1) Call to Order

Mitch Henry called to order the regular meeting of the Iowa Unity Coalition at 6:34 on 05/04/21 on Zoom.

2) Attendance

The following persons were present:

Officers & Board Members:

Patrick Bourgeacq Pinzon

Holly Christine Brown

Mark Cooper

Swati Dandekar

Nathan Gruber

Mitch Henry

Alma Puga

Luisita Dona Thompson

William Sims

Steve Villatoro

Som Baccam

Claire Celsi

David De La Torre

Eric Donat

Jacquie Easley

Eric Giddens

Kimberly Graham

Renee Hardman

Deb Henry

Michele Kolz

Lauri Lumm

James Marren

Larry McBurney

Jeannie McCrea

Terry Meek

Susan Mrzena

Robert Mulqueen

Marginell Powell

Kevin Schneider

Jon Shelness

Cassandra Stone-Flomo

Phyllis Thede

Sarah Trone Garriott

Jerry Uhlman

3) Welcome & Brief Introduction of New Attendees - Mitch

All new attendees were given time to introduce themselves to the group.

4) Approval of Minutes From Last Meeting - Holly

Chair Mitch Henry previously emailed out minutes from the last meeting. Mark Cooper motioned for their approval. Swati Dandekar seconded. The minutes were approved.

5) Treasurer’s Report - Luisita

Available balance: $9,936.35

Current expenses:

ActBlue fees (3.95%): $51.21

Zoom fees: $16.04

Bank miscellaneous fees: $3.21

Logo fee (pending): $225.00

Total expenses: $295.46

Motion to approve treasurer’s report by Kevin Schneider. Seconded by Mark Cooper. Treasurer’s report approved.

6) Vice Chair Report - Swati

Please speak to your friends about the Coalition so people aren’t just hearing from Mitch over and over. Swati has found some people who want to donate to our 501(c)(3) as soon as we file our paperwork.

7) Chair Report - Mitch

Membership:

We have 260 memberships. 30 new members since our last meeting.

Fundraising:

We have raised over $10,000 in total.

Communicating with The Hughes Project, and we’re on the list to get funding. It could be anywhere from $5,000-$50,000 for voter outreach. Will start voter outreach in both rural and urban areas later this year (summer).

NPO:

Will start 501(c)(4) this month and 501(c)(3) in July.

Question from Terry about the difference between the two.

Discussion about the Cedar Rapids mayoral race — there is a progressive Black candidate, Amara Andrews.

Suggestion: Send out Bylaws to new members when they join.

8) Election and Endorsement Subcommittee - Patrick & Lauri

Membership, not the Board, will decide. Should be a transparent process, vote aggregate count will be made public. A preliminary process has been determined and is as follows:

1. Identify in advance those elections for which the Coalition will definitely be endorsing a Candidate.
2. Send candidates a questionnaire on their positions. Candidates must have an alignment of at least 75% with the Coalition to advance.
3. Invite pre-qualified candidates to present to the Coalition’s membership at large.
4. Hold endorsement votes — ranked-choice voting among members.

We will next start to identify key races, trying to focus on diverse communities in rural areas.

9) Communications Subcommittee Discussion - Holly & Patrick

Holly showed off the website. Board members should submit a photo and the contact information they would like shared. Website should be ready to publish by the end of the month.

Patrick talked about working with the Issues subcommittee. Writing up why we exist working with Michael Libbie. The top issues.

Iowa Unity Coalition: Who We Are; What We Believe

Draft: May 4, 2021

The Iowa Unity Coalition is an independent organization not affiliated with any political party. We promote certain ideals that we believe are non-partisan, and we work to unify voters across the political spectrum around these ideals. These ideals we believe in are—

1. Healthcare: We believe in guaranteed healthcare for everybody. 
2. Voter Rights: We believe in one person/one vote.
3. Worker Rights: We believe workers have a right to safe working conditions. We believe in a living wage and in equal pay for equal work.
4. Protecting the Environment: We believe in putting measures in place that will safeguard our environment and ensure clean drinking water.
5. Education: We believe in guaranteeing quality and safe K-12 education everywhere in Iowa. We believe post-high school public education and training should be available tuition free just like K 12. This includes vocational training, 2-year community college, and 4-year public colleges.
6. Prevent Hunger Locally: We believe we need to put an end to hunger in Iowa.

The Coalition may, from time to time, amend these ideals through majority membership consent.

Renee Hardman suggests that we should add affordable housing.

10) Platform and Issues Subcommittee - Mitch

If you have an idea to add to our platform, please write a sentence and send it in.

11) Guest Speaker - Linn County Supervisor Stacey Walker

Unfortunately, Supervisor Walker was unable to attend, as he was stuck in Oklahoma City. We will reschedule him for another time.

12) Upcoming Meetings & Events - Mitch

Luisita Dona Thompson - Vaccine Clinic May 15th, Filipino American Society

Larry McBurney - Fundraiser for the Filipino American Society Scholarship Committee May 15th 1PM-4PM - Union Labor Park; May 23rd 1PM-4PM, kickoff event for Urbandale city council run at Lyon Park

13) Next Meeting

Our next scheduled Zoom meeting is Tuesday, June 1, 2021, at 6:30pm. Our guest speaker will be Latinx activist Alexa Rodriguez.

14) New Business

Consider a 4th of July parade. Announcement of new Polk County Treasurer, Mary Wells, first African American to hold this post. - Renee Hardman

Polk County does not hold ANY juveniles unless they have been remanded to adult court. - Sheriff Kevin Schneider

15) Adjourn Meeting - Mitch

Motion to adjourn by Mark Cooper. Seconded by Luisita Dona Thompson. Mitch Henry adjourned the meeting at 7:52pm.

Minutes submitted by: Holly Christine Brown