irvwa-minutes-2005
IRVWA – Meeting Minutes – January 31, 2005
Joe and Debra’s Residence, Seattle, WA
President Taryn Gearhart called the meeting to order at 6:50 p.m. on January 31, 2005 at the residence of Joe Szwaja and Debra Morrison, 2021 NE 75th Street in Seattle, WA. Also in attendance were secretary Paul McClintock, treasurer Jerry Cronk, Joe Szwaja, Debra Morrison, Cary Thomas, Rich Anderson-Connolly, Brent White, Kiwibob Glanzman, and Taryn’s guest Walt Jorgensen. A quorum of the board was present.
Rich gave a report concerning the packet of materials he has assembled for legislators, including an analysis of San Francisco’s use of IRV at the November 2004 election, and an election reform goal list by nov3.us which includes IRV. Rich will get these into PDF and onto the web. By unanimous consent, the webmaster (Cary) was directed to provide password access to the website for Rich and Paul; FrontPage will be needed to update pages on the website. Taryn reported she already has the password.
Kiwi asked what the status of online petitions was. Taryn reported that website visitors can now “sign on” similar to the way they did when we were petitioning in 2004, with name, address etc. They can indicate how they would like to volunteer.
After discussion, it was agreed by consensus that Paul and Brent would work on a short petition relevant to our current lobbying efforts and submit it to the group for review. After the legislative session is over we can replace it with a general support-IRV petition. Rich asked that the petition language be on the home page.
Kiwi reported that he was encouraging folks in other election reform groups to go to our web page to sign up. He said it would that there were other election reform folks and groups that we need to interface with.
Walt said he was a member of the League of Women Voters and could provide contact information for the local (county) leagues. Debra said she could call the county LWV groups to recruit from the list a contact at each of them, at least about 10 of the most populous counties. The contact would be encouraged to sign up for “IRVWA-News” on our website home page, and agree to pass on our broadcast emails to their county members.
Taryn reported that Alexander West has moved back in state and testified well on the IRV local options bill today.
Joe reported that the op ed under his byline was printed and got a very high level of response in the Seattle Times and that it resulted in an interview by Kirby Wilber on KVI-570 (conservative) talk radio. Joe thanked the group for help with editing the op ed. Joe also reported that the Washington Free Press gave us good coverage in one of its latest issues.
Joe reported that he and Darlene are working on plans for a big fundraising event. There was general consensus that the fundraiser could include other election reform issues, but that those which were controversial should have both sides have presentations (point/counterpoint concept). Joe agreed to prepare a proposal with projected costs and income for our review by list serve.
Walt asked if we could amend our current local options bill to allow IRV for even code cities and hopefully any civil government election in the state, regardless of the level. General consensus was that it would be a good idea to look at San Francisco’s IRV law wording, but to not dilute or distract from our current bill with anything else right now.
Kiwi invited all to the 3rd Party Summit on February 5th.
The next meeting was tentatively set for Monday, February 28, 2005, at Joe and Debra’s home.
The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.
Paul McClintock, Secretary
Approved March 28, 2005. // pm
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IRVWA – Meeting Minutes – March 28, 2005
Joe and Debra’s Residence, Seattle, WA
President Taryn Gearhart called the meeting to order at 6:20 p.m. on March 28, 2005 at the residence of Joe Szwaja and Debra Morrison, 2021 NE 75th Street in Seattle, WA. Also in attendance were secretary Paul McClintock, Joe Szwaja, Debra Morrison, Cary Thomas, Kiwibob Glanzman, and Alexander West. A quorum of the board was present.
President Gearhart reported that due to other priorities, Drew is resigning from the IRVWA board. President Gearhart gave notice that at the next meeting elections will be held to fill two vacancies on the board. Kiwibob Glanzman and Alexander West were nominated for these two positions.
President Gearhart gave treasurer Jerry Cronk’s report that the 2/28/2005 statement from Shoreline Bank shows a balance of $4247.44, and the 2/28/2005 statement from Twin County Credit Union shows a balance of $371.60. There is a pending payment of $18.40 to Cary for website expenses, and a pending receipt of $93.18 donation from the Coalition for IRV in Washington.
Alexander West reported on the current lobbying effort and status of IRV bills in the state legislature.
The motion to support SSB 5326 as a priority, with appropriate mobilization of constituents, was adopted.
Paul McClintock moved to send a letter to the Senate Committee on Government and Operations regarding HB 1447 giving our concerns and suggested amendments, the letter to be reviewed online and delivered this Thursday by Alexander, with amendments at least to drop the population restrictions and the start date. Adopted.
Fundraising Committee Chairman Joe Szwaja reported on the ongoing fundraising efforts made and how the recent op-ed piece prompted some donations.
Database Project Chairman Taryn Gearhart reported that the Whatcom County voter registration database has been purchased and added to our IRV petition signers database system and that she is in the process of imputing signers into our system, and will provide the resulting Whatcom County signers list to our point person in Whatcom County, Shirley Jacobson, to use for promoting IRV with the county’s charter review commission.
