Alcona County Republicans
Meeting Minutes
March 24, 2025
Opening:
The meeting was called to order by Jeff Dobbs at the Alcona EMS building on M-72 at 7:02pm.
Executive Committee Present:
Jeff Dobbs
Jess Dobbs
Judy French
Jim White
Andy Jamieson
Carrie Mullins
William Sickner
Bob Turek
Absent:
Nelson French
Frank Grubbs
Call to Order:
7:02pm
Invocation & Pledge of Allegiance:
Pledge of Allegiance done, and Invocation given by Jeff Dobbs.
Chairman’s Welcome:
Jeff welcomed everyone who attended our first official meeting of the 2025 year, including a few new faces. He thanked Roger Finch, Laurie Szczesny, Cyndi Apsey and David Yagst for attending, along side our board members.
Business:
District Caucus & State Convention Update
Jeff talked about the District Caucus that was held on February 21, 2025, and the details within the chaos that ensued. Daire Rendon was re-elected as Chair for the 1st Congressional District, and our own Jess Dobbs was re-elected and will remain Chairwoman of the Communications Committee within the 1st Congressional District.
William spoke on the caucus, and thought that the slate method of voting was a necessity, considering the chaos the other side wanted and did cause throughout the night. He was disappointed in the politicians like Ed McBroom making motions to vote via secret ballots, when we are clearly there to vote in a clear manner that represents our Precincts. He was pleased with how voting did end up taking place, which was via standing room vote (yes goes to one side, and no to the other side of the room.)
Jim White made the motion to eject the drunk person who caused most of the raucous at the caucus, Dennis Lennox. Dennis was clearly there with an agenda to cause division, and writes for the Detroit News. He’s been divisive in the past too, if you research his involvement with John Yob and others. Meshawn Maddock told Jess personally, that Dennis was nearly thrown out of her after-caucus party for being “sloshed” and causing problems there too.
On a positive note for the 1st Congressional District’s caucus, was that even with the chaos of the night, ours was out at around 10pm, while some other Districts were stuck in their caucuses until well past Midnight.
The State Convention on Saturday went much smoother than conventions in the past, and was a welcome reprieve after the caucus the night before. Jim Runestad was elected as Chairman of the MIGOP with Bernadette Smith as his Co-Chair. Administrative Vice Chair is Cheryl Constantino, Coalition Vice Chair is Susan Kokinda, Grassroots Vice Chair is Chris Long, Outreach Vice Chair is Rola Makki, Ethnic Vice Chair is Mike Farage, and finally Youth Vice Chair is Krish Mathrani.
Committee Assignments for Township Committee & County Commissioner/School Board Committee
Jeff reiterated what these committees jobs are and welcomed volunteers to Chair these committees. These are subcommittees, which will gather reports from people who attend either Township, County Commissioner, and/or School Board meetings, and present them to the Alcona GOP for further distribution.
Laurie Szczesny, a new member of the Alcona Community from Harrisville, volunteered to lead the County Commissioner/School Board committee.
Jim motions to nominate Laurie to be Chair of the County Commissioner/School Board Committee, and William seconds the motion. There was no discussion. Motion passes unanimously.
Jess Dobbs volunteers to lead the Township Committee.
Judy motions for Jess to be Chair of the Township Committee, and Jim seconds the motion. There was no discussion. Motion passes unanimously.
Set Date for LRT Dinner Discussion
We are thinking about Fall for our Lincoln Reagan Trump Dinner, which will be our big fundraiser for the year. The two dates we are considering is October 11 or October 18, both Saturdays.
There are a few places to consider for venues, such as Lost Lake Woods, which we’ve used in the past, the new Senior Center Hall opening in Lincoln, and the Mikado Township Civic Center. Carrie informed us that the Civic Center would be $375 for the rental, and we would have to find catering, but that they do have a kitchen, and the hall seats 300 people.
