October 2010 meeting minutes

back to Meetings Main Page

This article details the proceedings of the Pirate Party of New Zealand General Meeting 3rd October 2010.

Actionables

 * pj should look into the problem in the fact that the self adding process for forum users is not working, with the aims of a) getting james_g on the wiki users list, and b) fixing the system so that other forum users can get on the wiki users list on their own.
 * Emily to run a membership drive
 * pj to provide a task tracking system, which will be trialled and then may be introduced.
 * A copy of old electronic bank statements should be made accessible by the other officers if bruce is unattainable.

Present
Tommy Fergusson, Peter, Emily, Jason James_g, Luke Chandler
 * Members:
 * Non members:

Members have voice, non members do not. Meeting room is initially -m, room is -i

Minutes
Channel temporarily set +m by pj as a result of abuse by non-members. Luke leaves. Channel returned to -m

Tommy moves to accept previous minutes, seconded Pajamin, thirded Emily. Motion passed.

Current processes for editing wiki access discussed, in particular how the self adding process for forum users is not working. The problem was identified. It was agreed (by Tommy, pj and james_g) "That pj should look into this problem in the next few days, with the aims of a) getting james_g on the wiki users list, and b) fixing the system so that other forum users can get on the wiki users list on their own."

It was agreed (by Tommy, Emily and james_g) to defer decision on james_g's core policy re-write proposal to after the wiki access issue has been dealt with, and to defer this decision to wiki processes.

As Bruce, the membership officer and treasurer, is not present, we only have unreliable information on membership and finances. We think we have 25 members, and a bank balance of about $120, with one outstanding expense claim of $60+GST. The member count above includes many members who have not yet paid.

Meeting adjourned at 1930. Meeting re-opened at 2005

pj introduced a proposal for a major change in policy, including the GST rate, minimum wage, tax breaks for employers and government citizens bonds. Preliminary discussions about this proposal were had

Motion passed that the following process be adopted for major changes to the core policy: "there shall be a well advertised voting period of two weeks, with a majority of votes required, as well as a minimum number of aye votes of more than one fifth of the membership in order to make major changes to core policy" moved by Tommy, seconded pj, thirded Emily.

An offer from a green party member was discussed, where PPNZ would become a network within the green party. Discussions suggested any approach should be made later, when PPNZ is in a better position to extract policy concessions from the Green party.

pj suggested that PPNZ "politely decline the invitation but offer to keep a dialogue open for future collaboration possibly in other areas." motion to adopt the above suggestion, with further decisions requiring to be moved in a future meeting. moved Tommy, seconded Emily, thirded pj.

Motion passed to ignore The Gerrytator act and "Strypey"'s email. (http://pastebin.com/Wx1vLJWQ) Moved pj, seconded Tommy, thirded Emily.

Long discussions unrelated to agenda items, principally including an upcoming LAN party in Dunedin, at which Emily proposed to run a membership drive. This membership drive run by Emily was approved. Also discussed was james_g's "source code for copyright" policy idea, requirements for registering to contest the party vote, and the possibility of hosting a Dispora server. pj offered to provide a task tracking system, which will be trialled and then may be introduced.

The merits of having backup copies of important files was discussed. One important consideration is the security of the electronic copies in order to retain privacy. We agree (Tommy, pj, Emily) that there should be a copy of old electronic bank statements somewhere accessable by the other officers if bruce is unattainable. Renting another p.o. box in another center was discussed and rejected. Tommy moves "that the membership officer provide the president with an encrypted copy of all the membership forms and information regarding which members a payment has been recieved from" motion failed we agree (Tommy, james_g, pj) "that i should consult the membership officer on a way to keep an electronic copy of the membership forms separate from the physical copies."

Meeting concluded 2355.