Steering Committee Meeting: September 22, 2018

East Bay DSA Steering Committee Meeting, September 22, 2018, 3–6 p.m.

Introductions and Opening Statements

The meeting was called to order at 3:05 p.m. by co-chair Abigail G.-G., who chaired the meeting along with co-chair Zach M. The recording secretary Mark G. took notes. Also present at the meeting were Dominic D., Hasan A., Sean M., Hannah E., Keith B. B., Megan S., Nestor C., Aaron H., and Jeremy G.

Committee chairs Andy C., Will S., Joey K., Sandy B., Dan D., Nick F., Andrew R., Jack M., and Matt S. were also present, along with Allie L. whose approval as co-chair of the Social Housing Committee was included on the consent calendar.

Approval of Agenda

The agenda was approved by general consent.

Reports

The treasurer, Sean M., delivered the finance report and reported that the chapter finances are relatively stable. The treasurer will work to improve the funding process for recurring committee work. The next installment of national dues-sharing should come in October or November, providing the chapter with 20 percent of the annual dues paid by chapter members.

Recording secretary Mark G. delivered the recording secretary's report and reported on the email votes that had been taken since the last Steering Committee meeting. The report also included a presentation regarding the purpose of email votes, the proper process for resolution submittal, and a list of best practices for preparing resolutions that will be submitted to the Steering Committee.

Following the finance and recording secretary reports, committee chairs were asked to deliver a report of committee activities.

• The Communications Committee report was delivered by communications secretary, Dominic D.
• The Operations Committee report was delivered by Andrew R.
• The General Meetings Committee report was delivered by Andy C.
• The Political Education Committee report was delivered by Dan D.
• The Member Engagement Committee report was delivered by Hannah E.
• The Medicare for All Campaign Committee report was delivered by Matt S.
• Field report for electoral work: 13,000 doors knocked by 250 volunteers in this campaign season
• The Labor Committee report was delivered by Mark G. on behalf of the Labor Committee.
• The Social Housing Campaign Committee report was delivered by Will S.
• The Electoral Campaigns Committee report was delivered by Jack M.

Following the committee reports, a brief recess was called at 4:00 p.m. At this point, committee chairs we dismissed but were welcomed to stay for the remainder of the meeting. Committee chairs that remained were welcomed to participate in the discussion of resolutions.

The meeting reconvened at 4:20 p.m.

Consent Calendar

Proposal to Replace Membership Engagement Committee Co-Chairs

Submitted by Coleman L., motivated by Zach M.

Whereas, Coleman L and Hannah K are stepping down from these roles for personal reasons.

Whereas, the Membership Engagement Committee unanimously voted for both Hannah E and Seth B for each respective co-chair position.

Whereas, Seth and Hannah E have taken on leading roles in the committee on the Membership Retention campaign and the Intro to DSA events.

Therefore be it resolved, that the Steering Committee approve Seth B and Hannah E as Membership Engagement Committee co-chairs replacing Coleman L and Hannah K.

Proposal to Replace Social Housing Committee Co-Chair

Submitted by Will S. and Valeria S., motivated by Will S.

Whereas, Valeria S is stepping down from this role for personal reasons.

Whereas, the Social Housing Committee has yet to determine how it holds elections.

Whereas, Allie L has taken on a leading role in the committee and the Prop 10 campaign.

Therefore be it resolved, that the Steering Committee approves Allie L as Social Housing interim Co-chair until such a time as an election is held within the Committee.

Motion to Fund Jovanka and Prop 10 Canvassing Snacks and Initial Printing of Leave-Behinds

Submitted by Sean M. and Matt S., motivated by Sean M.

Whereas the Chapter may make in-kind donations to political campaigns

Whereas the Chapter's canvassing activities in support of Jovanka Beckles present an opportunity to spread our political views

Whereas leave-behind pamphlets are a common method of promoting candidates and political views

Whereas the Chapter's printer is most appropriate for small-scale color and high-volume black and white print jobs and the production of materials will be undue burden on organizers

Whereas the Chapter aims to knock 25,000 doors and talk to thousands of people during stationary canvasses

Whereas the scale of our stationary canvassing and GOTV operation is as of yet unknown and may increase our leave-behind needs above 30,000

Whereas per-unit costs from print shops are as expensive or less than the self-production originally conceived for the campaign

Whereas the provision of snacks and water encourages canvasser participation and retention

Whereas the Steering Committee has already approved the funding of $1500 for an initial printing of 15,000 leave-behinds

Therefore be it resolved that the Chapter allocate up to $2000 for additional printing of leave-behinds or the campaigns to elect Jovanka Beckles and the pass the Prop 10 ballot measure so that there is not a lack of materials during GOTV.

