2.1 Chair

The chair reported that with its new chair and some staff turnover, DPNM appears to be having some organizational issues. The web site is currently somewhat more disorganized than usual, and there has been very little notice concerning the SCC meeting on 23 October.

The caucus has had its usual meetings; we have held the elections required by our bylaws. There has been some discussion of things in the bylaws which need updating.

The biggest news is progress on the nationwide Coalition of Progressive Caucuses in the Democractic Party. Things are coming along well, and so far there are over 25 groups enthusiastically involved.

CH said she would like to name Pia Gallegos as liaison with the Coalition (see agenda item 4D).

The group has thus far held two monthly meetings; Karlyne Nordholm attended the October meeting and reported her sense that in many states progressives feel shut out by the party establishment, so there is a good deal of interest in strategies for improving the organizational effectiveness of progressive groups.

CH reported that Progressive Democrats of America, Roots Nation, and Our Revolution were all involved with the Coalition. A steering group meets Wednesdays at 2 pm; caucus members interested in observing should let CH know.

In response to CH's remarks about the DPNM web site, Nicole Olonovich reported that she has developed a good working relationship with Cris Romero and expressed confidence that the web site would soon be much improved; she gave https://cadem.org/caucuses as an example of what the DPNM site would look like when all is said and done.

2.2 VC

The vice-chair being absent, there was no report.

2.3 Secretary

The secretary reported that Wanda Harrison has consented to continue maintaining the membership list; the secretary will work with her on this task.

Currently we have 512 entries in the membership list:

• 102 people have paid dues; 1 dues waiver has been issued
• 17 people have checked the box on the membership information form agreeing to pay dues, but have not yet paid them
• 392 people have not paid dues and not been issued a dues waiver (and not checked the box)

We need to review and revise our processes for managing the membership database, the newsletter list, and other similar (and partially duplicative) lists. The same applies to our processes for managing the sharing of documents. The secretary plans to confer with various members of the Caucus and report to the executive committee in November or December on plans.

ACTION: MSM to report plan for management of membership database and related resources to executive committee. ETA: November or December meeting.

ACTION: MSM to report plan for management for document management and document sharing to executive committee. ETA: November or December meeting.

The secretary suggested that he would also like better clarity on the routines for preparing, correcting, approving, and distributing minutes of meetings, for both the executive committee and the members meetings. This topic is on the agenda under 4B.

Since the Bylaws make the secretary responsible for administering elections, the secretary also reported on the elections for officers just held at the members meeting of 7 October, though all the work for them had been done by the elections committee appointed at the August business meeting. During the self-nomination period we had nominations of eligible candidates for two offices, and no nominations for the three other offices. Since there were no contested races, at the members meeting of 7 October Patty French was elected Vice-Chair, and Samuel Nevarez was elected CD-1 Chair, by unanimous consent.

The secretary closed by requesting members of the Executive Committee to keep him informed of activities in the caucus, in the interests of making the semi-annual report to DPNM an accurate reflection of the work of the caucus. Email to secretary@adelantecaucus.org will find him.

At this point, the group informally discussed the question identified in item 4B1 of the agenda; see below.

2.4 Treasurer

The treasurer reported that the SOS report due 7 October was filed early, which will necessitate an amended report to cover the very end of the reporting period.

In September, we had income of $297, expenses of $25.14; for the year to date, income is $3205 and expenses about $310. Our income has been averaging $356 per month, our expenses $34 per month.

Our current balance at the end of January was $2860; it is now $4513. So our financial situation appears strong.

2.5 Other reports

Athena Christodoulou said she had just one thing to report. A group working on fossil fuel divestment at UNM is looking for signatures supporting a request to the Attorney General to "investigate UNM Foundation's investment strategy to see if it is/is not in compliance with its charitable mission". The time frame is very short.

There was discussion of what to do, given that the meeting had no quorum to transact business, and owing to notice requirements it is not feasible to call another meeting in time to meet the deadline, which for tactical reasons is very close.

The best we can do appears to be to send out a newsletter to the members in the next day or two, calling their attention to the letter and inviting them to add their own signatures as individuals.

ACTION: CH to send out a newsletter tomorrow calling attention to the petition and inviting people to sign it as individuals. ETA: 20 October.

At this point, we addressed the topic identified in 4B3 of the agenda (see below).

2.6 CD 1, 2, and 3 Vice Chairs

SN of CD-1 said he had nothing much to report. He is trying to get things rolling on the legislative elections of 2022. We need to keep track of which seats will be open.

CH observed that she would like to approach the CD chair positions differently in future. She said that one reason we have had trouble recruiting people in CD-2 and CD-3 is that it feels like a very large responsibility. Once a redistricting plan is adopted and it's clear which incumbents are running and which are not, she suggested recruiting volunteers to follow events in individual districts; that way the task is more manageable.

At this point, we moved to item 4C of the agenda, before returning to item 3.

4B1. Minutes

The group discussed this after the secretary's report.

Those present generally expressed a preference for succinct minutes, though several also thought that summaries of the reasoning given in debate for or against a given decision would be useful for future reference. The secretary thanked them for their views and said he would do his best.

4B2 Schedule for business meetings

Not discussed.

4B3. Membership list

CH proposed a three-stage revision of the membership database, to be completed by the end of the year. First, removing people who are no longer registered as Democrats; there have been several such people who are not unhappy with the caucus but do not wish to be associated with the party any longer. Second, sending mail in November or December to people who have not yet paid their dues, saying that while a number of extensions have been made for payment of dues, anyone who has not paid dues by 15 January 2022 will be removed from the membership list. And third, sending thank-you notes to people who have paid dues, reminding them of when the next installment is expected. She noted that there is a strong correlation between paying dues and opening the newsletter.

NO suggested being sure to remind people in the second group of the possibility of setting up a $2/month payment, and of the possibility of a dues waiver. With that proviso, consensus appeared to be content with the plan proposed by CH, but in the absence of a quorum no formal action was taken.

4B4. Parliamentary procedure

Not discussed.

4B5. Bylaws

Not discussed.