East Bay DSA 

Steering Committee Meeting Agenda

July 24th, 2022

I. Settle in

1. Carlos
2. Shane R
3. Matthew L
4. Renee P
5. Hasan A
6. Kat O
7. Maddy GW
8. Matt To.
9. Micheal S
10. Nick R
11. Yari G
12. Max M

1. Kabir K
2. Susan S

II. Approval of Agenda

A. Resolution to Confirm Branches Working Group 2022 Leadership

Submitted by Grant E, Sean M, Max M

Whereas, the term of a co-chairs is usually one year long;

Whereas, the term of the 2021 - 2022 Branches Working Group leadership has been one year;

Therefore be it resolved that Grant E, Sean M and Max M are elected as the current co-chairs of the Branches Working Group effective and retroactive to July 1, 2022; and be it further

B. Resolution to Buy More Equipment for Hybrid Meetings

Submitted by: Max M, Neder G-S

Whereas, COVID will likely keep resurging for the foreseeable future.

Whereas, meeting in person allows much more organic connections and follow up.  

Whereas, zoom meetings have expanded access to chapter meetings for comrades with busy schedules, compromised immune systems or with mobility issues.

Whereas, the development and implementation of branches will require us to think of new methods of doing political education and participating in chapter democracy over geographic distance. 

Whereas, hybrid meetings have allowed the Political Education subcommittee of Membership Engagement and Comms Committee to roughly double attendance at night school events. 

Whereas, the Electoral Committee also had a successful hybrid meeting. 

Whereas, sharing one set of hybrid equipment between multiple committees requires a lot of coordination.

Therefore be it resolved, the Chapter will spend no more than $700 on one or two additional hybrid meeting setups, including wide angle webcam and microphone/speaker unit. 

C. Resolution to Set Quarterly GM Calendar

Submitted by Shane Ruiz

Whereas, the 2022 EBDSA convention voted to have General Membership Meetings on a quarterly basis

Whereas, the EBDSA bylaws call on the Steering Committee to vote on the regular meetings calendar, 

Therefore, be it resolved the General Membership Meetings for the 2022-2023 cycle will be on August 14th, November 13th, February 12th, and May 14th (annual convention)

*** AGENDA APPROVED via ACCLIMATION ***

III. Committee Reports

1. Recording Secretary (Carlos)

Votes as the Last Steering Committee meeting

• Resolution to consolidate Membership Engagement, Political Education, and Communication Committees
• VOTE PASSES - 9 yes - 3 no 1 abstain
• Resolution in Support of Effective DSA Participation at the 2022 Berkeley Rent Board Convention
• VOTE - FAILS - 0 Yes, 11 no, 2 abstains
• Online Votes:
• Resolution to form an East Bay DSA Roe Working Group
• VOTE PASSES - 10 yes, 0 No, 3 abstains
• Resolution to support Bike for Palestine on July 17th 2022
• VOTE PASSES - 8 yes, 0 No, and 5 abstains 
• Resolution Calling for Berkeley City Council to Place a Measure to Improve Rent Control on November Ballot
• PULLED
• Resolution to Confirm Labor Committee Leadership - K M and Zach W
• VOTE PASSES - 12 yes, 0 No, and 1 abstain
• Resolution to Provide East Bay YDSA Members Reimbursement for YDSA Convention
• VOTE PASSES - 12 yes, 0 no, and 1 abstain
• Please Vote: Schedule a General Membership Meeting on August 12th 2022
• VOTE PASSES - 10 yes 1 no 2 abstains

2. Treasurer (Graham)

• First is the statement of Financial Position. Our chapter balance is $55,409.87. I expect us to end the month around 56.5k due to the timing/process of donations. For those new to the SC, the monthly donations to the chapter are processed all throughout the month, with many of them coming in the last week. For reference 60% of expected monthly donations are yet to arrive. 

• Next is the statement of Activity and statement of Activity by Month. This shows our expenditures for the month of June and July so far. Many of these expenditures are standard operating expenditures that stay consistent from month to month. Sometimes you may see two months worth of billing in one month. Our expenditures were up in June due to the convention (food, space rental, remote hosting equipment). New expenditures in July include space rental for meetings and YDSA conference reimbursements. I expect the YDSA reimbursement to increase by $250 for a total of $600 out of $1000 approved.

