- at 5:00pm - 9:00pm
- Invited by Jim Conklin
6:15 Buffet is started
7:00 Roast Begins (Moderator to be announced)
Updated: Monday, 9 November 2015 6:50 PM CST
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at 5:00pm - 9:00pm |
Invited by Jim Conklin |
Whispers on the Wind have relayed to your chronicler...
That the residents of the Cottage Grove Place senior living area discovered during the recent city election that their 2016 Republican County Caucus will NOT be in the usual venue in their neighborhood.
And...
They are NOT pleased.
Traditionally, Iowa Caucuses were assemblies of neighbors gathered together in their neighborhoods, where they decided who their representatives would be in the local party structure.
It seems now to have been altered into a media event for the glorification of a few members of the local party.
The precinct that Cottage Grove Place is in has quite a few elderly Republicans.
They prefer these events to be in their own precinct, as they do not like doing a lot of driving at night.
They also do not feel safe downtown at night.
Now, some may dispute this attitude and claim downtown is "in no way unsafe."
However, the possible truth of that claim cannot alter the fact that many of these people do not feel safe there. Nor does it alter the fact that their feelings were apparently neither sought nor taken into account.
In the past, we have had no problem organizing individual Caucuses in almost all of Linn County's 86 precincts. (There is a case for consolidating a few that don't seem to have as many registered Republican residents.)
But the current Linn County Republican Central Committe Chair and Executive Committee saw fit to purge the people who previously were heavily involved in the Caucus process, and replace them with their own allies.
For those who might be interested in how this will affect them, I have obtained the proposed Precinct Caucus locations, which have not, as of yet, I'm told, been reviewed by the Chair, so they are "preliminary."
You can see them HERE. I am sorry that the first page is almost illegible, but this was the best sample available.
Maps of the County and Precincts can be found HERE.
(And, if you need to know your local precinct name, you may find that information HERE.)
At least we did not end up with their original plan, which we understood to be all precincts in one location.
Having heard that the original plan would have surely cost a lot more than we have in the treasury, my understanding is that they have adopted a modified plan that will, by comparison, only take almost everything we have in the treasury.
Then, in addition, there was the rumored desire to link all the sites together with closed circuit TV for a media event.
Last word was that a closed circuit TV system would cost an additional amount almost equal to everything we have in the treasury...so that might not pan out.
Another function of our caucuses is for those who wish to be delegates at our county, district, and state Republican conventions to sign up and pay their delegate fees to the county.
Our county is allocated 167 seats at the District and State Conventions at $50 a seat.
We have to pay for ALL the seats, or NONE of the delegates from Linn County will even be seated at the District and State Conventions, let alone have the opportunity to speak or vote.
So, REGARDLESS of how many people sign up at their Caucus to be delegates at the Conventions, and regardless of how many pay their convention fees, the Linn County Republican Central Committee will be required to remit $8,350 to the Republican Party of Iowa for convention fees.
If Linn County does not have the funds to pay, the largest county in the district, and the 2nd largest county in the state, will NOT have representation at District and State Conventions.
Previously, that would not have been a problem. When the present Chair, Cindy Golding, took over from the previous chair, we had an attendance at meetings of about 200.
She and the present Executive Committee have, since that time, managed to alienate and/or disenfranchise about 90% of the previous membership.
This has resulted in about 40 attendees at our meetings, split almost 50/50 in opinion.
They, of course, label anyone pointing out these facts and their attending consequences as "divisive;"
When the truth is that THEIR "divisive" practices and tactics have virtually destroyed what was a very effective and active County Central Commitee.
At least, it was very effective and active until they got their hands on it.
In any event, we are facing interesting times.
Most people show up for Caucuses at the last moment.
I cringe to think how getting them checked in is going to work out with the few remaining volunteers who have not been driven away.
I mean, we are, after all, talking about a chairperson who once had a screaming fit at a volunteer who was putting more than 5 mints on each table before an event.
Such practices do not encourage volunteer involvement .
Some of us recall that in the Local Elections 4 years ago both City Hall, the Library and the Gazette
Were quite firm in their assertions that the Library could be run on no more why even LESS then in the past
Fact-checking in Cedar Rapids' at-large council race
Justin Wasson said the city is building a downtown library that is too big, too nice and too expensive. He said the city is getting a "giant" library downtown that is "significantly bigger than the older library" In the end, with the cost to maintain the building, "I'm going to be paying off this library for the rest of my life."
The Gazette's Fact Check Claim was
Determination: Mostly fiction
Why: The city's former downtown library at 500 First St. SE was 84,000 square feet in size. The new library will be 94,000 square feet, with more space for children and teens, library officials said.
The new $49 million library is being built without local property taxes. The money comes from a mix of federal disaster funds, a state I-JOBS grant, private donations and $4 million in revenue from the city's local option sales tax, which already has been collected.
Bob Pasicznyuk, the city's library director, said Thursday the operational costs at the new library will not be any larger than the operational costs at the old one, and may be less.
