Agenda

All times are approximate

Meeting Minutes

Facilitator: Paul John C.
Notetaker: Tiffany S.

6:48 – Call to order

• Community Agreements
• Tiffany motions to adopt the agenda, Paul John seconds
• Trinity motions to adopt the minutes from the last meeting, Alvin seconds
• Land acknowledgment

6:55 – Steering Committee introductions & review of portfolios

• SC introduces themselves and their portfolios, which can be found in this document

7:05 – Campaign Steward Introductions & Campaign Summaries

• Electoral: Cody H., Valerie T.
  • Stewards have had their first meeting together and are planning next steps
• Housing: Angel L, Klaire V.
  • Next meeting: https://lvdsa.org/events/housing-justice-priority-meeting-2021-08-11/
  • Opting for lit drops instead of canvassing due to covid concerns, first lit drop details will be finalized soon
• Mutual Aid has both internal and outward facing components so there are four stewards
  • Community Aid: Brendan B, Sebastian A.
    • Continue building off events like Solidarity Sunday, reach out to indigenous communities
    • Upcoming Solidarity Sunday: https://lvdsa.org/events/sunday-solidarity/
    • First priority campaign meeting will be on Saturday, August 21st, time to be determined.
  • Internal Aid: Justin L, Lillian D.
    • Hoping to work with coalition partners to expand our reach
    • Justin wants us to do something to help someone in our lives between now and the next time we meet

7:20 – Harassment and Grievance Officer Introductions

• Three grievance officers: Travis S., Ahmad A., Tamara T.
• Adopting abolitionist principles and learning how to relate to one another is important for the health of our movement
• Let’s make this a happy and safe culture for everybody

7:22 – Code of Conduct and Conflict Resolution

• Proposed resolution for addressing interpersonal and political conflict in the chapter
• Expansion of what has existed before
• HGOs had a strong say in writing this
• Travis motions to adopt the resolution, Trinity seconds
  • DEBATE FOR – Travis S, motivator. Covers ground not covered by the current process. Built around restorative justice. Focused on repairing relationships. Community accountability, abolitionist principles of addressing harm. Healing circles from indigenous practices. Grounded in the idea of lived experience of every individual, recognizing all of our contributions to the socialist project. Introduces the idea of Harassment and Grievance Assistants who will help put into place these systems.
  • Point of Inquiry, Chris R. Was this distributed to the members?
    • Linked to the agenda at 9am this morning
    • Chris: would it be appropriate to suspend the rules to suspend the one week notice requirement?
    • Anthony: yes, or to table the vote
  • Tamara: motion to suspend the rules and move forward with the vote despite the lack of notice, second was minnie
    • No opposition
  • Anthony: Calls the question. Motion is to adopt the resolution. Vote passes with 39 in favor

7:29 – Financial resolution

• Proposed resolution to describe how LVDSA will manage finances.
• Aimee motions to adopt the resolution, Paul John seconds
  • Anthony seeks unanimous consent, no opposition, the motion passes

7:31 – Treasurer’s Report

• Aimee: Reports that Back to School Solidarity raised $6,906.34 from over 60 individual donors. Budget for the event was $5,100.00 and we spent $5,374.32, so we have $1,532.02 still available. We will use it for school supplies in some capacity and will discuss further soon.

7:34 – Back to School Solidarity Recap

• Shaun: Event was at UMOK last Saturday August 7th, partnered with 14 different co-sponsors. We provided backpacks through both pickup and delivery. Our goal was 100 students, we provided backpacks to 219 students, SMASHING our goal. *airhorn noises*. It was a successful event but it’s important to remember that we should not be doing this, our communities should not need to be struggling to provide supplies for their children.

7:38 – Report Back from the National Convention & National Member Survey

• Jackie: Last week was DSA’s national convention. Delegates from chapters across the country (which we elected last month) get together to vote on resolutions, bylaws and constitutional amendments, and the National Political Committee, which is the DSA’s highest leadership body outside of the convention. Our former co-chair and fellow LVDSA member Kara H. was elected to the National Political Committee.
• There is a national member survey which is a reflection of all the members of DSA, they have extended the deadline to submit until August 31st because not enough people have filled it out. Please fill out the survey! There is a leaderboard for chapters with the most members filling out the survey, we are #31, let’s get to #1!
• There is a playlist on YouTube where you can watch all the recorded speakers from convention.

7:44 – Steering Committee’s Vision for LVDSA

• Lorenzita: We are excited to enhance and grow our chapter. We have five priorities:
  • increasing current member engagement
  • driving recruitment
  • creating a culture of accountability and transparency
  • offering political education
  • training and leadership development
• Introducing Steering Committee Open Forums
  • These will be one-hour-long sessions that will feel like “open office hours” for Steering Committee members! Any member of the general body can come to the SC Open Forum to ask questions about how to get involved, propose resolutions, discuss ideas, or receive any other support that you may need!
  • First Open Forum will be this Saturday, 2:30-3:30pm
  • To understand what times work best for our members, you can fill out this survey that will help us schedule future open forums.

7:46 – Upcoming Events

• Housing Priority Meeting
  • Wednesday, August 11th @ 6pm 
• Socialist Night School: An Introduction to Ecosocialism
  • Thursday, August 19th @ 7pm
• We Do This ‘Til We Free Us Book Club
  • Tuesday, August 17th @ 7pm
• Sunday Solidarity
  • Sunday, August 29th @ 2pm
• Next General Body Meeting
  • Thursday, September 2nd @ 7pm

7:52 – Open Comment

• Lorenzita: Innovation Zones would allow corporations to run their own county and sidestep regulations. During the legislative session there was a bill passed to do a study on Innovation Zones. On Thursday, August 12th @ 9am the legislature will be holding a public comment session on Innovation Zones. We urge folks to submit written testimony and if you’re available to hop on and give testimony.
• Erika B: Why was this meeting held on a Tuesday instead of Thursday?
  • Anthony: This was a one off, future meetings will be held on Thursdays again. Because we had 30 days to get certain things passed after the Steering Committee election, this was the last day for us to pass those items.
• Jackie: New member orientation! You must go through new member orientation to join our Slack channel.
• Nichole B: A lot of solidarity for Kara during the NPC election.
• Sarah A: Jackie and the new member orientation team does a great job, suggests it to everyone. Sarah is flying to NYC to meet with DSA member and NYC council member Alexa Avilés to learn what she did to win her election and what we can take back to Vegas.
• Brendan: If anyone is anxious about phone banking or speaking to strangers, please reach out to Brendan
• Rahima: LVDSA merch?
  • Merch is coming soon!!
• Shaun: Thanks for being here and bearing with us. We are excited about the new structure and hope that it will help people get involved.
• Minnie: We are all very friendly, we are here to support you and help you figure out how to get involved in the chapter, we would love to talk with you!
• Aimee: Shows off her shirt https://heritagehill.co/products/pam-echols-aint-got-time
• Brendan: Encourages folks to join Sunrise Vegas hub
• Trinity: Wanted to express solidarity with the victims of landlord violence.

8:05 – Meeting adjourned

• Tiffany motions to adjourn, Shaun seconds, no opposition. Meeting is adjourned.