Board Meeting, Minutes - April 3rd, 2016

Meeting Minutes from 4/3/16

Law Office of Hart and Herrick

Present: Ann Heywood, Dr. David Shih, David Rice, Paul Wagner, Myron Buchholz, Mildred Larson, Lindsey Brandrup (recording)

Absent: Marni Kaiser, Dr. Mahmoud Taman, Sara Thielen

1). Ann called the meeting to order at 6:35 pm.

2). Treasurer’s Report: The $.06 discrepancy was corrected (due to a misreading of penmanship). The March report comes out on the 4^th/5^th of the month. Ann Heywood is now able to sign off on checks.

3). The minutes for February 21^st, 2016 were approved. Minutes are to also be forwarded to Molly Collins.

4). State Board Report included updates on the current financial position of the ACLU, a reminder about Chapter training and orientation opportunities, and a suggestion to wear a nametag identifying oneself as an active member of the CVCLU when attending community events and meetings.

5). A reminder was emailed and briefly discussed about the ACLU’s Campaign policies on Free Speech and Political Non-partisanship. See policies 528 and 519, respectively.

6). Assisting UWEC Students Update—Parent meeting with employer went poorly; ideas were suggested as to how the CVCLU might best assist or provide support to the student and it was decided that David Shih would discuss options with the student, who would ultimately decide what, if any, role or support the CVCLU might provide.

7). Upcoming April Presentation—The presentation “Institutional Racism and the Chippewa Valley: An Affirmative Action Story” will take place on April 27^th at Volume One from 7:00 pm until 8:30 pm. All were requested to participate in promoting this event. Paul created a poster and a FB event, all on FB are asked to share the event. A description will be sent to Molly Collins as well.

8). Board Duties/Yearly Schedule—Brief discussion was held on possibly collaborating with the public library during Banned Books week. Additionally, the responsibilities of members were reviewed. Historically the Secretary has posted minutes to the website, Ann has and will continue to fill this role, with Paul serving as backup. At some point we hope to meet with an archivist at UWEC to conserve the minutes and historical documents of the CVCLU. The issue of thank-you notes was brought up and it was determined that the President will delegate this responsibility on a case-by-case basis.

9). Open Government Traveling Show-Mildred provided a synopsis of this event along with copies of the State Statutes pertaining to the Wisconsin Open Meetings Law and the Wisconsin Open Records Law. In summation, the Wisconsin Campaign Finance Law has been identified as worse than Citizens United in terms of transparency. A couple of examples of this “nibbling away” are that the UW system is now exempt from revealing the applicants of a position and donors no longer have to disclose their place of employment. For more information, please reference the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council.

10). Announcements

Myron was asked to speak at the School Board meeting regarding ECASD policy 411 on protected classes that would include transgender students. The CVCLU Board discussed the limitations of the policy and Ann stated that she would send an email to the School Board urging them to adopt resolution 411. (Note: on 4/4/16 the Board passed the resolution).

Lindsey briefed on a personal situation developing with the School Board and Superintendent of the District. The handbook changes adopted in 2013 eliminated Extended Sick Leave for employees, which offered partial pay for up to 30 days, and offered, as a replacement, the Sick Leave Donation bank wherein employees may select to donate hours to those who qualify; however, though no specific criteria have been provided by the District as to whom may apply for these donations, it has been expressly stated that women on maternity leave may not use this resource. This change has thus been discriminatory to those seeking maternity leave. Lindsey sent a letter to the School Board President; it was shared with the other members, the Superintendent, and the Director of Human resources. Lindsey followed up with Rich Spindler who said that the letter wouldn’t be discussed at a meeting unless one of those individuals named took it upon themselves to add it to the agenda. Lindsey has been in contact with a Fellow from the ACLU National Women’s Rights Project who has stated that the next step will be for a demand letter to be sent on her behalf.

11) Next Meeting Date: May 15^th, 6:30 pm at the Law Office of Hart and Herrick.

12) Meeting adjourned at 8:20 pm.