DNC Board Meeting
January 13 2012
Board members: Tami, Jada, Ivan, Paul, Dave M, Harold, Ann, Herb, Jamie, Joe, Louie, Kelvin, Wendy
Guests: Gary, Dave D, John, Yvonne, Leo
Agenda
MOTION (Moved Paul): To accept with additions, Announcement on DTES Not For Developers Coalition; City and Postering; 611 Main Film. (Seconded Herb, Passed unan)
2012 Action Planning
Ivan
- Introduces the report on the 2012 action planning
Wendy
- Maybe it'll help to work on what the main points are, what are we bottomlining?
- The ones that are listed as our main campaigns we are already working on and we need to keep doing
Herb
- We should also consider the political climate. The Omnibus crime bill and the new prisons coming mean that we should also prioritize our policing campaign. This is going to be more and more of an issue
Joe
- We can work on getting services here as a recycling plan. We can recycle old computer parts and get work here
Paul
- We need to rattle the cage of Stephen Harper and broaden our political attacks and get a social housing policy
Ann
- We should prepare for our general meeting if nothing else.
- We could present on two things:
- Focus for 2012 and
- Our main campaigns for 2012
Harold
- There are two questions we're dealing with and they're actually interlinked. One is to build the organization and get people involved; The other is to set goals and decide on campaigns that get us there.
- We should not just take on campaigns without knowing our goals
- But there are also certain campaigns that we cannot drop because of our investment in the work
- We should not come in with a laundry list of what we should be involved in without first addressing our capacity.
Jamie
- I agree with Harold that we should not spread ourselves too thin and try to put out too many fires.
- We should think about paring it down and focussing on what brings us closer to our goals
- There is a danger that if we're spread too thin then we
Ivan
- Given the political climate – federally, provincially, municipally – it might be naive to focus on winning some reforms now
- I think we should work on developing organizational capacity, our networks and connections
Wendy
- I agree that we should focus on organizational development
- The only campaigns that we need to focus on are street market and policing, other campaigns are being driven by CCAP and other groups
- Organizational goals could include getting more women involved, Chinese residents and families too
Ann
- So we could go through these points and decide which ones we have agreement to work on
Herb
- Some of these we could off load to the LAPP: The pool, the 10 sites, wireless internet,
Dave Murray
- Policing is really important. Vandu is working on this already, good to coordinate with other organizations already doing this. Ending prohibition has been in the works already for a long time. Vandu is campaigning around ticketing. Getting police involved, they don't show up in the community for meetings except maybe the Urban Core.
Harold
- We need people to participate in campaigns even if it's not DNC work. I don't want us to do tons of work on housing one year and then nothing the next year. Let's not do an either-or-choice. We're going to have to respond to different things, it's dynamic.
Joe
- There is a smoking ban now all Metro Vancouver. The police were in Oppenheimer Park and Pidgeon Park.
Paul
- We always have to be ready. We have to take the lead
- AFD monitor when police have interactions with Aboriginal people
- Vandu is doing a great job monitoring
- We need to offer our support. LAPP has to be one of our first priorities – all those things are going to come into the LAPP – pool, housing etc.
Ivan
- Emphasis on organizational and skills building
- Shift an emphasis of organizing and campaigns
Ann
- They are not exclusive
- We need to be more deliberate
Ivan
- I can't be running around doing campaign work if I want to help/assist others to work on organizing. The way everyone communicates is different. If we want to focus on this level of organization I can't do it all, and it will take twice as long.
Ann
- Getting ready for tomorrows meeting, we need to be visual
Herb
- If we focus on organizational skills, we need to outreach into our membership to find out their skills and their capacity, the better we are to deal with fires or other campaigns
Tami
- Get our general membership to sign up to committee work
- Meeting time? Friday interferes with my long term committment with another meeting involvement and vice versa.
- Thursday at 5pm, with Tuesday at 5pm as a backup, at Jacobs Well
Table discussions, move to board positions.
Ivan
- Lists the nominees for Co-Presidents
- Explains the Co-Presidents role
- Does anyone want to withdrawl?
Ann
- Would like to chair some meetings
Ivan
- Every board member can chair meetings
Herb
- Want to wait to hear if he gets Kenya trip
Ann
- What about 3 presidents? Fascists Chile does it
- Paul is going to be far
- Move to make it Tami, Herb and Paul – backup for Paul if he's away
Ivan
- Move a motion to elect Tami, Herb & Paul
- Herb and Paul abstains from vote.
- Motion carried: Co-Presidents are Tami, Herb and Paul
Ivan
- General Meeting Coordinator
- Need to choose bottom-liner, it's been Wendy and defaulting to Ivan
- Wendy & Ivan are the shared bottom-liners
Ivan
- Site Coordinator
- Who wants to do this?
Ann
- If we get a LAPP site we need to seize it for the DNC. We need to push for a space.
- Is anyone on the LAPP committee not on the site coordinator list?
Ivan
- Ann you seem interested in this question, do you want to be close to this?
Ann
- Yes
Ivan
- LAPP Committee Rep
- Any opposition to Wendy maintaining this?