Motion to Increase NationBuilder Recurring Payment and Fund Ongoing Use of CallHub

Submitted and motivated by Sean M.

Whereas the Treasurer may not approve recurring expenses

Whereas NationBuilder is an important tool for our campaigns and committees

Whereas our NationBuilder costs increase as we add people to our database

Whereas CallHub has made phonebanking more effective for our committees and offers a textbanking tool that can support rapid response networks and event RSVPs

Whereas CallHub use will increase as we begin to use text blasts and through use of a feature that will help us improve our database hygiene by separating mobile phones from landlines

Whereas our campaign to elect Jovanka Beckles and pass Prop 10 will increase the volumetric NationBuilder cost, increase the volume of phone banking, and presents an opportunity for mass text banking

Therefore be it resolved that the Chapter approve monthly NationBuilder costs of up to $300/month from the current $259/month

Therefore be it resolved that the Chapter approve $500 for use of CallHub

The consent calendar was adopted, meaning that all resolutions were PASSED by general consent.

New Business

Resolution to Create a Racial Solidarity Committee

Submitted by Kara M., Ashley P., Abigail G.-G., and Jeremy G., motivated by Abigail G.-G.

Whereas East Bay Democratic Socialist of America is committed to antiracism and building a multiracial working class movement to overthrow capitalism.

Whereas the priorities resolution passed by East Bay DSA membership in April 2018 established the need for committee on diversity and solidarity and outlined the following tasks:

• Focus our organizing on campaigns to build class consciousness and solidarity across the diverse Bay Area working class. This includes helping organize YDSA branches at local community colleges, where students come from a diversity of working-class backgrounds.
• Develop and expand coalitions with community organizations and labor unions with diverse, working-class memberships, especially as we fight on shared issues like housing, healthcare, and education.
• Form a committee with the goal of increasing the diversity of East Bay DSA. This should include researching how socialist organizations past and present have been successful in building multiracial working-class coalitions, and creating actionable strategies to do this here and now.
• Provide welcoming and accessible spaces to people of all backgrounds by having materials in multiple languages, having childcare available at all big meetings, and providing other accommodations as needed, while designating a team to welcome new members and follow up with them personally.

Whereas there is a clear need for actionable items to achieve these goals and create a truly inclusive and just community.

Therefore be it resolved that East Bay Democratic Socialist of America will establish the Racial Solidarity Committee in order to carry out the diversity and solidarity goals from the priorities resolution and build racial solidarity within East Bay DSA.

Therefore be it also resolved that the initial co-chairs are Kara M, Nestor C, and Miguel D. The initial recording secretary is Shane R.

Following a period of questions and discussion, the resolution PASSED by unanimous vote.

Resolution to Close Endorsements Cycle for the 2018 Midterms Elections

Submitted and motivated by Megan S.

Whereas the endorsements subcommittee engaged in a thorough and sophisticated vetting process to consider candidates who requested our endorsement.

Whereas our priorities resolution dictates that we consider endorsement of campaigns that advance the cause of democratic socialism.

Whereas the endorsements subcommittee has already fulfilled its mandate to provide a list of recommended and not recommended candidates to the General Membership.

Whereas the General Membership considered these recommendations and voted on endorsements at the September Special Membership Meeting, after hearing from the candidates themselves and engaging in a thorough debate.

Whereas candidates who were considered and not recommended for endorsement are seeking to use the Oct General Membership meeting to be reconsidered for endorsement.

Whereas the SC is the body that passed the proposal to create the Resolutions Subcommittee on May 20th, 2018 and thus has the authority to pass resolutions clarifying or overriding it.

Whereas we don’t have an established structure and/or capacity to consider new endorsements for the Nov 2018 elections.

Whereas mail-in ballots for the 2018 elections will be sent out on October 8th, a week before our Oct General Meeting, which greatly reduces the value of an endorsement made at that time both for the chapter and the candidates themselves.

Whereas operating outside of the endorsements process that was agreed up at the July General Membership meeting will lead to confusion and be unfair to the candidates that did go through the endorsements process.

Therefore be it resolved that EBDSA will not consider further electoral endorsements for the November 2018 election.

Following amendment and debate the resolution PASSED by a vote of 8 in favor, 3 against, and 1 abstaining.

Motion to Redefine the Resolutions Committee

Submitted by Zach M. and Abigail G.-G., motivated by Zach M.

