generate the highest percentage of criminal activity, F4’s and F-5’s…. “the worst of the worst.”
He expressed his appreciation for the work of the Dublin Republican Club as the “backbone of the party” in getting the message out to the Community. He’s proud to be a member of the DRC!
Senator Hughes then took questions/comments from the audience:
· Kudos on passage of the “Puppy Bill” from JD Kaplan
· Legislative considerations:
- Term limit extension from 8 to 12 years
- Redistricting
- Legalization of Marijuana
· Proposal on Constitutional Amendments in Ohio can be addressed in 2 ways:
- Through Legislative action
- Through Citizen action
· Future of Buckeye Lake: Response – Not in Favor of draining the lake
· Advice to young pre-voters/voters: Get more young people involved in the Republican Clubs
- Stage fun events like pizza parties that are short, fun and with plenty of notice
- Volunteer in political offices. His office has young volunteers and he makes sure that they have engaging, interesting work with opportunities to observe the political process not just support administrative tasks
- “GET INVOLVED!” Come down and see how it works.
- Make it fun and don’t get discouraged!
Senator Hughes concluded his comments at 7:55PM
Respectfully submitted: Stephanie Ramsey, Secretary March 16, 2015