Kiwibob reported on various outreach activities, including a Secretary of State sponsored election reform forum, contact with King County Councilman Bob Ferguson, and an upcoming 46th district Democrats meeting in April. Debra reported on her presentation at UW that was well received.
There was general consent that new business cards are needed that do not have I-318 on them, and that Taryn should investigate options for printing decent quality bumper stickers.
Announced: Joe and Debra will be in East Timor from April 8-23, and Alexander will be in China April 20-May 10.
The next meeting will be Monday, May 23, at 6:00 p.m. at Joe and Debra’s residence, unless otherwise decided/notified by email.
The meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m.
Paul McClintock, Secretary
Adopted 5-23-2005. // pm
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IRVWA – Meeting Minutes – May 23, 2005
Joe and Debra’s Residence, Seattle, WA
President Taryn Gearhart called the meeting to order at 6:21 p.m. on May 23, 2005 at the residence of Joe Szwaja and Debra Morrison, 2021 NE 75th Street in Seattle, WA, with secretary Paul McClintock present. The minutes of the March 28, 2005 meeting were approved as distributed by email.
Treasurer Jerry Cronk reported that $25 had been received and $18.40 expended since his last report, resulting in a balance of $3866.24. This does not include $300-$400 in the Olympia account, of which President Gearhart reported that $60 has been expended for the Whatcom County voter database. Paul McClintock moved that an audit committee consisting of Joe Szwaja and Paul McClintock be formed to audit the books. Adopted.
Rich Anderson-Connolly moved that $250 be donated to Coalition for IRV—Tacoma, to help fund a P.O. box, web hosting, and some printing and postage. Approved.
Paul McClintock moved that the bylaws be amended by adding to Article III, “Board members may be removed by a three-fourths vote, or a majority of members present with 25 days notice.” Adopted unanimously.
Motion to remove Darlene Soellner from the board was adopted.
Motion to elect Alexander West to the board was adopted.
Elections were held and Alexander West was elected president, Taryn Gearhart was elected vice president, Paul McClintock was elected Secretary, and Jerry Cronk was elected treasurer. All elected officers except Alexander West were present, and he had previously indicated a willingness to serve.
Joe Szwaja moved that an IRV literature piece be developed that the Greens could distribute along with their materials. Approved.
The meeting adjourned at 7:33 p.m.
Paul McClintock, Secretary
Approved 2005-06-27. // pm
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IRVWA – Meeting Minutes – June 27, 2005
Alexander West’s Residence, Seattle, WA
President Alexander West called the meeting to order at 7:17 p.m. on June 27, 2005 at the residence of Alexander West, 8331 13th Avenue NW, Seattle, WA, with secretary Paul McClintock present. The agenda was adopted. The minutes of the May 23, 2005 meeting were approved as read.
Treasurer Jerry Cronk was absent but reported through the secretary that there have been no changes since the last meeting (at which the authorized $250 for CIRV-Tacoma was paid).
City reports (Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver) were given. Alexander reported on contacting candidates in Seattle to solicit support for IRV.
No news was known for Spokane.
Rich Anderson-Connolly reported for Tacoma. The primary emphasis was to lobby the city council to put a pro IRV amendment to the charter on the ballot. www.cirvtacoma.org is the web site.
Paul and Rich and Alexander reported on IRV-Vancouver.
Taryn reported through Alexander that some top leaders in the Grange are positive about IRV.
Alexander reported on LWV WA regarding some positive progress in IRV resolutions and who the current officeholders are.
The audit report is not yet ready.
Annual strategy topics were discussed:
Legislative Agenda: IRVWA needs to work with LWV and Coalition for Proportional Representation in developing legislation for future sessions.
Brent moved that up to $50 be available for tabling with WashClean and WA Citizens for PR at Seattle Thunder August 13 at Magnuson Park. Adopted.
Rich moved that IRVWA endorse proposition 1 in Tacoma allowing IRV. Adopted.
Rich moved that Alexander and Brent form a thank you committee and be authorized to spend up to $200 for thank you notes, postage and plaque for pro-IRV legislators this past session. Adopted.
Brent moved that we bestow on Representative Moeller, Vancouver, HB 1447 sponsor, the title of “2005 Champion of Democracy.” Adopted.
Adjourned at 8:47 p.m.
Paul McClintock, Secretary
(Following adjournment, a tentative date for the next meeting was set for 7pm on Monday, July 25, 2005.)
Approved 7-25-2005. // pm
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IRVWA – Meeting Minutes – July 25, 2005
Alexander West’s Residence, Seattle, WA
President Alexander West called the meeting to order at 6:45 p.m. on July 25, 2005 at the residence of Alexander West, 8331 13th Avenue NW, Seattle, WA, with secretary Paul McClintock present. The agenda was adopted. The minutes of the June 27, 2005 meeting were approved as distributed. Also attending were vice president Taryn Gearhart, treasurer Jerry Cronk, Brent White, Cary Thomas, and Rich Anderson-Connolly.