Herb
- When the LAPP meeting starts, I thought we were going to have a rotating rep?
Wendy
- There is one seat for sure DNC, I was elected last year for that seat
- There is the job for the general liaison with the City, that came out of CCAP
- We should try to buddy with this.
Ann
- Nominate Herb to be Wendy's shadow for the LAPP
Ivan
- Treasurer
- Roland would like to be treasurer unless Ann is opposed
- Motion to make Roland is the treasurer, with Ann as a mentor and backup
Ivan
- Fundraising
- Jada eyes and ear to this
- Write grants for funding, nothing is coming in so far
- Yvonne to help too, she has connections with the Nishka
- Persons involved: Jada, Herb, Wendy, Yvonne
Ivan
- Advocacy
- We collect the advocacy skills of all board members so we can refer board members
- Dave Murray to coordinate, email everyone requesting it
Ivan
- Elders Council
- Kelvin is going to work on this
Ivan
- Spiritual Advisor
- Kelvin and Jen
- Role to make sure nobody is burning out, checking-in on emotional, physically, etc., fun activities
Ivan
- Publication
- Wait for report
Ivan
- Communications Secretary
- Ivan has been doing this
- Dave Hamm wants to help out, with postering etc. I don't have time to do other stuff
- Herb wants to help
- Roland has website skills
- Everyone should work on this, divide it into 3 types of tasks
Jamie
- Dan Blair has years of experience doing this kind of stuff, he wants to help, use him as a resource.
- Add him as a volunteer, he's an asset
Ivan
- Street Market Coordinator
Dave Hamm
- It's a committee
Ivan
- Who's the point-person, bottom-liner
Dave Murray
- I've inherited it, but have help from Ann and Wendy
Ivan
- Dave Murray to remain point of contact, liaison
Ivan
- Media Secretary
- Teach people once in a while on different parts, skill-sharing
- Somebody who is coordinating needs to have an email
- Ivan is the bottom-liner, supporting other people
Ivan
- Board Meeting Coordinator
- Should be shared with Co-Presidents
- Presidents with task-master?
- The Coordinator is the Presidents
- Richard and DJ should help with General Meetings
Wendy
- Legal Secretary
- Louis wants to learn about this, he's willing to do this with some report
- Wendy, Roland, Letitizia, Louis, Ann, Jada
- Louis as the bottom-liners, with support from others
Ivan
- Membership Secretary
- Sarah and Lorna has been working on this
- Louis wants to learn more about this
- Legal and Membership go together
- Louis as the bottom-liner with support from Roland, Jamie, Wendy, Jada, Elroy, Sarah B, Lorna, Letizia
Ivan
- We will take these positions to the meeting tomorrow for the GM
- Back at the action planning point, we need to know what to present
- Page 2 – Do we continue these...:
- LAPP: Yes - Active
- Street Market: Yes - Active
- Tenant Union: Yes
- Fight for 10 Sites: Drop it into active campaigns but simmering, incorporate into all of our work.
Joe
- Keep an eye on the sites we want.
Harold
- There is an ongoing coalition, some of it is shifting to coalition work
Ivan
- Homelessness & Shelter Committee: Yes – Active
- Policing: Yes – Active
- Participate in these coalitions?
- End Prohibition: As it has been
- Raise the rates: Greater Emphasis
- DTES not for Developers: As it has been, simmering
- Other Campaigns
- Arts & Culture: Hibernating
- Publications: Wait until project proposed. Tabled.
- Education: Ivan thinks we should have discussion groups on this.
- Free Wireless Internet: Nobody is working on this, mention in LAPP.
- Pool: LAPP.
- Justice: Now policing committee.
Joe
- Good idea to have a committee about missing women's inquiry
Ivan:
- Policing: Jen is the bottom-liner, with support from Ann, Jada, Wendy
- Homelessness: Roland
- End Prohbition: Dave Murray, Ann, Dave D.
- Arts & Culture: Plug into the LAPP
- All the committees/campaigns can have sign-up sheets at tomorrows GM
Ivan
- Item 3, c. Natural Community Member, Grant Fraser
Grant
- Involved in social activism
- Stand up and support people in this community
- Wants group to grow with members outside the community so powers at be can't ignore us
Paul
- Stance on mix-community, social?
Grant
- No problem with that
- I don't like segregation of rich and poor
- Rather see mix
- Like to see no rich or poor,everyone treated the same
- Can't have rich moving in and taking over
- Equal rights to rich and poor
- In theory its a good idea
- Live Nanaimo and Broadway, don't spend most of time in community, work downtown
- Don't spend as much time down here as I'd like
Wendy
- Would support Grant's application
- Explains Natural Community Member
Dave Hamm
- Keep spots open for community members?
Wendy
- Activists are important and we need to keep connections
- Make sure that people using services here are saved spots
Harold
- In this case definitely in favour for Grant, he has something to contribute
- It can be an issue with people with the wrong attitude and that's what I look for and I don't think that's the issue here, that's why I'm voting yes.
