Endorsement Meeting Minutes: Oct. 29, 2017

East Bay DSA Endorsement Meeting, October 29, 2017

These notes document the decisions made by the East Bay DSA general membership at the October 29 meeting regarding election endorsements. Quorum was taken prior to each vote and was met for all votes at the meeting. The meeting was chaired by co-chair Mary Virginia W., and the secretary was present and recording.

Introduction

The meeting began at 1 p.m. with an introduction, noting that East Bay DSA now has 898 members. Quorum is now 90, and was reached at the sign-in to the meeting.

Mary Virginia opened the meeting with comments about the endorsement process and the debate process so far. Members have strong positions on either side of this debate, which have been communicated respectfully.

Vice-chair Frances discussed the rules of the process and noted article two, section three of the bylaws.

Frances explained Robert's Rules of Order to the assembled members and the meaning of "committee of the whole," emphasizing that its nature is a time to ask questions, and explained progressive stack.

This was followed by reports from committees and teams.

Committee Reports

The Internal Organizing Committee (IOC) and External Organizing Committee (EOC) representatives made announcements on the work of the committees.

Announcements from the IOC focused on the Socialist School and the Labor Team, while the EOC discussed the district canvass program.

Debates

Two minutes of clarifying questions (committee of the whole) were taken regarding the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA) and endorsements.

Jovanka Beckles

Formal debate occurred with eight speakers for and eight speakers against on the question of an endorsement of Jovanka Beckles for state assembly.

Mary Virginia took a yes/no/abstain vote on the following question. "Will East Bay DSA endorse Jovanka Beckles 2018 campaign?" The majority voted yes, the endorsement of Jovanka Beckles passed, and East Bay DSA will endorse Jovanka Beckles.

The co-chair then called for debate on the following measure, with five in favor and five against. “Be it resolved, the East Bay Democratic Socialists of America will endorse Jovanka Beckles for Assembly District 15, which shall include dedicating substantive Local resources to campaigning.” The majority voted in favor of East Bay DSA dedicating substantive resources to the Beckles campaign, and the measure passed.

There was a 15-minute recess. Quorum was reached for the vote following the recess.

Gayle McLaughlin

The membership debated the question of whether to endorse the campaign of Gayle McLaughlin for Lt. Governor with eight for and eight against.

The membership then voted on the following question. "Will East Bay DSA endorse the campaign of Gayle McLaughlin for Lieutenant Governor?" The majority voted in favor of endorsement, and the proposal to endorse the McLaughlin campaign passed.

The final debate followed the McLaughlin endorsement vote with four in favor and four against the following proposal. "Be it resolved, East Bay DSA endorses Gayle McLaughlin for Lieutenant Governor, which shall include dedicating substantive Local resources to campaigning.” The majority of members voted in favor, and the proposal passed.