Whereas, the East Bay DSA Steering Committee voted at its May 20, 2018 meeting to create the Resolutions Committee for the purpose of receiving resolutions for general meetings and helping to ensure that those resolutions are “in order” (among other responsibilities listed in the resolution)

Whereas, Graham D was initially named as chair of the Committee

Whereas, the chair has informed the Steering Committee during recent monthly committee reports that it would be more appropriate and efficient to place the functions of the Resolutions Committee under the Steering Committee itself.

Therefore be it resolved, that from this point forward, the Resolutions Committee will be disbanded and replaced by a Resolutions Subcommittee of the Steering Committee, consisting of the chapter Co-Chairs, Vice-Chair and Secretary.

Therefore be it further resolved, that the full mandate of the Resolutions Committee as defined in the May 20 establishing resolution will be transferred to the new Resolutions Subcommittee, except for the following sections:

"...If there are too many resolutions to allow for this, we shall use the following process:

• There will be [2 x (meeting time in hours) - 1] 30 minute blocks of the meeting reserved for resolutions, with the membership deciding which resolutions will be put before the body. If there are more than twice the number of resolutions as there are blocks, the Steering Committee must pare down the number of resolutions to twice the number of blocks.
• At the meeting, twenty minutes will be devoted to open comment or debate on which resolutions should appear on the agenda. At the end of the 20 minutes, the membership will vote to 'fill in the blank' blocks of the agenda. Resolutions will be placed on the agenda in the order of which receive the most votes. Any items that are not placed on the agenda shall need to be resubmitted in order to be considered at the next meeting."

Therefore be it further resolved, that the four chapter officers comprising the Subcommittee may request and receive temporary or ongoing support in meeting its mandate from East Bay DSA members not named to the subcommittee at their discretion.

Following amendment, the resolution PASSED by a unanimous vote.

Aaron H. and the Steering Committee co-chairs will discuss future amendments in the lead up to the next Steering Committee meeting.

Motion to Limit Funding Via Email Votes

Submitted and motivated by Sean M. 

Whereas any funding request above $1000 is a substantial allocation of Chapter resources

Whereas any committee seeking such funding should be able to identify the need for such resources more than a month ahead of time

Whereas the development of spending plans and their communication to the Treasurer and Steering Committee will help the Chapter better steward its resources

Whereas email votes do not allow for the same level of discussion as in-person votes

Therefore be it resolved that the Chapter shall only approve funding requests of $1000 or more during its monthly meetings, except in exigent circumstances in which an email-vote is the only viable approval procedure.

Following motivation, the resolution was TABLED.

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 6 p.m.

Addenda

The following resolutions were voted on via email in the interim period between regularly scheduled monthly meetings of the Steering Committee.

Resolution for the Approval of the Meetings Committee Election Results for Co-Chairs and Recording Secretary

Submitted by Aaron H.

On August 22, Abigail G.-G. called an email vote for the following proposal.

Whereas the Meetings Committee, in accordance with its rules, had elections for Committee co-chairs and recording secretary at its August 15, 2018 meeting;

Whereas the Meetings Committee in its rules has stated that terms for co-chair and recording secretary positions will be of a twelve month duration;

Whereas Committee members, Andy C. and Joey K., ran for the co-chair positions while Committee member, Emily A, ran for the recording secretary position;

Whereas the Meetings Committee voted by acclamation for Andy C. and Joey K. as Committee co-chairs and Emily A. as Committee recording secretary;

Be It Resolved that Andy C. and Joey K. be Meetings Committee co-chairs and Emily A. be Meetings Committee recording secretary all for a term of twelve months starting from the time of the ratification of this resolution.

The resolution PASSED with a vote of 8 in favor and none against.

Proposal to replace Political Education Committee co-chair

Submitted by Dan D. and Hannah K.

On August 26, Abigail G.-G. called an email vote for the following proposal.

Whereas, Hannah K is stepping down from this role for personal reasons.

Whereas, Nick F has taken on a leading role in the committee this summer and has the unanimous support of other committee members.

Therefore be it resolved, that the Steering Committee approves Nick F as Political Education Committee co-chair.

Following amendment, the resolution PASSED with a vote of 8 in favor and none against.

Proposal to Continue Political Education in the East Bay DSA Chapter 

Submitted by Dan D. and Hannah K.

On August 27, Abigail G.-G. called an email vote for the following proposal.

Whereas, a democratic socialist organization that doesn’t have a rich and accessible internal educational life will not develop a core membership who can be public tribunes for socialism.

Whereas, a focus on the political education of DSA members is a priority of the national organization.

