Home | Officers & Directors | Calendar | Grassroots Report | Workshops | Legislation | Discussion Forum | Convention | NATaT | Taxes | Committees | Zoning | Technical Assistance | Contact


LINKS

Home
Officers & Directors
Calendar
Grassroots Reports
Workshops
Discussion Forum
NATaT
Convention
Insurance
ND Century Code
Legislation
E-mail Directory
Taxes
Dues
Committees
Zoning
Technical Assistance
Contractor Services
Contact

NATaT 

From the Directors  

www.natat.org - click on this link for info

 

FROM THE DIRECTORS

Kenneth Yantes

Brocket, ND 
Ph. 701-655-3515
Cell:  701-230-4118

ndtoa@polarcomm.com
 

Kenneth Yantes 

 

Association Secretary Ken Yantes has been appointed 2006 NATaT director.  Please check back for upcoming NATaT news.

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

 

 

 If you do not have Acrobat Reader®, click on the link below for a free download.  

 
     
With free Acrobat Reader® software, you can view and print Adobe PDF files.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

               

Home | Officers & Directors | Calendar | Grassroots Report | Workshops | Discussion Forum | NATaT | Convention

Taxes  | Committees | Advertise | Zoning | Technical Assistance | Contact

 

Copyright 2002- 2008© All Rights Reserved
North Dakota Township Officers Association
webmaster@ndtoa.com 

Site built and hosted by Global AdvertiZing LLC

Revised: Wednesday April 02, 2008