Agenda

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

Meeting Minutes

Chair: Mike Y

Notetaker: Anthony

Attendance: Mike Y., Lorenzita S., Minnie W., Shaun N., Tiffany S., Jesser S., Aimee H., Jackie S., Anthony L., Paul John C.; Guests: Sarah L, Phil M., Brendan B.

• Called to order at 7:05
• Anthony motions to adopt tonight’s agenda, Shaun seconds, none opposed, agenda adopted
• Minnie motions to adopt last meeting’s minutes, Anthony seconds, none opposed, minutes adopted
• Last meeting action items
  • Email PLAN about Solidarity Check – Aimee – PLAN has processed a new check and it will be mailed to Aimee’s home, according to Aimee’s communication with Laura Martin
• Treasurer’s Report
• Housing Justice Priority Update – Phil M. and Sarah L.
  • Lit drop occurred on the 22nd, went well, they are reassessing the times based on feedback
  • Discussions are occurring around making the events not publicly promoted, primarily for safety and based on experiences seen from other chapters
  • Looking for a date to schedule a community meeting at Villas at Painted Desert, after a few more canvassing events
  • Trying to find methods of disseminating information better and in a more clear way
  • Housing Stewards and advisors have been meeting with Electoral stewards and advisors to discuss approaching Nevada Housing Justice Alliance about creating a campaign around a piece of legislation (to be determined, but leaning towards rent stabilization or right to counsel)
    1. Angel will present to NHJA on February 8th at 11:30am
  • Most recent research session did not go according to plan due to a non-member of concern being present; Jackie led a conversation around imagining what potential housing goals could be and each person’s visions for housing
  • Research indicates that the best next steps for a tenants union is to identify leverage that the tenants have against the landlord in order to get the landlord to come to the bargaining table; this will be a likely next step for the housing research team
  • Shaun asked if there was a timeline for a future social event at Painted Desert
    1. Phil said this is what they mean when they refer to a community meeting; they would like to find a nearby location and not directly inside of Painted Desert
  • Tiffany asks if the research sessions, the campaign meetings, and the canvassing events needed to be private
    1. Sarah said research should be members only, but the campaign meetings and canvasses should be public
    2. Jackie agrees via chat
    3. Mike and Tiffany agree to not post the housing research sessions on social media
• Executive Session
• Brake Light Clinic Recap
  • Shaun said event was great; the chapter did this a few years ago and only repaired 1 or 2 vehicles, so this event was great by comparison; the location worked out and seemed just busy enough for what we could handle
  • Aimee thought it was smooth, made notes of a few things that could be improved in the future, enjoyed that the majority of the people served were POC which means we reached the target audience; reminder that this will take years to build trust with a community; the bulbs roughly $120; there were a few really good organizing moments
  • Minnie asked how people heard about the event, or how many came from the street
  • Anthony said that a large number of participants said they came because they saw the event online or on socials, and a few participants came to visit the mosque and we helped them while they were there
  • Shaun suggests canvassing the neighborhood during the next event
  • Anthony would like to see us move into east and north las vegas for future events
  • Paul John suggests adding some of our upcoming event info onto the housing lit drops
  • Minnie points out that canvassing the neighborhood could be a good opportunity to talk to the residents about housing, especially since that community is being considered for affordable housing renovations from the city
• Back to School Solidarity Funds – Proposal for use
  • Aimee describes an idea to use the back to school solidarity funds for masks for teachers and students
  • Shaun says that he reached out to educator members and they agreed that this would be a good use of the funds, talks about educators complaining that facilities are not being properly cleaned
  • Shaun motions to allocate $1,000 of the Back to School Solidarity funds to purchase n95 masks for educators, Aimee seconds
    1. Motion passes 10-0
• Petition to recognize the Socialist Feminist Section
  • Tiffany presents member petition, petition is approved unanimously
• Review script for General Meeting
• PAC Paperwork
  • Anthony would like to have us submit the Nevada PAC paperwork as well as the document that nonprofits are required to submit before doing electoral work in the state
  • Aimee expresses concerns with managing the money because of the specifics of the regulations around campaign finance, would prefer if someone with that specific experience would do that work
  • Minnie and Tiffany express hesitation due to not fully understanding how this will impact the chapter or what the processes that will be
  • Anthony says he will table this until a future meeting for time
• Social Media Working Group
  • Creating a list of organizations to follow and potentially promote
  • People can add to the list with this form: https://airtable.com/shrLya3rlbFrSIWeo/tbld5OKhVQgYumlKk
• Next chair – Minnie W
• Organizer Training
  • Lauren Katz from Metro DC and from the Training Subcommittee of the GDC has agreed to facilitate a training on list work and power mapping, Anthony asks if the group is okay with this and also moving the time to 5:30 instead of the usual 7pm
    • Agreement, and Jackie asks if it can be marketed towards stewards and people who want to potentially lead priorities campaigns in the future
• Open Comment
  • Minnie has noticed that there’s some class reductionist takes that are coming up within the chapter, asks Jesser if there could be a poli ed in the future to educate members more on this
    • Jesser thinks that’s a good idea
    • Tiffany adds that a black liberation socialist night school may be something we should do soon
    • Aimee agrees, and also points out that nothing has materially changed since the murder of George Floyd, in fact police have mobilized harder against BLM efforts
    • Paul John appreciates Aimee’s words, relates as a person of color
  • Anthony says that electoral will be trying to move to weeknights where possible, will be meeting on the 7th at 7pm and then move the 19th to the 21st at 7pm
  • Paul John asks if the group would still like to consider doing an SC retreat
    • Many agree that this would be good to do after the new members are elected
    • Will be an item on the next SC meeting
• Meeting adjourned 9:41