Executive committee meeting 2022-12-12

[These minutes were approved by the executive committee on 16 February 2023.]

Adelante Progressive Caucus Executive Committee

Minutes of regular meeting

12 December 2022

The Executive Committee of the Adelante Progressive Caucus of the Democratic Party of New Mexico convened for a regular monthly meeting on Zoom from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm on Monday, 12 December 2022.

Attendance

Present

Executive Committee members:

  • Patricia French (Vice-Chair)
  • Cheryl Harris (Chair)
  • Nicole Olonovich (Administrative Director)
  • Michael Sperberg-McQueen (Secretary)

Other caucus members:

  • Dan Fay
  • Wanda Harrison (data manager)
  • Jay Levine
  • Scotti Romberg

Agenda

  1. Call to order, roll call, and quorum check

  2. Discussion of vote on DPNM rules changes

  3. Changes to caucus bylaws

  4. Caucus elections

  5. Preparation for legislative session

  6. Adjourn

Minutes

1 Call to order and quorum check

The chair called the meeting to order at 6:35 pm. There was no quorum, so no official business was transacted.

Those present engaged in an informal discussion.

2 DPNM Rules changes

The group discussed the changes to DPNM Rules now out for balloting by the State Central Committee.

Among those changes, Amendment 9 changes the rules governing the caucuses of the state party, and thus governing APC. These rule changes were developed without the state Rules Committee consulting the caucuses, and the Thanksgiving holiday has made it difficult for them to receive proper review by the SCC. Requests were made to table Amendment 9 so that the caucuses could work on it with the Rules Committee, but those responsible on the SRC declined the request.

CH and NO reported that by text messages and email they have been requesting that other caucuses instruct their SCC representatives to vote against Amendment 9, and have received confirmations that several other caucuses will join us in voting no.

Some contention was also reported with reference to other points. A rules change relating to the deposit of party and caucus rules with county clerks and the SOS appears to have been developed without consulting those most directly concerned. And several people reported a broad sentiment that the state Rules Committee is not as transparent in its operation as they felt it should be. Some members of the Rules Committee, for their part, felt that some of the criticisms were excessive and ad hominem.

3 Changes to caucus bylaws

Some time ago, CH, Pia Gallegos, and Maurreen Skowran prepared a draft set of proposed changes to the bylaws of the caucus, but the process stalled before they were sent to the membership for review and adoption.

After some discussion, the chair appointed a committee to review the current state of the proposed changes, revise them as needed, and get them ready to be sent to the membership and voted on, with the following members:

  • Wanda Harrison
  • Scotti Romberg
  • Maurreen Skowran
  • Michael Sperberg-McQueen

4 Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 8:10 pm.