- We do want to reserve some spots, we're not overwhelmed with applications
Yvonne
- Lived in Burnaby, down in East Van since 1972
- Shunned because I don't live here because I'm more involved then a lot of people
Grant
- Always going to be around
- If getting closed to 10%, no problem stepping out so the spot is available
Grant steps outside.
Ivan
- Anything more to say?
Dave Murray
- Friends of the DNC meet his criteria a lot more, better, if existed
Wendy
- If he self-identifies as a DNC member in front of Council, not the same
Ivan
- Ask him to form a Friends of the DNC, he can take that on? Fundraising, promoting DNC outside the community.
Paul
- Skills he can bring
- We say we're DNC members
- We should support him
Ivan
- Unanimous recommendation of Grant Fraser as a Natural Community Member, and ask him to take on the Friends of the DNC committee, or take a role therein.
Ivan
- 4.b
Dave D.
- Explains End Drug Prohibition Forum
- Want DNC name on the poster as one of the hosts, seems fitting
- Campaign we were already a part of
Harold
- It's a part of campaign, and clearly identified and our membership fully understands this
Dave M.
- There will be a series of these forums
Ivan
- Motions to endorse, Ann and Dave to present at GM, Paul seconds.
Dave D.
- February the 8th at the Carnegie, public forum and discussion and everyone is invited
Herb
- Announcement at the GM
Ivan
- Motion carries unanimously.
Wendy
- LAPP Report
- Letter from Scott from ALIVE
- Confirm ALIVE's participation on the LAPP?
- Wendy reads letter
- We should resend letter to him, October or November letter, the letter says that we welcome them a seat on the LAPP
- Maybe he just missed that last paragraph
- Forward him the originally letter, and the City can see that we had a gracious correspondence
Harold
- Two things here
- The guy is lying, whatever, it's an interpretation
- We need to prove that we acted in good faith, with this evidence
- Faced with a situation that it could get explosive but we don't want to get into that
- We need to cool it
Ann
- Agrees with Wendy
- I don't know where Scott comes from, or who he is
- He behaves like a bully
- Send a letter, but we need to be prepared for the next thing
- They don't think it's being done democratically
- We need to prove that we are consulting a wide group of people
Herb
- January 20th meeting
- Extending invitation – differences that we're willing to work through them
- Leave a trail of evidence that we gave them every opportunity to participate
Wendy
- Wendy to draft a letter to Scott?
Ann
- Motion for Wendy to write a letter to Scott to re-explain
- Wendy motion, Ann seconds.
Ivan
- 4.c DT East Newspaper
- Dan can do the design?
- Dave D. Says he has a bunch of time.
- Proposal: Have Dave D. Be the overall coordinator for this project
- Ivan explains the roles and everything else to do with this idea
- 5,000 papers a month for $800 a month
- Ivan knows a professor that would donate $250 a month forever
- Ivan can look for more, intellects like to fund publications and they like to see where there money is going towards
- This is a working suggestion...the first issue, Dave D. Has called a meeting for this week.
- Print 1 issue a month, out and distributed a week before the general meeting, every room and every hotel, saturation with the neighbourhood!
- Working editors: Harold and Jean
- Production Coordinator: Ivan
- Distribution Coordinator: Herb?? Ivan suggests Herb, Herb confirms.
- This is initial core group, then appoint another 7 people as editors (section editors) based on connections to issues etc.
- Agree to this crew as the founding group?
- With Dan Blair as the designer/layout guy?
Herb
- We could talk to former employee at Red Wire? What kind of model they used for distribution and content finding etc.
Ivan
- They had funding
- But we should look into that
- Motion to recommend these people for the initial editorial board, bring to GM tomorrow, and appoint 7 more later. Ann seconds motion.
Ivan
- Just catering, we need to pay them
Ann
- Ok.
Ivan
- Agreement for payment
- No motion needed
Ivan
- Add Illicit Drinkers Group presentation tomorrows GM and have Rob Morgen Present
Ivan
- City and Postering
- They are tearing them down
- Motion or suggestion that we make a motion at GM tomorrow for that we depend for communicating
Jada
- We don't have a space or place or poster board for them
Ivan
- Can we send the City a letter that this is discrimination?
- We will write a letter, but take it to the GM tomorrow
Ivan
- 611 Main Film
- She wants to mentor 3 people on making a film
- Tami is interested
- Herb?
- Yvonne is interested
- Dave Hamm is interested
- Model of interviews of people who live near the site
- Other idea, make it a parody that mixes in the facts
- 5 minute video, show it as a testimony
- Use people around the site who can be the actors, people who live in the building
- It would be different, and be a surprise
- Sharon Kravitz
Herb
- Depends on who you have working on it
Wendy
- Show her other movie, as an example, show to people to get an idea
Ivan
- Will write a script for a parody movie
- Sharon will do the coordinating and the work, with some teaching of film editing
Wendy
- She has a good tract record
Ivan
- Decision is to work on it
Ivan
- GM
- Change our discussion on what we said today
- Editing the GM agenda
- Chairs: Tami and Paul, Ann supporting when needed
- Meeting at Carnegie at 1:30 and Dodson by 2pm
Close.
