September 11, 2022

Green Party US Steering Committee Meeting Agenda

And Minutes

Sunday, September 11, 2022

8pm ET/5pm PT

Setup and Background – 10 min
1. Facilitator: Garret Wassermann, starts meeting at 8:11pm ET
2. Steering Committee Roll Call:

Margaret Elisabeth (Co-Chair) – present
Ahmed Eltouny (Co-Chair) – absent
Rei Stone-Grover (Co-Chair) – present
Tony Ndege (Co-Chair) – present
Chris Stella (Co-Chair) – absent
Garret Wassermann (Co-Chair, Acting Secretary) – present
Tamar Yager (Co-Chair) – present
Diana C. Brown (Treasurer) – present

1. Observers (remain muted and do not use chat feature)
  Holly Hart, Barbara Kidney, David Gerry, Gloria Mattera, Haryaksha Knauer, John Krause, Starlene Rankin; Joel Fears; Kamilah Harris
2. Establish Quorum (8 current members, quorum is 5)
  6 present, quorum established
3. Minutes from August 28 2022 previously approved on list
  TY: asks to approve since changes were made to document
  GW: Motion to approve minutes
  TY: BLOCK: changed executive session wording inappropriate
  APPROVED: YES – RSG, TN, GW, DCB | NO – ME, TY
4. Approve Agenda (changes require majority, new items require ⅔)
  [updated link to mailer proposal & added new items on ETC Report and Voting Software Update]
  GW: Motion to approve agenda
  NO OBJECTIONS, CONSENSUS.

New/Old Business (5 min each/30 min)
1. Information: ETC Report Ready, Sending to NC (GW)
  GW: ETC sent report to steering first, will share with NC list
  ME: were there any discrepancies?
  GW suggested Holly reply since Holly signed up to speak at the meeting
  ME seconded; no objections.
  Holly gave report. Includes bug report but nothing new that wasn’t previously known. No reason to believe any bug changed or affected votes.
  No other questions for Holly.
2. Vote: Forum Manager Protocol (DCB)
  ME: beyond the scope of SC mission statement
  Vote on ME’s Finding: YES – ME, TY | NO – TN, GW, RSG, DCB
  No other findings, GOING TO QUEUE
3. Action: Forum Manager Vacancies (GW)
  GW: Noah Martin recently resigned; Rose Roby also resigned but would like to resume position. What is best process, should we invite nominations?
  ME: same process for other offices, we nominate
  DCB: many folks wear many hats, can we ensure new managers have availability?
  GW: Motion: send to NC list about applying for nomination, nominees should have endorsement of state or caucus, SC will decide likely at next meeting
  DCB: Amend: can we add a notice about nominees being mindful of time commitment?
  No objection. CONSENSUS.
4. Action: Media Committee request for new liaison (GW)
  RSG: Motion: table this, allow media discussion first
  No objections, CONSENSUS.
5. Vote: GPAX Ukraine Statement Queue Status / Findings (ME)

ME: Sect 3 changed in statement, made changes as floor manager too late so had to pull it for rules and procedures
No objections/findings, GOING TO QUEUE.

1. Vote: Updated Mailer and Phonebanking Proposal (TN)
  TN: Majority of SC did not want to see $4000+ on mailer proposal. $2600 mailer maximum would be about 1100 mailers according to TY estimates. Phonebanking focused on mailer follow up but also other donors to change to sustaining members.
  ME: not in correct proposal format
  TY: questions about where the numbers and goals come from
  RSG: TN took numbers from finance
  TY: not from committee, committee’s numbers and goals would not be this
  TN: using donors per TY’s recommendation from earlier this year, TN wants to try something new and take responsibility for results
  ME: not clear how goals are changed, question about training phonebankers and checking in on progress, can you explain consideration to furloughed employees
  TN: minimal number of calls per hour to get paid, $20/hr minimum wage to pay what we advocate for. Only give to experienced phonebankers. Want staff more involved in phonebanking, fundraising, more sustainers, so expect staff to have more experience to help volunteers after a few weeks. Courtesy to offer hours to staff first if they’re interested, heard question before if they’d pay for phone calls
  ME: is this a different contract then for staff? How does two pay rates work?
  TN: can negotiate a different contract
  TY: could be legal issues with negotiating different rates, does not feel list to use is the same list previously given, different criteria; doesn’t have time to volunteer if steering needs to oversee this
  ME: adhoc committee to manage phonebankers? Not sure the time for it
  TN: has experience overseeing phonebankers, doesn’t need to be a big operation
  TY: who does what? To set up lists, supervise
  TN: steering can find a way to do it
  ME: clarify, is this a proposal to tell fundcom to do it, if not, who on steering will?
  TN: Motion to proceed to consensus/vote
  BLOCK: ME – unsure who is responsible
  BLOCK: TY – timing and responsibility
  DCB: can we move to list?
  TN: can we vote now? Or very soon? Need discussion quickly.
  DCB: Motion: move to list for 48/48 vote
  No objections. CONSENSUS to move to list for vote.
2. Action: Consider new steering committee meeting time of 6pm ET (GW)
  TN: maybe 7:30? Put executive session earlier instead of end of meeting.
  ME: ok with earlier time as long as in afternoon pacific time
  GW: since this meeting is getting long, give missing steering members some input, can we move to list?

