Green Party US – Steering Committee Meeting
Date: Sunday, October 22, 2023
Time: 8:00 pm ET
NOTE on Minutes: “Checking the bylaws to get clear on the timeline, I discovered something interesting. For those who need to be aware, This refers to publication of SC call minutes. “…Minutes. SC members will have 72 hours from the time the minutes are posted to send corrections.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, minutes will be posted to the National Committee Votes list no later than ten days after the adjournment of the meeting and to the GPUS web site no later than twenty days.””
AGENDA
Observers are asked to remain muted and refrain from using the chat function. If someone wishes to speak to an agenda item, please respond to this address, above.
I. Setup and Background
A. Facilitator: Ann Link
B. Steering Committee Roll Call:
1. Craig Cayetano (co-chair) – present
2. Margaret Elisabeth (co-chair) – reported absence
3. Darryl! Moch (co-chair) – reported absence
4. Alfred Molison (co-chair) –
5. Joseph Naham (co-chair) – present
6. Tony Ndege (co-chair) – will join late
7. Tamar Yager (co-chair) – present
8. Holly Hart (secretary) – present
9. Bob Stuller (treasurer) – present
Observers: Maureen Doyle, MA; Scott Laugenour, WA; Cassandra Lems,NY; Starlene Rankin, WA; Justin Paglino, CT; Alice Green, WA; Gregg Jocoy, SC; Robin Laurain, MI
Observers (remain muted and refrain from using the chat feature):
Establish Quorum (9 current members, quorum is 5)
Approve Agenda (changes require majority, new items require ⅔)
ADD to Agenda / APPROVAL of Agenda
1. Letter from Haiti; response from SC-Sec and IC (Holly)
APPROVED, Holly is following up with IC co-chairs
2. Endorsement of Free Palestine National March on Washington, November 4th
APPROVED, add to New Business
3. Ajamu Baraka video re: Cornel West (Craig)
Agreed to take up online
II. Treasurer’s Report (Bob)
Merchant: $847.33, Misc: $23,544; Savings: $119,840; Paypal: $1536
Additional income of $3690 in checks from direct mail campaign, with more to come. Bob reports finances have gone from severe austerity to low but better.
III. New Business
A. CCC Request for groups.io subscription – $320/16 mos. SEE ADDENDUM C
APPROVED, by Consensus; Tamar standing aside, stating that we don’t have funds budgeted for this; also believes we should stick with the current communications platform.
B. MerchCom request for $180 for new items (Craig)
$180 – $60 for each of three designs.
MerchCom Co-chair Gregg Jocoy stated that the Merchandise Committee wants SC approval to create a line of new products, including a line of apparel (t-shirts) and a coffee mug. Some shirts and mug will have an image of a cannabis leaf with the slogan “legalize it” and some shirts will have the “G” logo without the chicklet. T-shirt design for different colored shirts for Greens to wear to non-Green events, to have the Green symbol in a relevant color (lavender, orange, blue, etc).
APPROVED, by Consensus
C. Endorsement of Free Palestine National March on Washington, November 4th
Endorsement form: Docs.google.comhttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdIoioEdHTwb1d8Qx9ZbH2a-gsh3aDa3hWSiSMPsAR0scgIfw/viewform
Given the time frame, suggest 24/48 SC approval, with consultation with Media and posting to National Committee
APPROVED, by Consensus
Holly will send out request for consensus and notify Media and NC
IV. Standing Business
A. Recap of Listserv Decisions (Holly)
1. 48/48 Approval of Proposal to Address PNC rules to allow for Virtual PNC Option See ADDENDUM A
V. Reports 30 min
1.Reports
a. Treasurer (Bob) – done, see above
Financial Report (Tamar and Bob)
b. Secretary (Holly); Progress report on updates, proposals updates,
Google Drive Folders, more. Will be contacting committees and delegations in the near future with ongoing housecleaning.
c. Staff Report (Tamar, Tony)
Tamar asks that all Committees go through Athena to set up all Zoom meetings, even one-off meetings.
Union Contract: This will be discussed at the staff meeting this week.
d. Liaison assignments
EcoAction: Joseph reported that EcoAction has held a discussion of Southwestern water issues. The GP of NMex is developing a statement, action plan and campaign. More committee discussion on whether webinars might be useful. Tamar suggested considering a donation for EcoAction and GPAX webinars, even a small amount.
ATC, CredCom:Tamar reported that ATC and CredCom are working well and getting work done.
PCSC: Craig reported that there has been some activity with PCSC, another presidential candidate update, some claiming to run that aren’t.
BAC: Tony wrote that “Ballot Access had a regrouping meeting that went well. Productive conversations were had. I could speak about the whole Richard Winger “response” later. Basically, there were erroneous assumptions made by some members of the [Cornel West] campaign, although I don’t have a lot of specifics on who/why and they didn’t listen to Richard [Winger] or others about the FEC provisions for candidate ballot access.”
