2020 Programs for the Republican Club at Heritage Ranch
January 20, 6:00 PM
Installation of 2020 RCHR Elected Officers
Topic: Candidate Forum – Moderated by Joan van Vliet.
Darrell Hale and Steve Terrell (candidates for County Commissioner, Precinct 3) participated in this Forum.
Republican Club at Heritage Ranch Website Tutorial – Presented by Georgina Fousek (Webmaster)
January 27, 6:00 PM
Candidate Forum – Moderated by Joan van Vliet.
We had candidates running for Judge position on the 401st District in Collin County and a Judge position at place 3 on the Court of Criminal Appeals.
401st District Candidates are: Sarah Fox, George Flint, and Brook Fulks
Court of Criminal Appeals Candidates are: Bert Richardson (inc), and Gina Parker
Republican Club at Heritage Ranch Website Tutorial – Presented by Georgina Fousek (Webmaster)
June 15, OUR FIRST ZOOM MEETING DUE TO COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS
Topic: key points of the Republican and Democrat National Policy Platforms
Speaker:
DR. Robin Armstrong (Republican National Committeeman).
DR. Armstrong provided an excellent comparison of the key points of the Republican and Democrat National Policy Platforms.
His analysis provided a clear delineation between the Party policies on the Sanctity of Human Life and the Definition of Marriage among other key matters.
Following DR. Armstrong’s presentation we moved on to an interview with the two remaining Republican candidates for the 401st District Judge Seat in Texas. George Flint and Sarah Fox are the remaining candidates involved in a run-off. This was the candidates’ second opportunity to outline their positions before our Republican Club members before the July 13th election.
June 20, Second ZOOM Meeting
Purpose: This special ZOOM meeting was called to review the nominating process for Club Members willing to serve as members of the 2020 Club Nominating Committee for the Republican Club at Heritage Ranch.
We reviewed how the ZOOM platform would accommodate the Nomination process for members of the new 2020 Nominating Committee.
The attendees ran through a simulated nomination process and concluded that the ZOOM platform was adequate to meet our needs for this critical vote scheduled for August 6, 2020.
July 20, Third ZOOM Meeting
Speakers (via Youtube video presentations):
Texas Congressional Representative, Candy Noble,
US Congressman Van Taylor and
Special Investigator Fredrick Frazier
Topic: Current issues we believe are of interest to you.
First was TX Congressional Rep. Candy Noble.
Ms. Noble gave us a review of the work that was accomplished by the TX Republican Party at its Virtual State
Convention necessitated by the Houston mayors revoking our party’s use of the Convention Center for our State Republican Convention this year.
Adjustments had to be made and not all planned convention business was completed during this challenging period.
A second State convention is being planned for later this year.
Second was our TX 3rd District US Congressman Van Taylor.
Congressman Taylor reviewed how Republican leadership in Collin County has enabled us to maintain a robust support network for those in Collin County who have been adversely impacted by the Corona Virus shutdown of our economy.
He also explained the danger of the rise of the National Socialist movement on our local and national governments.
He gave a shout- out to all of the volunteers from Heritage Ranch for their firm support.
Finally, Fredrick Frazier - McKinney Councilman, Police Officer, and Member of President's Law Enforcement Commission spoke on Law Enforcement.
He reviewed the events that took place in Minneapolis earlier this year and the impact on Policing in our community.
August 6, Another ZOOM Meeting
Purpose:
Meeting was called to elect three Members to the 2020 edition of the Republican Club Nominating Committee. Nominations were submitted live via the ZOOM platform from attendees logged into the meeting. Nominees were:
· Bill McClure (Jan Samuels nominated)
· Georgina Fousek (Kathy Gonzales nominated)
· Mike Petrik (Philip LaRose nominate)
As no other nominations were submitted by the meeting attendees, Ron moved to STOP the nominations.
Ben seconded the motion.
The vote to stop the nomination process passed without opposition.
With no other nominations having been made, these three were elected to the 2020 Nominating Committee.
They will serve with
• Jack DeSimone, 1 VP and Chair as per the Bylaws
• Nancy Lewis, appointed by President Ted Puchacz, as per the Bylaws, and
• Richard DiVirgilio, Appointed by the RCHR Board, as per the Bylaws.
August 24, Another ZOOM Meeting
Purpose:
This ZOOM meeting was called to vote on the revised Club Bylaws.
A meeting notice including a copy of the revised Bylaws was sent out the all of our PAID members on 7 August, 2020 via email blast.
Meeting Notes:
· A total of 89 Club Members (a quorum) logged into the virtual Club Meeting on ZOOM.
· Ted called the meeting to order and welcomed all of the members who had taken the time to log in to this critical virtual Club Meeting.
· Ted led us in the US Pledge of Allegiance followed by the Texas Pledge
· A request came from the (virtual) floor to have Ted review the highlights of the changes incorporated into the
revised 2020 Club Bylaws.
· Ted then went through all the revisions made to the old Bylaws.
· A motion was made and seconded to begin voting Yes or No.
Motion passed without opposition.
· Bylaws passed by a vote of 74 (yes) to 2 (No), there were 3 abstentions.
Next Step:
Forward a copy of the Club approved 2020 Bylaws to the Heritage Ranch HOA (Carolyn Dill) for review and approval.
This is scheduled for NLT Sept. 4, 2020
September 21, ZOOM Meeting
Proceedings:
This was a virtual ZOOM meeting held at 7:00 P.M.