No objections, CONSENSUS.

Standing Business (45 min)
1. Follow-up on Action Items — ~3 min each/~20 min

Loomio trial by Committee of Co-Chairs update (DCB)
No updates, consider new rep or steering committee use loomio
Discussion: Co-Chair liaison responsibilities (DCB)
Discussion: Secretary responsibilities (DCB)
Discussion: Strategic Plan Update (DCB)
ME: modification to co-chair changes membership criterion for SC members, concerns about caucuses not being able to nominate
DCB: There are two sections on SC membership highlighted for review in the Co-Chair responsibilities proposal, sections have contradictory language, need to clean up; I have not made modifications to these two sections and would like SC discussion to update.
Discussion: FundCom / Steering communications (RSG)
No updates
Discussion: Voting Software Update (ME)
ME: four iterations of our voting software running simultaneously, we’re not sure which parts connect to each other. Previous maintainer Hugh had made changes. Created a tracking code in the software only visible to dev team, to follow the vote, to see all the live parts of database. Cron job sending data to Hugh’s company and creating a big file on pair servers; turned this off. Anticipate by December to better understand what data was sent, if any proprietary.
RSG: does the huge file cost us more money in pair storage?
ME says yes
GW: do we need to take any action immediately or just fyi?
ME: info for now, no action until finish analysis. should consult with a digital rights attorney to see where to go next; previously had issues with use of our logo

1. Reports — 20 min

Secretary (GW)
GW: got access to secretary email box, went thru email backlog back to about May, updated delegations for NJ, FL, HI; helping delegates get their voting system passwords
Treasurer (DCB)
DCB: live updated report if click link; not all of the numbers are yet updated but working on it and better formatting; using the file we use for our budget to also track expenses; making updates by DCB, Hillary Kane, staff member Athena
ME: how much is in the bank?
DCB: in Monthly Reports tab, about $91k
Fundraising (ME) — 2022 YTD Fundraising Report
No report, ME at first meeting at end of month, will work with cochairs on a report; TY has no update at this time
Staff (RSG, TN, TY)
TY: no staff meeting yet, comes end of month; new proposal on staffing
RSG: next staff meeting has a goal to increase communication
ME: FundCom, BMRC, Diversity
BMRC – want to encourage more youth on committee, ideas from party? Interest in a left/right monetary alliance, want Q&A debates.
Diversity – discussion on bylaws changes, Prop 1092, collaboration of caucuses around upcoming events/days; panel discussion, asking trans or gender nonconforming folks in caucuses should contact Diversity
FundCom – test eblasts going out, Green Line blasts
AE: ANMC, GPAX, IC
AE was absent, so opened up floor for reports from others.
TY says call for ANM hosts has gone out if we have it in-person, due date is Sept 15th
RSG: AC, BAC, Outreach
BAC – working on a budget proposal
Outreach – working on a budget proposal
AC – nothing new
ME: does BAC have updates on NY?
RSG: haven’t attended a meeting yet, will check
TN: outreach is working on a tabling kit
TN: EcoAction, FinCom, PCSC
No reports, haven’t had meeting
Requested FinCom about moving due date to Oct 8th for budget proposals from committees and caucuses
CS: AnimalRights, DRC, CCC
CS was absent from meeting, so reports skipped.
GW: PlatCom, ApRevCom, BRPP, Green Pages
AppRevCom – might need to step in and help, troubling meeting quorum
PlatCom – looking over amendments in the queue
Green Pages – considering strategic changes, next meeting soon
ME: Green Pages article about Elie Yarden? GW will ask
TY: ETC, Media, Merch
No reports