It appears that Arizona may be able to get on the ballot, but they have several thousand signatures to go. Assuming they get all the contracted signatures from [the West?] campaign, we may try to fund them some more.
BMRC: Banking and Monetary Reform needs a new liaison. Will put out a call on the SC list.
Joseph: Proposed Tool for Identifying and Assessing Committee Challenges See ADDENDUM B Joseph and Darryl! Are working to a more details,
VI. Voting Queue – (Holly)
A. RECEIVED for the QUEUE
None
B. IN the QUEUE
Discussion
1. #1159 Accreditation of South Dakota Green Party
Sponsor: GPUS Accreditation Committee, Steering Committee
Discussion through 10/15/2023
Voting from 10/16 – 10/22/2023
Floor Manager: Holly Hart
2. #1161 Floor Manager Settings for Ranked Choice Votes
Sponsor: GP of Washington State
Discussion through 10/22/2023
Voting from 10/23 – 10/29/2023
Approval threshold: simple majority
Floor Manager: Holly Hart
3. #1164 Amend PNC Rules to Allow for Virtual PNC Option
Sponsors: ANM and Steering Committees
Floor Manager: Holly Hart
Discussion Period: 10/17-10/29/2023
Voting Period: 10/30 – 11/05/2023
Approval Threshold: ⅔
Voting
1. #1163 Mock Ranked Choice Vote for #1161
Discussion from 10/9 -10/10/23
Voting from 10/11 – 10/22/2023
Floor Manager; Holly Hart
Completed
None
VII. Old Business
A. Coalition to March on the RNC 2024 – no action taken. TABLED to take up online, and decide whether to take this up. Announcement was re-sent following the Draft agenda, Will take up online.
VIII. Executive Session – none
TOTAL TIME – 1 hr 15 min
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ADDENDUM A
This is a call for a 48 hour discussion period; 48 hour vote to send the following proposal to the voting queue this coming Monday, or as close to it as possible
The SC had agreed to impose a moratorium on non-essential votes until after Election Day. This one addresses a time-sensitive issue. The ANM committee will need to put out a vote on the PNC venue, and before that can happen, the issue of addressing rules to allow for a Virtual PNC must be approved. The ANM Committee had already voted to include that option,, so the matter is how to address it in the PNC rules.
OFFICIAL DISCUSSION PERIOD: Friday, October 13 – Saturday, October 14, 2023 (Midnight – 11:59 pm PDT)
VOTING PERIOD: Sunday, October 15 – Monday, October 16, 2023
SPONSOR(S): Steering Committee
CONTACT: Tamar Yager
SUBJECT/TITLE: Amendment: Presidential Nomination Convention Rules – Virtual Convention
TYPE OF PROPOSAL, EXPECTED APPROVAL THRESHOLD: 2/3
REQUESTED PROPOSAL DECISION-MAKING TIMELINE: Three weeks
6-4.6 BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Because of concerns about the financial viability of conducting an in-person 2024 GPUS Presidential Nomination Convention (PNC), the Annual National Meeting Committee (ANMCom) would like to include the option of a virtual PNC for 2024, when it presents options to the National Committee (NC) for holding the 2024 PNC.
However, currently, there are no Convention Rules in place to conduct a virtual convention, only for an in-person convention. Therefore the ANMCom can not submit a proposal to the NC that would include a virtual convention option (alongside in-person options), because GPUS Rules and Procedures 6-5.1(e) specify that a proposal to the NC must be “clear in what it asks the National Committee to decide” and it would be unclear what holding a virtual convention would mean, if there were no Convention Rules in place for it to follow.
To address this issue and make it clear what a virtual convention would entail from a rules standpoint, this proposal would amend the current Convention Rules such that if the NC chooses to hold a virtual convention in 2024, the one-time 2020 virtual Convention Rules approved by the NC (in response to the COVID-19 health crisis) would be considered in place for 2024 on a one-time basis. This would include a slight modification of the 2020 PNC-specific dates, specifically where the July 9, 2020 deadline in the text was two days before PNC, such that the 2024 text shall specify dates two days before the virtual Convention) — and would be made with the understanding that the Convention Rules may be further amended before the 2024 PNC
In modifying the then-existing Convention Rules to provide for a virtual convention in 2020, some changes were generic because of the move from an in-person PNC to a virtual one – like changing from an in-person PNC delegate check-in process where someone is literally given a Delegate badge/floor pass to an electronic form of check-in.
