16 April 2011 meeting minutes

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This article details the proceedings of the Pirate Party of New Zealand Special General Meeting 16 April 2011.

Actionables

 * inkybutton to edit join page.
 * Treasurer to make summary spreadsheet of PPNZ finances.
 * EC to form a committee on privacy vs transparency

Agenda

 * 1) Status updates (e.g. treasurer's report, membership count)
 * 2) Decisions on the $2 discounted membership fee (a suggested motion from the discussion mailing list)
 * 3) Decisions on the relationship between the party and chapters (a suggested motion from the discussion mailing list)
 * 4) Discussion about recruitment strategies & targets, possibly establish a committee for this
 * 5) Initial discussion on requirements of chapter rules/constitutions

Present

 * Members
 * Noel, Jake, Gynn,Tommy, Bruce


 * Non-Members


 * Late
 * benjr

Minutes
The minutes for the meeting were recorded by Noel.

Tommy declares meeting open at 10:44am.

Previous minutes
Noel moves:
 * to accept previous minutes


 * Tommy, Bruce second
 * No objections
 * Tommy declares motion passed

Treasurer’s Report
Bruce reports $722 in bank, mostly donation fees and membership, and $15 in petty cash. Current member count is 55.

Decisions on the $2 discounted membership fee
Tommy moves:
 * that a $2 "discounted membership fee" be created which will be available to everyone. Applicants will have the same membership regardless of which fee they sign up to.


 * Tommy: The discounted membership fee is intended for, but not restricted to, situations where the standard membership fee of $10 would make applicants think twice about joining.
 * Bruce, Noel second
 * In favour: Gynn, Jake
 * Opposed:
 * Tommy declares motion passed

Relationship between Chapters and Party
Tommy moves the following three motions, pursuant to discussions on the mailing list.

Tommy moves:
 * 'To adopt a guideline that regional chapters be considered as committees of the Party. Committee positions including Chapter President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Executive Council Representative and general committee members may be filled by any PPNZ member based in or near the electorates covered by the chapter. Committee positions may be filled via: (in order of precedence)
 * '1. Executive Council Special Resolution;
 * '2. Election by people on a Chapter membership list maintained by the Chapter Committee, or;
 * '3. Chapter Committee Special Resolution.


 * Gynn asked how many members does a chapter require before being recognised.
 * Tommy replies that this can be worked out by a Executive Policy.
 * Gynn suggests creating a detailed procedure on creating a chapter.
 * Jake seconds
 * In favour: Tommy, Noel, Jake, Gynn
 * Opposed:
 * Motion passed

Tommy moves:
 * To adopt a guideline that the Executive Council should only overrule Chapter elections, appointments or motions except when the Executive Council feels that the Party or it's Chapters may be harmed beyond the electorates covered by the chapter in question


 * Jake seconds
 * In favour: Tommy, Noel, Jake
 * Tommy withdraws motion due to grammatical error

Tommy moves:
 * That Executive Council Representatives from Chapter Councils be invited to attend all executive meetings, and be privy to all communications between the Executive Council as a group (i.e. not between individual members of the Executive Council)


 * Jake seconds
 * In favour: Tommy, Jake, Noel, Gynn
 * Opposed:
 * Motion passed

Tommy moves:
 * 'to void the first motion, and accept a new motion with the following wording: "To adopt a guideline that regional chapters be considered as committees of the Party. Committee positions including Chapter President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Executive Council Representative and general committee members may be filled by any PPNZ member based in or near the electorates covered by the chapter. Committee members may be appointed, suspended or replaced via: (in order of precedence)
 * '1. Executive Council Special Resolution;
 * '2. Election by people on a Chapter membership list maintained by the Chapter Committee, or;
 * '3. Chapter Committee Special Resolution.


 * Gynn seconds
 * In favour: Tommy, Jake, Bruce and Noel
 * Opposed:
 * Motion passed

Tommy moves:
 * To adopt a guideline that the Executive Council should only overrule Chapter elections, appointments or motions when the Executive Council feels that the Party or it's Chapters may be harmed beyond the electorates covered by the chapter in question


 * Tommy withdraws the motion due to grammatical error.

Tommy moves:
 * To adopt a guideline that the Executive Council should only overrule Chapter elections, appointments or motions when the Executive Council feels that the Party or its Chapters may be harmed beyond the electorates covered by the chapter in question


 * Jake seconds
 * In favour: Tommy, Noel, Gynn, Jake
 * Motion passed

Tommy moves:
 * to adjourn the meeting until 1:15pm


 * Noel seconds

Meeting is adjourned.

Tommy declares the meeting reopened at 1:32pm

Open Finances
Discussions in finances resulted in suggestion to form a committee to investigate the degree of openness and transparency in PPNZ’s administration. Questions that need to be answered by the committee include what similar parties such as PPSe do, what other NZ parties do, and which NZ law is relevant in the area. Also poll members how the level of openness.

Noel moves:
 * that meanwhile we should make a statement.


 * Tommy agrees, suggests producing a spreadsheet.
 * [Seconded: Tommy?]
 * In favour: Tommy, Noel, benjr, Jake, Gynn
 * Opposed:
 * Motion passed

Recruitment strategies & targets, possibly establish a committee
Jake comments that we need to target for 500 members by July.

In relation to recent passing of amendments to the copyright act, suggestions to have a protest were made:
 * Suggestions for joining an existing protest:
 * May 1 “Idiots in Power” protest - http://lawisanass-wingate.blogspot.com/2011/01/may-1st-idiots-in-power-protest-at.html
 * Comments made about not being able to have our issues voiced.

Minutes terminate at this point