Steering Committee Meeting 7/6

July 6th, 2020 6-8p: Steering Committee Minutes

The meeting was called to order at 6:07pm via ZOOM. The meeting was chaired by Matt S. and Allie L. The Recording Secretary was taking notes

In attendance were Allie L, Matt S, Will S, Lindsey M, Rex LC, AJ A, Benny Z, Miguel B, Annika B, Luke T, Carlos

Also in attendance was Collin M.

The agenda was approved.

Other sections of agenda

Will S. led the discussion around the Convention proposal.

The meeting went into executive session.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 8:07p

Addenda

{SC.2020.1} Resolution that East Bay DSA sign three open letters calling for defunding of the Oakland Police Department

by Zach B., Ruwi S., Neha C., and Kara M.

Whereas the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and many other Black people in the United States have sparked a national uprising against police violence.

Whereas uprisings across the country, including in the East Bay, have vocally raised the demand of defunding police.

Whereas on June 7, EBDSA resolved to form a campaign to defund the Oakland Police Department.

Whereas EBDSA therewith resolved to “support established Black-led organizations already engaged in work against police terror in Oakland.”

Whereas several Black-led, Oakland-based organizations are working in coalition to place Open Letter 1 and one of either Open Letter 2 or Open Letter 3 as advertisements in the San Francisco Chronicle (see Appendices).

Whereas EBDSA is committed to divestment from state violence and the funding of social services like childcare, education, and parks and recreation, as articulated in Open Letters 1, 2, and 3.

Therefore be it resolved that EBDSA sign its name to Open Letter 1, which will be run as an advertisement in the Saturday, June 27 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Therefore be it further resolved that EBDSA sign its name to Open Letters 2 and 3, one of which will be run as an advertisement in the Sunday, June 28 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Therefore be it further resolved that EBDSA use its website and social media to re-post Open Letter 1.

Therefore be it further resolved that EBDSA offer up to $100 for the cost of the advertisements, pending needs of the coalition, with the potential for increasing the donation if requested and desired by the campaign leads, pending SC approval.

Appendix 1 — Open Letter 1

Dear Bay Area Community,

We are 3,342 of your neighbors, representing 85 local businesses and organizations, and we are inviting you to say their names in remembrance with us:

George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Tony McDade.

Rayshard Brooks. Sahleem Tindle. Oscar Grant.

On the streets, in our homes, in the media, the names of murdered Black people echo, with “Defend Black Lives” and “Defund the Police” ringing out in return. All of this in the midst of a pandemic and a recession.

School’s out, jobs are scarce, and how are we going to pay our rent next week? For so many of us, perhaps like you, the choice was always clear: take action to defend Black life and participate in the most transformational social uprising in a generation, because in turn, this will ease all of our struggles.

This weekend, on Juneteenth, tens of thousands of us cried and celebrated at the port of Oakland with Angela Davis, as we invited the final promises of emancipation to begin. Again for so many of us, perhaps like you, we will never be free as long as the police exist to terrorize us.

But come to find out that for decades, our city’s budget for OPD has grown to take-up almost half of our city’s general fund, displacing resources from essential city programs and vital services for all of us in Oakland. We believe that budgets are moral documents detailing how we come together as a city to decide our priorities. It is clear that our Mayor and City Council has led us astray.

So just last week Oakland City Council started their budgeting process, and for eight hours, while councilmembers ceded their time to monied interests like the police association, hundreds and maybe thousands of us flooded the comment line to make sure our message resounded: “Defund the Oakland Police Department (OPD), and do it now.”

Children in our city deserve lush parks, childcare, and the education that prepares them to build their dreams. Our teachers, nurses, and bus drivers deserve wages that help their families thrive. Instead, we’ve made our priority tanks, tear gas, and terror.

We acknowledge that our elected officials are showing willingness to invest in the lives of Oaklanders, but taking a knee, hosting a town hall, or shouting “Black Lives Matter” is not good enough. Now is the time for words to turn into real action.