Whereas, the EBDSA Night School is well attended with overwhelmingly positive member feedback.

Whereas, the political education subcommittee point has developed a Fall syllabus to support the continued political education of the East Bay DSA membership. The syllabus reflects the chapter’s priorities resolutions and incorporates feedback from a recent membership survey.    

Therefore be it resolved the political education committee shall organize and conduct the Socialist Night School through this Fall with 6 classes on the following topics and tentative dates:

• What is Democratic Socialism? (9/4)
• What Exactly is Neoliberalism? (9/18)
• The 2008 Crisis (10/2)
• The Assault on Education (10/16)
• The Promise of Socialist Feminism (10/30)
• Capitalism versus Nature (11/20)

Therefore be it further resolved the Steering Committee approve funding to continue Socialist Night School at East Bay Community Space at a cost of $215/class x 6 classes = $1,290

The resolution PASSED with a vote of 8 in favor and none against.

Resolution to Establish Date and Time of General Membership Meetings

Submitted by the Meetings Committee

On August 22, Abigail G.-G. called an email vote for the following proposal.

Be it resolved that monthly General Memberships Meetings will be held on the second Sunday of each month with the second Saturday as backup in case of emergency and;

Be it further resolved that this schedule will be reviewed by the Meetings Committee at the end of the Chapter’s first three month contract with the Omni Commons.

The resolution PASSED with a vote of 7 in favor and 3 against.

Resolution for Labor Day BBQ and Picnic Budget

Submitted by Robbie N. and Ashley P.

On August 29, Abigail G.-G. called an email vote for the following proposal.

Whereas, Labor Day is an important moment for worker solidarity, and a great opportunity for our members to learn about the centrality of workers to the socialist movement

Whereas, EBDSA’s Labor Committee is going to be hosting a Labor Day BBQ and Picnic at Bushrod Park in Oakland, from 12-4 pm on Monday, September 3rd

Whereas, we have asked members, if they are able, to help bring any food or beverages, but we should still supply some food

Whereas, we needed to secure a park permit to make sure we got space on such a busy day

Whereas, we will sell EBDSA merch and solicit donations to help cover the expenditures by the SC

Therefore be it resolved, the EBDSA Steering Committee reimburse members of the Labor Committee up to $300 to put on the Labor Day BBQ and Picnic.

Budget

Permit: $90

Food and picnic supplies: $210

Total: $300

The resolution PASSED with a vote of 8 in favor and none against.

Proposal to Buy Another Set of Essential Canvassing Supplies

Submitted by Abigail G.-G. and Matt S.

On September 12, Abigail G.-G. called an email vote for the following proposal.

Whereas, East Bay DSA's canvassing operations for Prop 10 and the campaign to elect Jovanka Beckles are ramping up leading up to the November 2018 elections.

Whereas, we currently have multiple groups canvassing in different East Bay neighborhoods sometimes simultaneously.

Whereas, we only have one set of canvassing supplies (tent, folding table, and chairs) requiring organizers to move supplies around, creating undue burden on them.

Therefore be it resolved, that the Steering Committee will approve $328.00 to purchase 2 chairs, one folding table, one plastic organizing bin, and one canopy tent for the fieldwork canvassing operations team.

The resolution PASSED with a vote of 9 in favor and none against.

Resolution for September 2018 EBDSA T-Shirt Order

Submitted by Keith B. B., Mark G., and Annika B.

On September 12, Abigail G.-G. called an email vote for the following proposal.

Whereas East Bay DSA's t-shirts have been an important element of fundraising and publicity for our chapter and its campaigns

Whereas our Social Housing Campaign to date has lacked an issue-specific shirt, and our Design Working Group has prepared a new shirt design featuring the demand for universal rent control

Whereas this design will be usable for other DSA chapters as well, lacking East Bay-specific language or imagery, and Santa Barbara DSA has already requested these shirts when available

Whereas a second new design featuring the “People over Profit” slogan is in line with our electoral campaign in support of Jovanka Beckles and also widely applicable to the work of our chapter in general

Whereas Alliance Graphics is a union-run East Bay print shop using union-made apparel

Therefore be it resolved, that East Bay DSA allocates up to $1350 for an order of 100 new shirts, including 60 new universal rent control shirts and 40 shirts for “People over Profit”, to be printed by Alliance Graphics on union-made apparel.

The resolution PASSED with a vote of 8 in favor and none against.

Resolution to Co-Sponsor Striking to Survive Event

Submitted by Keith B. B., Robbie N., and Ashley P.

