March 10, 2009 Minutes
Attendance: Lynne Rustad, Judy Kramer, Bill Rowe, Ed Fire, Ted Buczek, Debbi Thomas, Lori Zaim, Kathy Kolcaba, George LuPone, Becky Thomas, Ray DiCarlo
Meeting called to order at 9:30 by President Lynne Rustad.
Approval of Minutes:
• Minutes of 2/10/09 approved by Judy Kramer, seconded by Lori Zaim.
• Subsequent minutes will be circulated for approval electronically in order to make the deadline for Newsletter copy on the 20th of each month.
Treasurer’s Report:
• Kathy Kolcaba reported a balance of $4170.54
• There are 50 paid members thus far for 2009
• 100 previous paid members have not yet paid; options to encourage more timely payment were discussed.
Membership:
• Updated list of members is kept by Lori Zaim with Constant Contact (CC), our e-mail service. The Treasurer also keeps a list.
• Lori can also use CC to send out thank-you notes to all who have contributed. George Lupone will write note for this as well as other membership e-communication purposes.
• Contacted because they seem not to have been opening their Patriots e-mail, only 20 out of 80 people have requested to be taken off the email list.
• Patriots is in the process of obtaining a PayPal account which should facilitate dues payments.
• Discussed option of paying dues for more than one year at same rate to avoid likely increase in the future and to help budget process.
Website:
• The new website has been reviewed by several Steering Committee members. Link will now be sent for review to Saturday Coffee and Politics group whose members have helped in site development.
• Lynne Rustad requested that suggestions for changes be sent to her.
• The Homepage section on “Priorities” should be reviewed with special care to ensure that it reflects the general philosophical principles guiding Patriots.
• Website will be moved to a permanent server following approval. Domain name will be moved to the new (hopefully less expensive) server. Until then, a link on current web site will permit access to new site and prevent duplication of effort involved in maintaining two sites.
Advocacy:
• Becky Thomas reported that Patriots’ Move On congressional advocacy training proved very effective in preparing for visit to Representative LaTourette’s office.
• Elliott Berenson attended similar Geauga Change training session but his report was deferred because he was unable to attend today’s meeting.
Education:
• Schedule is in place through May
• June/July programs were discussed. Judy Kramer suggested a less formal discussion of a “summer reading” book about Afghanistan: The Places In Between by Rory Stewart.
• President Obama’s policy for Afghanistan may shape up by summer so a discussion about that may be appropriate for a subsequent meeting.
Health Care Reform:
• The resignation of Jill Levine, a strong proponent of expanded and improved Medicare for all, and a leader Patriots’ health care effort, is sad but understandable.
• Ray DiCarlo and Lynne Rustad will continue to inform members and send health care Action Alerts but won’t be able to devote the time to it that Jill did.
• Efforts to influence the administration’s health care plan will continue and, although passage of HR 676 appears unrealistic at this point, we will certainly advocate for inclusion of a government-sponsored “public insurance” component.
• Ray encouraged phone calls to Kathleen Sibelius (the new HHS Secretary) to urge inclusion of a public insurance component. (877-696-6775) Her prior role as Kansas’ Insurance Commission has raised questions about how aggressively she would seek regulation of for-profit companies.
Operations:
• The role of Operations Committee needs clarification; especially since Communications, Treasurer and Community Relations now handle much of the membership function.
• Claire Rahn, head of Operations, will be asked for input and by-laws will be circulated with a view to amending them to more accurately reflect current function.
• Office operations, as well as lack of secretarial support, deserve attention.
New Business:
• Ted Buczek and Ray DiCarlo reported on attendance at “Jobs with Justice” meeting - the current emphasis being on the Employee Free Choice Act.
• There will be a EFCA rally on Public Square, 3/30 at 4:00PM
• Ed Fire will write an article about EFCA for the Newsletter to help inform community members about the issues involved.
• Online member vote will assess interest in supporting EFCA.
Continuation of Strategic Planning:
• Since a monthly meeting hasn’t allowed time for both strategic planning and normal committee business, an additional meeting will be added to finish planning.
• Next meeting will be Thurs. 3/26 at 9:30 if reasonable for most members.
Respectfully submitted by Acting Secretary,
Becky Thomas
February 10, 2009 Steering Committee Minutes
Newsletter:
• We are looking into providing a PayPal option in the Newsletter and on the Web for paying dues.
• All items for the newsletter are to be submitted to Lori Zaimby the 20th of the month for publication the following month. Items should be in Word format and photos as .jpg.
Website:
• Sherri Culver moved and Judy Kramer seconded a motion that Patriots for Change have a website that contains general information about the organization and has a link to the Google calendar for current activities and events. This will reduce the need for regular updating. Motion carried unanimously.
Advocacy:
• Ed Fire reported on a meeting with Congressman LaTourette regarding the stimulus bill. The Move-On method of advocacy was used and was helpful in guiding the discussion.
• Ed also reported on the Fair Elections Now Act. Ed Fire moved and Ray DiCarlo seconded a motion to place an article on the Act in the Newsletter and follow-up with a Survey Monkey survey of the membership to determine support. Motion carried.
Health Care:
• Ray DiCarlo reported on the status of the Health Care Act. A group supporting the bill will meet with Congresswoman Marsha Fudge on March 18.
Education:
• Judy Kramer outlined the upcoming Education program.
o March 21: Frontline presentation “Sick Around the World” at the Chagrin Falls Library.
o April 18: Book talk on “The Post-American World” by Fareed Zakaria.
o May 23: Volunteer Opportunity Fair at Chagrin Falls Township Hall.
Chagrin Falls Jail Issue:
• The consensus of the group was that this issue is not appropriate for Patriots for Change engagement.
Respectfully submitted,
Sherri Culver
Acting Secretary
3 comments:
This blog is open to comments from all Patriots. Feel free to post.
No Membership Report for February, and very little detail reported in March. i.e. Number of Paid Members for 2009. Number of members who have paid in the past, but not renewed. Is there an annual membership year?
In March, it looks to me like Lori has a membership list, as well as the treasurer. However, nothing form the membership chair.
Lastly, since I am new, I do not see a report from the Treasurer, showing detailed income or expenses for the current month, and year to date amounts, along with the cash balance at the end of the month.
I am also curious to know if P4C has an annual budget for 2009.
Gary Sherck
Forgive me, Kathy, I do see a Treasurer's report of the cash in the bank. Re-reading my above comment, I now have some understanding of how Membership is part of Lori's newsletter. Seems like the newsletter data, along with the treasurer have the membership data, and that the membership committee works with the newsletter list to ask members to renew their memberships. Gary Sherck
For some reason, it only allows me to be Anonymous to post.
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