• Finally is the statement of activity by month. This is a similar view to the statement of activity, but includes the last 3 months for comparison. Again, the biggest difference you will see is in the income from recurring donations. I forecast that we will end the month $900 in the green.

• TLDR:
• After an expenditure heavy June, we expect to end July in the positive. We continue to be in a healthy financial position, supporting YDSA members traveling to their conference, as well as a new active committee. We still have a lot of room to grow our monthly donor number, as well as from passing the hat. All SC members should become monthly donors to the chapter.

1. Electoral (Shane)
2. Labor Solidarity (Maddy Grace)
3. Protect Abortion WG (Renee)
4. Meeting Committee (Hasan)
5. Office (Yari)

VI. Discussion

1. Chat & Email Vote Norms [5 minutes]
2. Highlight - a violation of the corporation's code? Does it apply to 50c4’s? The non-profit laws? Planning to understand the code.
3. Endorsement Process and the Berkeley Rent Board [10 minutes]
4. ML: A Charters rules committee
5. Staffer Job Description
6. Highlights: 
7. Reneee - starting out as a lower amount is preferred - due to how much we pay vs how much returns
8. How will the payroll be apply - as a w2 [employee] - or 1199 [indie contract]
9. Matt To. - Non-union rep staffer is a concern; how could we deal with a single staffer, with DSA Nat and the WGA. - depends on how we fundraise.
10. Yari - shares Renee’s concern - who does the staffer report to? How has other chapters with staffer’s figure that out? Could the role of the staffer be to kickstart the committee system, eliminating bottlenecking and eventually be taken over by volunteer’s? Shane: We pick someone for the staffer to report to. 
11. Max M - DSA is at a state of regrowth; might be worth the risk.
12. Matthew L - National collective bargaining agreement - could payroll be handled by nationals? ‘Preference’ over ‘commitments’ in writing? Recommends looking towards the Berkeley Coop systems to develop human resource policies for DSA.
13. Kat O - Lower wage contracts are hard; see the benefit for fundraising for full time with benefits. Bottleneck roles seem like the ends to a means. 
14. Staffer will be an active member
15. Renee - What can we be sure of for the staffer, even if we lose members or receive less money from nationals?? Be cognizant to cover HR’s butt, Cali’s employment discrimination laws.

V. New Business

A. Resolution to Make Steering Committee Meetings Twice A Month

Submitted by: Renee P. 

Whereas East Bay DSA is a big chapter with multiple campaigns and working groups, sometimes with a dearth of coordination,

Whereas meeting more frequently would (1) increase the amount of time the Steering Committee has for coordination and discussion; (2) increase its ability to respond quickly to important developments; and (3) decrease the burden that falls on the chairs in between Steering Committee meetings;

Therefore be it resolved that the Steering Committee will meet biweekly. 

MOTIVATED BY RENEE P.

Date Changed from April to August due to a typo

Q&A

Motion: Amendment to change to Bi-weekeley, strike down the specific dates at a time, and the date be decided by the committee. Seconded.

Motion debate

MOTION VOTE: PASSED via ACCLIMATION

RESOLUTION VOTE: PASSED: 11 yes, 0 No, 2 abstains

B. Resolution to Transition Operations Committee Leadership and Add to MECC

Submitted by Ops Committee

Whereas the project team that was created to manage the now-abandoned transition to Action Network has become a de facto Operations Committee, 

Whereas the existing official Operations Committee has not met in over a year and is dormant,  

Whereas the leads of the existing Operations Committee have no objection,

Whereas effective oversight of communications systems and databases are necessary for successful organizing,

Therefore be it resolved that East Bay DSA replace the existing Operations Committee with the personnel from the AN transition project team with Mark G and Mimi C as co-chairs.  

Therefore be it resolved that the Operations Committee shall henceforth be charged with the administration of EBDSA's membership and attendance data, CRM, and communications tools.

Therefore be it resolved that the co-chairs shall be responsible for coordinating the collection, organization, and analysis of data for EBDSA committees. Such activities include but are not limited to the management of sign-in forms, the importing of data, and managing voter files.

Therefore it resolved that the co-chairs shall have discretion to adjust permission sets to limit member use to those functions necessary for their roles and to minimize the number of members with high levels of access.

Therefore be it resolved, that the Operation committee will join the MECC. 

Motivate by Shane R

Q&A

Highlight - how did we get to an Ops committee that went dormant?! One of the reasons to push for a staff. 