The agenda was adopted by general consent.
The treasurer reported no change in the account since the last meeting. Rich moved to move all but about $500 of our main account into savings. Approved.
Alexander gave a report for Seattle.
Rich gave a report for Tacoma.
Alexander gave a report for Vancouver.
Alexander gave a report for King County.
Taryn gave a report for the Grange.
Alexander gave a report for the League of Women Voters.
Paul reported that the audit committee (Joe and Paul) would meet with Jerry 30 minutes before the next meeting.
The Thank You committee has not yet met.
Taryn reported that we need to make a public statement on the court case on the primary.
Taryn moved that she be authorized to buy the Spokane voter database for up to $60. Approved.
The next meeting was set for Monday, August 22, 2005 at 6:30 p.m. at Alexander’s home.
The meeting adjourned at 7:47 p.m.
Paul McClintock, Secretary
Approved 8-22-2005. // pm
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IRVWA – Draft Meeting Minutes – August 22, 2005
Alexander West’s Residence, Seattle, WA
President Alexander West called the meeting to order at 6:45 p.m. on August 22, 2005 at the residence of Alexander West, 8331 13th Avenue NW, Seattle, WA, with secretary Paul McClintock present. The minutes of the July 25, 2005 meeting were approved as read. Also attending were Brent White, Cary Thomas, and Rich Anderson-Connolly.
Paul moved to amend the previously adopted motion creating an audit committee by striking "Joe Szwaja and Paul McClintock" and inserting "Paul McClintock and Alexander West." Adopted unanimously.
Rich reported on the Tacoma effort that there now appear to be 5 city council votes for putting proposition 1 (IRV) on the ballot.
Paul reported that treasurer Jerry Cronk had emailed him his report, as follows:
"Treasurer's report is that we now have $3,979.04 in our checking account at Shoreline Bank. That balance is after the last two checks, i.e., 5/23/05 Cary Thomas $8.40 for Web address renewal and 5/23/05 CIRV Tacoma $250.00 for startup costs. The balance has been completely reconciled with our check register and other records. The account at Twin County Credit Union in Olympia has a balance of $331.60. Taryn has control of that account; I just get the statements."
General discussion was held on various ways IRV could be implemented.
The meeting adjourned at 8:13 p.m.
Paul McClintock, Secretary
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IRVWA - Meeting Minutes - December 5, 2005
Alexander West's Residence, Seattle, WA
President Alexander West called the meeting to order at 6:14 p.m. on December 5, 2005 at the residence of Alexander West, 8331 13th Avenue NW, Seattle, WA, with secretary Paul McClintock present.
Other board members present were Joe Szwaja, Brent White, treasurer Jerry Cronk. Kiwibob Glanzman also attended.
Jerry has prepared wording for legislation broadening the IRV Pilot project:
In RCW 29A.53.020,
(1) For the purposes of this chapter, a qualifying city must
(+ (a) be a town or city; and
(b)
+)
[- (a) Be classified as a first class city as defined by chapter 35.22 RCW;
(b) Have a population greater than one hundred forty thousand and less than two hundred thousand as of July 24, 2005, as determined by the office of financial management; and
(c)
-]
Have demonstrated support for instant runoff voting by approving a city charter amendment authorizing the city council to use instant runoff voting for the election of city officers. (End excerpt of RCW with changes.)
Paul commented that the last item's use of "city charter" needs to be addressed too.
Alexander noted that there seem to be two basic approaches to IRV activism: (1) get lower level organizations to use IRV (universities, etc.) so more folks understand it and would later support it for public elections, and (2) change all elections for public office to use IRV.
Alexander reported that the current pilot project is functionally dead for Spokane and Tacoma, as neither can now change their charter in time. No one is working on Vancouver choosing to use IRV.
Brent emphasized the need for a state-wide, multi-tiered IRVWA organization, with local cells connected to a state organization.
Joe has a donor possibility if we have a realistic project. The presumed donation could help seed good fundraising. We would need professional fundraising help for a major project.
Kiwibob remarked that voter concentrations are along the I-5 corridor, King County, and Seattle. For state-wide efforts, we have to focus on these areas.
The Grange is apparently working on an initiative to make all elections non-partisan in Washington.
Jerry reported that David John Anderson, who used to be on the CIRV-WA board, said he'd like to get back involved with pro-IRV efforts. Jerry will give David's contact info to Alexander for follow-up.
Joe distributed the Green pro-IRV card he's been distributing.
Jerry will also try to draft a bill for IRV for situations where a vacancy is filled by a general election without a primary.
Focus for now will be identify a few cities to lobby to pass a resolution asking the state legislature to broaden the pilot project to let them in and to broaden the time frame.
No formal motions were made or adopted.
The meeting adjourned at 7:42 p.m.
Paul E. McClintock, Secretary
Approved 5-30-06. // pm