THE PEOPLE OF COLOR POLITICAL ACTION CLUB

Minutes of Thursday, June 28, 2001 Meeting

1 . Review of June 12th Meeting Minutes: Approved, with thanks to Secretary Lidell Jackson.

2 . Update on Candidate Endorsement Process:
Questionnaires have been mailed to all the candidates under consideration for our club's endorsements. The response deadline is July 9th, after which the sub-committee consisting of Bernie, Doug, Jacqueline, Joey, Joseph and Troy will cull all the information from questionnaires received (Note: This meeting is scheduled for this Saturday, July 14th, 10 am - 2 pm, at NYAC.) Again, this sub-committee has been empowered by our club to make endorsement recommendations to the larger membership; as well, our club will make one endorsement for each race, which means that we will not make an endorsement under different party lines.
Questionnaires received as of July 12th: 1) William A. Allen, 9th District City Council Candidate; 2) Stephen DiBrienza; 3) John Fratta, 1st District City Council Candidate; 4) Kwong Hui, 1st District City Council Candidate; 5) Letitia "Tish" James, 35th District City Council Candidate; 6) Mark Levine, 7th District City Council Candidate; 7) Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn Borough President Candidate; 8) Miguel Martinez, 10th District City Council Candidate; 9) Phillip Reed, 8th District City Council Candidate; 10) Norman Siegel, NYC Public Advocate Candidate; 11) George N. Stolz (sp?), Mayoral Candidate; and 12) Jimmy Van Bramer, 25th District City Council Candidate. Questionnaires are still pending, from messages left by the following candidates' campaign managers: 1) Jeannette Gadson, Brooklyn Borough President Candidate; 2) Jay Galoob (sp?); 3) Helen Sears, ??? District City Council Candidate; and 4) Tony Spencer, 7th District City Council Candidate.
As agreed before, Monday, July 30th is the date our club has set to conduct our "Candidates Endorsement Meeting" * hopefully at The Audre Lorde Project in Brooklyn.

3. POCPAC Involvement With Upcoming Forums Sponsored By The Center, Queer Economic Justice Network, Pride Senior Network, ESPA, AVP and GMHC, et al.:
Questions were raised about the credibility of forum panelists who have already indicated their affiliations with various candidates; it was agreed that any of our clubmembers serving as forum panelists would be representing our club * not themselves individually * so that would not be an issue. It was reiterated that our clubmembers would be included on all panels for the upcoming forums, which Lidell made known to the forums' organizers sometime back. Lidell then recommended that, if our club has any money at all, it should contribute money to cover expenses for the three forums * which are as follows: Thursday, July 19th, 7 - 9 pm, Democratic Mayoral Candidates' Forum; Wednesday, July 25th, 7 - 9 pm, Public Advocate and Comptroller Candidates' Forum; and Thursday, July 26th, 7 - 10 pm, NY City Council Candidates' Forum with Out LGBT Candidates and Opponents * all to be held at the (newly-named) Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center, as of this writing having relocated back to their home at 208 West 13th Street.

4. Financial Report: Doug has recently opened an account for the club, and there is presently $180.00 in income (from various clubmembers' $20 dues paid * two more members paid dues at this meeting), minus $46.75 for 6/18 postage, leaving net sum of $133.25.
Two questions ensued: Is there a mechanism (i.e., "fundraising piece") for asking more than $20 for dues?; and Shouldn't there be a $10-dues level for youth, students, seniors, rather than leaving the onus of requesting that dues be waived to those prospective clubmembers on limited income -- which could be seen as individually penalizing people for having to ask for special consideration? It was decided that both questions would be remanded until the Fall, when the club's By-Laws will be revisited. It was also recommended that the Membership Dues Blurb should be clearly outlined on our club's web-site, including condition of fee waivers.

5 . Outreach Issues:
Troy reported attending the recent GMAD "Hip Hop Homo Thug" panel, where he passed out POCPAC palm cards. Ali reported sending out over 100 E-Mails to her political colleagues. Tony reported passing out palm cards at both the Sunday-the-24th Pride Festival and the Tuesday-the-26th "Charitable Choice" Forum at The Center. Lidell reported passing out palm cards at the various political Pride Reception events. Douglas suggested creating a club info sheet that could be an insert in various LGTSBT POC organization's mailings.
Mention was made of upcoming outreach opportunities -- the aforementioned three forums at The Center; the Tuesday-July-17th forum at ALP; the Monday-23rd Queens Pride House Forum; Bronx Pride; Black Pride; and others. Lidell agreed to create another "Events Sheet" similar to the "Politicians' Pride Receptions" announcements sheet he created last month, to be E-Mailed to everyone in the club to assure our attendance and participation in these events.

6. Developing a POCPAC Media Plan:
Andrea distributed sheets that offered "Questions To Review" and well as suggestions for a "Media Plan." Questions ensued about creating and releasing an E-Mail media release, and holding a subsequent Media Briefing at the first 15 minutes of an upcoming meeting. A Media Committee was immediately formed, comprised of Andrea, Ali and Tony, to create release and find venue for the Briefing. The original idea was to call reporters on Thursday-the-5th and Friday-the-6th, and send E-Mail announcement on the morning of Monday-the-9th, in preparation for a Media Briefing that evening of the 9th, 6-6:30 before our club's meeting. In addition, it was suggested that a Media Training session be conducted for Joe and Carolina, who * as our co-chairs * would automatically be considered the club's media spokespeople.

7. Nomenclature Issues: After lengthy consideration of the 12 recommended new name suggestions, there was a consensus on the new name * Out People Of Color Political Action Club, abbreviated as OutPOCPAC. It was decided that the club's web-site should reflect the name change, and research would go into creating a logo reflecting the new name.

8. Research on Some Council Districts: Tony presented the results of his extensive research on selected Council District demographics. He can be contacted at Hugburn@hotmail.com for info.

9. Announcements: Douglas is now a Board member at-large for the National Stonewall Democrats; he invited other clubmembers to feel free to raise issues with this organization, as well as to consider becoming Board members at-large themselves.

Next Meeting Wednesday, July 18th, 6:30 at Queens Pride House, 67-03 Woodside Avenue in Woodside, Queens * #7 train to 69th Street station, and 69th Street exit off the BQE.
NOTE: This recently-created LGTSBT Center still needs office supplies, so we should show our support by bringing supplies to this meeting.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lidell Jackson


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Updated: 7/12/2001