Baxter County Friends of the Taxpayers

MEETING NOTES

BAXTER COUNTY FRIENDS OF THE TAXPAYERS

SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 2005

BCFT Director Frank Kaye called the meeting to order at 10 am in the main Fellowship Hall of Redeemer Lutheran Church. Twenty-nine members and guests were in attendance.

First of all -- "Thank you!" to everyone who brought canned goods to donate to Redeemer's Food Pantry -- numerous bags found their way into the office! I never did get an exact amount, but Ed Schild told me the unexpected donation was a nice surprise, and greatly appreciated. We'll do this again.

First order of business was the Treasurer's Report. Frank reported that on April 11 he sent in the Ethics Commission financial report for the month of March (due April 15) and the Pre-Election financial report (due April 11); as of April 8, balance in the BCFT checking account stood at $847.78. Since that date, we paid for a 5-day display ad in the Baxter Bulletin (to run from April 13-16 and again on April 18) and made another deposit, bringing the total in the account to $708.58. Another $125 in donations had been received since the deposit was made. Since BCFT was formed in February, we have received donations of over $3500, from as far away as Hot Springs.

Suzan Kaye then gave the Fundraising Committee report. After thanking Vera Hughes for her invaluable assistance with the chili dinner on April 3, other volunteers were thanked for their efforts as well -- the dinner (which was a huge success!) could never have happened without everyone's help. Thank-you notes were mailed to the Commander of the VFW and all businesses that donated door prizes, and would be mailed to volunteers who were not present at the meeting. A thank-you letter was e-mailed to the Baxter Bulletin on April 6, but as of this date had not yet been published (letter also appears on BCFT web site).

Volunteer Reports: Frank thanked Fred Lakes for his "Herculean" efforts in going door-to-door for the past month, passing out brochures and educating the public on the A&P issue. Thanks also to Peter Kapler, president of the local Teen Age Republican Club, who called on some of his cohorts to go door-to-door during their Spring Break, handing out brochures and encouraging people all over Mountain Home to get out and vote.

Ed Schild (coordinator for letters to the editor) thanked everyone who wrote letters to the newspaper, and congratulated those few who were lucky enough to have their letters published. He explained the conflict he was experiencing with the paper over the "frequency" requirement (no more than one letter per month per person) -- that one of his letters, properly timed, was refused, while an A&P commissioner had letters published 2 weeks in a row. Ed stated that he intended to file a complaint with the publisher of the paper via registered mail, and read his letter to the group. Everyone agreed that he should send it in.

Frank thanked Roger Paul (coordinator for speaking engagements, who could not attend the meeting) for lining up all the A&P Tax speaking engagements over the past 2 months. Out of all of them, only one (a Kiwanis Club meeting) was less than enthusiastically received -- all other groups were very receptive. (NOTE: Roger was also instrumental in placing signs at area businesses that were opposed to the A&P Tax -- thanks, Roger!!)

Under New Business, Frank asked what we thought he should say if/when he is interviewed by the media after the election is over. Consensus was "The people have spoken," in one form or another. Frank invited anyone who wished to give further input into the press release to stay after the meeting to discuss it.

The question of staffing an exit poll on April 18 at each of the 4 polling stations was raised. The group agreed that it probably wasn't necessary, and that we didn't really have the manpower needed to effectively cover all locations all day long. Exit polls had already been conducted at the Courthouse during early voting (April 7 and April 15), and percentages were running about 78% against, 22% for. (Thanks again to everyone who volunteered his/her time!)

Lea Chodacki said she was afraid people might not get out to vote because they think the election is already won. For that reason, Frank said, it's even more important that we all get out over the weekend and encourage everyone we see to vote on Monday. Frank reminded the group that a number of people had volunteered to be poll watchers, and to double-check the sign-up sheet before leaving.