1. IN THE VOTING QUEUE – 5 minutes
  - Currently Voting
    - 1091 – 2022 Platform Amendment: Chapter II, Section J Immigration, Path to Citizenship
    - 1092 – 2022 Platform Amendment: Chapter II, Section A,5,3, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
    - 1093 – 2022 Platform Amendment: Chapter II, Section A Civil Rights and Equal Rights, 8 Youth Rights
    - 1094 – 2022 Platform Amendment: Chapter II, Section E Education and the Arts, 1 Education, plank ad
    - 1101 – Special Election of the GPUS Secretary
  - In Discussion
    - 1095 – 2022 Platform Amendment: Chapter II, Section F Health Care, new Informed Consent
    - 1096 – 2022 Platform Amendment: Chapter II, Section G Labor, 2f Living Wage
    - 1097 – 2022 Platform Amendment: Chapter II, Section G Labor, 8 Reduced Work Week
    - 1098 – 2022 Platform Amendment: Chapter II, Section H Criminal Justice, 4 add Legalize Psilocybin
    - 1099 – 2022 Platform Amendment: Chapter II, Section H Criminal Justice, 5 add Community Control of Police
  - Pulled
    - 1100 – GPAX Statement on Ukraine

Executive Session
1. Personnel (TN)
  GW: DCB posted proposal to steering list before meeting. Is TN or DCB still asking for an executive session now?
  DCB: move to list for discussion, proposal regarding personnel on the list
  ME: good with session if the topic is made clear

TN: want executive session discussion on issue if possible, offer to ME to take a moment to look at the proposal on list and determine if comfortable with executive session, otherwise we can keep it on list until determine
TY: proposal on list mixes up some issues that some is appropriate for executive session, some is not; discuss open session things first, then executive
RSG: question for TY, what information should get discussed right now?
ME: did TN send a proposal?
TN: talked with DCB, that proposal is one I referred to. Feel that this is appropriate for executive session
ME: proposal does not discuss much special info, so feel it should be discussed in mostly open meeting
TN: really want to emphasize all the decisions are tied together so needs to be part of one conversation
TY: on agenda last time as staff tasking, that’s open session, personal things like salaries or legal with people or benefits specific to a person are executive session.
GW: Motion: proposal from TN to move to executive session if consensus
OBJECT: ME, TY
GW: Motion: previous proposal was to proceed on the list and drop open discussion if no executive session, so do we have consensus?
TY: proposal should be broken into two parts, one that is open, and private part
TN: past staff decisions were not open committee, concerns about it
RSG: note in minutes that on two occasions things have been done differently but that is not clear from person who stated it, no given examples how history has been different on this topic, vague and unclear concerns against proposal
TY: feels good example was given
ME: want to be clear that this proposal is a 48/48 if goes to the list? GW confirms
TY: feels this has not involved staff
DCB: this is a discussion over several meetings, hoping to de-escalate tensions, tried to reach out to other steering members for feedback; felt CS had made the topic very clear in past executive session
ME: not a concern for individual employees; some portion of each discussion is confidential, but what we want people to do is open session. If no discussion here where it is open then it will go to a private list
TY: feels was not consulted as staff supervisor
DCB: direct responses, perplexed by objections after writing a proposal meant to help aid discussion
RSG: thanks to Diana’s work on this, support moving discussion forward
GW: we should deal with the Motion and determine if we continue discussion or not before we discuss any more, do we have consensus to move to list?
TY: BLOCK: feels like same as executive session
PASSES: YES – RSG, TN, GW, DCB | NO – ME, TY
GW: Discussion will now end, proposal on list, with no other agenda items the meeting is now over, thank you

Adjourn at about 11:15pm ET

Setup and Background – 10 min

New/Old Business (5 min each/30 min)

Standing Business (45 min)

Executive Session