At our March 2026 chapter meeting, SV DSA member Stacey delivered a statement of our chapter’s position on the allegations against Cesar Chavez. The recording is available on Instagram.

The Labor Working Group’s Statement in response to the Cesar Chavez investigation results:

1. SV DSA stands in solidarity with the women who were abused by Mr. Chavez.
2. SV DSA recognizes and applauds these women’s strength and courage to come forward as well as their resilience living with this for 60+ years.
3. SV DSA stands in solidarity with the United Farm Workers movement and state that this news absolutely does not define the movement in the past or present. SV DSA acknowledges the damage and grief this news will cause within the Latino community.
4. SV DSA condemns sexual assault, harassment, and abuse in all forms.
5. SV DSA stands with women, children, and other vulnerable groups who need protection from abuse of power.

This news will affect each person differently, for some it is the loss of a heroic figure regardless of the accuracy of that description.

This movement historically provided an opportunity for migrant workers and their families to fight for rights and against exploitation.

A movement should not be defined by its leader, too much power for one person without much oversight.

This gives us an opportunity to become more aware of how power imbalances can lead to horrible abuses.

It is important for us to keep this in mind when we are working in our communities and with our partners to promote safety, respect, and dignity for all people.

The post SV DSA Statement on Cesar Chavez Investigation Results appeared first on Silicon Valley DSA.

The Las Vegas Democratic Socialists of America (LVDSA) recently responded to a community crisis at Hebron apartments in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. Local organizers were outraged to learn that Hebron’s vulnerable residents had been abruptly served eviction notices despite having made timely rent payments. Hebron, a once beautiful neighborhood dedicated to the mission of helping those of low income find affordable housing, formerly adorned with local art and flourishing community garden, has turned into a tragedy as many Las Vegas tenants are looking to their friends and community members asking a vital question: “What is going to happen to us?”

Hebron, “a 124-unit complex”, was originally owned by the nonprofit Caridad to support those who are disabled, unhoused, and unable to work. The complex originally received funding via Tony Hsieh’s Downtown Project Initiative in 2015, prior to the CEO’s unexpected passing, since facing serious financial concerns that led to the nonprofit disbanding its efforts. Hebron apartments are currently managed by Advanced Management Group (AMG) under the supervision of YSBM Investments, and, in our community’s opinion, their management of Hebron has been “inhumane and cruel” toward this vulnerable population. During LVDSA’s involvement, tenants have shared their stories, showing that property management is clearly attempting to push them out of their homes by any means necessary. They have posted illegal eviction notices without following proper due process, locked tenants out of kitchens and laundry services, and removed the nonprofit and community services at the property that were attempting to help tenants facing financial insecurity. Members of our Mutual Aid campaign have been on the property, attempting to provide groceries and community resources, only to be regularly asked to leave by security despite the community’s desperation for food, water, and essential toiletries. Some tenants remarked that the food our Mutual Aid program has provided was their, “only regular access to food.” Most tenants are disabled, without income or transportation, and without the support of the former nonprofit. Many tenants shared with LVDSA that the whole process was “humiliating” and “without dignity”, remarking that their home at Hebron was “the only one (they) knew” and that they had been subjected to “unsafe and unsanitary conditions,” including “going weeks at a time without toilet paper.”

Advanced Management Group recently made a statement to local news in an attempt to maintain positive PR stating that their “priority is stability and support” and that they are “…actively working with local assistance programs, including Help of Southern Nevada…(as they) also continue to provide on-site resources, including a fully stocked pantry that tenants may access as needed,” claiming that “residents who are able to meet standard rental requirements will have the opportunity to remain at the property.”

However, LVDSA has personally been following up with those affected in the past few weeks, and a lot of these claims from management appear highly exaggerated. Help of Southern Nevada, for instance, can only accept clients who are actively living on the street and cannot intervene in individual cases of eviction due to their personal capacity. AMG is also raising the rental requirements to remain at the property. Base rent that was closer to $500 a month per room at Hebron is being swiftly raised to over $800 despite most tenants qualifying for SNAP, placing their economic position to ~130% under the poverty line. Another resident shared with us that the food pantry mentioned “was never restocked” and that the “resources” they were given were simply instructions to The Las Vegas Courtyard, while an essential area of shade for the unhoused, is the socio-economic equivalent of a multiple million dollar company saying to a disabled vet, “We’re so sorry about your situation, but we are buying your home and if you cannot afford it please do go sleep outside and best of luck.” 

We are deeply concerned about what happens to the tenants of Hebron if nothing changes. Many tenants shared with us that they are severely disabled, and many are waiting over a year for their Social Security benefit applications to be reviewed. In the meantime, they have no income and are unable to work; many are in need of mobility aids, essential medical devices like oxygen tanks, and expensive medications. Without regular housing, they will likely be completely unable to survive on the street. Most tenants are unable to afford bus passes or walk long distances to reach a shelter at night. Summer is around the corner, and brutal heat waves are already hitting the valley. Extreme desert weather is especially hard on those living on the streets.

