Steering Committee Meeting August 28th, 2022

I. Settle in

Carlos O
Yari G
Matthew L
Shane R
Graham D
Micheal S
Maddy GW
Hasan A
Nick R
Max M

Nate A
Kabir K
Gerald S

II. Approval of Agenda

PASSED unanimously

III. Executive Session

[STEERING LEADERSHIP ONLY]

IV. Reports Backs

Recording Secretary (Carlos)

Votes from the Last General and Special General Meeting
Bylaws Amendment to Allow Endorsements to Occur at Special Meetings - POLLED FAVORABLE - 16 yes, 0 no
Bylaws Amendment to Dissolve the Chapter's Comms Secretary Role and Create One Additional SC At-Large Member PASSED VIA ACCLIMATION
Recommendation to Endorse Social Housing Authorization Ballot Initiative PASSED via CLEAR MAJORITY
Recommendation to Endorse Just Cause Eviction Ballot Initiative PASSED via CLEAR MAJORITY
Recommendation to Endorse Democracy Dollars Ballot Initiative VOTE: PASSED via CLEAR MAJORITY
Recommendation to Endorse Housing Bond Ballot Initiative PASSED with 41 Yes; 30 No; 11 Abstain
Recommendation to Endorse Progressive Business Tax Ballot Initiative PASSED via CLEAR MAJORITY
Resolution to Form an Eden Branch PASSED via CLEAR MAJORITY
Votes from the Last Steering Committee Meetings
Resolution to Make Steering Committee Meetings Twice A Month - amended - PASSED with 11 yes, 0 No, 2 abstains
Resolution to Transition Operations Committee Leadership and Add to MECC - amended - PASSED with 8 yes, 1 no, 4 abstains
Resolution to Support a Bylaws Amendment that Would Allow EBDSA to Make Endorsements at Special Meetings PASSED with 11 yes, 2 abstains
Resolution for Accessible East Bay DSA Meetings amended twice, PASSED with 11 yes, 0 no, 2 abstains
Resolution to Set Quarterly GM Calendar PASSES with 7 yes, 0 no, 5 abstains
Online Votes
Resolution to Begin Organizing West Contra Branch PASSED - 11 yes, 0 no, 1 abstain
Resolution to Endorse Labor Day Abortion Teach-In & BBQ and March for Abortion Rights & Supreme Court Reform PASSES - 9 Yes, 0 no, 2 abstain

Treasurer (Graham)

Sit at $59,000

Electoral (Maddy Grace)

working with Peralta community college district

~~Protect Abortion WG (Renee)~~

Meeting Committee (Maddy GW)

will address sound issues on Zoom

Office (Yari)

No application active now, but a few spots in Oakland and Berkeley are being looked at
$2500 is the ideal rent

Labor Solidarity (K M)

Formalizing ties with EWOK
Building up a reading series on labor unions about the 1980's
A Starbucks in berkeley Unionized
Another Labor Census coming in September

V. Political Discussion

Reading #1 - Our Moment: Proletarian Disorganization as the Problem of Our Time

Hasan A: Rough summery - The proletarian is just not organized, and lots of question lead to division, and tends to not be that relevant. Asking how does [___] build power. Class composition tends to get lost in Class conciseness.

Reading #2 - To Win a Political Revolution, We Need a New Mass Organization

Reading #3 - We Don’t Need Another New Progressive Organization

Questions

Why is worker disorganization a challenge to winning socialism? Do we agree it is the primary challenge facing socialists (and the world) today?
Maddy GW - disorganization is not just a problem, but THE problem for the working class to address.
No explicit disagreement on the primary challenge
Nick R - a lot of Unions tend to be top down
Composition vs Consciousness - Working class knowing what up externally vs knowing the structure of the working class, the internal dynamics
Is DSA’s current electoral efforts merely attempts to “recreate” the Benire moment? Is that possible? Does electoral politics have a role to play in class re-organization and in what ways are our current electoral efforts succeeding/failing at that?
Micheal S - a message to a wider audience beyond the left strongholds
Nick F. and Jeremy G. argue that to achieve class re-organization, we need a political party that coheres the Bernie left beyond DSA. What are the limitations of DSA as a socialist organization to cohere the broader left? What are its strengths?
Sometime people don't make DSA their home - organizing elsewhere
What are the practical limitations of forming a new organization, progressive or otherwise? Could focusing on organizing “the left” distract from organizing the working class?
The Communist Caucus article sites three potential movements that could produce class re-organization: labor, tenants, and abolition. What do we think about the viability of these movements to produce class re-organization?
The pros of labor and tenants organizing are the same.

IV. New Business

East Bay DSA Branch Model Charter

Motivated by Max M

Motion to table in order to approve amendments to the charter, seconded.

VOTE: 8 yes 0 no 2 abstain

EBDSA Electoral Endorsement Process August 2022

By the Electoral Committee

East Bay DSA has already endorsed three candidates and five ballot measures in the cities of Oakland and Richmond. The Electoral Committee is at capacity with these existing campaigns; however, there are additional candidates and ballot measures that members want to bring forward for endorsement this cycle.

In order to ensure that East Bay DSA remains committed to active, rather than paper, endorsements, any candidate or ballot measure that members wish to bring forward for endorsement must be accompanied by a memorandum outlining which specific East Bay DSA members will be able to serve in leadership roles on the campaign, what work those members intend to do, and have at least fifteen signatories of members who can commit to canvassing at weekly for the candidate or ballot measure.

All endorsement requests, which should include the campaign memo described above, the candidate’s completed questionnaire, and/or a copy of the ballot measure and a brief statement of why EBDSA should endorse the ballot measure, must be submitted to the electoral committee by Sunday September 4th. A candidate forum will be held on Tuesday September 13th for all candidates and issues the Electoral Committee OC refers to the forum. A special meeting will be held on Sunday September 18th to consider any endorsements passed out of the forum or agendized by the Steering Committee.

Motivated by Matthew L

Q&A

Debate

Matthew L - fifteen signatories seem excessive and doesn't account to people that can do homework nor people immune-crompromized.

Graham D - Meetings are expensive and might not be worth having.

Hasan A - POI - would this meeting need to be in person?

Graham D - POI has a there been anyone that met the criteria to get an endorsement?

Matthew L - We can always cancel the meeting.

Vote: 7 yes 2 no 1 abstains