Minutes of the LPSF Meeting of July 10, 2010
Members Present: Marcy Berry (Chair), Michael Edelstein, Francoise Fielding, Ron Getty (Vice-Chair), Jawj Greenwald (Secretary), Tim Kuklinsky, Les Mangus (Treasurer), Rob Power, Starchild, Jeff Yunes.
Officers’ Reports:
Chair: Marcy Berry reported on the Pride booth, and some interesting people she met.
Treasurer: The LPSF has $2173.77 in its coffers.
Secretary: The minutes of the June meeting will be posted after the meeting. The minutes of the May meeting were approved as posted.
Announcements: A “Sidewalks are for People” rally is scheduled for July 31st.
A “Tax Cannabis” event is scheduled for July 13 at 1776 Broadway in Oakland. Anyone wanting to get involved in this ballot campaign should contact [email protected]. Jeff Adachi has gathered 75,000 signatures in support.
Committee Reports:
Internet Communication/Social Networking: See below for discussion of internet presence, and social networking sites as ways to increase our influence.
Membership: Marcy Berry reported that it is difficult to get a handle on our membership. Formally, we number ten, down from 200 in the days when the State party and the National party operated together. No new members joined this month.
Old Business:
SF Pride Weekend. Rob Power led a discussion of our experiences at the SF Pride booth, and we generally felt it worked well. We will approach the Pink Pistols to explore the possibility of marching with them next year, but there was little interest in marching by ourselves.
4th of July Barbecue. A good time was had by all at the 4th of July barbecue Rob Power hosted, even though few took in the actual fireworks. Rob stayed up till 4am watching videos with some of his guests.
Initiatives/Ballot Measures: Ron Getty reported on three initiatives sure to appear on the November ballot: a proposed “Sit/Lie” law banning sitting or lying on sidewalks; a provision that bars someone from being both a candidate and a member of the central committee for a political party at the same time; and a measure that requires hotel tax to be paid when booking online (closing a current loophole). Signatures are currently being vetted for 3 other measures: a pension reform reducing pension costs for city employees; a “Fix MUNI” campaign; and a restructuring of the hotel tax. The Supervisors’ final ballot measures will be determined next week.
We’ll discuss them at the August meeting, and give 30 days’ notice of a vote at the September meeting. A postcard to the membership will later announce our formal positions.
New Business
Tax Cannabis 2010. Opinion was divided over whether to endorse the “Tax Cannabis 2010” campaign in favor of the November state ballot measure to legalize and regulate marijuana. The majority voted against. It was agreed that we would participate solely as individuals, and would tell the sponsors who had sought our endorsement that we supported legalization but had reservations about the “branding” of the campaign as a tax raising measure.
Site for Future LPSF Meetings. It was unanimously agreed that we should continue to meet at the Civic Center Main Library. Marcy will renew our booking for the next 3 months.
Ways of Increasing LPSF Visibility. We brainstormed about how to increase the LPSF’s influence and resources. It was felt that Rob and others had done an amazing job designing and updating our website. It was unanimously agreed to integrate it with a Facebook and Twitter presence. We will open a Facebook page and let discussion migrate there. Marcy and Ron were appointed monitors of its content, and will try to check it daily once it gets going. Other suggestions for making our voice heard included: try to make individual comments on local websites, e.g. in response to Chronicle articles (and link them to our Facebook page); volunteer for the Civil Grand Jury; have incentives and recognition of outreach efforts; and sponsor a monthly speaker event such as the Coalition for Liberty restaurant dinners.