That same claim was made during the online debate on the Iowa Conservative;Union's Facebook Fanpage
So WHY the sudden need for the maximum Levy?
Well it might be a case of the Old Bait and Switch because AFTER
they made those claims they decided they needed and INCREASE in Funding
City of Cedar Rapids Proposed Budget
When looking at Politics and/or Criminal Activity they sometimes Say
Follow the Money
That could be fitting in the case of the Library Levy or Follow the Yellow Brick Road.
Could also be fitting
Because there does seem to be a lot of Smoke and Mirrors and Illusion involved.
In
Cedar Rapids Library levy fails, board to shift course
Mayor Corbett said the jump from a small levy to the request for a 27-cent one may have factored in Tuesday’s defeat. He said he could imagine a request of voters down the line for a library levy smaller than 27 cents, but larger than 4 cents.
Which leads to the question, Why? Why such a big jump when just a short time ago they said nothing like that necessity could be farther from the Truth?
In
Fact-checking in Cedar Rapids' at-large council race
Justin Wasson said the city is building a downtown library that is too big, too nice and too expensive. He said the city is getting a "giant" library downtown that is "significantly bigger than the older library" In the end, with the cost to maintain the building, "I'm going to be paying off this library for the rest of my life."
The Gazette's Fact Check Claim was
Determination: Mostly fiction
Why: The city's former downtown library at 500 First St. SE was 84,000 square feet in size. The new library will be 94,000 square feet, with more space for children and teens, library officials said.
The new $49 million library is being built without local property taxes. The money comes from a mix of federal disaster funds, a state I-JOBS grant, private donations and $4 million in revenue from the city's local option sales tax, which already has been collected.
Bob Pasicznyuk, the city's library director, said Thursday the operational costs at the new library will not be any larger than the operational costs at the old one, and may be less.
That same claim was made during the online debate on the Iowa Conservative;Union's Facebook Fanpage
So where did the money go?
If the 4 years ago it was mostly fiction that we might not be able to afford the operating costs of the Library.
And it was TRUE that the new Library was going to cost no more, maybe less to run than the Old Library.
Where did all he Money go?
Why do they now claim that they not only need to raise the Library Levy but raise it 575% to the Maximum Legal Limit?
We now have new City Council Members along with the ones already in office.
It will be maybe a year before they can bring this back up.
How about those Public Servants answering this question?
What is the DIFFERENCE between the Old Library Budget and the New one that cause this drastic change in claims.
Where did ALL the Money go?
If the Wizard Corbett does not know.
Maybe one of the Flying Monkeys does.
Guest Post by Bill Dahlsten
"Over the years, city voters had been willing to approve a library levy of 4 cents per $1,000 of taxable assessed property valuation to buy books, but the small levy lapsed in 2014.
Corbett said the jump from a small levy to the request for a 27-cent one may have factored in Tuesday’s defeat. He said he could imagine a request of voters down the line for a library levy smaller than 27 cents, but larger than 4 cents." The Cedar Rapids Gazette, Nov. 4, 2015.
This is one of the most commonly used tools to convince people that they should vote for something without looking at the details or the fine print,
I mean really? Who doesn't care about the children
And without having to show any proof or rationale they can demonise those who do not agree with them with NOT caring about the Children
We see this yet again in the online debate furiously going on HERE
Like · Reply · Commented on by Bill Dahlsten · · Edited
In responce to another commenter she also asked, "How many Families have Wi-Fi?
Yes it is true that not every family has Wi-Fi but I believe most Hy-Vees do,
Why would anyone drive all the way downtown to use something that they can get at their neighborhoold grocery?
Where the coffee and pop refills are free I might add.
No if you look at some of the details of the Library budget kindly provided by another commenter
You might see that in addition to traditional Library expenses there seem to be quite a few what I think of as NON Library expenses
Leading me to believe SOME of our Public Servants have been RAIDING the Library Budget
For things that might be worth doing but they have been going in the backdoor and skimming funds meant for the Library for their own pet projects and now have a problem.
They spent all the Library money,
Now they have to convince us not to just raise the levy but to raise it almost 600% to the maximum limit?
What will they want to raise next?
So if you want a healthy sustainable Library and you really care about the Children and the Future of the Library
Vote NO
Tell our public servants to send someone to Des Moines, a city that has twice our population.
But they manage to run their library without spending as much as we do,.
Maybe they have something to teach us?
Tomorrow November 3rd, we will be allowed to go to the polls and vote to determine the shape of our local government
And as has been the case most of the time recently we will get to decide whether or not our Taxes will be raised.
The City has decided it can no longer run the Library on the Funds it has available and therefore needs to raise the Library Levy from 4¢ per $1000 to 27¢ per $1000
An increase of 575% in our Library Tax.
This is odd considering just few years ago they were telling us a totally different story.
I have a young friend who was running for a seat on the Town Council who made a few statements on the subject and the Gazette ran a Fact Checking Article which determined that what he said was
Mostly Fiction?