DEBATE

Motion - amendment to the resolution - add “Therefore be it resolved, that the Operation committee will join the MECC. ” -

Motion Vote: PASSED via ACCLIMATION

Resolution debate

Resolution VOTE: PASSES: 8 yes, 1 no, 4 abstains

C. Resolution to Support a Bylaws Amendment that Would Allow EBDSA to Make Endorsements at Special Meetings

Motivated by: Matthew L, Shane R

WHEREAS, a resolution passed by the chapter membership at Convention limits to regular membership meetings to a quarterly basis; and

WHEREAS, the chapter Bylaws provide that “The Chapter may only make electoral endorsements at regular meetings;”¹ and

WHEREAS, only allowing endorsements at regular meetings on a quarterly basis risks being unable to make important endorsements if they do not fall in a very precise timeline. 

WHEREAS, an informal survey of the bylaws of other large DSA chapters and of other DSA chapters in California could not find a single example of limiting endorsements to special meetings;

WHEREAS, none of the surveyed chapters appeared to require more than 14 days’ notice (and often significantly less) for an electoral endorsement (except for San Diego, which only requires 15 days’ notice;

WHEREAS, requiring 14 days’ that endorsements will be considered at a special membership meeting would provide ample notice for members to attend an endorsement meeting and reflect best practices in other chapters; and

WHEREAS, the chapter bylaws provide that that a bylaws amendment must (among other requirements) be agendized at two membership meetings, the second of which must be a regular meeting;²

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the below bylaws amendment shall be submitted to the chapter membership for final adoption at the August 14 regular membership meeting; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that a special membership meeting shall be called for Monday, August 8th at 6PM for the purpose of holding a “first reading” on said bylaws amendment; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that a special membership meeting shall be called for Sunday, September 12th for the purpose of voting on remaining endorsements (provided that said meeting will be cancelled if the aforementioned bylaws amendment is not approved); and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that all the relevant required notices shall be promptly sent out.³

^{1 Article VI (Meetings), Section 4 (Electoral Endorsements)}

 ^{2 Article VIII (Amendments)}

 ^{3 “A Special Meeting of the Chapter shall be called by the Steering Committee with notice given to all members at least seven days in advance. The call to the Special Meeting shall specify the matters to be discussed therein and no other matter may be brought to the floor.”}

^{4 “These bylaws shall be amended at any regular meeting of the Chapter by a two-thirds vote, provided that they are agendized on no less than two general or special meetings and that notice to the membership of the amendment has been given fourteen days in advance.”}

Appendix

Bylaws Amendment to Allow Endorsements to Occur at Special Meetings

Motivated By: The Chapter Steering Committee

Authors: Matthew L, Shane R

WHEREAS, a resolution passed by the chapter membership at Convention limits to regular membership meetings to a quarterly basis; and

WHEREAS, the chapter Bylaws provide that “The Chapter may only make electoral endorsements at regular meetings;” and

WHEREAS, only allowing endorsements at regular meetings on a quarterly basis risks being unable to make important endorsements if they do not fall in a very precise timeline; and

WHEREAS, an informal survey of the bylaws of other large chapters and other chapters in California could not find a single example of limiting endorsements to special meetings;

WHEREAS, none of the surveyed chapters require more than 14 days’ notice (and often significantly less) for an electoral endorsement (except for San Diego, which only requires 15 days’ notice;

WHEREAS, requiring 14 days’ that endorsements will be considered at a special membership meeting would provide ample notice for members to attend an endorsement meeting be greater than both the existing noticing requirement for endorsements at regular membership meetings (i.e. no notice requirement) and the ordinary noticing requirement for special meetings (i.e. 7 days); and

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Bylaws be amended as follows:

Article VI: Meetings

Section 4. Electoral Endorsements

The Chapter may only make electoral endorsements at regular meetings, or at special meetings with at least fourteen days’ notice. Unless authorized by vote of the general membership, members or committees of the Chapter are prohibited from campaigning as representatives of the Chapter for candidates or ballot measures that the Chapter has not officially endorsed.