Our speakers were the eight Republican Judges on the ballot for the Texas State District Courts in the Nov.3rd election.
· Recap of the successful passing of the New Club Bylaws both by the Club Membership and the Heritage Ranch HOA.
· Reminder that Oct. 13th is the beginning of Early Voting for the Nov 3rd election.
· Election of Republican Club Officers takes place on October 26th.
· Offices up for election include:
President,
Director of Membership,
Director of Meetings,
Director of Marketing & Communication,
Director of Legislation & Campaigns,
Secretary,
Treasurer &
Historian
· Reminded all that nominations for these offices should be made to the Nominating Committee members; Ben Brown, Nancy Lewis, Mike Petrick, Georgina Fousek Richard DiVirgilio or Bill McClure.
Joan introduced Judge Andrea Thompson (416th) who introduced the other seven Republican Judges running for Tx District Court seats.
Angela Tucker (199th),
Tom Nowak (366th),
Benjamin Smith (380th),
Lindsey Wynne (468th),
Piper McCraw (469th),
Emily Miskel (470th), and
Andrea Bouressa (471st)
The Judges presented a 29 min. PowerPoint presentation describing the structure of the Courts and how they function and relate to each other. Each had a chance to highlight the exact nature of the types of cases the handle in each District Court.
Participating members had a chance to have their questions answered by the Judges
Judges highlighted the adaptations they have made to the Courts in view of the current Covid-19 operating constraints.
They provided insight into the importance of maintain a Republican majority for the Courts serving Collin county.
Meeting concluded with Joan thanking Andrea and all the other Judges who joined us for the meeting.
October 16, Our First Pandemic Dinner Meeting Back in the Clubhouse!
Candidate Speakers Included:
Justice David Evans, 5th District Court of Appeals, Place 3 Justice Bill Whitehill, 5th District Court of Appeals, Place 8 Collin County Commissioner, Darrell Hale, Precinct 3
Announcement of Officers for the 2020 Board Nominating Committee. Our 2020 Board Nominating Committee members are:
Ben Brown, Georgina Fousek, Bill McClure, Mike Petrik, Richard DiVirgilio, and Nancy Lewis.
Board Officers up for election to begin serving in 2021 are:
President
Director of Membership Director of Meetings
Director of Marketing & Communications Director Legislative & Campaign Activities Treasurer, Secretary, Historian
October 26, Dinner Meeting at the Clubhouse
First order of business was the announcement by the Nominating Committee of the 2021 Club Officers as follows:
Nominations for 2021 Club Officers One Year Term:
Treasurer – Phil LaRose
Director of Meetings – Joan van Vliet
Director of Marketing & Communications – Clayton Barns
Director of Membership – Ron Samuels
Nominations for 2021 Club Officers Two Year Term:
President – Jack DeSimone
Secretary – Tim Borck
Historian/Parliamentarian – Maureen Everett
Director Legislative & Campaign Activities – Ben Brown
Next, Ted asked if there were any additional candidate nominations from the floor.
None were advanced. Nominations were closed.
Guest Speakers Included:
Texas Judicial System Candidates:
416th District Court – Judge Andrea Thompson
5th Court of Appeals – Justice John Browning
Criminal Court of Appeals Place 6 – Judge Kevin Yeary
Tx State Senator, District 8, Angela Paxton
November 16, Dinner Meeting
We had a high level recap of the election turnout results for Heritage Ranch, Precinct 179, Collin County, and the state of Texas.
This was followed by the results by Office and candidate.
Sherriff Skinner joined us via video presentation as he was quarantined do to exposure to the Covid-19 virus.
He recapped the results of the recent Black Lives Matter organization efforts to demonstrate at the Collin County Courthouse and County Jail.
The efforts of his officers and others to the potentially incendiary situation helped to calm down the situation and reduce the time the activists spent on site.
Following dinner Ted introduced the candidates for one year terms in accordance with our new Club Bylaws:
Treasurer – Phil LaRose
Director of Meetings – Joan van Vliet
Director of Marketing & Communications – Clayton Barns
Director of Membership – Ron Samuels
Ted received a motion to vote on these candidates.
Motion received a second.
All candidates were elected via voice vote.
There were no dissenting votes.
Next, Ted introduced the candidate for 2 year terms in accordance with our new Club Bylaws:
President – Jack DeSimone
Secretary – Tim Borck
Historian/Parliamentarian – Maureen Everett
Director Legislative & Campaign Activities – Ben Brown
Ted received a motion to vote on these candidates.
Motion received a second.
All candidates were elected via voice vote.
There were no dissenting votes.
Guest Speaker:
Ms. Cat Parks, Vice Chair of the Texas Republican Party.
Ms. Parks walked us through the grass roots efforts implemented by the Texas Republican Party to ensure that every race in Texas has a Republican candidate in opposition to a Democrat.
She showed us where these efforts at cultivating young, enthusiastic and energized candidates is making inroads into previously 100% Democrat strongholds.
She shared exciting news about organizations that are actively recruiting young republicans from all over the country with the goal to grow the party nationwide in the future.
Joan introduced us to Trent England founder of Save Our States, and author of Why We Must Defend the Electoral College.
His program was titled, Defending the Electoral College and the Integrity of Presidential Elections.
His presentation was very informative and persuasive.
December 7 Christmas Dinner Meeting (Members Only)