El Cerrito Democratic Club

Greetings, everyone! We have an exciting meeting coming up. Our very own El Cerrito Mayor Janet Abelson will be our featured speaker. She will discuss her vision for El Cerrito’s economic development, including housing plans. We will also hold a Q&A session after her presentation, so come with questions in mind.

Other issues to tackle include: a budget update; a by-law update to enable our VP of Records to promulgate and implement a document retention policy; and a request for an organizational endorsement by Betty Brown for the “People, Planet, Justice, Jobs, and Peace” movement. I will also attempt to resolve the lighting issue that made the outside walkway paths so dark at our last meeting.

At our monthly Executive Board meeting, we focused on the speaker schedule for the upcoming year. For March, we will be implementing the general membership’s wish (ratified at our Jan. general meeting) to discuss, learn, and implement strategies discussed in the “Indivisible Guide.” See Hilary’s blog post below on the web link and for more information on how to access the guide. We are continuing to work on the proposed debate for California Democratic Party Chair (more details forthcoming, as soon as the details become finalized).

Our Executive Board had a quorum present, including: the President, Immediate Past President, VP of Publications, VP of Records, VP Treasurer, VP of Programs, and VP of Media. Pursuant our Jan. 2017 by-law amendment, this post is to serve as the report of the Executive Board meeting.

Lastly, please note that this blog post may be posted at a time later than I have written it by another member of the Executive Board. I have written this blog post during my own time as a private citizen during “non-company” hours.

Thanks to everyone for their hard work,
Peter

Although our meeting about the Indivisible Guide isn’t until March, we just wanted to give you plenty of time to get ready for it.  Here’s the website where you can download the guide, or just read it online:

https://www.indivisibleguide.com/

If you don’t have internet access, then please call me (Hilary, 510-375-5647) and I’ll print one out and make sure it’s at the February meeting.  It’s 27 pages, so if you want it mailed, you’ll need to send me a 9×12 self addressed envelope stamped with $1.52 in postage.

This is a very inspiring guide, and I think we can us the information and adapt it to our district.

Our wonderful and professional VP of Records, Marlene Keller, has several ideas on how to handle the ECDC’s documents, including permanent records, attendance sheets, and other documents necessary to run the ECDC as a Democratic club. Chief among her ideas is a document retention policy similar to what governments follow.

Thanks to her leadership, the Executive Board intends to implement several of her proposed policies and increase the efficiency of our club. Instead of concerning ourselves with old attendance sheets, we can focus on our “Think Global, Act Local” theme for 2017.

As such, the Executive Board is proposing the following by-law change to enable Marlene’s ideas:

(Current language)
7. Vice President-Records: responsible for member and Executive Board meeting minutes, meeting attendance records, and maintenance of ECDC’s permanent records.

(Proposed language)
7. Vice President-Records: responsible for member and Executive Board meeting minutes, meeting attendance records, and maintenance of ECDC’s permanent records. The Vice President-Records may promulgate and implement a reasonable document retention policy.

The Executive Board believes this is the best way to enable Marlene’s efficient and effective ideas, while offering flexibility to a future VP of Records.