December 2009 Local Meeting
From SP Boston
After a blizzard-related delay, the Socialist Party met at 5:30 pm on Saturday, 2 January 2010 in the Lucy Parsons Center. We did a lot of organizing for the coming year, setting up a regular monthly meeting schedule of educational, social and business meetings, and preparing a proposal to host this summer's National Organizing Conference. We also heard back from December's National Organizing conference call, discussed current events, and recent and upcoming actions.
For more information, check out the full minutes below.
Minutes
- Introductions and adopting the agenda
- Matthew A., Jean F., Jason F., Jeremy K., Alex, Billie M., Steve V., Kevin H. and David S. attended
- Norah K. sent regrets
- Brief discussion of special Senate election and health reform
- Lucy Parsons Center is moving to Jamaica Plain, don't know what will happen to its current space
- Membership and development
- Secretary's report (David)
- Currently 39 members in good standing, not including six who recently lapsed, and four pending applications
- David will email the four pending applicants, Billie and others will follow up with phone calls
- Treasurer's report (Matt)
- About $750 in bank account
- We approved setting up a debit card for the SP Boston account
- We approved in advance spending $20 on copying for new flyers
- Some SP Boston members are expecting to attend the US Social Forum -- we should fundraise to help support them
- Secretary's report (David)
- National Report
- Dues "grace period" reduced from six to three months effective 11 January
- 2009 local report needs to be completed
- Locals asked to distribute The Socialist more actively
- National Organizing Conference coming up this summer, date and location to be decided at the next National Committee meeting on 23-24 January
- Main constraint on date is that it not conflict with the US Social Forum on 22-26 June.
- This would be exciting to organize, but might be a lot of work to set up
- We decided to draft a proposal (David will share it with the work list), and try to have it complete by the next local meeting on 17 January.
- David briefly announced that the National Office is planning to move to another location in Manhattan
- Matt reported back from the National Organizing Phone Conference on 17 December
- Lots of reports from locals and commissions
- Next call will be on 4 February, focusing on March actions (4 March National Day of Action for Public Education, 8 March International Women's Day)
- We decided to try to recruit a new Boston representative to this call who isn't on the National Committee.
- Scheduling/logistics
- Monthly social gathering
- Members are encouraged to attend Boston May Day Committee meetings on the second Wednesday of each month. We will have a "Socializing for Socialism" afterward for the local (at South Station, or area bar). This should encourage more SP activity in the Committee, which hasn't been active recently.
- Try 13 January, 9 pm at the bar in South Station, with the Squealing Pig as a fallback.
- Jason will scope out South Station on Monday, and also look around the area for other possibilities.
- Monthly education meeting
- Start in the first week of February (4 February proposed but would conflict with national organizing call)
- Billie will contact Sarah Roche-Mahdi to see if she can report back from the Gaza Freedom March
- Billie will help facilitate the discussion
- Need a venue -- Billie will look into her place, also suggestions of Somerville venue used by SoJust (Steve will try to find the details) and Kevin suggested the Palestine Cultural Center in Allston
- Steve proposed showing films as well -- see if we can do it at the Somerville venue
- Monthly social gathering
- State and Local Organizing Campaigns
- Discuss working with labor unions -- Hyatt Boycott, March for Jobs, a job as a human right
- How to encapsulate this into a campaign and decide what demands to make and where to make them?
- Antiwar
- New England United conference coming together, but will have no plenary session where attendees can vote on proposals.
- Stop the Wars Coalition meets on Monday, not happy about lack of voting at NEU conference. Next meeting will discuss this, plus follow-up after First Night, and a January educational meeting at MIT to discuss Afghanistan.