Board Meeting, Minutes - October 11th, 2020

ACLU of Wisconsin Chippewa Valley Chapter

Meeting of the Board of Directors

October 11, 2020

Virtual meeting via Zoom technology

Board members present: Lindsey Brandrup, Selika Ducksworth-Lawton, Ann Francis, Ann Heywood, Mildred Larson, Kelle Moran, Elsa Murray, Teresa O’Halloran, David Shih, Paul Wagner, LJ Wells, and John Wiltrout.

Board members absent: Pa Thao, Eliza Wiegel.

1. The meeting was called to order at 5:00.

2. The minutes from the September 13, 2020, meeting were adopted as amended.

3. John gave the Treasurer’s Report. Balances are savings: $5.01, checking: $1,235.46.

· Mildred moved to get a way to get donations online, Ann. H. seconded, motion carried. David and John will work on this.

· We are going to reconsider the bank account merger with state.

4. Selika and David gave the state board report. State has hired a new director of community engagement (the position vacated upon Emilio’s departure). Through the Equal Justice Works project, Elizabeth Lambert is working on schools issues: student harassment, discipline, etc.

5. The board discussed the slate of nominations for the November membership meeting. Selika Ducksworth-Lawton, Kirby Harless, and Lopa Basu have all agreed to run.

6. The board discussed plans for the November membership meeting. Lindsey said Julian Emerson would be happy to be on the panel, Judy Clark said she had to ask her station manager before she could do it. David will email the board a more specific topic to share with the panelists, but the temtative theme is: How do the panelists see the role of the press in helping to rebuild democratic norms?

· How to rebuild trust, unite people, deal with conspiracy theories,

· How to offset fake news

· How to offset misinformation campaigns that aim to suppress voting in marginalized communities

For publicity, we will do an email, the newsletter in the U.S. Mail, a save-the-date in FaceBook, and a calendar item in Volume One.

We want to make it clear and easy to sign up for and to join the meeting. Ann F. and Paul will work on the technology used to sign up for and attend the meeting.

If there are no nominations for the board from the floor, a motion can be made to have secretary cast a unanimous ballot. David will put an item in the newsletter to let members know they can nominate “from the floor” in advance via email.

7. Paul gave an update on communications with Alyssa Mauk. Paul and Alysa have been talking about emails and communications. It isn’t clear that state has been updating emails. When we get new members, state sends the emails we provide to national, and then they feed back down when needed. We are not sure therefore of the accuracy of the email or address list. We have 325 people in our FaceBook group.

8. The board discussed the newsletter. The newsletter is mailed via U.S. Mail and usually contains the President’s year in review, the board candidates’ names with short biographies, and information about the membership meeting and the program. Ann H will check with Alyssa on mailing labels and return receipt requested mailing.

9. Old business NONE

10. New business NONE

11. Announcements NONE

12. At 6:35, Ann Heywood moved to adjourn, Ann Francis seconded, and the motion carried unanimously.