But other changes were made to correspond to the specific virtual manner in which the 2020 Convention was held, based upon the online platform used and the individuals staffing the overall virtual convention infrastructure. Those changes were the result of an extended discussion between a GPUS employee (who ran the Loomio online platform), a GPUS independent contractor (who was the overall convention coordinator), and a member of the Credentials Committee (CredCom) (representing the CredCom), to come up with the most practical rules to retain the intent of the in-person Convention Rules, but amended them in a manner to best fit the virtual technology.
In 2024, those individuals and that platform may likely be different. The GPUS employee is no longer employed by the GPUS, the 2020 CredCom member is not a member of the 2024 CredCom, and the 2020 convention coordinator has only indicated an interest in serving for a 2024 in-person convention, not a virtual one.
Therefore should the NC choose to hold a virtual convention in 2024, it will need to convene those who would be involved in these roles to consider the specific logistics of a 2024 convention and if/how the Convention Rules should be amended to accommodate them. Or it could choose not to propose any amendments and would conduct the PNC under the Convention Rules as proposed herein.
It would be with this understanding that the National Committee should consider this proposal.
The decision-making timeline for this proposal is three weeks, not two, to give NC members sufficient time to consider this proposal. However, the sponsors are not asking for four weeks, because it is not the goal of this proposal to seek further amendments for how a virtual convention would be held. Rather, the goal is to get some Convention Rules in place that could be amended later as soon as possible, so that the ANMCom can forward a proposal as soon as possible to the NC with 2024 PNC options because it is in the interest of the GPUS (for a variety of reasons to select a date and location/type of convention) as soon as possible.
6-4.7 PROPOSAL: That GPUS Presidential Convention Rules are amended to add
1-1.6 Virtual Presidential Nominating Convention
If the National Committee decides to hold a virtual convention in 2024, the Convention Rules passed in National Committee Proposal #1011 on a one-time basis for 2020 shall be considered applicable for 2024, except that in cases where July 9, 2020, is written, the date shall be two days prior to the Presidential Nominating Convention. This clause in the Convention Rules shall sunset as of the 2024 PNC and be deleted from the Convention Rules text at that time.
IMPLEMENTATION/TIMELINE/RESOURCES: Effective upon approval by the National Committee
REFERENCES:
Proposal #1011 (https://secure.gpus.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=1011
Currently approved Convention Rules for 2024 https://gpus.org/convention-rules-2024-convention/
Convention Rules approved for 2020 https://gpus.org/convention-rules-2020-convention/
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ADDENDUM B
I am writing to propose a new worksheet for committee co-chairs to complete https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UhXGh4jpaQGUdzxszOVejmWxND2KqHIGNbF5S_r4GEI/edit?usp=sharing
I am not sure how this would be implemented (full disclosure, not sure if one already exists like this. You’re welcome to edit it.)
. The purpose of this worksheet is to identify and address any potential conflicts, communication challenges, or other areas of concern within our committees.
As you know, our committees are essential to the success of our organization. However, we have recently experienced some challenges in our committees, such as the sudden departure of Dr. Cornel West from the Green Party. In order to prevent similar challenges from happening in the future, it is important to have a system in place to identify and address potential problems early on.
The worksheet that I am proposing would ask committee co-chairs to answer questions about the following:
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Conflicts: Have they experienced any conflicts in their committee? If so, what steps have they taken to address them?
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Conflicts of interest: Have they experienced any situations where their personal interests conflicted with the interests of the committee? If so, what steps did they take to address these conflicts of interest?
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Interpersonal conflicts: Have they experienced any conflicts with other members of their committee? If so, what steps did they take to address these conflicts?
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Communication and decision-making: How well does their committee communicate internally and externally? How does their committee make decisions and resolve disagreements? What are the strengths and weaknesses of their committee’s structure, processes, and culture?
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Other concerns: Are there any other clear signs of trouble that they have observed in their committee? What are their recommendations for improving communication, transparency, and conflict resolution in their committee?
The information from the worksheets would be compiled and shared with the steering committee. This would help the steering committee to identify any areas of concern and to develop strategies for improvement.
I believe that this worksheet would be a valuable tool for improving the effectiveness of our committees. I urge you to approve the use of this worksheet.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
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ADDENDUM C
CCC Request for groups.io subscription The Coordinated Campaign Committee approved by consensus this week a proposal to make use of the premium features of Groups.IO to make the online Candidate Community more robust and to allow for subgroups of the account to be created for networking, organizing, training, and even the conducting of CCC Business off of the two Pair list serves.
I ask that approval of a disbursement of $320 be on the agenda for the Oct 22 Steering Committee meeting to fund premium subscription to Groups.io through 2024. The cost is $20/month; CCC actually launched a trial run of the premium subscription two months ago, while we considered the proposal referenced in the above paragraph.
I will be in attendance at the Oct 22 SC meeting and will be available to answer any questions that SC members may wish to ask me.
Respectfully,
Scott LAUGENOUR
Co-Chair, Coordinated Campaign Committee