Jeff will get in touch with a few people to see if we can solidify a solid Keynote Speaker for our event. Some people he will be reaching out to is Jim Runestad, the MIGOP Chairman, Daire Rendon, the 1st Congressional District Chairwoman, and he will even send a message to President Donald Trump. We don’t expect Trump to attend of course, as we’re such a small, remote community, but it’ll be fun to send a line out anyhow, because Trump does surprise people.
Once a keynote speaker is set for either of those dates, that will become the date for our LRT Dinner. We will need silent auction donations, so start thinking of those too please!
Set Date for First Training Session
The first training session for our local Republicans, which will be “How to Record Local Meetings”, is set for April 17th, at 7pm, via zoom. Jess will send an email to the distribution list with the training information and the zoom link. The training will be recorded, and posted for everyone to watch at their leisure afterwards.
Other trainings we anticipate to host this year are a Constitution Class, a Robert’s Rules of Order Class, and a Precinct Delegate Training. If you have ideas for something you’d like to learn about, please let us know so we can start planning the details straight away.
Discussion on 10 Year Plan & Alcona GOP Platform to Implement
We want to lay the Groundwork for the next 10 years if possible. The formation of the new subcommittees is a part of this groundwork, and coming up with a Alcona GOP Platform is another. Jeff volunteered to write up both and present it to the board for consideration.
In regards to the 10 Year Plan, Jess wants us to look at what elections are coming up over the next 10 years, from Township all the way to State, so we can start planning which races we will need to focus on, to better improve the odds that we can impact those races in a positive and effective manner. William would like us to look at upcoming Conventions as well.
In regards to the Alcona GOP Platform, Carrie stated that Alcona Republicans have never had such a thing before, and finds both to be very ambitious notions. However, we want to look at the MIGOP Platform as well as the RNC Platform to start our framework, as well as the Bill of Rights in the US Constitution, and go from there.
Announcements:
Adopt-a-Highway Spring Clean Up is coming up, and it’s our biggest clean up, due to the amount of trash that collects over winter. We will meet up at Bugg Road, and clean 2 miles south, before turning around and cleaning 2 miles north. (It’s a total of 4 miles to clean both sides of the road.) If we get enough volunteers, we can have someone at the other end of the 2 mile stretch to ferry people back to Bugg road, to cut the trip in half. Trash Bags and Vests will be provided.
After the clean up, we will then have lunch at the Lunchbox in Curran. This is optional, and is up to those in attendance to take care of themselves. (Not paid for by the Alcona GOP.) It’s a great way to refuel after the clean up and to fellowship with the other volunteers and talk about what was found and more.
Event Details: April 9, 2025 @ 10am, meeting up at the corner of Bugg Road on M-65.
Reports:
Treasurer’s Report
Carrie said we have about $2000 in total to work with. That’s $1300 in our Checkings account, $700 in our Savings account, and $60 in our Corporate account.
William moves to accept the report as presented, and Judy seconds the motion. No discussion. Motion passes unanimously.
Meeting Minutes
Jess said that all of the past meeting minutes can be found on the website, and was included in the last email that went out to the distribution list. (It was under the agenda, with a big red button that said “read now”.) After some discussion, Jess will look for a better way to announce them in the email in the future.
Carrie moves to accept the minutes from the County Convention as presented on the website. Judy seconds the motion. No discussion. Motion passes unanimously.
New Business:
Deputy Treasurer Discussion
In order to allow more people to step up and be more involved in the Republican Party leadership, Jeff talked about the open Deputy Treasurer position that we have on our Executive Committee Board. He asked if anyone would be interested in filling this position. Unfortunately, no one was interested at this time.
Potential Resolution Against School Millage/Special Election Discussion
Judy has found out that the Alcona Schools are holding a special election for a millage renewal on May 6th. This has an estimated cost of $30,000 to the school due to being held on an off year, and being the only thing that will be on the ballot on May 6th.
