Cass County Assessor

Incumbent – Roger Raffety

Term – 4 years

Salary – $64,207.92

Filing begins on Feb. 25th and the filing deadline is March 31, 2020. The general election will be held on November 3, 2020. A primary is scheduled for August 4, 2020. 

Cass County Treasurer

Incumbent – Steve Cheslik 

Term – 4 years

Salary – $64,207.92

Filing begins on Feb. 25th and the filing deadline is March 31, 2020. The general election will be held on November 3, 2020. A primary is scheduled for August 4, 2020. 

Thinking about running, already made that decision to run? This is the meeting you don't want to miss!

Our special guest this month is our expert about running races in Missouri.

Lauren has been a Democratic campaign and non-profit strategist for the past decade. She began her political career in 2009 running red to blue state legislative races in Missouri. She's held positions in Missouri, DC, and Tennessee for candidate campaigns at all levels, issue and advocacy organizations, and technology organizations. Lauren has worked in all facets of politics and campaigns - management, field, political, advocacy, data, technology, and fundraising and has specialized in data, digital, and technology over the past four years. Prior to starting as Executive Director of the Missouri Democratic Party, she most recently served as Data Director for Governor Phil Bredesen's competitive US Senate race in Tennessee.

Brainstorming and strategy session to implement our 2020 campaign plan. Bring your ideas!

Also, bring SHOES! Please comb through your closets and bring all your new or gently worn shoes to the meeting. What is gently worn? Anything that doesn't have holes where it shouldn't have. Bring your boxes and bags..you can only wear one pair at a time anyway!

See you Thursday night, the 26th!

Crossroads UMC is collecting shoes; funds received from the shoes will go to fund their Back Snack program for Gladden Elementary in Belton. The shoes will go to micro-entrepreneurs in developing countries so they can have the income to feed and school their families.

Democrats don't want to take your guns because quite frankly, we have our own! What we believe is that there is an overwhelming need for universal background checks, licensing procedures and a ban of high capacity magazines!  Here's some sensible gun talk from Dennis, a retired union carpenter from Belton who is a strong believer in our 2nd Amendment rights!

"I have been thinking of something with the never-ending mass shootings and the call for banning assault rifles. I am a Democrat and a gun owner. I want all my Democrat friends to not lose focus on what could really help limit mass shootings.

The weapon is unimportant, my Remington 30-06 deer rifle is a semi-automatic that operates EXACTLY the same way the AR-15 does. They are both gas-operated semi-autos. My 30-06 can shoot a much larger bullet than the AR can chamber. .30cal. vs. .22 cal. Much more devastating bullet. The AR is the weapon of choice for many coyote hunters because it is light, flat shooting and does very little damage to the fur so it can be sold. The biggest problem is large-capacity magazines. If the AR is banned the aftermarket industry will just pick another weapon to make them for, such as my deer rifle. What needs to be banned are the large magazines, bump stocks, cranks, anything that makes a gun fully automatic. Banned from manufacture, import, sale, and finally POSSESS. This must carry a felony charge. Convicted felons have to give up all weapons even down to long butcher knives and archery gear. So even if they are not turned in or bought back people won't take them out of hiding to play with for fear of losing everything. I also believe a buyback could get many AR-15's and their aftermarket add ons off the streets.

Just please don't focus as much on the gun as the attachments that make them so dangerous. Be educated on this subject if you choose to debate with a gun nut because when you say something that isn't accurate you lose all credibility. The guard at the Pulse night club said he could have shot the guy if he had had to stop and put a new 10 round magazine in. The guy had a 100 round drum magazine and the guard could never get a shot off."  

The Republican legislature has decimated reasonable gun laws in Missouri. Once again this last weekend we saw pictures of young men carrying guns with high-capacity magazines into stores and striking fear into folks who have just gone out to shop.  We're going to repeat this one more time - Democrats don't want to take your guns, but we must vote out the Republican lawmakers who answer to the NRA and not the citizens of Missouri!  We must have laws that require universal background checks, reasonable licensing procedures and a ban of high capacity magazines.

