August 22, 2021

Green Party US – Steering Committee Meeting Minutes
Date: Sunday, August 22, 2021, Time: 8:00 pm ET

Call Recordings: https://gpus.org/steering-committee-recordings

  • Setup and Background

    1. Facilitator: Robin Harris
    2. Steering Committee Roll Call:
      • Margaret Elisabeth, co-chair (ME) – present
      • Ahmed Eltouny, co-chair (AE) – present
      • Rei Stone-Grover, co-chair (RSG) – present
      • Anita Rios, co-chair (AR) – absent with notice
      • Chris Stella, co-chair (CS) – present
      • Garrett Wasserman, co-chair (GW) – present
      • Tamar Yager, co-chair (TY) – present
      • Kristin Combs, secretary (KC) – present
      • Hillary Kane, treasurer (HK) – present
    3. Observers (invited): Renaud Brown (MD), Mary Rooker (MD), Andy Ellis (MD),  Liv Romano (MD)
    4. Observers: Maureen Doyle (MA), Haryaksha Gregor Knauer (AZ), Holly Hart (IA), Diana Brown (CA), Gloria Mattera (NY), Alice Green (WA), Barbara Kidney (NY), Tony Ndege (NC)
    5. Establish Quorum (8 present, 9 current members, quorum is 5) – MET
    6. Approve Agenda
      • potential addition: approve ANM expenditure – move to list/next meeting

  • New Business

    1. Frailty Myths — https://docsend.com/view/qakkzij96v8r9hgg
    2. US Food Sovereignty / UN Food Summit (ME) — discussion only
      Action: ME will let them know we want to attend next working meeting
    3. Committee Budget Submissions Announcement (HK)
      Action: liaisons should let their committees know this week that they should send budget requests/proposals (email to finance@gp.org by 9/10/21)

  • Old Business

    1. MD Internal Elections (AE) — discussion only

  • Standing Business

    1. Follow-up on Action Items
      • update MD delegation per 8/8 SC proposal (KC) — DONE
      • send Feinstein MOU and notify TX (KC/HK) — DONE
        Feinstein has access and has begun work, TX withdrew proposal
      • draft MOU for voting software updates (ME/KC)
        Action: ME/KC will touch base to get this done before next meeting
      • send old v. new version of Delegate 101 to SC (KC) — DONE
      • CCC call for elections (KC) — discussed with Holly
        Action: KC will send out election call by 8/25/21
    2. Approval of Expenditures
      • Adobe Creative Cloud, $200, line 70 — CONSENSUS
      • Business Cards, up to $300, line 126 — CONSENSUS
    3. Reports
      • Secretary (KC) – getting login/learning to add minutes to gpus.org, all 2021 minutes will be added by the end of August. Could use help with 2020 minutes (particularly listening and recording standing reports)
        Action: KC will post 2021 minutes on gpus.org by 8/31/21
      • Treasurer (HK) – TR to GNC June 21
        tertiary payment account was suspended, seems to affect long term monthly donors (Action: HK will follow-up)
      • Staff (AE/HK) – Ahmed’s first staff meeting
      • ME: BAC (none), BMRC (none), DRC (ME) – on the list!
      • CCC (AE) – new elections coming
      • PAX (AE) – wrote a statement/presser on Afghanistan
      • Media (AE) – came to decision about how to work with Outreach
      • RSG: 210822 – AC, Fundcom (none), Outreach
        Action: RSG will touch base with Holly to get AC set up for voting
      • ANMC (TY) – sent request for 2022 ANM locations
      • CS: 210822 – PlatCom, BRPP, ARC
      • GW: 210822 – Green Pages, ApRevCom, PCSC, ElecTabCom
      • TY: Diversity (none), Fincom (see treasurer report), Merch (none)

  • Voting Queue

    1. In the Queue
      • 1063 – Approval of Charles Ostdiek to the GPUS Finance Committee
        Presenter: Steering Committee
        Floor Manager: Margaret Elisabeth
        Stage: Voting
      • Received for Queue
        • 1064 – Revoke the privileges of association in GPUS of principals of GAGP, DNE group, GCG-PAC, and ECSGP
          Presenter: Nevada Green Party
          Floor Manager (tentative): Ahmed Eltouny
          Stage: Findings
          Finding — ME: Not within scope. Membership is defined for states and caucuses not individual members, therefore there is no right of association for an individual
          BLOCKED — AE: NC has the right to decide
          BLOCKED — CS: This doesn’t restrict who a state can send, it governs whether national will engage. The proposal doesn’t dictate who can be a member of a caucus.
          FAILS — YES: KC, TY, HK, ME | NO: AE, RSG, GW, CS
        • Finding — ME: Not within scope. Cannot regulate membership of identity caucuses or states.
          BLOCKED — AE, CS (see concerns noted with Finding a.)
          FAILS — YES: KC, TY, HK, ME | NO: AE, RSG, GW, CS
        • Finding — ME: Proposal is unclear. There are no bylaws that apply to individuals, therefore no applicable bylaws.
          BLOCKED — AE, CS (see concerns noted with Finding a.)
          FAILS — YES: KC, TY, HK, ME | NO: AE, RSG, GW, CS
        • Finding — KC: This is not a resolution and is more in line with a bylaws /rules changes which requires a 2/3rds approval threshold.
          CONSENSUS — will go to queue with a 2/3rds thr