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Political Action Committee

Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

7:00 - 9:00pm

LGBT Community Center

1800 Market Street, 3rd Floor

1. PAC Meeting was called to order by PAC Chair Laura Thomas at 7:10pm.
2. Updates & Announcements
   1. 40th Anniversary of Roe v Wade  
      1. Saturday, January 26th at 10am at Justin Herman Plaza
      2. Celebration of Women, Life, & Liberty
   2. Beer Blast at El Rio
      1. Fundraiser for the 2nd Annual Howard Grayson Conference 
      2. Sunday, January 27th, 3-5pm 
      3. $10 cover at the door 

        3.  City Hall Update (Tom Temprano)  

      1. Six supervisors were sworn in today, including Milk endorsed D7 candidate Norman Yee. Supervisor Chiu was re-elected as Board President for a 3rd term

        4. Presentation from Supervisor Mark Farrell re: Same-Sex Couple Federal Health Care Tax Legislation 

      1. Legislation was introduced last month at the Board regarding the federal tax that same-sex couples pay for health care for their partners. Introduced with co-sponsors Olague, Wiener, & Campos
      2. What it will do: 
         1. Would apply only to CCSF employees
         2. Employees would receive a reimbursement for the tax they pay
         3. Will cost the City about $1 million a year 
      3. There is precedent for such an ordinance. Google and other companies in San Francisco reimburse employees for this tax. The City of Cambridge enacted a similar ordinance last year
      4. Milk Club support would be advantageous to getting this legislation passed. Supervisor Farrell called upon the membership to talk with other Supervisors about the legislation and show up for public comment to show support. 

      The PAC voted to recommend that the General Membership endorse Supervisor Farrell’s legislation regarding health care benefits for same-sex couples at the next General Membership meeting. 

          5. Political Forecast for 2013 (Annie Chou)

      1. The Club should anticipate a fairly quiet year in terms of electoral politics. 
         1. This is the last year when City Attorney and Treasurer will be voted on in “off” calendar years. After this year, they will be consolidated with other major city office elections in accordance with Proposition D. 
         2. 8 Washington referendum will be on the ballot. 

        6. Brainstorm on Club Activities for 2013 (Annie Chou & Laura Thomas) 

      1. Some ideas were discussed for focusing Club energies in 2013. They were: 
      1. A forum or community discussion on domestic violence prosecutions, issues, divisiveness, who gets prosecuted, etc
      2. Legislative master calendar for the year
      3. Strengthening relationships with members of the Board of Supervisors
      4. Building relationships with other democratic and progressive political clubs in San Francisco; identify opportunities for collaboration
      5. Getting more Milk Club members & queer progressives onto City commissions & committees. 
      6. Develop a stronger pipeline of local queer progressive leadership 
      7. Stronger focus on queer women in the progressive movement
      8. Health focused initiative; Affordable Care Act implementation 
      9. Organize progressive meet ups; happy hours/social time (i.e. First Fridays with the Milk Club) 
      10. Hold SFPD accountable for past actions. Ask for a formal apology. 
      11. Connect with GLBT Historical Society 
      12. Invite Mark Leno, Phil Ting, Leland Yee, and Tom Ammiano and other state representatives to address the club
      13. Focus on intersectionality of oppressions, identities, etc 
      14. Mobilize membership for actions and events 
      15. Organize political trainings for progressive queer activists 
      16. Anti-oppression trainings / diversity training 
      17. Fundraising
      18. Recruiting new members
      19. Engaging with the media; drafting press releases

        7. California Democratic Party Delegate Election

      1. Election for Assembly Districts 17 & 19 to participate in the state convention and determine what the California Democratic party will be doing this year. 
      2. There are quite a few different slates: SFYD, Tom Ammiano, etc
      3. Important that the Club show up and vote on Saturday, January 12th and Sunday January 13th
      4. Must be a registered Democrat to vote
      5. Vote for 6 men and 6 women
      6. Additional details:

                   Assembly District 17: Saturday, January 12

                       Location: African American Art & Cultural Center

                       Address: 762 Fulton St. Suite 300, San Francisco, CA 94115

                 Assembly District 19: Sunday, January 13

                       Location: Westlake Park - Merced

                       Address: 111 Lake Merced Blvd, Daly City, CA 94015

        8. Announcements

      1. Closing the Rape Loopholes (Maxine Doogan)
      1. Resolution to close more of the rape loopholes to make it illegal to discriminate based on involvement in sex work 
      2. Prop 35 gives the State greater purview over disbursement of victim’s compensation funds and they will now not reimburse erotic laborers who have been victims of sexual violence. 

      The PAC voted to recommend that the General Membership endorse the California State Resolution to Close all the Rape Loopholes at the next General Membership meeting. 

         9. Meeting was adjourned at 8:36pm.