Agenda

Times are approximate and subject to change at the Chair’s discretion.

Meeting Minutes

Chair: Tiffany S.,

Notetaker: Minnie

Attendance: Tiffany S., Minnie W, Anthony L, Paul John C, Aimee H, Victoria F, Mike Y, Angel L, Lorenzita S, Natasha S, Jesser S

• Called to order at 7:07
  • Minnie motions to adopt tonight’s agenda, Angel seconds, none opposed, agenda adopted at 7:09
  • Anthony motions to consider last meeting’s minutes at the next meeting, Tiffany seconds, none opposed.
• Slack Voting Process Amendment
  • Mike motions: This amendment would add an alternate procedure to starting the vote. The text of the motion, with amended text in brackets, follows: 1. The motion is shared in the #steering-committee-votes channel. If someone wants to second, they react with the 🥈 emoji. 2. Discussion can proceed in the replies and the floor is open for amendments for 24 hours. [If a member is prepared to vote before the 24 hour window has expired, they can react with the 👋 emoji.] 3. After [all SC members indicate they are ready to vote by reacting with the 👋 emoji] or [the] 24 hour [discussion window elapses], the motion is entered in the Airtable and voting opens.
  • Natasha seconds.
  • 10 in favor, 1 abstain, motion passes.
• Portfolio Check-in
  • The only double preference is the position for Chair. All others have a preference in first place that doesn’t overlap.
  • We need a ⅔ vote to reassign portfolios
  • There were multiple people interested in Organizer Development
  • Both Paul John and Anthony are interested in being Chair. Paul John – whatever the group feels, wants to hear the group’s suggestions. Lorenzita – chair is like a parliamentarian. I think Anthony knows the bylaws the best. Angel – will echo what Lorenzita said. How does PJ feel about it? Minnie – initial Chair role was in-name-only all were at large. We rotated the chair role. In the meantime, we are dropping things and things falling  through the cracks. Would like to hear what Paul John thinks. I was surprised he wanted to do this as I didn’t know he liked this area. I think Anthony thrives in this area. I would be most comfortable with Anthony in this role. Anthony – when I re-worked this and made this proposal, I wanted to focus on what would be most fair and what would help us make sure we had all the roles covered etc. Worried that some people have a larger load than they should carry. And also realized some portfolios don’t need to be full portfolios. I thought about what the chapter needed as core functions. And that included a Chair. With my skill set, the things I’m best at are chair-related duties. Facilitating debate and discussion, agendas and moving things forward. I could do other portfolios but I don’t think I fit as neatly. Paul John – I can’t disagree with what Anthony just said. I appreciate those who spoke and expressed how they felt. It seems like collectively people would want Anthony to have the role. Thankful that Anthony has those skill sets and is willing to use them. No problems with Anthony taking on the Chair position. What portfolio does PJC want then? Primary portfolio as Merch. Secondary portfolio as Worker Power Wednesday. Would really like to continue to do that coalition type work but not solo.
  • No resolution at this moment. Anthony motions to table. Natasha seconds with the thought that PJ will continue to think about what would fit the best. PJ will post in the slack and we can vote there.
• Independent Expenditure vs Coordinated Campaign
  • Information here from DSA Compliance, national DSA, NV law.  Many details on IE v CC.
  • Do we want to coordinate or act independently? If we coordinate, there is a $5k limit on the value of what we provide. If we do IE, we cannot share any data with the campaign.
  • Tiffany – we cannot export anything out of VAN
  • Angel – We have a lot of liability if we do IE because we all know Shaun. Anthony – asked NV Secretary of State and we can talk but we cannot give the campaign anything of value. If we begin coordinating, we can’t go to IE, but if we start with IE, we can go start coordinating. Natasha – we shouldn’t be doing that kind of direct organizing for his campaign anyway. More appropriate to do IEs. It’s our VAN and we’ll target our people. Yes, you have to be more careful but you also get more freedom. Tiffany – anything that is public is fair game. Anthony – some SC members are going to assist him as volunteers. As long as not staff, it’s ok for people to be volunteers. But some may need to remove themselves from decision making. Those people could not give any input or vote in either direction. Minnie – I think we should do IE because we could always switch to CC. I worry about capacity if people will have to recuse themselves but they are the most likely to be able to steward the campaign for the chapter. I think we’ll need a steward-like person. Lorenzita – We could cut lists from our own VAN and canvass in the neighborhood without involving the campaign. Anthony – $5k might only get us 3,000 people. We don’t know how much VAN will cost. Printing is expensive. Can’t have both IE and CC we think. Anthony – what’s best for Shaun is CC. What’s best for LVDSA is IE. Capacity issue – people will have to step up. Aimee – when talking to members maybe we can talk about the successes that other chapters have had. Was very inspired by San Antonio’s wins. Natasha – I think IEs are the appropriate way for all DSA chapters to endorse candidates. Anthony – Shaun will advertise canvassing. We’re going to advertise this. People are going to have to pick. This might feel a little uncomfortable. We can learn a lot and develop the infrastructure to do this better the next time. Angel – the awkwardness will go away especially if we endorse other candidates too. Tiffany – in favor of doing an IE. We can develop infrastructure, learn skills. We can teach our members how to cut turf, do phonebanks, textbanks, lead canvasses, etc. We will make as much public as possible. Anthony – this will set a precedent for how we engage with other campaigns. Ideally, they will be have a campaign infrastructure and then come to us for help. Mike – having our own canvasses–with our own messaging–seems good as well as having VAN access. A little concerned about the financial aspects. Who will be keeping the closest eye on the finances? Anthony – SC decides if we do IE v CC. Gives direction to the electoral priority and this includes specific roles. This includes a financial assistant who will report to Aimee. They will keep track of the expenses. IE=PAC. Our goal would be to fulfill the major roles before the endorsement vote. Victoria – initially I was thinking about what was beneficial for Shaun, I was leaning toward CC, but now hearing that we could still support him and build infrastructure, I’m in favor of  IE since there are multiple things we can do with that. Paul John – no new questions. Definitely in the mindset of not giving away data. I’m for an IE. Jesser – in favor of an IE. Angel – with an IE, can we speak at a rally/event?  Anthony will ask the lawyers. Paul John – really wants people to step up. Anthony – either Shaun has to be out of slack or we have to sequester communications to electoral channel. Minnie – we should temporarily remove him during the campaign so we can really hype the campaign. That’s what is best for the chapter. Tiffany – we would probably have to remove him from member emails. Anthony – we may only need to pour resources in during the primary. Mike – we should make sure the members know that the big effort is in the primary and not the general.
  • Chair confirms that everyone is ready to vote.
  • Anthony is going to work on the motion and put it in slack. He will propose an IE. There is no opposition.
• Determine Chair for the Steering Committee Meeting – Anthony
• Meeting adjourned at 8:43pm