National War Tax Resistance
Coordinating Committee Meeting
November 5, 2023 * West Harrison, New York
Present in person: Lincoln Rice, NWTRCC Coordinator (Milwaukee, WI); Chrissy Kirchhoefer, Outreach Consultant (St. Louis, MO); Ruth Benn (Brooklyn, NY); Susan Miller (Hesston, KS); Shirley Whiteside, AdComm (Cedar Falls, IA); Byron Plumley (Cedar Falls, IA); Paula Rogge, AdComm (Madison, WI); Daniel Woodham (Kingston, NY); Gary Erb (Boulder, CO); Kima Garrison (Portland, OR); Susan Lee Barton (Richmond, IN); Lucia Z (Marlborough, NY); Byron Clemens (St. Louis, MO)
Present online: Sue Barnhart (Eugene, OR); Peter Smith (South Bend, IN); Ginny Schneider (Santa Fe, NM); Sarah Weber (Topeka, KS); Eleanor Elizabeth Forman (New York City); Erica Leigh, AdComm (Seattle, WA); Rick Bickhart, Treasurer (Charlottesville, VA); Cathy Deppe (Los Angeles, CA); John Stubbs (Brooklyn, NY)
1 – Peter went over the NWTRCC consensus process. (Bryon Clemens volunteered to be timekeeper.)
2 – Consultant Reports & Consultant Review
Coordinator (PDF report) – Lincoln’s Coordinator Report; Question about was UK meeting in person. No. All on Zoom. What is traffic on Spanish part of the website. I know it is over 150 visits each month, though folks haven’t called a Spanish counselors, who are listed on the Spanish part of the website. How many Spanish speakers in attendance… 3.
Outreach Consultant (PDF report) – Chrissy’s Outreach Consultant Report; Chrissy; Continuing ed for Chrissy? exploring the NWTRCC website; Both doing great work; How about Ukraine group – great group that has perhaps come to an end, but it could start again. WIRN – our involvement? Chrissy has been attending meeting. Promotes WTR at their webinars and steering committee meetings.
Consultant Review – after leaving room and returning.
Paula provides summary to consultants. Additional comments from meeting. Impressed, appreciative, wonderful job. Two suggestions. 1) pre-meeting communication and list stuff for local folks to do. 2) hiring a tech person / or pro-bono to handle technology to make it inclusive. 3) one issue with registering for event.
3 – Objectives (PDF Approved 2024 Objectives)
The following changes to the objectives were proposed and approved without any changes.
4 – Finances & Budget (Approved Budget for 2024 & Finance 2023 Report & Budget 2024 Notes)
There was a question of whether we would meet our income goals for this year. Probably, most people donate the last six weeks of the year. Will we need to make cuts in the near future? So far some unexpected large donations each year have prevented us from going to far into our reserves. But that could change, but we are okay for now. 2024 Budget Approved with No Changes.
5 – Proposal & Endorsements
Proposal 1 – One Million Pledge Campaign
There were a few comments in favor and opposed, especially as similar proposals did not work. Proposal defeated. 3 for, 3 against, all the rest were stand asides.
Endorsement 1 – Peace Walk 2024 – Approved with little discussion.
6 – AdComm Nominees
Daniel Woodham and Byron Plumley were nominated.
7 – Future Gathering Locations
No invitations have been offered. As of now, the next meeting will be online (3-5 May 2024). Additional discussion noted that west coast has been neglected for in-person meetings in COVID. Organizing a meeting is difficult with little local support. There are guidelines for hosts – a sheet to help local groups. Debate on when an in-person meeting should be if we only meet in person once each year: November viewed as bad because of weather. May has graduations and weddings.
8 – Evaluation of the Weekend
Online
Sue – Sat great, Friday frustrating. Today frustrating; Rick – thanks for accommodating microphone, Sat afternoon great! Cathy – agree with Sue, well-organized, rushed at times for business meeting; Peter – agrees with all. Got sick; Sarah – unsure about meeting in person and details, then procrastinated, need a tech person, love reconnecting; Ginny – what she attended was great. Eleanor – wished Friday was better, Sat was a success, time felt rushed and shut down.
In-Person
Susan – Fri and vigils were highlights. Sad that host was alone here, no local people to help. Meals were lovely. Place was lovely; Kima – great to be in person for first time in 4 years, meet local people, wish we had known about cushions; Daniel – Wonderful to be in person! In street holding sign yesterday, talking to people was important. Great to be at one of early Quaker meetings with peace message. Paula – I even had trouble hearing soft spoken. All was great with speakers. Need help with tech. Need more folks to help host. Ruth – Lincoln does a lot of facilitation. though not many speakers here. Susan Lee – wonderful to meet people. A LOT on the program. Projection on wall was great for Brad Wolf. Lincoln doing a lot. Byron – beautiful place. Difficult for host without a team. Demo interaction was favorite; Chrissy – wonderful to be here, celebrating being together; Lucia – great not to travel, healing, highlight having meals together, card game, logistics could be improved and everyone help out with logistics; Lincoln – Ruth, Chrissy with help in organing. GREAT food. Wonderful space. Tech support a real issue;
