Meeting Minutes – February 2025

Sun Lakes Republican Club minutes
When: February 12, 2025 6:30-8PM
Where: Sun Lakes Country Club Navajo Room
Who: about 75 people in attendance
AGENDA:

1. SLRC Chairman Michael Tennant greeted the guests and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
2. Linda Gorman gave the Invocation.
3. First Vice Chairman Carolyn McCorkle gave the introduction for the meeting with her remarks about “What is President’s Day?” . She gave us a historical overview of the holiday. She then shared that of the 2 main speakers, one had to cancel. AZ State Senator J.D. Mesnard was sent home from the legislature today with flu like symptoms, so he was unable to speak tonight.
4. Carolyn introduced the second main speaker. Our newly elected District One Supervisor Mark Stewart replaced the incumbent Republican Supervisor Jack Sellers. A former Chandler City Council member, Mark Stewart brings a fresh, new perspective to the challenges facing Maricopa County in our current inflationary economy. He is a devoted family man, a dedicated small business owner, and a passionate public servant. Mark’s core belief is that the most effective government operates minimally yet efficiently, staying true to the principles our founding fathers envisioned.
   At the heart of this vision is a “We the People” approach, where the Constitution is a guide shaping every decision. Mark stands firmly for transparency and rigorous accountability in government. Mark represents Sun Lakes and many other communities on the BOS. His main topic for tonight was “What is BOS and what do we do?”. The BOS is a 5 person board with a 4 billion dollar budget. He said his goal is to make the BOS, an agency, run smoothly and transparently like a business. He wants the citizens to be viewed like “customers” and his goal is to put customers needs
   first. The BOS is responsible for public safety, parks, streets, sheriff’s department, and certain aspects of elections, among other things. He said they are presently short on sheriffs because other towns and cities are offering better pay and amenities. He said we need to give the department raises to beat out the competition. He spoke about the County Attorney and that they are finding ways to provide funds to fix issues Rachel Mitchell is dealing with there. He didn’t think it would require raising new money, just reassigning existing funds. The BOS is involved in the “early ballot” processing and IT services used for elections. Regarding elections, he gave us a handout showing how responsibilities are divided up between the BOS and the Recorder’s Office.

Responsibilities of BOS:

• -Call of elections
• -Determining polling locations
• -Appointing/training poll workers
• -Certifying election results
• -Campaign Finance and Candidate Services and Temporary election workers
• -Ballot preparation
• -Drop Boxes
• -In-person Early voting
• -Hand count Audits
• -Jurisdictional and other Contracted Elections

Recorder

• -Voter Registration
• -Early Voting Operations
• -Creating/Distributing Precinct Registers

Moved from Recorder to BOS

• -Early Ballot Processing
• -IT services

You can contact Mark here: https://www.maricopa.gov/5404/Biography

5. The next speaker was Ken Burger, AZGOP Member at Large for our Congressional District 5 and Chairman for Legislative District 10. Ken explained what a Member at Large does and what the Republican Party in general hopes to do now that elections are over.

How to see the AZGOP website: https://azgop.com/about

To see info on CD5: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona%27s_5th_congressional_district

Ken shared that to be successful you have to have : collaboration, teamwork, and unity. They have plans to visit clubs like ours once a month and to send out a newsletter once a month to keep the public informed. He believes the best way a citizen can give back is to consider becoming a Precinct Committeeman. Here is the link from his Facebook post about becoming a Precinct Committeeman: https://azgop.com/pc

6. The next speaker was Lou Ann Sedgwick. She spoke on behalf of the Free Enterprise Club. She explained how to get signed up for RTS (Request to Speak). This is a way to let your legislators know your thoughts on bills that are being introduced at our capitol and can affect how they vote on them. You do not have to go to the State Legislature to speak, you can do so from your computer at home. See more here: https://www.azleg.gov/group/request-to-speak/ You can contact Louann here: Louann@azfree.org She has volunteers to get you registered downtown so you don’t have to drive there. You can click here to get on the Friday call:
   https://www.votervoice.net/AZFEC/Events/6670/Register
7. On a lighter note, the new club Treasurer, Starla Kramer, addressed the members and asked if they would be interested in participating in Republican Club Social gatherings periodically and in the summertime. The monthly meetings provide great education, but little time for attendees to make friends. Her suggestion was to start with a “Movie Night” with refreshments and a “Mixer” afterward. The new release of the documentary “Government Gangsters” may be available to stream and several hands went up when asked if they’d be interested in seeing it. The members seemed very interested in getting to know other like-minded conservative people. Future events might be dinner in the private banquet room at Representative Jeff Weninger’s Floridino’s Restaurant. We may decide to invite candidates to our socials during election years. A clipboard was passed around for those interested in meeting for an initial “brainstorming” start-up committee meeting. At that meeting, details would be discussed such as email or Evite RSVP options. Anyone interested in participating in the “Social Committee” may contact Starla Kramer at (480) 540-8080. The first planning meeting will be before the end of February.
8. The 50/50 Raffle winner won $45 tonight!
9. Carolyn gave us a preview of the next 2 months of SLRC meetings. You can also keep up with SLRC news by going to the SLRC website, reading our announcements in the “Splash”, and signing up for SLRC emails. Go to the SLRC website, https://slgop.org/ , then scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “sign up for emails”.

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