Meeting Minutes – March 2025

When: Wednesday March 12, 2025 6:30 PM-9:00 PM
Where: Sun Lakes Country Club Phase 1 Navajo Room
Who: approximately 45 people
AGENDA:

1. Chairman Michael Tennant gave the Invocation and led the attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance.
2. 1st Vice Chairman Carolyn McCorkle greeted the guests and introduced the speakers.
3. Kurt Rohrs, a school board member, was the first speaker and spoke about the Chandler School Board. He explained that the recent bond failed to pass in the last election because it was too costly and he said the board is putting together another bond which will be less costly. He explained the difference between a bond and an override. He filled us in on 2 recent “scandals” in 2 different schools in the district. These included the “grooming” of a student and a “hazing” situation. In his opinion the district needs to do more to protect the students rather than looking out for their own interests in court. Reading proficiency has not improved in 3 years in the district. Still Chandler is still one of the best districts in reading proficiency in the state. The state of AZ has dropped from about average in reading to well below average compared to other states. On a positive note, career education is looking up in the district. A class on “semi-conductors” has already filled up for the fall session. He will continue to keep us informed on these issues. If you want to attend a board meeting they are held at the district office and the dates and times are in the February minutes. Go to www.slop.org and scroll down to “February minutes”. He would appreciate your support!
4. Our SLRC Treasurer Starla Kramer announced the first “Republican Social” to be held in the Navajo room on April 3. She will be showing the film “Government Gangsters”. She will give the SLRC Secretary a flyer to send out to the club so watch your email. Social 6PM-7PM, movie 7PM.
5. Lisa Henry was the guest speaker representing the “Pregnancy Care Center of Chandler”. She explained what the Center does for mothers who are struggling with keeping their unborn babies. The Center also helps the fathers of the children with counseling and provides training for both in caring for the child after birth. They also counsel women who have had abortions and are having emotional issues from that. We had a small “baby shower” this evening and baby clothes, supplies and money was donated to the Center.
6. The next speaker was George Khalaf who is the President of Data Orbital. Using statistics from the 2024 election, he showed how and why some candidates won in the last election and in what ways we can influence the outcomes in future elections. The next election is in November of 2026. He showed a list in his power point of groups of voters who are essential in winning elections in AZ and suggested ways to reach out to them to convince them that the Republican values and candidates are better than the Democrat ones.
   • White Women
   • Women over 45
   • Black Voters
   • Hispanic voters
   • Voters ages 18-29
   • White suburban Men
     He said, over all, the things we can agree on are : we want life to be good, we want to be safe, and we want to be able to survive on a middle class income. He said in order to win future elections we need to maximize voter turn out, reach suburban moderates, and reach Hispanic voters. He says “fighting and arguing” does not help. Issues like “election integrity” are “hot buttons” for most people and should be avoided. It’s better to discuss “common sense” issues like the economy and law and order.
7. Our last “surprise” guest to speak was Congressional Representative Andy Biggs. He had just flown in from DC and his wife picked him up at the airport and drove him straight to our meeting. He spoke on the many things going on in DC and discussed his bid for Governor of AZ. He says he calls Trump regularly and also the other Cabinet members. He wanted to relieve anyone who maybe worried about the power Musk has regarding DOGE. He said Musk is in an advisory position, President Trump and his Cabinet actually make the changes.
8. The winner of the 50/50 raffle won $15.
9. The next meeting is April 9.

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