Linda Jennings said she never did get the BCFT flyer that was inserted in the Bulletin on Monday, April 11. Frank explained that he had spoken to the advertising rep at the paper about the problem after finding out that about half the flyers didn't go out the first day (apparently a carrier route coding mistake); she promised to get the rest of them out on Tuesday. After receiving calls from people on Wednesday that still had not received the flyers, Frank went back to the ad rep, who showed him the machine that inserts them -- it is ancient and not very reliable, so that some papers get multiple copies and others get none. After the second insertion there were no flyers left over, so she believes the problem was mechanical.

Frank brought up the possibility of needing a second petition drive. A rumor was going around that the Chamber of Commerce and/or the A&P Commission were planning to go to City Hall the day after the election to ask that the A&P Tax be placed back on the City Council's agenda right away. Frank asked for a show of hands to see who would be willing to go through the referendum process again if that should happen -- and the response was unanimous: After the election, the "powers that be" in MH should be on notice that they'd better not try this again!

Rob Welch reported on the library issue. Results of the community needs survey were released on April 11. A total of 685 people responded to the survey (a whopping 1.7% of Baxter Co.'s population); the survey says 61% (of that 1.7%!!) would be in favor of a small millage increase. Rob asked whether BCFT should respond to the survey in the newspaper right away, or wait until the consultant releases the next phase of the plan in May. Consensus was to wait and see what they have to say next month.

The $50,000 appropriation bill sponsored by State Rep Johnny Key was brought up -- Frank said that yes, that bill was passed into legislation, but that there still was no word as to whether the library was actually going to receive the money.

Rob pointed out that many states are closing libraries because so much is available on the Internet -- the traditional library has nearly outlived its usefulness. One member said that we should be very suspicious of the library's attendance numbers; another said that he visits the library nearly every day, and that the meeting room is often full (meetings, computer classes, book sales, etc.), and that if they were counting those people as "users," it wasn't fair.

Al Alves asked if the consultant who did the community needs assessment for the library would receive a 2nd consulting fee for the next phase of the project, and wondered if he had a vested interest. (Group answers to both questions were "probably.")

Frank said that the library received a $50,000 grant (private money) from the Reynolds Foundation to conduct the study. After speaking to some of the library board members recently, Frank learned that the library would most likely ask the Reynolds Foundation for another grant to build the new facility. But before the RF would even consider it, the library would already have to have purchased the land for the new building, and would have to show overwhelming community support for the project. When a board member asked if BCFT would fight the new library every step of the way, Frank told her that we would support the library's use of private funds, and their responsible management of the funds they already receive from the county (allowing that as the county grows and more taxes are received, the library's budget will increase accordingly). But if they ever come to the taxpayers looking for more money, there will be a fight.

Robert Thomas said that the results of the library's survey will be sent to the Reynolds Foundation, and suggested that we send them the results from the last library election (Oct 2003) as well. Frank agreed that it was a good idea, and asked Robert to put the information together.

In other new business, Frank reported that plans are still in the works to get together with State Senator Shawn Womack and State Rep Johnny Key to try to get the wording in the A&P Tax code changed.

Jim Bond volunteered to be in charge of picking up yard signs after the election. He told everyone that he believes the tax will get voted back in, so please pick up signs on Tuesday and make plans to store them until next time. Members who do not wish to store the signs at home can deliver them to Frank Kaye's house (1118 Heatherdown Trail) or to the Safety of Seniors office on Hwy 62 E (across from Radio Shack). Or bring them to the next meeting. Two members reported having some of their signs stolen; Frank told them that if the signs were "theirs," they should feel free to report the theft to the police.

Ed Schild asked, "What happens if the election is a tie?" Frank said he didn't know, and would have to ask the question.

Frank adjourned the meeting at 11:45, with one last admonition to get the word out to MH to GO VOTE!! He then turned the floor over to Jerry Caster, president of the local AARP Chapter. Jerry talked about the need to stay organized and bring in new (younger) people. He invited those who were not yet members of the local chapter to join, and explained that Frank and Rob Welch were the local chapter's legislative advocates and that they were scheduled to attend a training class in Little Rock on the 19th. Jerry also encouraged everyone to visit the hospital's annual Health Fair and Senior Expo at the Fairgrounds on April 20-21.

April 22, 2005

Suzan Kaye

Secretary, BCFT

424-6235