Attendance

Present

• ViAnn Beadle
• Colton Dean (outgoing At-Large Officer; re-elected)
• Dan Fay (elected Treasurer)
• Patricia French (Vice-Chair; elected Chair)
• Cheryl Harris (outgoing Chair)
• Jay Levine
• Roger McNew
• Nicole Olonovich (outgoing Administrative Director)
• Scotti Romberg
• Maurreen Skowran
• Michael Sperberg-McQueen (outgoing Secretary; re-elected)
• Joann Vullo
• Jane Yee

1 Call to order

The chair called the meeting to order at 6:35 pm and confirmed that a quorum of the executive committee was present.

She identified four topics for discussion:

• proposed bylaws changes
• report on planning for elections
• election of new officers
• upcoming selections of state central committee members

2 Proposed bylaws changes

Maurreen Skowran, who chaired a committee to prepare proposals for
changes to the bylaws, presented the proposed changes:

• The section on the mission of the caucus has been revised.
• A quorum requirement (15%) is imposed for transacting business at an all-member meeting.
• The executive committee is explicitly authorized to transact business on behalf of the caucus; we have always assumed such an authorization.
• The administrative director and the political director are to be elected, not appointed.
• The at-large seats on the executive committee are eliminated, with the goal of ensuring that every officer has a defined set of tasks and duties.
• Some minor changes are made to the descriptions of various officers’duties.
• The election of officers is moved from September or October of each year to the first quarter of each year; current terms are adjusted. Since the beginning of the caucus, we have managed to have elections on schedule only twice; perhaps we can do better at a different time of year.
• Two-thirds of the Executive Committee can now initiate an election to remove an officer.
• There are minor changes to the rules for notice of all-member meetings.
• Alice Sturgis’s Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure is named as the “parliamentary authority” (rules of procedure for questions not covered in DPNM Rules or our Bylaws).
• Some minor changes to wording and usage have been made for clarity and consistency.

MS clarified that the plan was to vote on the proposed bylaws changes in an online election scheduled to run from 8 to 22 March. If an online vote on officers is needed, it has been announced for the same dates.

We discussed the proposed changes and the process for approving them. Among the concerns and suggestions raised by different members of the caucus were the following:

• Any change to a mission statement needs very broad, very thorough discussion before the membership is asked to vote it up or down.
• Since any volunteer-led organization can have difficulty finding people willing to serve in office, there is always a risk that the only volunteer for a position will be unsuited to the post. This is perhaps particularly risky for the positions of political director and administrative director. Appointing them (as under the current bylaws) allows the chair to asess the skills of candidates more critically.
• Opinions were divided on the wisdom of eliminating the at-large positions.
• One solution for unqualified officers is not to elect them in the first place; another is to remove them.
• Delaying the vote on the bylaws proposal may be helpful and provide more time for discussion.
• Separating the proposed revision of the mission statement from the other proposals and allowing separate votes on them would allow the other changes to move forward even if the mission statement requires more discussion.
• The caucus needs a concerted effort to recruit new members and make sure progressives around the state know we exist.

RESOLVED without dissent (on motion of MSM, seconded by NO): to postpone the vote on the proposed changes to the bylaws until after the general member meeting scheduled for 6 April 2023.

3 Report on election planning and current status

The secretary reported that as announced in the newsletter, a self-nomination form had been open from 20 January to 12 February to allow caucus members to signal their willingness to run for chair, secretary, treasurer, or at-large member of the executive committee. In the event of contested races, the secretary reported that the plan was to hold an electronic vote from 8 to 22 March (the bylaws require that electronic votes run for at least 14 days). For uncontested races, he said, it will be simpler just to hold the election in this meeting.

The only self-nomination received was that of the secretary, so we currently have no candidates for chair, treasurer, or at-large member of the executive committee. When the executive committee discussed this situation at their February meeting, they concluded that the best way forward would be to open the floor to nominations.

4 Election of officers

The chair asked for nominations for the position of chair of the caucus.

CD nominated NO, who declined.

SR nominated PF; MS seconded. PF accepted, but stipulated that she would want someone to help her with the newsletter.

Patricia French was unanimously elected chair of the caucus.

The chair asked for nominations for the position of secretary.

JL nominated MSM; NO seconded. Michael Sperberg-McQueen was elected secretary by general consent.

The chair asked for nominations for the position of treasurer and briefly described the duties.

DF agreeed to serve; JY seconded. Dan Fay was elected treasurer by general consent.

The chair asked for nominations for the position of at-large member of the executive committee.

CD agreed to serve; JL seconded. Colton Dean was re-elected to the at-large position on the executive committee.

In discussion it was clarified that the new officers should take office immediately. PF asked CH to remain in the chair for the remainder of the meeting. The terms of the current political director and administrative director are expiring in synch with the terms of the other outgoing officers; under the current bylaws the new chair will make new appointments to those posts.

Under the current bylaws, a new vice-chair, chairs of the Congressional districts, and the second at-large position are to be filled by an election this September or October; if the new bylaws are adopted, the vice-chair and CD chairs will be elected in the first quarter of 2024. In the meantime, any currently vacant positions (vice-chair, CD-3 chair, the second at-large seat) may be filled by the chair with the concurrence of the executive committee.

CH reflected briefly on her time as chair and wished the caucus well.

5 Upcoming party elections

We ended with a discussion of the importance of electing progressives to as many positions as possible in county central committees and in the state central committee.

6 Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 8:30 pm.