GPUS Steering Committee Minutes, 8 October 2017
I. CALL SETUP & BACKGROUND – 15 min.
a) Facilitator: Holly Hart
c) Roll Call – Jody Grage,Darlene Elias, Hillary Kane, Gloria Mattera, Mike Dennis, George Martin, Chris Blankenhorn
Absent – Andrea Merida, Darryl! Moch
Observers – Starlene Rankin OR, Tamar Yager VA
d) Agenda revision suggestions: Add under New Business – CCC request for $200 for campaign of Owen Charles in CT
II. NEW BUSINESS
CCC (Coordinated Campaign Committee) – request for $200 for campaign of Owen Charles CT for Board of finance in Madison, CT – consensus to approve
III. STANDING BUSINESS – 20 min.
a) Treasurer’s report – Hillary Kane, 10 min.
1. Expenditures including budget lines approved by SC vote on line since last call:
a. FundCom (Fundraising Committee) proposal for $5000 for contracts for email blast text from Fundraising Writers ($15k) in 2017 budget
b. FundCom proposal for up to $1000 for phonebanking platform to make calls to donors from Prospecting for New Donors ($10k) in 2017 budget
2. BAC (Ballot Access Committee) request for $100 for COFOE dues for current (2017) and late (2014) dues – from BAC 2017 budget – GPUS has been a member of the Coalition for Free and Open Elections since its founding. Membership includes the Libertarian Party, GPUS, Constitution Party, Socialist Party USA, and Prohibition Party, as well as the Committee for a United Independent Party, and Fair Vote. It functions primarily to endorse fair election legislation and to support legal challenges to ballot access barriers. COFOE has helped to fund a number of lawsuits which the Green Party filed or was a party to. – approved by consensus
3. BAC request for up to $1000 to Vermont – from BAC 2017 budget – to be distributed by GPUS Treasurer as needed, for organizing town caucuses and a state committee meeting to gain minor party status in Vermont to include required newspaper notification ads, local caucus promotion, Stein travel and expenses, and two lead state organizer travel and expenses – approved by consensus
4. Hillary can now log into bank account and reports $74,392.85 for reserve account, $40,393.01 for operating account and $35,769.94 for merchandise account for a total of $150,555.80 the lowest total this year; reserve accounts have not been updated for probably a year so adjustments will be made; Hillary now has access to BenePay and can run payroll
ANM (Annual National Meeting) final report – not yet available; scholarship, staffing, and housing were lumped together and need to be separated; also a few income questions to be resolved
b) Fundraising report – Tamar for Starlene Rankin, 5 min
Jill Stein non-donor direct mail sent, Jill Stein donor direct mail just sent; direct mail for dedicated funds for BAC dedicated funds will go out later this month, Michael Trudeau will write; another eblast for general funds will go out at end of month, Office Manager Cynthia Joseph will write; discussing ideas for next year and improving itemization of income; detailed August and September income reports will be sent after some August discrepancies are corrected
c) Personnel Working Group report – Darryl!, 5 min. – for next call
Consensus that Indigenous People’s Day/Columbus Day be a staff holiday since it is a federal holiday as specified in the GPUS Personnel Manual.
IV. VOTING QUEUE – Jody – 10 min.
In the queue:
Amend the Rules of the Green Party Peace Action Committee (GPAX); Presenter: GPAX; Floor Manager: Gloria Matters; threshold: 1/2; Discussion 10/02/17-10/16/17, Voting 10/16/17-10/11/17; https://secure.gpus.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=882
Revoke Monies Requested by the Outreach Committee; Presenter: Green Party of Mississippi; Floor Manager: Jody Grage; Threshold 1/2; Discussion 10/02/17-10/08/17, Voting 10/09/17-10/15/17; https://secure.gpus.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=883
Endorse Off Fossil Fuels for a Better Future Act HR 3671; Presenter: EcoAction; Floor Manager: Jody Grage, Threshold 1/2; Discussion 10/02/17-10/08/17, Voting 10/09/17-10/15/17; https://secure.gpus.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=884
Received for the queue:
Amend Annual National Meeting Committee Bylaws/Mission Statement/ Committee Rules;
Sponsor: SC; Contact: Tamar Yager; 2/3 threshold, 3 week discussion; Floor Manager – Chris Blankenhorn; https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FqPE85h5jBmxHEXaHcY2qY2DuzY7245OxlsQfo4w0WE/edit?usp=sharing
Correction of Outdated HIV/AIDS Platform Plank; Presenter: Platform Committee; 2/3 threshold; 2 week discussion; Floor Manager – Gloria Mattera; https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WVhRJvB76CtPkoHtHwNs7H0jka4gSFb6Y8mkB1Zwe1g/edit?usp=sharing
V. OLD BUSINESS – 95 min
a) Discussion of 2018 budget – Hillary – 30 min
FinCom has not yet put together a recommended budget that combines individual committee member input; FundCom has reduced income expectations for 2018 to $200k-$215k, 2017 is $404k; FinCom wants balanced budget; projected that at current income and expense rates GPUS accounts will be at $0 in 1-1 1/2 years; fundamental question – how much staffing with benefits can we support given that at present the total cost is 213k and committee request are for $200k of which $120k is from BAC – staff vs grassroots committee work vs general operating expenses; discussion re: staffing to continue in Executive Session
b) Election Database discussion continued – Chris – 15 min
CCC in favor of the expense and willing to use $2200 unspent in the CCC budget; IT budget line is for $10k of which $2200 has been spent with leaving $5625 to come and a balance of $2200 that could be used: should the decision be made by the NC rather than the SC? – vote: Mike NO, Darlene NO, Gloria NO, George NO, Chris YES, Jody YES, Hillary NO – decision will be made by the SC; paying up front for the work rejected – pay $500 to 1k to start and bulk upon completion – consensus; SC approve $4375 for Elections Database Phase II using $2200 from CCC and $2175 from IT – Mike YES, Darlene YES, Gloria YES, George YES, Chris YES, Jody NO, Hillary YES – payment approved
c) Strategic planning going forward – Darryl! – 10 min – on next call
d) Enhancing our communications and meeting capacities – Darryl! – 10 min – on next call
e) Staff Recommendations to the SC: Components and Prioritization – Mike/Gloria – 15 min
Moved to Executive Session
f) ETC Final Report – Committee – 5 min – being drafted, on next call
h) Brief updates – 10 min
1. Speakers Bureau – Darryl! – on next call
2. Voting page maintenance/Tech issues update – Chris – no update, need to decide when voters will be reminded and test, George reiterated the need for paper ballots
Update from George: Knee surgery has gone well, vision problems persist – computer now set up to read emails and take dictation
VI. EXECUTIVE SESSION – 30 min
TOTAL TIME: 3 hours 14 minutes
Jody Grage, Secretary