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Capitol
Hill Meeting of NATaT
Washington,
DC
September
5-8, 2006
Darleen
and I traveled to Fargo on 9-4-06 to prepare for an early morning flight
departure on the 5th.
9-05-06
- We arose at 2:00AM to be at the airport by 3:10 as we were told to be
there 2 hours before departure time which was 5:10 AM.
We met Loren Ingebretson, President of the Minnesota Township
Association, at the airport door at about 3:10 and waited until 4:00AM
for the airport officials to unlock the doors.
I checked in, got the boarding passes and boarded the airplane at
4:45 AM. After two complete
engine shutdowns due to a computer malfunction, we took off for
Minneapolis. (With all the
airplanes owned by North West Airlines I don’t know why we had to have
the defective one
but it
made it to Minneapolis anyway).
Loren Ingebretson was bumped off the flight from Minneapolis to
Washington so I lost his guidance. After
we landed in Washington, I
found the right bus and it delivered me to the Holiday Inn on the Hill by
about noon. It took about two
hours to get a room and get registered for the conference.
I had a late lunch and heard that the NATaT Board of Directors was
meeting at 4:00PM today. I
decided to crash the meeting. Upon
entry, I announced who I was and where I was from.
NATaT President, Michael Cochran from Ohio, asked me to sit down at
the table and congratulated me as the newest member of the National Board
of Directors. I took part in the board discussions and voted on issues that
I thought our North Dakota members might want accomplished.
A detailed financial discussion was held which included the incomes
and expenses and the budget of NATaT.
The costs of having an office in Washington, DC versus hiring the
Ferguson Group looked like about a $20,000 per month saving.
The
Wisconsin Executive Director, Rick Stadelman, introduced a new dues
structure which recognized the population in each township as an important
part of dues calculations. I
supported this action with my discussions and my vote which prevailed.
Jennifer
Imo, the Ferguson Group’s Township contact person, familiarized us with
the work that they had done since they had been hired on June 1st, 2006.
This group seemed to be a young, hard working group with a very
knowledgeable leader and a professional staff bent for accomplishment.
The next board meeting had been set for Dec. 4th and 5th at the May 22 and
23rd meeting. I told them
that I could not make the meeting as it was the same as our NDTOA’s
Annual Meeting and I would not miss
our annual meeting. President
Cochran entertained a motion to change the meeting date to December 10th
and 11th which passed unanimously. This board meeting was then adjourned and I had supper and
retired for the evening as the 2:00 AM rising that morning had taken
it’s toll on me.
9-06-06
started with an early morning breakfast and several meetings with other
state’s executives and delegates which was followed by an opening
address by President Cochran.
He
introduced House Majority Leader John Boehner who was elected in February
of 2006 by his Republican colleagues to serve as their Majority Leader.
He had been serving Ohio in the House of Representatives since
1995. He was a board member
in Union Township and Ohio Township Officers Association in the 80’s and
a Representative in the Ohio Legislature from 1984 to 1990.
His speech was on the importance of local controls and why he
thought grassroots government was the best government.
He was convinced that local community conversations yielded the
best knowledge of what is really needed by its residents.
President
Cochran held 3 breakout sessions to discuss Telecommunications, Homeland
Security/Public Safety and
the one I attended which dealt with Creative Funding Options for local
Government. This was meant
for townships in the larger states as it dealt with leasing of heavy
equipment, buildings, autos and trucks and it really didn’t pertain to
us in ND.
It
was time for lunch and a representative of the Ferguson Group gave us an
update on Federal Affairs. After
lunch, President Cochran introduced Mike Johanns to the assembly for a
report on the happenings in his office as Secretary of Agriculture. He was a Nebraska native, Mayor of Lincoln and Governor of
Nebraska from 1998 to2004. He
told us that 90% of all farmers have off the farm jobs to supplement their
farm operations. He indicated
we must harness the change or perish.
His report on the new farm bill was a recommendation that we
communicate our needs with our congressmen.
He stated that last year 20 billion dollars went to pay for a
subsidy on 5 major crops raised in the US and it was too much.
A township officer from the audience rose to tell the Secretary
that things back on the farm were not as rosy as he had indicated on TV
earlier this year. Johanns
was given some of the current costs of production and the potential
incomes from crop production which indicated red letter losses.
Another officer rose to explain the effects of rising energy and
fertilizer costs on his operation with no way to pass it along like other
businesses.
The
Ferguson Group representative then gave a presentation on how to lobby.
To those who have not lobbied it was interesting and for the
experienced lobbyist it was a refresher course.
It
dealt with what you need to know about your congressman before you talk to
him, be on time for your appointment, leave him with a paper trail of your
visit, turn off your cell phone, have an introduction and a wrap-up speech
ready and more.
After
a short break we went back into break out sessions and discussed National
platform issues. South Dakota
Executive Director, some Minnesota delegates, Wisconsin delegates and
myself were present in the First Responders, Firemen and Local Domestic
Security session. This
platform asked for a $1000 tax
credit for firemen and first responders and we wanted a $1000 exemption
from filing the payroll taxes clause put in the already existing bill.
Delegate representatives from Ohio and New York argued that it
should be $5000 instead of $1000. We
offered a $1500 figure but we could not come to a consensus. We
agreed to go back home and see what our membership thinks and
continue the discussion on December 10th and 11th.
Adjournment
for supper on your own was the next item on the agenda.
September
7, 2006.
This
day began with an early morning long walk to the Senate Russell Building
where I attended a breakfast with the Minnesota Township Officers and
their Congressmen. At the
conclusion of this meeting, I addressed the assembly and told them of the
cooperation between Minnesota and North Dakota and the need to continue to
stick together on policy issues that we can agree on.
I
then visited each of the North Dakota Senators and alerted their staff
that I was in town and expecting to make my appointments with them.
I then walked to the Longworth House office building to do the same
but it took me over an hour of walking to get there so I canceled my
appointment with Representative Earl Pomeroy. I did meet with his Chief of
Staff and gave her the information I would have given
Representative Pomeroy. I
then proceeded to walk back to the Dirkson-Hart Senate Office building and
got to Senator Dorgan’s office 10 minutes before my appointment time.
The Senator was too busy to meet with me but sent his Chief of
Staff to take my testimony.
This
staff person as well as the Pomeroy staff person indicated the common
sense need for the tax exemption that we were seeking and couldn’t see
why their bosses would not support such a proposal.
I
then proceeded to the office of Senator Kent Conrad and met with him.
This meeting was very productive and heartwarming.
He indicated his support for our proposal and talked about his past
and continuing support for township government.
He asked of his friend John Oxton and asked me to greet John for
him when I got back to ND. I
told the Senator that he could talk to John in person if he would come to
our annual meeting in December and be our main speaker.
Senator Conrad accepted the offer and agreed to be our main speaker
for 2006 Annual Meeting . I
then walked back to the Holiday Inn which seemed like a hundred miles on
foot ... but I made it.
After
a quick shower, I met with the South Dakota Executive Director and
discussed the South Dakota Congressmen’s reception of our exemption
idea. They all were for the
action and we wondered if we could be successful without NATaT's support?
We agreed that we need the national organization behind us to be
successful and both went our way to our rooms to rest.
9-8-06
I slept in until 7:00
AM and then met in the lobby with other delegates until our departure for
the airport at 10:30 AM. I
arrived home at 10:30 PM in Brocket with a THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME
ATTITUDE.
Respectfully
submitted,
Ken
Yantes NATaT Director
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