GPUS Steering Committee Minutes
Sunday, April 10, 2016 – 8:00 p.m. ET
I. CALL SETUP & BACKGROUND
a) Facilitator: Charles Sherrouse
b) Call-in # for recording: 605-475-3299 reference # 157
c) Present: Audrey Clement, Sanda Everette, Jan Martell, Andrea Merida, Charles Ostdiek, Paul Pipkin, Jeff Turner (joined late), Tamar Yager, Bahram Zandi. Observer: Starlene Rankin
d) Agenda revisions: Tamar asked for an update on the SC vacancy election results. Bahram wanted to discuss holding SC meetings online rather than by phone, but agreed to have that conversation by email.
II. OLD BUSINESS
a) Earthflower trademark registration report and request for reimbursement – Audrey. LuAnne Kozma submitted a request for reimbursement of $300 of the $400 registration cost, donating the difference to the party. Members agreed that in order to properly account for the expenditure, the reimbursement and the donation must be recorded as separate transactions. Audrey has forwarded the receipt from LuAnne to Jeff and to the Fincom list. Charles will add Fundcom members to Fincom list for sending, not receiving mail.
b) Update on dispute resolution for BRPP – Charles. Reconstituted DRC was up and running by December. Dave McCorquodale provided points for resolution and the co-chairs, Holly Hart and Hugh Esco, were contacted. Holly is ready to go forward but Hugh has not responded. So things are moving, but slowly.
c) New liaison assignment for ARC – Andrea and Paul will share this responsibility, which in the short run involves overseeing the set-up of the email list, populating the committee, and holding co-chair elections.
d) Update on one of our lawsuits against the commission on presidential debates – Charles. Alexandra Shapiro, attorney for Level the Playing Field suit has filed a motion for summary judgment. Audrey said she had read the documents, and was very impressed and that we had first-rate representation in this, however it ends up.
III. STANDING BUSINESS
a) Treasurer’s Report – Jeff. Sent cash report, at the end of March we had about $22,000 and a week later after paying bills and payroll, we still have about $22k. Have to move about $6.5k earmarked donations into reserves for ballot access, a top priority. Discussion of staff debit cards vs. credit cards – Jeff heard from the bank manager he spoke to about cards for the office that we can have a credit card with no individual guarantor. A credit card system is more secure than debit cards, and also has accounting benefits, so he recommended we go for credit card over debit card. Members had no objection, but it will involve some Fincom work and an alteration of Fiscal Policy, which requires an NC approval. In the mean time since the Office Associate needs a card for daily office use, Jeff will send Cynthia his debit card.
b) Fundraising Report – Tamar. This was a good month, about $18k from the last letter, half of which came from 2 large donations. First Friday eblast was doing okay and brought in sustainers – eblast report coming soon. Thanks to Sanda for making thankyou calls. Need to have more people making calls, it really makes a difference. Audrey said that after completing a petitioning goal she would be available again in May. Jeff suggested getting the next letter out earlier so donations wouldn’t conflict with paying registration fees for the convention. Tamar said she tries to space it between the last letter and the convention, which is later this year.
VOTING QUEUE
In the queue:
a) 813 – Election Reform
b) 814 – Foreign Policy
c) 815 – Adoptee Rights
d) 816 – Fracking
e) 817 – Green Energy & Jobs
f) 818 – Climate Treaty
Received for the queue:
The second 6 platform amendment proposals to enter the queue are:
Platcom – Ozone Depletion
MDGP – Health Care
SCGP – Four-Year Term
SCGP – Legislative-Executive Linkage
WIGP – Minimum Wage
WIGP – War on Drugs
No findings. Discussion centered around timing of the four groups of 6. Sanda felt it would be a good idea to wait until voting was over for the first group before posting the next, and that 2 weeks discussion might not be enough. Jan pointed out that Platcom co-chairs had already agreed to extend discussion if necessary, and that Platcom rules require posting the complete Draft Platform by May 15 for reading by PNC delegates. We will already be late for this date. Sanda withdrew her objection to the schedule – the proposals will post according to the requested schedule. Jan will be Floor Manager.
Agenda addition – Report on SC vacancy election results – Tamar. Jan reported that the request to reveal the ballot keys for the vacancy election, which is not automatic with the voting software and has to be done by hand, was sent to Hugh Esco, but no reply had been received yet. Charles said that he would also contact Hugh as he is reportedly working to correct some BRPP voting page flaws, and BRPP uses the same system as GPUS. Sanda said there needs to be a process amendment for interim elections, since the Election Tabulation Committee has responsibility for publishing results, but is not active between regular elections.
IV. NEW BUSINESS
a) Ballot Access Committee report – Audrey agreed to defer this until next meeting.
b) Proposal to Amend SC Internal Rules on Online Voting – Audrey. Deferred to next meeting.
c) Proposal: ANM Diversity Reserves – Tamar formally requested to transfer $2,000 to reserves earmarked for Diversity for the ANM. Last time the funds were budgeted but were not available to use when needed, so this needs to be set up in advance. Reserves already have $1084 for diversity efforts including the anti-oppression workshop. The budget line for diversity travel/lodging is $2000. Charles and Jeff wanted to limit transfer so as not to exceed budget line. Tamar felt that current earmarked funds should be considered to be additional to the budget. Amendment to the proposal to transfer only funds to bring reserves up to $2000 was voted on first – Voting yes: Audrey, Sanda, Jan, Charles, Paul, Jeff. Voting no: Andrea, Tamar. Abstain: Bahram. The amendment was approved. The amended proposal passed by consensus with Tamar standing aside.
V. EXECUTIVE SESSION
None
TOTAL TIME: 150 minutes
Jan Martell
Secretary