Minutes of the Steering Committee Meeting of the
Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai’i
Date: November 17, 2010, 6:00 PM
Location: Democratic Party Headquarters, Ward Warehouse, Honolulu, Hawai’i
Attendees: 11
10 participants in Honolulu: Gary Hooser (Chair), Lynn Marie Sager (Vice-Chair), Tony Austin (Treasurer), Mary Guinger (At-large), Christian Adams (At-Large), Bill Sager, Shannon Wood, Fred Cash, Kioni Dudley, Alan Burdick
1 participated from Maui via teleconference: Lance Holter (At Large)
Steering committee member absent and excused: Mike DeWeert (Secretary)
Lynn Marie Sager acted as Secretary for this meeting
Gary Hooser called the meeting to order at 6:17 PM
1. Agenda briefly finalized and accepted.
• General housekeeping (letter to send for official status), Secretaries Report, Treasurers Report, etc
• Old Business Website…other
• Reports from subcommittee members – Start with Ag/Sustainability since we may have a new incoming Chair/volunteer?
• Finalize plans for upcoming General Caucus Meetings (question….Purpose of December 1 general caucus meeting?)
• Other Business/Announcements
2. Gary moved to accept minutes of the last meeting. Lynn explained that she had not been able to print out copies and asked the members if they had all received the minutes by e-mail in order to read them. All present indicated that they had done so. Lynn went on to suggest that since we are an Environmental Caucus and we are already communicating by e-mail, can’t we accept the minutes without printing out multiple copies, in essence trying to become paper free.
• A lively discussion followed: Shannon Wood objected to relying too heavily on Internet communications, fearing that it would alienate members of the Caucus unfamiliar with the most up-to-date technology, or unable to afford such technology. Mary echoed her concerns. Lynn and others reiterated that anyone unable to access the Internet could and would be accommodated, but failure to use all tools available seemed a waste. (Issue not fully resolved)
• Lynn reintroduced the need to accept the meeting minutes and asked if we could accept them without printing them.
• Minutes of the last meeting were accepted with no objections or changes.
3. Treasurer’s report by Tony Austin:
• $41.00 in our account
• Tony request that we place fundraising on the agenda for an upcoming meeting.
• Granted with no objection.
4. Communications report by Lynn Sager:
• Requested permission to e-mail the General Caucus a reminder about the upcoming meetings, as well as to encourage them to RSVP to the December 4 advocacy training, and subscribe to the new website.
• http://www.environmentalcaucusofthedemocraticpartyofhawaii.wordpress.org
• Permission granted with no objection.
5. Old Business
• Formal letter must be sent ASAP. The letter drafted by Fred Cash was accepted and signed. Lynn will finalize the enclosures and see that Dante receives it in time to be placed on the upcoming agenda.
• Fred reminded the Steering Committee that according to our bylaws, we need to set a full meeting schedule for the upcoming year and announce it to our Caucus before the end of this year. All agreed that we will need to set that schedule at the next steering committee meeting, scheduled for December 15.
6. Subcommittee reports:
• Food Security and Sustainability
◦ Dr Kioni Dudly, who attended our last Steering committee meeting, indicated that he was willing to assume the position of Co-Chair along with Donna Wong. He also mentioned that he was a Democrat, turned Green, turned registered Republican in order to Green the Republican Party. He asked if he could serve and still stay a Republican. We informed him of the bylaws, and he agreed to resign as a Republican. Fred gave him a Democratic Registration form, which he filled out immediately, and Shannon reminded him that he also needs to resign as a Republican.
◦ Dr. Kioni Dudley and Donna Wong were officially accepted as the new Co-Chairs of the Food and Sustainability Subcommittee.
◦ Dr. Dudley spent some time clarifying his new role with us and confirming the dates, times, and purposes of our upcoming General Caucus Meetings.