But let us be clear: “action” does not mean yet another focus group or study, nor the soft promise of change coupled with “these things take time.” In fact, our Oakland city council and Mayor are ready to cut the budgets of Parks, Recreations, and Youth Development and furlough city workers, all without needing more time to consider this impact on us and our neighborhoods. Furthermore, the most recent “consideration” by the Council’s so-called Equity Caucus is to change $6.2 million of the OPD budget into funding administrative and violence prevention departments. This is not real action, and we are out of time.

The leaders of Oakland are speaking out — faith leaders, organized labor unions, community organizations. Their call is specific, concrete, and immediate. Remove $150 million dollars from the Oakland Police Department. Invest that money into housing, health care, youth programs, living wages, education, and the other life-affirming programs that truly keep our community safe. And do it without delay.

Covid-19 has laid bare the gaps in our social safety net. Lack of funding to critical programs has left many of us more vulnerable and the police are allowed to terrorize communities with impunity. Across the country, communities are already building real-world alternatives to criminalization and police, meeting human crises with care, not a cage or a gun.

To those who seek delay, we ask you: how many more Celeste Guaps, Erik Salgados and Oscar Grants must be brutalized or killed on the streets of Oakland before you act?

Oakland, like this country, is ready for transformational change right now — not next year, not next month, but right now!

Members of the Bay Area Community, 3,341 of your neighbors are crying out for you to join us in declaring . . .

Oakland City Council: YOUR TIME IS UP!

In solidarity,

The People of Oakland

Appendix 2 — Open Letter 2

Since the uprising began at the end of May, young and old have risked their lives to be in the streets to demand Oakland City leaders to defund the Oakland police.

Black and Brown people are still dying at the hands of the police. On top of that, we are in the Coronavirus pandemic and the worst economic recession in American history. The Oakland Mayor makes empty promises of change. What’s worse is that almost half of the city’s money for the general budget goes to the police. At the same time, families, workers, and small businesses struggle. It’s maddening because I don’t think she understands systemic racism and violence against Black people in the ways she claims. Her actions don’t match up.

Instead, the Oakland Mayor and the city council are ready to slash the budgets of Parks, Recreations, and Youth Development and furlough city workers without needing more time to consider the impact on our communities. She promises another “study” and tells us, “these things take time.” But the people of Oakland are out of time. We need to meet the moment and dump the bloated police budget into housing, healthcare, living wages, and youth programs to keep Oakland residents safe.

Appendix 3 — Open Letter 3

Dear Community,

We are 3,341 of your neighbors from Oakland, representing over 80 organizations.

Our dead friends’ names cover our city. There are dead and dying Black and Brown people everywhere. Whether it's a knee to the neck, being shot in our cars, no home, or hospital bed to lay in, this city and its leaders continue to idle throughout the pandemic that is police violence.

Last week on Juneteenth, we cried at the ports with Angela Davis and celebrated when the final promise of emancipation might begin. For so many of us in Oakland, we will never be free as long as the police exist to terrorize us.

Our people, Black people, will still die at the hands of the police. Or we will die in the Coronavirus pandemic during the worst economic recession in American history. The Oakland Mayor makes empty promises of change, made worse by the choices the City Council has made to take over half of our city's funds for policing. We would never make that choice, would you?

We wonder if the leaders of Oakland really understand what systemic racism is. We wonder what they really feel when they lead townhalls chanting “Black Lives Matter,” and put out their ghost-written op-eds about “systemic racism.” The words come out of their mouth. Their hands offer empty promises of change. They share false proclamations of solidarity with Oakland people — Oakland Black people, and all the lives that have been upended by the police.

But do they really? Do they really stand with us when their hands are quick to slash the resourcing of Parks, Recreations, and Youth Development and furlough city workers while leaving a bloated police budget mostly untouched? Instead, the Mayor promises another “study” and tells us, “these things take time.”

But the people of Oakland are out of time. We will not stand for the Mayor's and City Council members' delays. We will not stand for their consolation studies, false-equity promises, and menial policy shifts that cost more of the People’s money than are impactful for our everyday lives.

How many more Celeste Guaps, Erik Salgados, and Oscar Grants must be brutalized or killed on the streets of Oakland before they act? How many more of our lives have to be upended in the Coronavirus police violence pandemic for you to take action? How long will you stand idly by while the police terrorize this city and our lives?