After much discussion, the party decided to not take a stance on anything other than the fact that this feels rather wasteful in spending, when the millage could have been placed on the November 2024 ballot, as the ACCOA did with a similar millage.
Craig Johnston said that Dan O’Conner will attempt to make it to the Alcona GOP meeting in April to answer any questions we may have concerning this millage renewal. We truly hope he is able to come to do so, to better provide more clarity to the issue.
Discussion of the Iosco Resolution Against Slate Method of Election in 1CD Caucus
Iosco County Republican Party recently passed a resolution condemning the Slate Election method that occurred in the 1st Congressional District’s Caucus on February 21, 2025, due to the division that ensued. Jeff read aloud the short resolution to those present and asked if we should do something similar.
After much discussion, everyone was in agreement that it seemed the best method for the 1CD at the time, and that while the division was unfortunate, we don’t want to hamper their ability to do what they feel is best for their caucuses. So, we will not be adopting a similar resolution.
Alcona Fair Letters
Carrie, being the previous chairwoman, received two letters from the Alcona County Fair board. One was for the booth, and the other was about the sponsorship opportunities that they have. The Fair will be held on August 5th – 9th.
Carrie moves to pay $35 to the Alcona County Fair to have a booth for our party to use throughout to talk to the fair goers, and further moves to pay $100 for a sponsorship of the Fair as we have done in the past. Jess seconds the motion. No discussion, but Jeff calls for a roll call vote.
Roll Call Vote:
Jess Dobbs – Yes
Carrie Mullins – Yes
Judy French – Yes
Jim White – Yes
William Sickner – Yes
Andy Jamieson – Yes
Dr. Robert Turek – Yes
Jeff Dobbs – Yes
The motion passes unanimously.
AxMITax Petition Discussion
Jeff and Jess are county captains for the AxMITax Petition for Alcona County. They have petitions to hand out and to get signatures on, with the signatures able to be collected, starting on April 1, 2025. The period in which signatures for the petition can be gathered is 180 days. We need 1000 signatures for Alcona County, and close to 1 million signatures for the entire state. If anyone is interested in circulating petitions, please let us know.
William moves to share information about AxMITax and School Millage (discussed earlier) as a news blast on our website and social media accounts. This is to be purely informational and we are not to take a stance on either issue as a party. Andy seconds this motion. Discussion was a recommendation from Bob to add any non-partisan information we find to this as well. Everyone agreed that would be good. Motion passes unanimously.
Good of the Order:
Robert Turek
The people who take notes at commissioner meetings and what not, be sure to let the boards that you’re attending know, that we are not there to “get” anyone. But rather, we want to help everyone stay accountable to the information that is being presented at these meetings.
Jess Dobbs
Continuing on Bob’s point above, she mentioned that she came up with this training on how to record local meetings. She did so with the intention of empowering the local community with the ability to hold everyone in a meeting accountable, whether it is the board hosting the meeting, or those in attendance in the public. She wants to enable people to be able to spread information around about what is going on in our communities, and that video is a great tool for notes in this manner. It’s definitely not for “let’s get them!” or anything like that.
Cyndi Apsey
She continued the conversation from above and mentioned that Caledonia Township meetings are recorded, and they post their minutes publicly on their website. She feels that the County does the same pretty well with their Commissioners meetings too.
Tentative Agenda for the Next Meeting:
-
Township Committee First Report
-
County Commissioner/School Board Committee First Report
-
LRT Keynote Speaker & Final Date Update
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How to Record Local Meetings Training Update
-
Spring Clean Up Update
-
10 Year Plan & Alcona GOP Platform Updates
-
Bylaws Update
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Other Agenda Items to be Added as Needed
Adjournment:
Motion to adjourn, called by Carrie, seconded by Judy at 8:53pm. Next open meeting to be held on April 28, 2025 at 7pm at the Alcona County EMS building on M-72. (2600 E. M-72, Harrisville, MI 48740.)
Minutes submitted by: Jessica Dobbs
