It was 20 degrees last Thursday evening and the town of Floyd had been virtually empty all day, but 24 determined citizens gathered in the Community Room at the Jessie Peterman Library to organize the Floyd Tea Party for the upcoming elections at Federal, State, and local levels.
The agenda for this particular meeting was to discuss and staff a number of committees which will carry out functions previously performed by various executive committee members. These committees are open to anyone desiring to support the mission of the Floyd Tea Party.
In contrast to the view held by some critics, Tea Party Members prize their independent status and make no bones about the fact that we wish to maintain local control of our tea party organization. Requests for support from regional and national conservative organizations are carefully scrutinized to see if thay are supporting the causes and candidates we wish to support.
The Floyd Tea Party is also developing an agenda for action at the local level because fiscal conservatism needs to apply to county government actions as well as in Richmond or Washington, DC.
Here are the committees which are now staffed to the point where they can begin action. The names may change and the functions will certainly expand as time goes on:
1. Committee to follow State and Federal Legislation the will affect Floyd County
2. Publicity Committee to publish articles on meetings and activities
3. Mission Statement Committee to define a mission statement that the Floyd Tea Party membership will approve and support
4. Logo Design Committee to finalize a unique logo for the Floyd Tea Party
5. Committee to educate the membership and the public on the United States Constitution
6. Communications Committee to keep in contact with our representatives at the state and federal level so that the membership is informed on what promises are being made and being kept.
7. Inter-Tea Party committee to maintain working relationships with other Tea Parties at all levels.
Additional committees have been set up, but have not been staffed yet. These functions are still being done by members of the Executive Board:
8. Committee to prepare for the 2011 elections
9. Committee to spearhead community outreach by the Floyd Tea Party
10. Historian
11. New candidate committee to seek out and organize support for conservative candidates at all levels.
12. Community to monitor and report on local government activities
The intent here is not to persuade people to get involved, but to let concerned people know that these opportunities exist. Those who have talents in these areas will be able to find an outlet for their desire to see a better life for their families and friends.
Anyone can watch the news and grumble about the nonsense being perpetrated by our incumbent representatives. Putting your discontent to work and making changes in local and national government is a much more satisfying game.
We also realize that it is not enough to elect new people, we absolutely must track their performance in office and make out voices heard when they fail to follow up on their promises.
A vital part of the game is putting representatives on notice that they cannot mouth conservative phrases to get elected and then join the "go along, get along" team that slips in earmarks and special deals for certain constituents.
The Floyd Tea Party realizes that there is a lot of work ahead if we are to continue the trend toward a more conservative attitude toward government. If you are concerned about our government's actions in buying votes through government giveaways, you might want to support your local Tea Party.
The next general meeting will be Thursday, January 18th at 7:30pm in the Jessie Peterman Memorial Library Community Room.
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