Minutes

The Executive Committee of Democrats Abroad Guatemala Meeting on                                                           Wednesday, October 18, 2023 at 10:00 AM via WebEx

Per our bylaws (paragraph 19.3), all meetings are open to all members.

• Call to order 10:04
• The minutes from Sept. 20, 2023 meeting and the agenda for Oct. 18 meeting, motion to approve made by Kee Evans, seconded by David Dean, and carried unanimously.

Members in attendance: John Chudy, Chair; Kee Adams Evans, DPCA Voting Rep.; Phyllis MacCartney, Secretary; David Dean, Member at Large; Hyungjoon Jin, Lake Atitlan Meet-Up Chair; Jim Criste, Treasurer; Rachel Shenyo, Xela Meet-Up Chair; Juan Pablo Aris, Counsel; Johnny Figueroa-Montt, Huehuetenango Meet-Up Chair

Treasurer’s Report: October, 2023. The current balance of the DAGT Nation Builder account is USD$534.23 This reflects an increase of $5.00 in the balance during the past month. There was one (1) individual $5.00 contribution to the account and there were no expenditures.

Jim traveled to Washington, DC on 27 September and intended to deposit DAGT’s local cash balance (the shoe box account) to the DAGT Nation Builder account. The current “shoebox” balance is GTQ 3,675.20. The exchange rate as of 19 September 2023 was, according to the Banco Industrial de Guatemala website GTQ 7.87 = USD$1.00. So the USD balance to be deposited in the Democrats Abroad account was USD$467.00 at that time. This was not done because Josh VanDer Ploeg, the International Treasurer for Democrats Abroad, emailed asking Jim to hold off until he consulted with the DNC.  A few days later, Josh sent the following message:

“We have discussed internally (and on the advice of outside counsel), and unfortunately the rule is pretty strict that cash donations need to be deposited within 10 days of receipt in order to be used for political purposes. This leaves you with two options:

1) you can refund the donations to the donors and ask them to re-donate through DAGT’s donation page, 2) you could use the money in-country for a non-political purpose (e.g. a social event/ picnic for members, or donating it to a worthwhile charity).

Therefore the ball is now back in our court as the EXCOM to decide how to use these funds locally. As always, individuals may donate to our country committee, DAGT, at the following website:Donate - Democrats Abroad (www.democratsabroad.org/donate_gt) Or to Democrats Abroad International at: Donations - Democrats Abroad  (www.democratsabroad.org/donate

David Dean moved that DAGT not donate $300 to global, reversing his motion made and approved at our Sept 20th meeting in light of the 10-day ruling cited above. Second by Hyung. Passed unanimously.

Kee Evans moved that DAGT use the shoebox funds for entertainment activities such as parties, celebrations, speaker events, movie nights and related social events. Hyung second. Carried unanimously.

Kee Evans moved to accept the treasurer’s report. David Dean second. Carried unanimously.

Chair’s Report: The Democratic Party Committee Abroad will meet on Sunday, November 12 on WebEx, as agreed at the DPCA Meeting on September 9. The purpose of the meeting is to consider resolutions originally scheduled for consideration at the 2023 AGM.

• Americas regional meeting October 9^th

o   The Americas Regional Retreat planned for November 4^th (GOTV) and 5^th (GPP & fundraising)  via Zoom has been reduced to one event on Nov 4th to assist new leaders and others who want GOTV/GPP updates. Register here. The full DAGT Excom should attend as should any new GOTV volunteers.

• DPCA Statement of Financial Position - as of August 31, 2023 - the DPCA Global account balance stood at $14,146.65; aggregate balance of Country Committee subaccounts ($131,106.89); total assets stood at: $145,253.54. The DPCA needs to raise at least $20,000 per month to cover operating expenses and meet (bare minimum) GOTV goals. CCs should try to  raise $1 per member per calendar year for the DPCA (i.e., $0.50 per member for the last six months of 2023). Josh van der Ploeg’s give me 10 for Democracy campaign is one way to donate;  https://www.democratsabroad.org/gt_split_donation.

Three platforms to connect with members: Intercom, Zoom and CallHub. Get trained up and volunteer

• Get Out The Vote (GOTV 2024)

o   CC CallHub campaign - $245 for a DAGT campaign (Hope Bradberry updated information such that our CC campaign would actually cost $0.25 per call making our CC campaign cost less than $120). DAAGT should consider doing a CC campaign

o   Voter Assistance trainings, sessions available every weekend https://www.democratsabroad.org/phonebanking_training   More trainings AVAILABLE, Plus Video versions. Sign up  here. Regular training sessions 3 times a week will be posted regularly through mid-Dec 2023 on:

Tuesdays at 12pm ET (6pm Berlin / 1am Wed Tokyo)

Thursdays at 8pm ET (2am Berlin / 9am Friday Tokyo)

Sundays at 5am ET (11am Berlin / 6pm Tokyo)

John will send Hyung Randi Weitzner’s emailVoter assistance  training schedule.

• FEC Committee on Legal Compliance and Implementation Issues (CLCII), Survey and Report committee meeting on September 29^th to finalize 2nd Survey on CC Legal and Financial Issues. Survey has been sent out to be completed by October 25. Kee, John and Jim will meet via Zoom on Oct 20th to answer the questions
• CC Updates: Comms contact(s); CC Press List; GOTV Coordinator/Contact.
• Please read the Volunteer Norms document available by clicking on document. All Excom members should read.
• Webinar with Rep. Don Beyer, on Mon, Oct 23 @ 11am ET, Tax Simplification for Americans Abroad Act, https://www.democratsabroad.org/tax_simplification_event
• DAGT’s  2023-2025 campaign Be the Future in search of new members and leader development should proceed. Hyung and Jim will launch the first meet and greet  at Uncle Sam’s in Guatemala City November 16th. John will send out Hyung’s Be the Future letter and follow up email to Guatemala City younger voters November 1st and November 10th respectively.
• The Be The Future campaign to dovetail with the Rock the Vote in 2024 The recruitment poster prepared by Kee to motivate new volunteers and new leaders in DAGT was presented. It was agreed that the poster campaign will launch November 1st, and will be repeated the first of each month thereafter. John has already posted it at the DAGT website page which can be viewed here.
  • Hyung commented on the need to reach out to Guatemala City schools/others so that a contact person lets US citizen teachers and parents know about DAGT. Added that it should come from someone other than himself. Hyung will research who contact persons might be and then John can follow up with a phone call or other contact as needed.

Events for 2023:

• John Chudy will present a slide show/PowerPoint on Immigrants and Boomers and Related Developments in January. Date to be determined.
• DAGT movie projector – Kee Evans updated the meeting on the broken down state of the current projector and suggested we purchase a new one, using shoebox funds. Jim moved that a new projector using shoebox funds be purchased. Second by Phyllis. Kee presented an option now available at Pricesmart. https://www.pricesmart.com/site/gt/en/pdp/4258979. The motion passed unanimously.
• Kee commented that in Germany, a US Embassy Consulate, is making space available for DA-assisted voter registration/ballot request events. Could that be done in Guatemala? Kee will research this further.

Other Items: Kee has not been reimbursed for expenses related to the Otros Negros event. John will contact Josh Van der Ploeg

Travel:   Jim, USA Sept 25 to o/a Nov 9; Hyung Oct 31 to November 11; Phyllis and Blaine, South East Asia Dec 3 to Jan 10; John, USA, Nov 12 to Jan 5.

Next meeting date, time, venue. November 22, 2023 at 10:00AM Guatemala time, via Webex

Adjournment 11:55