Baxter County Friends of the Taxpayers

MEETING NOTES

BAXTER COUNTY FRIENDS OF THE TAXPAYERS

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2005

Twenty-three BCFT members met Saturday, February 26, 2005, at the Redeemer Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall. Frank Kaye called the meeting to order at 10 AM and thanked Ed Schild and Pastor Taglauer for being given the opportunity to meet at the church.

Frank reported that the Ethics Commission paperwork had been filed before the deadline, and that he and Treasurer Bill Clark had gone to Bank of America and opened a checking account for the organization. Anyone wishing to make a donation by check can make the check out to "Friends of the Taxpayers." (Donations totaling $705 were collected by the end of the meeting.)

Next order of business was the proposed fundraiser. In order to do all the advertising required between now and the election (YARD SIGNS [1st choice on survey], DISPLAY ADs in BB [2nd choice], and the FLYERS in BB [3rd choice]), a fundraiser will be a necessity. No one volunteered to be chairperson and the subject died. (After the meeting, Suzan Kaye and Vera Hughes teamed up to organize a "Chili & Chocolate" dinner, scheduled for Sunday, April 3. More info to come.)

On the subject of yard signs, Frank reported that Lewis Sign had given us a good price on the signs (18"x24", printed 2 sides, with stakes). Several members thought that selling the signs to people to place in their yards was a good idea, and would help recoup some of the cost of producing them. Jerry Caster & Chuck Barnes (who volunteered to be chairman of the sign committee) offered to sell signs around town. (After the meeting, it was decided to order a larger quantity [500] at a lower price per sign; it will be slightly more expensive overall, but Frank and Suzan will pick up any difference in the cost, if we can't come up with additional donations. The order goes in Monday, March 7, with a deposit of 50% of the total cost; turnaround time is about a week.) Ed Schild loaned BCFT $1000 to underwrite the production cost of the signs. Thank you, Ed!!

Sign-up sheet for yard sign commitments was passed around; several people signed, pledging to sell signs to folks to post in their yards.

Next the need for door-to-door volunteers was discussed. Because only about a quarter of the registered voters in MH were contacted during the petition drive, it's important for us to keep making the rounds and talking to as many people as possible. Sign-up sheet was passed around. Brochures are being prepared and can be handed out as needed. (First run of 500 brochures was prepared Monday, Feb. 28, with donated materials and copy-machine time [thanks to Jerry Caster and Safety of Seniors]; it cost $5 at H&S Printing to have the copies folded by machine. Next run of brochures will be prepared entirely at H&S ($40/1000, including folding) - static electricity from the copy machine caused a real problem during the folding process, and we lost about 10% of the brochures; having them offset printed will eliminate that issue.)

Ed Schild volunteered to be contact man for letters to the editor. He will get in touch with everyone to find out when his or her letters were submitted to the Baxter Bulletin. It was suggested that all letters that get submitted be sent to Frank & Suzan (fkaye53@yahoo.com) who will send them out to the group (since Ed doesn't have e-mail; the letters aren't making it into the paper -- that way we can all read them).

Roger Paul volunteered to be in charge of lining up speaking engagements. He also notified the group that he had prepared an article about the upcoming election to be published in the April issue of the Moose newsletter. In calling around to different civic groups to ask if one of our group could give a presentation, he received a "yes" from the Republican Men's Club, but "no" from the Republican Ladies and Driftwood Bowling Alley. Carl Graves suggested contacting the Elks Club; Ed Schild suggested Outlook Pointe and other independent living facilities. Businesses in town noted as being against the tax now include Riverlake Lanes (Joe Smith); Coffee Cup restaurant; Subway sandwich shop; and Safety of Seniors. (Speaking engagements already on the calendar include the Redeemer Lutheran "Fun Club" on March 11; Republican Men's Club March 15; Polish-American Club March 21; an interview on XL-7 TV March 24; and a radio debate with Ricky Johnson March 29.)

Next, the need for poll watchers at the upcoming election was discussed. Early voting begins April 4; a poll watcher will be needed at the courthouse every day from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM (Mon-Fri). A sign-up sheet was passed around. Also on April 18, poll watchers will be needed at all 4 polling locations (First Baptist Church, Village Mall, Fairgrounds and East Side Baptist Church); a sign-up sheet was passed around for that. The last person to work each location will be considered the "poll closer" and will be responsible for escorting the ballot box from the polling location to the Courthouse for tabulation.

The question was asked whether or not poll watchers need to be city residents or registered voters. Frank will talk to Rhonda Porter or Sue Dodd at the Courthouse and report back to the group at the next meeting.

Final order of business was the A&P Commission open forum meeting, scheduled for Thursday, March 3, from 5-7 PM at the Van Matre Senior Center at Cooper Park. Should BCFT go or not? Consensus was yes, that we should quietly hand out our brochures to those in attendance, ask questions if/when the opportunity arises and be respectful and polite.

Meeting adjourned a little before noon.

Sunday, March 6, 2005

Suzan Kaye (424-6235)

Secretary, BCFT