November 2019 Meeting Minutes
Saturday, November 16, 2019
1. Call to Order ─ President, Lynda Begnaud called the meeting to order at 4:01 P.M., followed by the
Pledge of Allegiance.
2. Elected Officers
President:Lynda BegnaudPresent
Vice-President:Emma WilsonPresent
Treasurer:Sharia LassiterPresent
Secretary:Lana TurnerPresent
3. Minutes ─ October meeting minutes were read and accepted.
4. Treasurer Report ─ October report was read and accepted. Current balance is $4,548.58.
5. Old Business
a) RISD – thank you to Mary Brooks for helping with voter registration.
b) Brown Bag Lunch. 8 members attended. Discussed and finalized details for upcoming Christmas party. Other topics; toy drive for Hope Clinic, turkey dinner family donations and Christmas tree decorating. Recognized TDW member Barbara Turner for organizing turkey dinner drive.
c) Turkey Gift Box giveaways at TDW. On 11/25, families can pick their boxes up between 2pm – 4pm.
d) Cancelled TDW office cleaning on 12/2, moved the cleaning to the same day as the Christmas party prep day (Friday, 12/6).
6. New Business
a) February 7 – 9, Texas State Democratic Convention, will be held in Austin.
b) Lucinda Windsor provided a brief background of high school registration in Ellis County, conducted by TDW. High school Voter Registration started with “Battleground Texas”. Windsor has been working with Ellis county high schools for 5 years. On November 12, 2019, she registered approximately 130 students at Red Oak High and 150 at Waxahachie High School on November 15, 2019.
c) TDW confirmed with Waxahachie City we can move forward with setting up a voter registration booth outside of our office doors. We only need to provide the City with advance notice.
d) President, Begnaud introduced Sarah Kovitch from Rideshare to Vote. The main focus of her company is to drive the maximum voters to Polls. In addition, they target young voters. In 2018 52% of their riders were under age 50. The group is a Partisan group, and privately held company. Structure, IRS Compliant. All drivers are volunteers (we can’t hire). Side note: Uber will offer free ride to vote, but rider pays for the return trip. Rideshare to Vote volunteers drive voters to early voting and on Election Day (round trip). Kovitch trains volunteer drivers on curbside and disabled process. In 2018, Kovitch company drove approximately 1,000 voters to the polls throughout 7 counties.
e) TDW 2020 Board Vote: The Election Committee: Ruthie Self, Nancy Cannaday and Verlie McBroom. Board Nominees:
1. Secretary: Tommy Cannaday – All in favor “Yes”
2. Treasurer: Helen Brock – All in favor “Yes”
3. Vice President: Emma Wilson – All in favor “Yes”
4. President: Lynda Begnaud – All in favor “Yes”
f) Ruthie Self introduced new Ellis County Chair – Kelly Blackburn. Blackburn replaced JR Phillips. We are still in need of Precinct Judge and Precinct Chair.
g) Reminder: Sign-up for 2020 Refreshments
h) Vivian Gibson, Chair will meet with her committee starting in January. Plan to award one scholarship to a Red Oak High School student. Will present scholarship at the RISD award ceremony on May 19, 2020. Recipient must be female and written essay required about a woman. Bake sale fundraiser planned for February 2020.
i) Outreach Committee: Pat Paige, Chair. Begnaud and Paige met with Ms. Butler, Director, North Ellis County Outreach. She gave a tour of their facility. The facility included a food pantry, as well as clothing, furniture and other items.
j) Award Committee: Barbara Fudge, Chair. Summarized level of memberships. Primary objective and goal is to encourage women to run for public office. The TDW State Convention (February 2020), the most important day is Saturday. There is a luncheon to honor Star Award nominees from all Texas chapters for their significant contributions. Ellis County TDW nominated, Lucinda Windsor for her work with Ellis County High School voter registration.
k) Christmas Party Committee: Nancy Cannaday, Chair. Requesting members bring 3 dozen cookies.
7. Adjournment ─ Meeting adjourned at 5:07 P.M.
8. Guest Speaker ─ Pastor Burgess of Joshua Chapel AME Church, Waxahachie Texas