 ^{4. Article VI (Meetings), Section 4 (Electoral Endorsements)}

Motivated by Mathew L and Shane R

Q&A

DEBATE

VOTE: PASSES - 11 yes, 2 abstains

D. Resolution for Accessible East Bay DSA Meetings

Submitted by Matthew L, Yari G

WHEREAS, after the COVID-19 pandemic made in-person meetings dangerous and unfeasible (and illegal), East Bay DSA (like numerous other organizations) started meeting on Zoom instead of in-person; and

WHEREAS, as the COVID-19 vaccine has become widely available, a not insignificant number of members have expressed a desire to return to in-person meetings, putting forth reasonable (though not necessarily correct) arguments such as that in-person meetings will have higher turnout because members are exhausted from two years of Zoom meetings; and

WHEREAS, in-person meetings remain inaccessible for many people due to the pandemic, including immunocompromised members, non-immunocompromised members who have a lower risk-tolerance for potential COVID exposure, members who have or suspect they have COVID (including members quarantining for those reasons), members who have recently been exposed to COVID and are quarantining until they know they confirm their status, and members who regularly interact in-person with any of the preceding members (e.g. an able-bodied member whose spouse is immunocompromised); and

WHEREAS, in-person meetings will always remain inaccessible for many people due to reasons unrelated to COVID, including members who are too physically disabled to attend meetings, members with certain mental health issues such as agoraphobia⁵, members for whom the cost of transportation is a barrier to attending in-person meetings, members who live too far from chapter-wide meetings, members who have work at the same time but may not be prevented from participating in the meeting remotely⁶, members who are college students and are back in their hometown (outside the East Bay) during school vacations, and members who are college students outside the East Bay and are thus out-of-town during the school year; and

WHEREAS, all these barriers also apply to prospective members; and

WHEREAS, a return to in-person-only meetings risks shutting the door on participation (and active participation) for affected members, some of whom may have only been able to participate for the first time due to the initial switch to Zoom meetings;

WHEREAS, DSA is committed to issues such as disability justice, accessibility for low-income members, and engaging young activists; and

WHEREAS, it is also crucial for DSA’s success that the organization be accessible to all persons who support our principles and policies, including specifically being accessible for active participation and contribution; and

WHEREAS, at the second-to-last membership meeting, which was held exclusively in-person, we failed to achieve quorum despite engaging topics; and

WHEREAS, at our last membership meeting (the annual Convention), which members were told they could only vote at if they attended in-person, we initially failed to achieve quorum despite both the presence of multiple high-profile items and it being the biggest meeting of the year; and

WHEREAS, Convention only achieved quorum after members observing the meeting by Zoom were allowed to vote;⁷ and

WHEREAS, multiple members who were textbanked about attending Convention explicitly stated they wanted to attend, but could only do so if they were able to vote remotely; and

WHEREAS, these experiences have shown that in-person-only meetings risk creating turnout that is too low to achieve quorum; and

WHEREAS, the experience at Convention showed that it is feasible to have hybrid meetings, in which voting is extended to persons attending remotely; and

WHEREAS, when remote voting was implemented at Convention, it was stated that remote attendees would be able to vote but not debate. However, the facilitators of the meeting ultimately extended a few opportunities for Zoom attendees to participate in debate by having their comments in the Zoom chat read out loud by an in-person volunteer; and

WHEREAS, this strongly suggests that there is at least one feasible way for remote attendees to participate virtually; and

WHEREAS, at the same time, we need to be careful not to make promises that are infeasible or impractical to carry out; and

WHEREAS, to the extent that it is feasible, allowing remote participants to participate in debate (as opposed to simply listening and voting) is crucial to achieve the forms of equity mentioned above; 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that until further notice, all meetings of East Bay DSA shouldl be conducted either exclusively by teleconference⁸ or as a hybrid meeting; as feasible, and chapter leadership will make a best-faith attempt to provide a hybrid option for all in-person meetings.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that for the avoidance of doubt, for the purposes of this resolution, a purely social event (e.g. socials at Snow Park) shall not be construed as a meeting; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that hybrid attendees attendees shall have both the right to vote and the right to debate (assuming they otherwise meet the requirements to do so, e.g. being a member); and

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that notwithstanding the previous clause, in the case of general membership meetings, East Bay DSA will make a best-faith effort to allow remote participants to debate, but is not required to do so if it found that doing so is is infeasible or highly impractical; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that in the event that internet and phone networks suffer a critical failure(s) which makes teleconferencing participation infeasible or highly impractical, a meeting may be held exclusively in-person; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that at least one steering committee member, including Yari G as the point-person, will conduct outreach to chapter leadership, and provide training and ongoing support for any chapter members who facilitate meetings on how to effectively facilitate a hybrid meeting.

