December 2007 Local Meeting
From SP Boston
The Socialist Party of Boston met at noon on Sunday, 30 December 2007 in the Lucy Parsons Center. Meeting over the holiday weekend, we discussed the situation in Pakistan, our upcoming concert, electoral work, immigrant rights events, and other topics. For more information, check out the minutes below.
Agenda
- Introductions and agenda approval
- Upcoming events and actions
- Fundraising concert -- should have date, bands, and flyer by this point
- Forum on immigrant rights in the workplace
- Connecticut IWW fundraiser
- Presidential campaign -- recent developments, future work
- SPMA state convention (16 February)
- Organizing educational events -- speakers or film screenings
- Report from 1 December regional meeting in Brattleboro
- New members -- JB and MPS
Minutes
Chas, Chris P., and Matt attended. David was out of town. Chris F. and Angela overslept. All others were unaccounted for. We assume low attendance was due to the holidays.
We opened the meeting at noon with a discussion on recent events in Pakistan. General agreement was that Benazir Bhutto and her People's Power Party did not represent real leftward change in Pakistan, however her assassination has made the political situation in Pakistan substantively worse. If the elections go forward, they will be meaningless without a real opposition candidate.
We then began to discuss SP Boston Local business. Chris P. reported that the Democracy Center still has not given the final go-ahead for our fundraiser. He has bands lined up, but needs the location before he can confirm with them. Chris said he would call the Democracy Center and try to have flyers by January 2nd. Matt offered to talk to the vegan baker at Fiore's (next door to the Harvest) about providing vegan pastries for additional fundraising. We also discussed registering people to vote, distributing YPSL's Youth Rights Platform, and offering guests to have their picture taken with a life-sized cardboard cut-out of Brian Moore in exchange for a small donation. We decided to split proceeds with the national party 50/50.
Welfare Records of Haverhill was mentioned as a popular venue for punk shows that we might want to use in the future.
Flyers for the SPCT fundraiser in solidarity with IWW's Food and Allied Workers Union in NYC were passed around and discussed. We decided to pledge $20 for a quarter page ad, although if we can raise another $10 or $30, we can upgrade to a half page or full page.
Two new applications were passed around. Neither have been contacted yet. It was noted that both were interested in queer issues, and both were young people, like many other recent applications. Chris P. volunteered to email both. Matt volunteered to follow up with phone calls.
Next we discussed electoral work. We discussed the possibilities of getting the Moore-Alexander ticket on the ballot in Massachusetts. It would require 10,000 signatures. We were not sure about the timeframe allowed for collecting, but it was agreed that both locals would have to be strongly committed, as well as comrades from the Worcester area. Furthermore, we would have to raise money and recruit volunteer from outside the SP. Support work for ballot access in other states was discussed, but we did not have details.
The Moore/Alexander fundraising target to achieve Federal matching funds was discussed. The most an individual can donate to the campaign is $2,000, although the most that will count toward the matching funds requirement is $250. In other words, we need 20 people to give $250, or 50 people to give $100 in each of 20 states. Some concerns were raised about how the funds were being shared between the two candidates. None of us were aware of any clear internal operating structure for the campaign. We also need clear rules for small donations and how to legally fundraise in other ways.
A reminder was made for the IWW / May Day Coalition forum on Immigrant Rights in the Workplace January 10th.
A reminder was made for the SPMA State Convention on February 16th. Matt intends to propose a statement on the anti-war movement during this presidential election year.
We decided to set Sunday at noon, January 20th, as the target date for a Boston Area Moore/Alexander Campaign Committee meeting. We will try to reserve the Lucy Parsons Center, or another space, then put out the word.
SPUSA Sustainers Club lapel pins were put on display and Chas signed up on the spot, donating $40. Chris pledged to sign up soon as well.