Minutes for MPJC Meeting of July 18, 2013

Present: Peter, Ellyn, Glenda Rae, Jenny, Wanda, Galen

Old business

    1.  Approval of Minutes for May 31: The minutes were approved as corrected. Peter noticed that we had called the group who organized the Memorial Day float the Coalition on Integration instead of Immigration. Peter will send a copy of these minutes to Pam as she does not use the internet and there was mention of how much we valued Ron and regretted his passing.

    2. Progress Reports

        a. Topic of the Month: Immigration - Peter brought a copy of the currently revised MPJC Resolution on Immigration to the meeting. It can be found at michianapeacejustice.net/immigration.html. We focused on the changes to bullet point 4 that Rey had proposed. After much discussion we changed this point to read as follows:

Peter will prepare an updated version incorporating changes suggested at the meeting and will pass it to Jenny for the addition of the effects of Free Trade Agreements. She will meet with Peter and Ellyn at 2pm on Saturday, July 20, to make these revisions.

        b. Hiroshima/Nagasaki Events: Lois was unable to attend the meeting either in person or by phone, so we could not determine what she had planned. We agreed to help her with an event on Friday, August 9 during the music by the fountain series at the Jon Hunt Plaza. Peter and Ellyn will be away from August 6 to September 8. If plans are finalized before the 6th, Peter will notify the other peace groups in town (Move-On, OFA, CPNV, Jobs with Justice, etc.) to invite them to join us and ensure that there are no conflicts.

        c. Letter to the mayor re gun control: Ellyn looked at the letter on her computer and we realized that we had not asked the mayor to do anything, so there was no need for him to respond. Ellyn sent a copy of the letter to the list a few months ago and will resend it in case folks have lost it.

        d. Topic of the month: Drones - Peter and Ellyn had not sent anything to the list on this topic, but agreed to do so on Saturday while Jenny is revising the resolution on immigration.

    3. Treasurer's Report: Our bank total is now $121.04 with $5.11 in petty cash, since we received a $50 donation in honor of Ron. Wanda noted that the Peace Ed Fund, our fiscal sponsor, held its annual meeting on June 12. Ed and Liz are leaving town, so Wanda was elected President and John Goodson Secretary. Jenny has expressed an interest in joining the PEF board, so she or Alfreda will become the Vice President. Glenda Rae will submit the ePostcard to the IRS shortly. Wanda reported that they had cleared up all their business. We did not think to ask if they had received the financial statement that Peter provided to Glenda Rae as she was not able to attend the PEF meeting. We also did not ask if Rey was successful in seeking sponsorship for the Lincoln Way West Cleanup Committee while they work on getting their own 501c3.

New Business

    1. What do we (can we) do next? We incorporated this topic into other discussion

    2. Fracking HBO Program: This was aired on Sunday, July 14. The only Move-on sponsored venue had placed a limit of 6 people and it was full by the time our folks tried to sign up. Jenny had offered her house to the group and Rey and Glenda Rae took her up on it. Wanda and Galen did not find out until it was too late. Jenny saved the program on her DVR, so anyone can watch it at her house by contacting her. The program was very moving. It was created by a reporter from Pennsylvania. He lived in the town where the oil and gas companies came knocking at the door saying that they were going to start fracking operations but there would be no contamination. After the fracking operation went on for awhile, the water coming out of the faucets was so toxic you could almost light it on fire with a match. The governor promised to run clean water into the town, but the Pennsylvania citizens voted to stop this plan after a massive campaign by the gas and oil companies. They did not want to admit that fracking had caused water pollution. In Texas, folks do not own the mineral rights to their land, so the fracking companies can operate anywhere they want. One person with a new $750,000 home has no access to clean water and cannot sell his home. The EPA has determined that fracking does not pollute the water, but the mid-level EPA employees who brought the decision to the folks in Texas said that they would not drink the water. This has happened quite often in the EPA. The technicians determine that pollution has occurred, but their findings are reversed by top management. Perhaps the new EPA head can stop this dangerous practice. During our discussion, Ellyn asked why the oil and gas companies can't use non-toxic materials when fracking. The documentary did not discuss this question.

    3. Topic of the Month: We decided to develop a policy statement on the use of fracking. We did not assign anyone to get the ball rolling on this, but perhaps Rey and Glenda Rae can prepare a draft to get us started.

    4. Other Topics and Issues: The Coalition on Immigration will hold a large rally from 2-7pm on Friday, August 16, at the Jon Hunt Plaza in front of the Morris Civic Auditorium to celebrate the passage of Senate Bill 744 and demand that the House pass a bill providing a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented workers. There will be music, food, and drink.

    6. Next meeting: Thursday, September 12th at 7pm at 1036 N. Niles Ave. We discussed after the meeting whether we should hold our meetings at 6pm since it will be getting dark earlier.