There are dead and dying Black people everywhere. Our dead friends' names are strewn across this city, and we still love you, Oakland. We love our fighting spirit.

Today, we need you to join us to tell Oakland city council that their time is up.

Together, we can remind them and the Mayor that they too love Oakland. To divest from the police, from the institutions and practices that criminalize us, and focus on the housing, healthcare, living wages, and public institutions that actually keep us economically well, and physically safe.

Signed,

Appendix 4 — signatories to Open Letter 1

Anti Police-Terror Project

Black Organizing Project

Ella Baker Center

Community Ready Corps

Faith Alliance for a Moral economy

Oakland Rising

Bay Rising

Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice

Asian Pacific Environmental Network

Causa Justa :: Just Cause

Arab Resource and Organizing Center

Mujeres Unidas y Activas

Center for Story-based Strategy

Bay Resistance

Rising Tide North America

People’s Alliance Bay Area

#Audit Ahern Coalition

Young Women’s Freedom Center

GABRIELA Oakland

Anakbayan East Bay

#Third World Resistance

Parent Voices Oakland

Moms4Housing

Asians4BlackLives

BASAT (Bay Solidarity)

The resolution PASSED with 13 yes votes.

{SC.2020.2} Resolution on Special Protocols for Zoom Voting Meetings

Submitted by Matt S.

Whereas the incoming Chairs and Steering Committee intend to resume our bimonthly voting meeting schedule beginning with voting at our July 12 General Membership Meeting.

Whereas we will be meeting via Zoom due to ongoing social distancing measures and online voting meetings will warrant new protocols to maintain democratic and orderly debate and voting,

Therefore be it resolved that East Bay DSA adopts the Special Protocols below for its Zoom Voting Meetings and

Be it further resolved that the Steering Committee will revisit and amend these protocols as the Chairs and membership gain practical experience with Zoom Meetings.

Resolutions: Per our normal General Meeting protocols, an agenda with all relevant resolutions will be circulated to membership at least two weeks in advance of the meeting.
Motivation and Q&A: Each resolution will be motivated by one of its drafters, and there will be a short time agendized for clarifying questions and answers.
Motions: Procedural motions will be taken through the Zoom chat box. Motions must be clearly stated in the chat box in order to be recognized by the chairs (e.g. “Motion to call the question” or “motion to amend”). Motions to amend must have typed language ready in order for the motion to come to the floor. Motions must be seconded by another member stating “second” in the chat box to move to debate.
Debate: Stack for debate will be taken in the chat box as well. Members should clearly state if they intend to speak for or against the motion (e.g. “Stack in favor of the motion”). Speakers will be given 90 seconds to speak on the resolution or motion on the floor.
Chat Box: During floor debate, the chat box may only be used for procedural motions and stack. The chat box may not be used for debate points, comments/questions, or other conversation during debate.
Voting: Votes will be conducted by Zoom poll. Only members will be granted the Zoom link (in order to ensure voting is restricted to members), but we will broadcast the proceedings simultaneously so non-members can observe.

The resolution PASSED with 12 yes votes and one abstention.

{SC.2020.3} A Resolution to support the Berkeley City Auditor in an independent audit of the budget of the Berkeley Police Department

This resolution was submitted to the Steering Committee of the East Bay Democratic Socialists of America on Saturday, June 27, 2020, at 7 pm Pacific Time Zone, by Zac Goldstein (he/him/his) and Mark Schlosberg (he/him/his).

