GA Minutes Tue Apr 02 2013

Details

Location: Community Church
Time: 7pm
Note taker: Steve

Summary

• $150 to Linda for S17-related legal expenses
• SAA Tax day action to use outstanding funds from an earlier DA proposal
• Proposals over $500 are subject to a one-GA settling period
• We'll dedicate the next GA to a discussion about post-dewey coalition building

Minutes

NYC Trial Expenses

Linda requests $150, for expenses relating to her trial in NYC (the trial is following an S17 arrest). The proceedings might last for as long as three days. Passed in the consent bucket.

SAA Tax Day Action Proposal

Brought by Joan and Linda. At last Sunday's strategic action assembly (SAA), a group of people were making plans for a tax day action. They'd like some money for signs, props, and other materials. The budget would be $50 for paper and signs, and some amount of pig noses. Probably no more than $200 total. However, SAA hasn't nailed down all of the specifics.

There a Direct Action proposal with money left in its budget. SAA can $200 use this for Tax day direct action. Since the funds were already set aside for direct action, there's no need to pass a proposal.

Proposal Reconsideration Proposal

Full text: Proposal-reconsideration-proposal-20130402.pdf.

Brought by Steve. This would give GA the chance to change its mind about funding proposals. Any time we pass a proposal over $500, it would be subject to a one-GA settling period. Anyone could ask to have it reconsidered at the following GA.

Steve passes out copies of the proposal for people to read.

Dana. The proposal does not allocate resources to someone who is not here. It offers a way for people to address what they perceive as inequities.

Linda. We only have GAs 2x month, and that might not be enough. Presumably there would be lead time in planning, and then there would be a two-week delay.

Dana. I thought about that too. Part of the point of being a political group is having the ability to respond quickly.

Linda. The most contentious proposals that we've passed were announced at prior GAs. They weren't passed the night they were first discussed. We've never had a culture of setting agendas in advance. I'd like to see prior notice become the rule.

Steve. This proposal is an admission of our failure to establish agendas in advance. For many proposals, we didn't succeed in getting the word out in advance. This is an attempt to compensate; maybe we can provide equitable compromises after the fact.

Joe. My understanding is that this would be the same thing as making prior notice the rule. There was a second discussion of the S17 proposal, but it was presented as a consession that people had to make. If we made this a part of the rule, folks may be more accepting (of the S17 proposal). We already have money set aside for direct actions. That could that be our emergency fund.

Allan. I haven't been here for two months. Don't badmouth money.

Rich. I'm concerned about individuals coming in with a large group of people, with the intent of bankrupting the organization. If there's $1200 or so set aside for direct action, that's enough. If you need more than $1200, then you need to come beforehand. If the world is about to end and we need a $1600 nuclear umbrella, then we maybe can make an exception.

Linda. I'd like to ask for an amendment. We've released unspent proposal money in the past. I'd like to ask that the DA money be reaffirmed, and not released.

Amendment: We will maintain the previously allocated direct action funds, to be used for direct action, without the one-GA settling period.

Allan. What about $100 instead of $500. I don't want us to blow all the money. I don't want us to disappear.

Carolyn. Tonight, we had an example where we needed to allocate more than $100 for a short-term need.

Proposal passes, with amendement.

Media Computer Discussion

We had a discussion about equipment. Specifically, the media computer that was taken from E5. We've asked that the computer be returned, but that request was never answered.

Activist Collaboration and Coalition Building

Dana. Post Dewey Square, many of the local activist groups have "gone back into their own caves". Because of Occupy, all of these groups came into the same space, and found themselves working together. Could we do a socializing event to bring some of these relationships back together?

Do it over pizza. See what different groups in the area are doing. See if there are things we can work on together.

People might say "Oh I hate those ..." and not want to work with them. But we may find that some organizations are interested in working together. We'd have to do outreach. My goal is to find ways where we can work together, without going back to splinter groups.

Rich. I'd like this to be the subject of the next GA.

Linda. I love this idea. I'd love to see us reach out by going out and meeting people. Invite them to our events, or go to their meetings. Test the feasability of working together.

Dana. Network, talk to people, get together.

Carolyn. My immediate reaction, besides movement building in general, is that some groups seem like competitors. Some groups may want their brands to lead. Lots of groups working on labor that would make sense to connect to.

Linda. This is a brand new idea for all of us. What about starting by doing an inventory of who we know, and organizations we know of. Map it out on big pieces of paper and see what speaks to us. It's exciting to think about coalition building.

Dana. I'm on celly list for CLVU. Some groups might want to share notification systems.

Rich. We're not doing outreach yet, and not inviting people yet. We're going to explore our movement, and our linkage to other movements.

Joe. I like the idea of build a chart, and mapping out progressive Boston. Think of St. Patricks day. We end up being in the same parade, but without planning anything. This might give us the opportunity to plan together.

Dana. Occupy Boston wouldn't be the umbrella. We'd talk to different organizations and find out what they see the future looking like.

Storage Space Cleanup

Dana. What's left in the storage space?

Joe. 12 plastic buckets of cement. They're weights for holding flags and banners.

Dana. If that's all, could we clear out the space and terminate our lease?

Joe. I didn't bother putting the lock on the storage unit. Seemed silly to lock up plastic buckets of cement.

Let's list the buckets in the free section of Craigslist. Maybe someone has a use for them.

What about the food tent and the sink?

The sink is in the basement of the logistics house.

The food tent was given away. John Dywer, Jay Kelly, and one other fellow took it to Long island and gave it to Occupy Sandy.

Announcements

Carolyn. March 5pm on Thursday. There's a march for Hotel and restaurant workers, from Cambridge city hall to Meridien hotel. See jobs with justice website for current status of worker negotiations and the march.

SAA. At the last meeting, SAA decided that May 5th would be the last indoor SAA; afterwards, they'll be held outside.

FAWG. We've been publishing financial statements on the wiki. We've published most of the records through the end of Feb 2013, including transaction-level detail. See Financial Accountability.