Jay Gerring opened the meeting at 7:05 with introductions of those present. There were 51 people in attendance, representing 14 neighborhood groups.
Information about the upcoming week-end events surrounding the visit of George Bush was shared.
The remainder of the meeting, other than announcements at the end, was devoted to presentation of proposals for the next SNOW focus.
Proposals presented were those previously listed on the SNOW site along with one for replacing the US control over Iraq with an international transitional authority under UN command. (Jay Gerring noted the Coordinating Committees criteria for which proposals submitted were brought forward to the membership at the meeting.) A spokesperson for each proposal was given time to present some details of the "campaign" including timeline, resource needs and possible actions that neighborhood groups might take. Questions were taken from the floor as each proposal was presented.
There was time given for general discussion and comparison of all proposals prior to the vote. Some discussion ensued regarding the meaning of the vote and voting procedures ensued. It was agreed that there would be resources in terms of energy (SNOW office, the CC and the new organizer) as well as in terms of SNOW funds for the campaign(s) chosen. Neighborhoods would be encouraged and helped to promote these campaigns though there will continue to be autonomy for neighborhood groups to pursue activities which are of interest to those groups.
Voting took place. A clear choice of those present and voting was to put energy into getting the King County Council to pass a resolution in opposition to the Patriot Act and in favor of protection of Civil Liberties. The second highest number of votes went to the proposal to work on "ending the occupation of Iraq" and their was agreement that these two foci (one local and one more global) would make a good combination of things for SNOW to work on in coming months.
Small group committees were formed and charged with fleshing out the proposals and returning to the next meeting with some more details on how the neighborhoods could begin to work on one or more of the campaigns.
Discussion about the next meeting date ensued with agreement that it would happen on September 8.
Various announcements were made and the meeting adjourned shortly after 9:00.