^{5 Extreme or irrational fear of entering open or crowded places, of leaving one's own home, or of being in places from which escape is difficult.}

^{6 E.g. listening and voting, or possibly even debating}

^{7 For the record, it is possible that at some point after voting was extended to Zoom attendees, the total number of in-person attendees alone exceeded quorum}

 ^{8 Including but not limited to platforms such as Zoom}

Motivated by Matthew L

Q&A

Motion to amend - Yari G - seconded by Renee P

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that until further notice, all meetings of East Bay DSA should be conducted either exclusively by teleconference or as a hybrid meeting, as feasible, and chapter leadership will make a best-faith attempt to provide a hybrid option for all in-person meetings.

Motion debate

Motion Vote: PASSED via ACCLIMATION

Resolution Debate

Motion to amend - strike down the zoom language on debating, right to vote and comment

Second Motion to extend meeting to 15 minutes; seconded - PASSED via ACCLIMATION

Motivated by Shane

Motion PASSES - 6 yes, 2 no, 4 abstains

Resolution Debate

Resolution VOTE: PASSES - 11 yes, 0 no, 2 abstains

E. Resolution to Appoint Matthew L as East Bay DSA's Representative to the Berkeley Progressive Alliance

Motivated by: Matthew L

WHEREAS, in October, the Steering Committee passed a resolution providing that “East Bay DSA will promptly receive recommendations for a number of potential [East Bay DSA representatives to the Berkeley Progressive Alliance] from the authors of this resolution [Matthew L and Andrea M], to be voted on by email by the SC;” and

WHEREAS, the authors presented multiple names of potential representatives to East Bay DSA Co-Chair Shane R, but none were interested and able to carry out that role; and

WHEREAS, it would not make sense for Andrea M to serve as East Bay DSA’s representative to BPA since SEIU 1021 has already appointed her to represent them at BPA; and

WHEREAS, at the time, both Matthew L and East Bay DSA Co-Chair Shane R felt that Matthew L should not serve as East Bay DSA’s representative to BPA; and

WHEREAS, since then:

1. Matthew L has been elected to the East Bay DSA Steering Committee; and
2. The chapter passed a resolution creating a system for branches, and Matthew L has become the de facto leader of creating a potential Berkeley/Albany/Emeryville branch; and

WHEREAS, Matthew L has already been serving on the Interim Steering Committee of the Berkeley Progressive Alliance; and

WHEREAS, Matthew L has had a near-spotless attendance record at meetings of the Berkeley Progressive Alliance Interim Steering Committee;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Matthew L be appointed as the East Bay DSA’s representative to the Berkeley Progressive Alliance to carry out the purposes laid out in the aforementioned resolution; and

THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that East Bay DSA reiterates that for the avoidance of confusion, nothing in this resolution shall be construed either as East Bay DSA joining the Berkeley Progressive Alliance nor about East Bay DSA deciding one way or the other whether to join the Berkeley Progressive Alliance in the future.

Resolution to Set Quarterly GM Calendar

Submitted by Shane Ruiz

Whereas, the 2022 EBDSA convention voted to have General Membership Meetings on a quarterly basis

Whereas, the EBDSA bylaws call on the Steering Committee to vote on the regular meetings calendar, 

Therefore, be it resolved the General Membership Meetings for the 2022-2023 cycle will be on August 14th, November 13th, February 12th, and May 14th (annual convention)

Motivated by Mathew L

Q&A

DEBATE

VOTE - Motion to table - seconded 

Motion VOTE: PASSES - 9 yes, 0 no, 4 abstains

Motion to extend time to 4:25

MOTION VOTE: 7 yes, 2 no, 4 abstains

F. Resolution to Set Quarterly GM Calendar

Submitted by Shane Ruiz

Whereas, the 2022 EBDSA convention voted to have General Membership Meetings on a quarterly basis

Whereas, the EBDSA bylaws call on the Steering Committee to vote on the regular meetings calendar, 

Therefore, be it resolved the General Membership Meetings for the 2022-2023 cycle will be on August 14th, November 13th, February 12th, and May 14th (annual convention)

Q&A

Resolution Debate

Motion to change date from Nov 13 for Nov 20 and change May convention to June 4th; Not seconded.

Resolution VOTE: PASSES - 7 yes, 0 no, 5 abstains

VII. Steering Committee Dinner August 5th Discussion

VIII. Meeting adjourned