Present: Steve Ludwig, Ellen Finkelstein, Karen Moore, John Repp, Gunnel Clark, Brenda Collier, Peggy Hotes, Diana Forman
Tsunami relief – The Nonviolent Peaceforce now active in Sri Lanka has singled out the tsunami relief work done in the region by AFSC, Oxfam, and Sarvodaya, an indigenous Sri Lankan organization, as effective and skilled at locating underserved communities. It was decided to list these three agencies first under Action of the Week on the website with a link to each to help those considering contributions, and then to move them elsewhere on the website. Gunnel will suggest this to Maureen; Ellen will ask Marcia to add them to the up-coming Snow Announce bulletin.
Palestine Statement – Steve led the group in a discussion of how to make this statement, which will ultimately be posted on the website, more effective at drawing readers into the document. Creating a preamble that addresses the issue of fairness was suggested, and concerns about the highly controversial Right of Return were expressed. We felt that is important to highlight the freedom of all citizens to live without terror, to stress that Palestinian rights are as important as Israeli rights, and to incorporate the right of self determination because it's part of our Points of Agreement. Another important strategy will be trying to separate the fact or problem from the side that caused the problem. Steve and Peggy will come back to us with a revision, and it will also be taken to a general meeting. Brenda observed that we may also need a SNOW statement on Iraq for the website.
Contact list/liaison with other organizations – Ellen explained that we are still trying to identify organizations with which we want to have a relationship – groups such as Jobs with Justice, Veterans for Peace, UFPJ, and FOR, with which we are already connected. We need to check more directly with neighborhood groups to see who might already have a relationship with such a group. For example, Steve Ludwig's sons are working in coalition with NION and also ANSWER on the January 20th events, so Steve can serve as our connection there. (Gunnel will send him the contact information for both groups.) The committee also felt we may already know of SNOW members who could serve as our connection to INOC and the 34th District Democrats. By our next CC meeting we agreed to look over the list of SNOW coalition members and decide which ones would be important to contact. Bringing it up at a general meeting would also help us discover who's already connected to what groups.
January 15th Olympia event – After some discussion of setting up on our website a way to form carpools going to the "death tableau," we decided that this time Gunnel would continue to arrange transportation as necessary. We need to encourage neighborhood group members to register on-line so that the organizers will know how many are coming, and Ellen will ask Marcia to put the event into the Snow Announce bulletin.
January 20 inaugural events – Apparently there's some concern in the community that we're not endorsing these events, sponsored by NION and ANSWER, which take place at 2:00PM and 5:00 on the 20th. They connect to one another via a march from Westlake Park to the Federal Building, and Steve will up-date us on the planning meetings.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration – Peggy and KL Shannon were the only ones who attended the planning meeting before Christmas, so SNOW was well represented. Organizers are happy to have us present a workshop on military recruitment and racial disparity, and Peggy, Nina Laboy, someone from Veterans for Peace, or a person involved with Steve's counter recruitment efforts could present the workshop. The MLK Committee would also like to have a written proposal, and Marcia has agreed to help write something up. Peggy and Diana will set up the SNOW table early on the 17th, and we will ask for help with the tabling at the general meeting. SNOW members wishing to walk together, or in their neighborhood groups, should collect at noon or shortly thereafter at the NW corner of the building, close to the baseball field and next to the gym. Ellen showed us the handsome poster advertising the event and will add "Look for the SNOW contingent" at the bottom to those that will be handed out by SNOW members.
Falluja letter – Steve sees two uses for the letter: one that will present it as an OP-Ed piece in the PI with the endorsements of McDermott, Dr. Richard Rapport, and 17 other medical professionals profile doctors and one that could make it a cornerstone of resistance to the funding request when it comes up. Steve is not yet certain how to stage a press conference with Physicians for Social Responsibility that could help "force" our Congressional delegation to reject the request. Nick Licata has expressed interest in endorsing the Falluja letter after it is printed in the P-I.
Finances – Ellen reported for Shannon that we have approximately $4,000 in our account. The committee discussed the utility of a monthly accounting to show income and expenses, feeling that it would be a great help in budgeting and that such a report could be prepared using current account tracking software. Brenda will talk with Shannon about preparing a report for the first CC meeting of each month.
January 10 general meeting agenda items – The multitude of January calendar events, requests for tabling volunteers and for volunteers to establish on-going links with other organizations, the Falluja letter, and the March 19th event all need to be included on the agenda. Ellen would like to also have something of "substance" for the group to discuss, so we'll try to use available time to start the conversation about the future direction of SNOW. (Toward the end of the meeting we added asking the general meeting to consider the endorsement policy.) Brenda reminded us that we need to have an annual meeting since SNOW is a corporation and suggested the February 14th meeting, Valentine's Day. We hope to have a budget to approve and could also feature Valentine's cookies or even cards at the meeting.
January 15 Ground Zero request – The organization that holds workshops and peace trainings and sponsors the choreographed anti-nuclear demonstration at Bangor several times each year requested placement of its up-coming activity on SNOW's home page. We agreed not to place it there, but to put details of the event in the appropriate place elsewhere on the site.
No Stolen Elections request – Annie Phillips e-mailed Ellen requesting endorsement of a Stand up for Democracy rally in Washington, D.C., on January 6 to protest certification of the 2004 presidential election. The committee voiced concern that the time needed for the endorsement process is greater than the three days we've been given and also that this is not a local event. However, at Steve's suggestion, we agreed to offer to prepare a statement of support for an investigation of the Ohio vote to be used by those organizing the event and then to put the statement before the general meeting on the 10th for possible endorsement. Gunnel will reply to Annie's e-mail.
Sit-in at Murray-Cantwell offices – Shortly before this meeting Ellen received a Peacemaker e-mail from Jody Haug of the Green Party describing a sit-in at the offices of Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray. It's planned to begin at 8:30AM on Wednesday, January 5, and continue through 9:00AM on the 6th – the time when the Electoral College is voting – to urge one of Washington's senators to contest the election results. Ellen presented the information to us as an announcement only.
U.N. group's request for co-sponsorship of Darfur event – On February 3rd the Seattle chapter of the United Nations Association is holding a presentation on Darfur at the University Unitarian Church and requests co-sponsorship from SNOW. After a brief discussion we decided that John will reply to his contact and tell her that we're over-loaded at this time and must decline.
Sense of where we are going – The committee spent the final fifteen minutes of meeting time discussing SNOW's direction. The following observations were made:
The meeting adjourned at 9:05PM.