Whereas, on Tuesday, June 23, 2020, at a special meeting of the nine-person Berkeley City Council, Berkeley City Auditor Jenny Wong, member of the East Bay Democratic Socialists of America (East Bay DSA) and former surrogate of the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign, announced her office was going to initiate an audit of the budget of the Berkeley Police Department in the coming year;

Whereas, during this particular meeting, Berkeley City Councilmember Ben Bartlett of District 3 has introduced an item calling for $150,000 to be allocated to fund a study of police call data in Berkeley by an outside consultant;

Whereas, at the same time, because of the budget situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the concurrent economic crisis, the office of the Berkeley City Auditor is facing the deferral of an unfilled staff auditor position;

Whereas, rather than hiring an outside consultant, whose task would be to satisfy the client’s needs rather than the people of the City of Berkeley, the money should be allocated to fill the vacant position in the office of the Berkeley City Auditor;

Whereas, it is more appropriate for the office of the Berkeley City Auditor to carry out this audit, as the office of the Berkeley City Auditor has:

Greater independence;
Substantial experience on this issue in the City Berkeley City Auditor’s office, as evidenced by an award-winning audit of the City of Berkeley’s 911 dispatch center;
and a staff auditor will also benefit from working with other auditors in the office and supporting other audits, including one on the Berkeley Police Department’s budget.

Therefore, be it resolved, that East Bay DSA support one of its members, Berkeley City Auditor Jenny Wong, by attending—calling into—the Berkeley City Council meeting on Tuesday, June 30, 2020, to speak in support of Auditor Wong’s proposal to fund the audit fully and carry out a said audit under the purview of the office of the Berkeley City Auditor.

The resolution PASSED with 8 yes votes.

{SC.2020.4} Resolution to Endorse the ILWU Car Caravan to commemorate Bloody Thursday

Submitted by AJ A., Rex L.C.

Whereas EBDSA is committed to organize against police brutality, systemic racism, and the privatization of public resources,

Whereas ILWU’s Committee To Stop Police Terror and System Racism will be having a rally at SSA at 10 AM on July 5th, followed by caravan to the Oakland Coliseum to protest the proposed sale of the coliseum to A’s billionaire owner John Fisher,

Whereas the car caravan also aims to commemorate the anniversary of “Bloody Thursday” in 1934 when two longshore union strike supporters were killed by the police during the San Francisco general strike,

Whereas the action is meant to protest the uptick in racist graffiti and hanging of nooses at the SSA terminal aimed at terrorizing black workers taking militant action against racial capitalism and its enforcers,

Whereas EBDSA members are already providing support in coordination with the ILWU and coalition partners,

Therefore be it resolved, East Bay DSA endorses the ILWU car caravan on July 5th, 2020,

Therefore be it also resolved, East Bay DSA will support ILWU organizers with promotion on chapter social media and create a Facebook event.

The resolution PASSED with 11 yes votes.

{SC.2020.5} Resolution to Confirm Labor Committee Leadership Election Results

Submitted by Aaron H. and Andrea M.

Whereas, according to the Labor Committee’s rules, the term of its co-chairs is one year long; and

Whereas, the term of the 2019 - 2020 Labor Committee leadership has been one year; and

Whereas, the Labor Committee held its yearly elections at its regular June meeting on Sunday, June 28th, 2020; and

Whereas, two Labor Committee members, Yi W. and Aaron H., ran for two co-chair positions and received near unanimous votes from the Labor Committee members who voted; and

Whereas, one Labor Committee member, Jenny E., ran for recording secretary and was voted in by acclamation; and

Whereas, Yi W. is a member of CUPE and is active in the Labor Committee’s work around a jobs program, a labor census, and aiding the statewide labor network; and

Whereas, Aaron H. is active member of IATSE and has been co-chair of the Labor Committee for the past year; and

Whereas, Jenny E. is an active member of IATSE and active in the Labor Committee’s work around a jobs program, a labor census, media narrative, and AHS solidarity.

Therefore be it resolved that Yi W. and Aaron H. are elected as co-chairs of the Labor Committee effective and retroactive to July 1, 2020; and be it further

Resolved that Jenny E. is elected as recording secretary of the Labor Committee effective and retroactive to July 1, 2020.

The resolution PASSED with 11 yes votes.

{SC.2020.6}Resolution to Make Steph H. Endorsements Subcommittee Cochair

Submitted by Steph H., Will S.

Whereas the Subcommittee only has one other cochair and there is a lot of work to be done;

Whereas Steph H has stepped up in the subcommittee and has been taking on a larger role, including around political education;

Therefore be it resolved Steph H become Endorsements Subcommittee co-chair.

The resolution PASSED with 10 yes votes.