In a Wednesday evening debate, candidates Justin Wasson, 23, and Carl Cortez, 66, were generally critical of post-flood decisions made by the city council, while candidate Ann Poe, 58, defended the post-flood spending on the downtown library, saying, "you can't have a good apple if the core is rotten."
Here's a look at some of the claims made by the three candidates during the debate and whether the statements were fact, mostly factual, half true, mostly fiction or fiction.
Issue: Is the new library too big, expensive?
Claim: Wasson thinks the city is building a downtown library that is too big, too nice and too expensive. He said the city is getting a "giant" library downtown that is "significantly bigger than the older library" In the end, with the cost to maintain the building, "I'm going to be paying off this library for the rest of my life."
Determination: Mostly fiction
Why: The city's former downtown library at 500 First St. SE was 84,000 square feet in size. The new library will be 94,000 square feet, with more space for children and teens, library officials said.
The new $49 million library is being built without local property taxes. The money comes from a mix of federal disaster funds, a state I-JOBS grant, private donations and $4 million in revenue from the city's local option sales tax, which already has been collected.
Bob Pasicznyuk, the city's library director, said Thursday the operational costs at the new library will not be any larger than the operational costs at the old one, and may be less.
Isn't INTERESTING in just a few short years the City and the Gazette have gone from the Library costs too much to run being
Mostly Fiction
To
We must Raise the Library Levy 575%
Now did they LIE to us?
Or are they just so INCOMPETENT that we should NEITHER believe a word they say NOR let them touch any Tax Payer Funds.
There has been a furious debate on the Iowa Conservative Fanpage in responce to this ad
You should go there and put YOUR 2¢ in and see what others have said
One thing I learned was that the
" CR Library has a budget that far exceeds that of
Des Moines. "
Which makes me think that we HAVE the answer.
We don't need to Raise Taxes
We just need to send someone to
Des Moines
To find out how to run a Library
I received requests from a couple of the LCRCC Executives to help spread the word about this event.
There are two things to take into consideration.
1. This lady is always well worth listening to.
2. The breakfast is being held at the Kirkwood Center, and THEY have a great reputation for cuisine!
Go Hear and Enjoy!
at 8:30am - 10:30am |
Tickets can be
Obtained HERE
II. ASSISTANT COMMITTEE PERSONS The County Central Committee shall have the power to designate and select additional members from each precinct to assist the Committee persons. They shall have the right to attend meetings and to be heard. They shall not have the right to vote, except in the absence of a Committee person form their own precinct.
A Case has been made that this accomadation cannot be found in the County, and State Constitutions nor the State Election Code which all state.
The County Central Committee shall consist of two precinct committee members elected from each precinct at the precinct caucuses. The Constitution of the Republican Party of Iowa permits a provision to be adopted in the County by-laws for the election of additional Central Committee members from each precinct in a number proportionate to the Republican vote cast in the precinct at the last preceding general election for President of the United States or for the Governor of Iowa, as the case may be.
I could point out that it does not prohibit it either and the last time I checked we did not live under a standard of Law where anything not Mandatory was Forbidden
I could also point out that what we have does not add a single extra Vote to the Central Committee it only allows the Assistants to step in and represent their Precinicts when a Permanent Member is absent
But just for a bit for the sake of Debate let us stipulate their claim.
In that case we MUST vote against the By Law Change because what has been mailed out to us is a a plan that does NOT add additional Central Committee members from each precinct in a number proportionate to the Republican vote cast in the precinct at the last preceding general election for President of the United States or for the Governor of Iowa, as the case may be.
I submit we cannot rationalise abolishing the Assistant Committee Persons because a provision for them is not in the Constitutions and the Election Code only to replace it with something that is not in their either.
It seems in their continuing efforts to create Second Class Committee People they propose a new classification.
Associate Commitee Persons who will not ba able to Vote, or Make Motions they will be able to engage in Debate (If the Chair decides to recognize them)
I have been told there is no prohibition against them voting in Team Meetings but then off course the Executive Committee has already chosen who will be allowed to do that.
Nope it would appear that our New Second Class Associate Committee Persons will only be allowed to do the Work,.
I had a man recently tell me that before the Executives Disenfranchised him and quite a few others who worked on Sub Committees he was on 3 but had not been asked to be on any Team and indeed saw no point
Since he would have no say in anything.
I will probably vote against these measures or at a minimum move to amend the Associate to be allowed to make motions.
It is kind of sad.
When our present Chair Cindy Golding took over from the Former Chair our meetings sometimes numbered 200 attendees or so.
We used 2 to 3 rooms the size we do now.
Our events were attended by similiar numbers, We had volunteers stacked on top of each other.
We had gone from Dead Broke in 2 short years to a Treasury of over 20K
Now?
Attendence has dropped by about 80% a large number of those still attending have been disenfranchised ie have no real vote or say outside of hte General Meeting
And now it seems in their quest for Control and Power the Executives Plan to Disenfranchise even more of the remains of the Body.
I am certain this will be reflected by a Boom in Participation.,