March business

[Stephen Marshall]

Hey Everyone!

I think every one has a copy of the proposed changes to the charter. If
you think its all ok, and don't say anything, I won't know you think
it's all ok. If you want me to propose these charter changes to the GA,
please say so! But there are other issues.

Colleen would like to get the account off of her account. We need to
have a new approach to where our money will reside. My sense is that
Colleen would like this done within a month. We need to convene, make
decisions, and present to the GA what we want to do.

There are four people listed on the checking account. Anna Krutak is
leaving, and the other is Colleen, who, as account owner, cannot sign
our checks. That leaves myself and Eric Davis, who has been very busy
with school. Finance needs fresh blood!

Since Monday has been the one day everyone has agreed on before, let's
meet that day. Any objections? 2:00.

Stephen Marshall
11 Hungerford Terrace (out back)
Burlington Vermont 05401
Dispolemic.Blogspot.Com
802-861-2316 Landline
802-922-1446 Cell

[Andrew Sullivan]

Hi Everyone,

I don't know whether or not I could make it to a meeting tomorrow. Is anyone planning to attend a meeting tomorrow? If there is going to be a meeting, 2:00 would be fine for me. However, I might not be able to attend. By the way, I had no objections to your proposed changes to the charter, Stephen.

Thanks,
Andrew

[Thomas Grace]

2 @ pjc, yes. Hope to see you there, and hope you've been well!

[Emily Reynolds]

Can we have our meeting in city hall park for transparency?

[Stephen Marshall]

On 3/19/2012 8:57 AM, Emily Reynolds wrote:
>
> Can we have our meeting in city hall park for transparency?
>

I'm not up for that. I need to be comfortable. One of the subjects on
the agenda is transparency. We can discuss best practice.

[Thomas Grace]

I actually agree that holding the meeting in the park is a good idea; I think we should be encouraging wg's to meet there if at all possible as it's an open, accessible and intuitive place for Occupy-related groups to meet. Stephen, is there anything we can do to alleviate your comfort related concern?

What I'm confused about is doing so in the name of transparency. It's not our meeting location which determines transparency, but the clarity of the wg's responsibilities, public accessibility of our records, and an openness for anyone who is interested in getting involved. While we've lost some energy in the wg, I don't think we've become anti-transparent - mostly due to Stephen's carrying the torch on this a while now.

What is on the agenda?

[Stephen Marshall]

On 3/19/2012 10:42 AM, Thomas Grace wrote:
>
> What is on the agenda?
>

Agenda for Finance , 3/19/2012

1.Changes proposed to the charter;

2.Colleen's withdrawal from ownership.

3.Forming a non-profit

4.Asking the Ga to approve using the P&JC as sponsor?

5.Internet based transparency. Also we have a charter based expectation
that we maintain a spreadsheet that shows transactions, and we need to
get that going again.

6.Getting more folks involved in Finance.

7.What are we doing to raise money? Do we need to brainstorm projects?
What are we going to do?

8.Develop merchandise. I plan to sell it and share the profits with
OBVT. If OBVT finances, though, all of the money would go to OBVT. What
do people feel about this idea?

9.Upcoming events, Donation collection

10.Move to City Hall Park

11. otherwise.

--
This reply email has been edited to reduce volume and to simplify reading it.

[Thomas Grace]

Who do we know is attending?

[Emily Reynolds]

I would love to attend, especially if it is in the park. Otherwise I will be doing outreach there. After yesterday and my friends getting the skulls busted I feel I should be in the parks to tell their stories.

[Andrew Sullivan]

Hi, Thomas,

Thanks for your email. In deference to Stephen and all of his hard work, I would really like to meet at the pjc. I know it is a warm, sunny day, but I don't think one more meeting indoors would hurt. Would it really bother anyone that much to meet at the pjc? I know setting a precedent is worthwhile, but I would like to meet at the pjc. I agree that there is no reason whatsoever to be concerned about transparency. I think transparency is important, but it does not mean people cannot meet in small groups to conduct wg meetings that are open to anyone to attend.

If I cannot attend, I will email.

Thanks,
Andrew

[Thomas Grace]

I"m convinced, let's keep the PJC for today, which would be appropriate as that was where we'd planned and announced it. But we should make sure to get to the Agenda item on locations for subsequent meetings.  

[Eric Davis]

Hi y'all I'm unfortunately not going to be able to join you today, but I wanted to add my thoughts on some of the agenda items below...

On Mon, Mar 19, 2012 at 12:00 PM, Stephen Marshall <visi...@burlingtontelecom.net> wrote:

On 3/19/2012 10:42 AM, Thomas Grace wrote:

What is on the agenda?

Agenda for Finance , 3/19/2012

1.Changes proposed to the charter;

 

2.Colleen's withdrawal from ownership.

Obviously, if Colleen doesn't want the bank account in her name anymore we need to find a way to accommodate her.

3.Forming a non-profit

These decisions need to go in front of the GA,  but it seems reasonable to me that the finance WG could take a lead role in fact gathering for the GA in the spirit of work being done in the working groups. The non-profit route is the avenue that I would like to see Occupy Burlington go eventually. However, I am aware this is not an overnight process. 

4.Asking the Ga to approve using the P&JC as sponsor?

I think this is a logical short term solution. It also has the added benefit to the person making the contribution of being tax deductible. 

5.Internet based transparency. Also we have a charter based expectation that we maintain a spreadsheet that shows transactions, and we need to get that going again.

It is my understanding that everything that goes out to the googlegroup is publicly viewable? This is a pretty huge step for transparency and takes the burden off of us to post thing independently. Although, there are some things that should be maintained separately for ease of use.

6.Getting more folks involved in Finance.

Yes! 

7.What are we doing to raise money? Do we need to brainstorm projects? What are we going to do?

8.Develop merchandise. I plan to sell it and share the profits with OBVT. If OBVT finances, though, all of the money would go to OBVT. What do people feel about this idea?

I would be supportive of finance paying for a small trial run of merchandise. I feel like we should start small...

[Colleen Deignan]

Hi Everyone

I'll be at the PJC today, but I won't be able to join in the meeting - I have a lot to catch up on today and will probably be locked in the back office.  I agree with all of Eric's points, and thanks for making that agenda Steven.


Colleen

[Stephen Marshall]

Thanks to everyone too busy to come but not too busy to send love and
thoughts, and thanks to everyone who showed up, Emily, Thomas, Andrew,
Stephen.

I'll put minutes on the Wiki, but not tonight.

On 3/19/2012 1:30 PM, Colleen Deignan wrote:
> Hi Everyone
>
> I'll be at the PJC today, but I won't be able to join in the meeting -
> I have a lot to catch up on today and will probably be locked in the
> back office. I agree with all of Eric's points, and thanks for making
> that agenda Steven.
>
> Colleen
>
> On Mon, Mar 19, 2012 at 1:27 PM, Eric Davis <ericpa...@gmail.com
> <mailto:ericpa...@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Hi y'all I'm unfortunately not going to be able to join you today,
> but I wanted to add my thoughts on some of the agenda items below...
>

Stephen Marshall 11 Hungerford Terrace (out back) Burlington Vermont