Present: Peter, Ellyn, Glenda Rae, Lois, Wanda
Old business
1. Approval of Minutes for March 26: The minutes were approved as written. Three typos were corrected.
2. Progress Reports:
a. Topic of the Month: Why we oppose nuclear weapons: Peter incorporated the Wikipedia discussion into the current statement. Wanda sent a paper about "Why We Oppose Nuclear Weapons" that she wrote and Peter incorporated it into the statement. Ellyn proposed separating the background section of the statement from the section that proposes actions we might take. Wanda wanted to call attention to the fact that the U.S. did not have to drop nuclear bombs on Japan. They would have surrendered anyway. Ellyn pointed out that most Americans think the bombing was necessary to save American lives. Wanda also pointed out the near-launch accidents that have occurred over the years. Glenda Rae knew of a few others. We all remember the family bomb shelters that people built in the 50's. Now no one hardly thinks about a nuclear catastrophe. Ellyn pointed out that even renewable sources of energy create pollution, but we agreed that they are much preferable to fossil fuel and nuclear sources of energy.
b. Memorial Day Parade: Peter passed around the parade application and we agreed to go through with it. Rey will rent a truck and Lois will continue to look for veterans and students to walk with us. Peter will attend the required meetings to get our parade application accepted.
c. Book of the Month report: We omitted this topic since Ellyn had to leave early and needed time to get Lois down to the vigil.
d. Immigration Coalition: Wanda attended the Faith in Indiana Families First Convention in Indianapolis on April 21. About 1,000 people from all over the state attended. The main topics were immigration, health care and the incarceration rate for black males.Joe has not notified folks about local plans for action.
e. Tax Day plans: We held tax resistance signs at the April 16 vigil. There were three of us. Lots of cars honked. Some people wondered why we were not at the post office, but most people file their taxes electronically.
f. Earth Day Report: Earth day celebration was held at Roseland Park this year. People came and went during the four hour period. Lois and Peter set up a table with tax resistance literature and the bean poll. Lois was so busy talking to people that she did not have time to eat her lunch. About 20 people participated in the bean poll. There were three high school students volunteering and they were very interested in what Lois had to say. They may come down to the vigil on Mondays and Lois hopes to interest them in the Memorial Day Parade. Lois was quite keen to get Diana, who has organized Earth Day activities for 30 years, recognized as Woman of the Year. Others pointed out that it takes a full-time lobbying effort for at least a year to even have a hope of bringing this about. It would be better to contact Terrie Russ to get her recognized at the annual celebration of women at the Civil Rights Heritage Center. Lois, Ellyn, Wanda and Glenda Rae have all been so recognized.
3. Treasurer's Report: $196 with $30 in petty cash. Bernie gave a sizeable donation.
New Business
1. What do we (can we) do next? We incorporated this topic into other discussion
2. Topic of the Month: Why we oppose nuclear weapons. We will try to finish up this topic. See above.
3. Other Topics and Issues: The Peace Education Fund Board will meet soon. The last meeting minutes have not been sent out, although the secretary has finished them. One topic for the meeting will be the application by the War Tax Resisters Penalty Fund to become a project under the Peace Ed Fund. Peter will know more after meeting with the current fund manager at the NWTRCC meeting in LA the first weekend in May. Peter is willing to do all the work to manage the project.
Regina Williams-Preston from the City Council invited Glenda Rae to join a committee to construct a proposal to prevent the state from taking over the administration of Navarre School which has received a failing grade for three years. There are representatives from other West Side groups on the committee. They hope to involve restorative justice in the school and also have the teachers paricipate in a study circle in 2019.
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4. Next meeting: Monday, May 21st, at 2:30pm at Lois' assisted living center. We will send the directions in the meeting announcement.