November 29, 2016
By Don Hughes
The Atlantic Chapter ExCom had four all-day meetings: January 30 (NYC), April 16 (Albany), June 25 (Rochester) and October 21 (Poughkeepsie), as well as at least a half-dozen conference calls. Much of the business conducted at these meetings is administrative: dealing with appointments, elections, budgetary matters, personnel, publications and outreach, and recommending political endorsements, among others.
• Elections were held in January.
– Erin Riddle was elected Chapter Chair, and Don Hughes, Vice-Chair.
– Jim Lane was re-elected Secretary, a position he has held for over 20 years. (Unfortunately, Jim was suspended from the Club by the Board of Directors in July. Carl Arnold is currently filling that office.)
– Steve Kulick was re-elected Chapter Treasurer, a position he has held for over 30 years.
– Kate Bartholomew and Sara Schultz were elected Conservation Co-chairs.
– Kate was also elected delegate to the Council of Club Leaders.
• Over a dozen resolutions were passed since the beginning of 2016, and more were discussed and debated. Here are highlights:
– In response to National’s threat to suspend or expel four longtime Atlantic Chapter leaders, Ken Baer, Diane Buxbaum, Jim Lane and Don Young, the Chapter urged National to “uphold the right of each of the accused to hold leadership positions and to continue to be a member in good standing of the Sierra Club.” (January 17, 2016) After disciplinary actions were invoked in May, the chapter followed up with a second resolution that urged National to reverse the disciplinary actions and offered to begin a onstructive dialogue with the Board to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution. There has been no follow-up from National.
– In January, the ExCom moved to make Club policies more readily available to volunteers by assembling a library of paper and/or online copies of all Club positions approved by the Chapter and its Groups. This effort is being led by Susan Lawrence, chair of the Records Committee, with support from the Committee and Caitlin Ferrante.
–The ExCom explored the viability of joining Tony Avella in a lawsuit concerning the alienation of parkland near Flushing Meadows in New York City. This was followed by an allocation of $1,500 to enter an amicus brief in support of Avella vs. NYC in the Supreme Court, Appellate Division.
– In April, the ExCom approved the Lower Hudson Group’s request for $5,000 to help the Rockland Water Coalition pay for expert help in examining Suez North America’s water management plans for Rockland County to ensure their sustainability and to avoid the need for future desalination. Later we learned from Gale Pisha that SCAC’s grant of $5,000 inspired matching grants from Hudson Riverkeeper and Scenic Hudson to jointly hire a water conservation expert. Rockland County also committed $30,000.
– The ExCom, in conjunction with National Sierra Club, put on a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) training workshop in July at the Watershed Center in Millerton, NY. Both Atlantic Chapter staff and volunteers participated in the workshop, which explored ays that the Club could be more respectful of underserved and minority communities and to work more closely with them.
The next Chapter ExCom meeting will be held on January 28, in New York City.
Contact any officer or the Albany office for details.