VID had a very busy November. Polling, poll watching, GOTV – here and elsewhere, and phone-banking consumed most Club members.
Polls in Virginia and in New York drenched but victorious.
Our busy November began with a bus trip to Virginia, coordinated by Jen Hoppe with the usual cookie sustainance from Keen Berger. Tony Hoffmann congratulated the Election Committee and VID Members on their incredible performance. November 7th, even though in the world of excitement, this year’s election was not near the top (in NYC). The weather in the morning was cold and in the evening, it rained. Laurie Hardjowirogo, Ed Yutkowitz, Elissa Stein, Irene Kaufman, Jen Hoppe, and Erik Coler led the pack.
The Voter Reform committee’s Laurie Hardjowirogo was very happy to announce that the three candidates she campaigned for upstate all won. Where Indivisible groups were active, results were good; where they weren’t, results were not so good. The second phone bank for upstate second home owners got many people to re-register, and a few went to the True Blue Summit, in late October There was still a lack of transparency with the DNC, and she was concerned that millennials, who will outnumber baby boomers in 2020, are mainly registering as Independents.
A rally on November 13 at Cuomo’s office on Fifth Avenue urged him to stop the Williams Pipeline and commit to transitioning NYS to renewable energy.
Paul Newell reported on the County Committee where certain reforms were pushed at the September meeting, with seven resolutions proposed. Five were straightforward rules changes, but the seventh one, regarding Keith Wright, was quite controversial. It called for Keith to resign one of his positions, County Leader or lobbyist. A Rules Committee has been convened and will meet in three months, which has never been done before–most meetings are held every six months. He urged anyone interested in proposing rules changes to let Keen know–he said we can convene a new meeting, and he feels we will win. The Democratic party must be set up to be open to outside groups and other activists.
Assemblyman Deborah Glick spoke, advising everyone of her seminar on climate change held November 28 at the New School. She also spoke of her proposal of an enhanced TAP for private colleges.
The November meeting featured a discussion of Mt Sinai/BethIsreal Hospital; Judy Wessler and Anthony Feliciano represented the community–Mt. Sinai/Beth Israel declined to attend, saying they had already spoken enough on the issue. Jonathan Geballe had put together a resolution re Beth Israel. There was a discussion, and Tony Hoffmann recommended putting together a committee comprised of Susan Gottesman, Zella Jones, Alec Pruchnicki, Marlene Nadle, and Judy Wessler and Anthony Feliciano. They will meet before the next membership meeting. This passed unanimously. SEE THE FINAL RESOLUTION.
Again, a substitute amendment re Executive Committee members running for Judicial Candidate positions at a different club, saying the amendment that passed was meaningless. Susan proposed tabling this to the Executive Committee meeting. This passed with 25 for and one abstention. It will be re-introduced at the December meeting.
There was an election for two new Executive Committee members to fill two vacancies. The candidates (and election results) were Deb Sherman (22 votes), Irene Kaufman (19 votes), Yvonne Sherwell (9 votes), and Cam Krause (2 votes). So, the new members are Deb Sherman and Irene Kaufman.
Rounding out the busy November schedule, Laurie announced a November 16 phone bank against the IDC.
Here are the FULL MINUTES of the Nov. 9th, 2017 General Meeting.