|
Meeting Notes
December 7, 2006
In Attendance: Joe Richardson, Dave Grodsky, Paddy Lane, Walter vom Saal,
Ed Lentz
Meeting opened at 7:15
See agenda below. After introductory remarks, the minutes and Treasurers
Report were
approved. The Treasurer's Report was given by Joe for Alice Richardson. Our
current
balance is $136, including $46 collected by passing the hat at a previous
meeting. The
IRS is attempting to collect $207 for taxes plus interest allegedly owed
from Tax Year
2005. Alice will call the IRS, yet again, to attempt to resolve this matter.
Ed offered to
summarize the requirements for tax-exempt status under the federal Internal
Revenue
Code at the next meeting.
Work Group Reports:
Ed reported on the Environmental Work Group Meeting. See EWG
Meeting Minutes, December 6, 2006, which are on the CfD website (www.democracycoalition.org).
Joe will
contact Sherwood Boehlert's office to see if he would be willing to attend
a public meting
at which he would be asked to give his views on the attitude on "the Hill" towards
environmental issues.
Walter reported that there is a group named Freecycle that
maintains a listserv for listing usable items no longer wanted, and that
Oneonta has a local chapter:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OneontaFreecycle/
On the topic of voting machines, Dave reported that the Otsego County Board
of Representatives adopted a resolution in
favor of PB/OS over DREs. All members are urged to write letters in support
of PB/OS
directly to Ms. Charlotte Koniuto, Elections Commissioner, 140 Co Hwy 33W,
Suite 2,
Cooperstown, NY 13326-1129. Ms. Koniuto is the Republican Elections Commissioner.
The Democratic Commissioner, Hank Nicols, is already on board in support
of PB/OS. In
addition, letters can be sent to Republican legislators, e.g., Seward and
Lopez, to ask them
to use their influence to ensure that the Otsego County Board of Elections
chooses PB/OS
over DREs.
On Clean Money Clean Elections, Joe reported that Hilda
Wilcox is eager to repeat in Delaware and Chenango counties our
successful Otsego County effort to get the county Board of Representatives
to endorse a
Clean Money Clean Elections resolution. She and Joe could produce a draft
resolution, but
it would be best if CfD members who are citizens of those two counties could
bring it
before their respective boards.
It was agreed that Dave would draft a letter to Spitzer encouraging him to
act on a Clean
Money-Clean Elections bill and on lobbying reform. The draft will be posted
in the CfD
listserv for comment before sending.
The Healthcare Work Group is meeting on Friday, December 8.
Town Hall Meeting with Arcuri and Gillibrand:
Mike Arcuri has agreed in principle to participate in such town hall. Karen
Palmer is
working on Kirstin Gillibrand. Planning will be deferred until a date is
set, which is
unlikely to occur before mid-January at the earliest. Meanwhile, it was agreed
that a CfD
contingent(s) should meet with these congressmen-elect to present CfD's positions
on key
issues, e.g., war, healthcare, the environment, representative democracy,
and a local free
health clinic. Ed will draft such positions for review and comment by the
organization,
after which volunteers will be solicited for visits to the congressmen-elect's
respective
regional offices.
Annual Meeting:
After much discussion, it was agreed that the annual meeting should be about
setting the
agenda for the organization. The format would involve reports, either oral
or in a poster
session, of Work Group activities and plans, followed by a public dialogue
concerning
issues that CfD should attempt to address in the coming 12 months or so.
The meeting
will be scheduled for early March.
Town Hall With State Legislators:
We will attempt to schedule a town hall with state legislators for early
February. Paddy will
attempt to get Seward and Magee to agree on a date. Then, we'll invite Crouch,
Bonacic
and Lopez to participate. The venue will likely be the Foothills Production
Center on
Market St in Oneonta. The purpose of the town hall would be to inform the
legislators
about issues of importance to CfD and other constituents and to hear their
views on these
issues.
League of Women Voters:
Paddy and Dave will inquire as to why Howie Hawkins was excluded from the
LWV debates.
Then, a letter supporting participation by third party candidates in LWV
debates will likely
be drafted.
AOB:
Paddy reported that United For Peace & Justice is sponsoring an anti-war
march in
Washington on January 27. See, http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=3437. A
lobby day will follow on Jan 29.
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:00pm. Next meeting is January
18, 2007.
----------------------------
CfD Meeting Agenda
December 7, 2006
7:00 1) Welcome, intros
2) Preview of Agenda
3) Minutes
4) Treas report
7:15 5) Work Group Reports (Voting Machines, Environmental, etc.)
7:45 6) Town meeting with Arcuri & Gillibrand
choose topics – 5?
volunteers to organize
letters to them for now? esp about the war - volunteers to draft
8:00 7) Annual Meeting
Theme(s), date, format, venue, etc.
8:20 8) Meeting with state legislators
8:30 9) Letter to Spitzer
8:40 10) LWV & support for third parties
8:55 11) AOB
9:00 12) Next Meeting/Adjourn
|