We have five statehouse districts in Cass County and currently, only one is held by a Democrat. The good news is we can change that in 2020! If you want to run for the Missouri State House or know someone who might consider running for office, plan on being at our August 22nd meeting.

Our special guest for the night is Alexander Benjamin Johnson! Alex is the Field Director for the House Victory Committee and former campaign manager for Floor Minority Leader Rep. Crystal Quade. Alex graduated Drury University with Degrees in Political Science and Philosophy, and since graduation has worked consistently as a field organizer for Democratic Campaigns in MO. Alex sits on the Leadership Team for the Ozarks Region Jobs with Justice and worked actively to make sure enough signatures were gathered to put CLEAN MO and the Minimum Wage Increase onto the ballot in 2018. Today Alex travels across the state meeting with House candidates and central committees to discuss preparations for the 2020 campaign cycle.

Join us at 6:00 pm for the $10 taco and more buffet and lively conversation among friends. Meeting and program at 7:00 pm.

See you August 22nd!

The current administration in Washington daily seeks to strip away laws and policy's that have been put into place to protect citizens of this country from discrimination. Some we hear about, and sadly some barely make the news. One of the recent attacks is the proposed changes to Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. Section 1557 is the primary anti-discrimination provision in the ACA and prohibits health programs from discriminating against patients on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability.  If finalized it would significantly narrow the scope of the existing HHS implementing regulations by:

• Eliminating the general prohibition on discrimination based on gender identity, as well as specific health insurance coverage protections for transgender individuals;
• Adopting blanket abortion and religious freedom exemptions for health care providers;
• Eliminating the provision preventing health insurers from varying benefits in ways that discriminate against certain groups, such as people with HIV or LGBTQ people;
• Weakening protections that provide access to interpretation and translation services for individuals with limited English proficiency;
• Eliminating provisions affirming the right of private individuals to challenge alleged violations of § 1557 in court and to obtain money damages, as well as requirements for covered entities to provide non-discrimination notices and grievance procedures;
• Narrowing the reach of the regulations by only covering specific activities that receive federal funding, but not other operations, of health insurers that are not “principally engaged in the business of providing health care,” and no longer applying the regulations to all HHS-administered programs

Please click read more below for comments from a healthcare professional here in Cass County.  Also, find the link and/or address to publicly respond to this by the August 13th deadline.  

NOTE - LOCATION - CENTERVIEW IN RAYMORE

Missouri's health system is the 8th worst among the 50 states & the District of Columbia, losing more ground every year. The legislature has refused to expand Medicaid and our system is failing our children, elderly and working families alike.

Join us as we welcome Beth Andes MD, FACP. Dr. Andes has practiced internal medicine with a sub-specialty in Geriatrics for 40 years. She retired in 2018 to concentrate her efforts to bring health care for everyone. To that end, she volunteers with PNHP (Physicians for a National Health Program) and Missouri Health Care for All.

Please watch and then share the link below to view the movie "Fix It, Healthcare at the Tipping Point" then invite your friends, family, and neighbors to our forum on July 25th. 6:00 pm snacks and conversation. 7:00 pm program and discussion.

Link to Movie: https://fixithealthcare.com/

We will have the petition to expand Medicaid in Missouri at this event!  

Join us at 6:00pm for a special $10 Taco Buffet and conversation.

At 7:00pm we'll introduce you to Erich Arvidson who is running for MO 4th Congressional District. We're anxious for you to meet Erich in person, but until then, here's a little more info: http://ericharvidson.com/meet-erich/

Please join us at our meeting Thursday night.  We have a special dinner buffet at 6:00 pm and our meeting at 7:00 pm. This month we are going to talk about Cass County politics and the races coming up in 2020.   We'll talk about how we are going to recruit a candidate for every open county race and every legislative district in Cass. Between what has happened in Jeff City and what is going on at the national level the time is now for everyone to step up, while we still can!  Never has it been more important for you to ask yourself......

“If not us, who? If not now, when?”