• Energy and Climate
◦ Gary asked Lynn to report on behalf of Subcommittee Chair Lisa Rey, as Lisa was not able to attend the meeting and had sent in her meeting minutes via e-mail earlier that day.
◦ Lynn reported briefly on the last Energy and Climate subcommittee meeting, biggest point being that conflict will arise within the Caucus over specifics. Case in point, we all agree that renewable sustainable energy is the goal but how we will achieve that goal remains an issue. Strong and conflicting opinions exist regarding HECO and the proposed Wind Farms on Lanai within our own Caucus. We need to be sure that both opinions have a say when reporting to the General Caucus.
◦ Lance Holter echoed this concern regarding bio-fuel and Palm oil plan on Maui
◦ Lance sent several links regarding the Palm Oil controversy via e-mail to Lynn, who agreed to pass them on to the rest of the committee and post on website.
◦ Gary brought up the need to define what will make up a Caucus vote in order to insure consensus. Fred seconded the need.
▪ Suggestion of 51% of the present voting Caucus was made, but not resolved.
• Natural Resources
◦ Bill briefly reported on the Natural Resources Subcommittee; they will be ready for their report at the General Caucus meeting.
◦ He has made contacts and has received input from every island but Moloka’i.
◦ He is actively using Google Docs to help in collaborations.
▪ Again concern was expressed by several members about the reliance on Internet communications
◦ Bill will incorporate any comments sent to him through e-mail or communicated by phone, but prefers Google Docs as a major time saver.
7. Finalizing plans for the upcoming General Caucus Meetings
o December 1, 2010 (6-8) space confirmed
o Purpose: to report to the General Caucus regarding the subcommittee’s activities over the past months as well as to encourage all members to become involved in our plans for the upcoming legislative year. Specifically, the advocacy training on December 4, and our extended General caucus Meeting on December 11.
o Suggested agenda:
§ Greetings and reports from the Steering Committee
· Mary advocates introducing a Logo contest for the Caucus to get them involved
· Tony wants to discuss fundraising potentials
· Lynn wants to educate the Caucus regarding the new website and e-mail notifications
o Shannon suggested we set up a computer where people can actually go on line and have us help them navigate
o Suggestion accepted. Lynn and Bill agreed to have a computer set up.
§ Reports from subcommittees
o Gary reminded us that we need to investigate video hookups to the neighbor Islands, so that we can offer more than phone conferencing.
o Set Up
o Food: Shannon and Mary agreed to provide
1. Tony brought up a question about reimbursement and legalities
2. Question left unresolved
3. Shannon agreed to donate for this meeting
o Needed:
4. Timekeeper
5. Name tags
o Gary and Lynn agreed to work together to finalize the agenda
o December 11, 2011, (9am-1pm) space not confirmed at the time of the meeting. (Space has been confirmed since)
o Purpose: Extended meeting for in-depth General Caucus discussions regarding our upcoming legislative agenda. We are looking for specific bills that we as a Caucus can advocate during the upcoming legislative session.
§ Gary recommends no more than ten. We don’t want to split our focus. We need to look for bills about which we all agree.
o Proposed agenda
§ Greetings
§ Panel Discussion from Subcommittees
· Gary suggests that Subcommittees invite guest speakers to participate if possible.
· We want to build the Causes by provide access to people other people want to meet.
§ Recess
§ Breakout into subcommittees
· Members may discuss important issues with subcommittee chairs
· Goal: Each committee will determine its top three legislative recommendations to the Caucus
§ Recess
§ Caucus unites to vote on the top recommendations for this year’s advocacy.
o Set Up
§ Food: Not determined
§ Possibly easels and markers for the breakouts: Not determined.
8. Final remarks.
o Gary reminded everyone to participate in the December 4 advocacy training if possible.
o Shannon asked to be kept in touch by e-mail.
o Christian asked to be added to the Energy and Climate Subcommittee
o Lynn was thanked for her work on the website
9. Gary adjourned the meeting at 7:28