On September 12, Abigail G.-G. called an email vote for the following proposal.

Whereas, Fan Shingang is a young worker activist in Guangzhou, China who has written a book called Striking To Survive, published by Haymarket Press, detailing a massive 2013 strike in Chinese factories that he took part in. He has also previously written another book for Haymarket Press entitled China on Strike.

Whereas, he will be on a book tour of the United States this fall, and will be speaking at Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library on Sunday, October 7 from 3-6 pm, co-sponsored by Marxist organization News & Letters.

Whereas, the 2018 EBDSA Priorities Resolution has tasked the Labor Committee with "Educating East Bay DSA members and the broader public on the labor movement: its history, its present, and the challenges and opportunities ahead. This includes working to dispel the notion that workers ought to be pitted against each other along lines of nationality, race, gender, ability, and sexuality."

Whereas, international worker solidarity is crucial for the socialist movement.

Whereas, China is currently the site of some of the largest-scale and most militant worker action in the world, though largely unreported on.

Therefore be it resolved, East Bay DSA will sponsor the Striking to Survive book talk at NPML on October 7.

Sponsorship will involve promoting the event via social media and chapter communications. Labor Committee members will be responsible for providing this content to chapter social media coordinators, newsletter team, and the chapter website calendar.

We will also be able to have DSA sign-in tablets and promotional materials at the event. Labor Committee members will coordinate this sign-in.

There is a possibility that we will be invited to have an introductory speaker. If the event coordinators agree to this, the Co-Chairs of the Labor Committee may delegate an EBDSA speaker to participate.

The resolution PASSED with a vote of 9 in favor and none against.

Motion to Fund Jovanka and Prop 10 Canvassing Snacks and Initial Printing of Leave-Behinds

Submitted by Sean M. and Matt S.

On September 12, Abigail G.-G. called an email vote for the following proposal.

Whereas the Chapter may make in-kind donations to political campaigns

Whereas the Chapter’s canvassing activities in support of Jovanka Beckles present an opportunity to spread our political views

Whereas leave-behind pamphlets are a common method of promoting candidates and political views

Whereas the Chapter’s printer is most appropriate for small-scale color and high-volume black and white print jobs and the production of materials will be undue burden on organizers

Whereas the Chapter aims to knock 25,000 doors and talk to thousands of people during stationary canvasses and will need upwards of 30,000 leave-behinds in total.

Whereas per-unit costs from print shops are as expensive or less than the self-production originally conceived for the campaign

Whereas the provision of snacks and water encourages canvasser participation and retention

Therefore be it resolved that the Chapter allocate up to $1500 for an initial printing of 15,000 leave-behinds for the campaign to elect Jovanka Beckles and the Prop 10 ballot measure.

Therefore be it resolved that the Chapter fund up to $30 per Jovanka/Prop 10 canvass for snacks and water

The resolution PASSED with a vote of 8 in favor and none against.

Motion to Support SEIU 1021 Picket Against Unjust Terminations

Submitted by East Bay DSA Labor Committee

On September 18, Zach M. called an email vote for the following proposal.

Whereas SEIU 1021 members of the Alameda Health System chapter are facing unjust layoffs that violate their contract.

Whereas these union members are organizing a picket line on the 25th of September 2018 from 3-4 PM outside the AHS board meeting with county supervisors (corner of Oak st. and 12th st. in Oakland.

Whereas Alameda County Supervisors have confirmed they will not cross the picket line and a confrontation with the AHS board will therefore be forced.

Whereas public healthcare workers like those mentioned above are on the frontlines of advancing the struggle against austerity in healthcare and for a single-payer Medicare for All system.

Whereas the AHS is largely unbeholden to democratic oversight, grossly underfunded, and has a track record of mismanaging public funds, mistreating workers, and putting personal advancement before public health and safety.

Whereas the EBDSA priorities resolution affirms a commitment to support local rank and file activists and unions, and educate our membership about the labor movement.

Whereas participation in solidarity labor actions is a direct and effective way of building connections between EBDSA members and local labor activists.

Therefore be it resolved that EBDSA stands in solidarity with the members of SEIU 1021 and endorses their action to be held on the 25th of September.

Be it further resolved that EBDSA will support this action and any ongoing efforts by the workers of the Alameda Health System against unjust layoffs. This support may include, but will not necessarily be limited to: turning out EBDSA members to the action, designing flyers, and publicizing the event on social media and through internal DSA channels. Any actions requiring expenditure of EBDSA funds will be brought before this body for approval.

The resolution PASSED with a vote of 12 in favor and none against.