Our current economic system not only refuses to hold this kind of systemic genocide of the unhoused and low income accountable, but enables it. This is another situation where, if you are rich enough, lucky enough, and privileged enough, you get to survive, and if you’re not, the elites will take advantage of the opportunity to pinch every last dollar from you until you face death on the street. While this ideology is bleak, I urge you, to paraphrase Timothy Synder’s manual on resisting tyranny-do not look away. Do not look away at the signs of hate in the world that you cannot bear to watch, instead face them, do not allow them to be normal and resist, resist, resist.

The beauty in tragedy like this is the potential for the community to come together and make change. We can do something by getting involved, and we invite you to do the same. Our chapter recently proposed a petition that granted temporary rental assistance to those struggling at Hebron, and we are not finished. Our Mutual Aid campaign is working tirelessly to organize meals, distribute water and hygiene supplies, raise funds to support the tenants, and offer a listening ear to those in need. We will continue to write and share about this issue. Please show the tenants of Hebron that we have not forgotten about them. Below is a list of ways to get involved, make a difference, and send the message: We win together, we cry together but at least we know we’re together. 

Please get involved today by visiting: https://lvdsa.org/working-group/mutual-aid/ 

April 5th, 2026 Update: LVDSA received word from our Mutual Aid Campaign that we were able to coordinate rental assistance and replacement housing for almost every resident left in Hebron Apartments in addition to groceries and hygiene kits. While the community itself  may be closing, we are incredibly proud of the response by our community, our organizers and every person who was able to respond to this crisis. Let this be an inspiration that a better world is possible when we respond to the call to action!

River T.F is a local mental health social worker and activist within the community

Sources

Biswas, Akash. 2025. “SNAP Eligibility Criteria 2026: Income Limits & How to Qualify.” Snap Calculator. November 15, 2025. https://snapbenefitcalculator.com/snap-eligibility/.

Carrillo, Jhovani. 2026. “Tenants in Limbo after Nonprofit Operating Las Vegas Low-Income Apartment Complex Is Evicted.” Channel 13 Las Vegas News KTNV. February 26, 2026. https://www.ktnv.com/news/tenants-in-limbo-after-nonprofit-operating-las-vegas-low-income-apartment-complex-is-evicted.

City of Las Vegas. 2026. “Homeless Services.” Www.lasvegasnevada.gov. March 28, 2026. https://www.lasvegasnevada.gov/Residents/Resident-Services/Homeless-Services.

HSNV. 2026. “‘See If You Qualify.’” Help of Southern Nevada. March 24, 2026. https://www.helpsonv.org/.

King, James. 2026. “Hebron Residents Fear Eviction, Uncertainty as Fallout from Management Change Continues.” KSNV. March 3, 2026. https://news3lv.com/news/local/hebron-residents-fear-eviction-uncertainty-as-fallout-from-management-change-continues.

Ohio State. 2026. “Caseworkers: Overworked and on the Decline | EPIC.” U.osu.edu. March 24, 2026. https://u.osu.edu/epic/2020/12/07/caseworkers-overworked-and-on-the-decline/.

Shelley, Berkely. 2026. “Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2026 Budget.” Lasvegasnevada.gov. LVNV. https://files.lasvegasnevada.gov/finance/2026_Fiscal_Year/CLV-FY2026_Final_Budget.pdf.

Snyder, Timothy. 2021. ON TYRANNY GRAPHIC EDITION : Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. S.L.: Ten Speed.

Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority. 2026. “Open Section 8 Waiting Lists in Las Vegas, Nevada.” Affordablehousingonline.com. 2026. https://affordablehousingonline.com/open-section-8-waiting-lists/Nevada/Las-Vegas.

T.F, River. 2026. “Discussions with Residents.” In person interviews, March 20, 2026.

Torres-Cortez, Ricardo. 2026. “Officials Rush to Rescue Las Vegas Tenants from Sudden Rent Hikes, Evictions.” Las Vegas Review-Journal. March 21, 2026. https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/las-vegas-and-clark-county-officials-rush-to-rescue-hebron-tenants-from-sudden-rent-hikes-evictions-3727689/.

Urban Institute. 2017. “Public Welfare Expenditures.” Urban Institute. October 20, 2017. https://www.urban.org/policy-centers/cross-center-initiatives/state-and-local-finance-initiative/state-and-local-backgrounders/public-welfare-expenditures.

Labor activists are front and center in today’s fight against ICE and for the dignity and rights of immigrants and workers of color. 

The post Hate injustice? Join the labor movement.  appeared first on EWOC.

Atlanta DSA Interest Meeting Held in Lawrenceville

In July of 2024, the metro-Atlanta county of Gwinnett officially became the second county in the state of Georgia to cross the mark of one million residents, behind only Fulton County, home to Atlanta itself. This growing population indicates that Gwinnett needs an Atlanta DSA branch of its own to promote socialism and to act as a vehicle for the voice of Gwinnett’s working class in metro Atlanta’s political sphere. Thus, on the afternoon of Sunday, March 7^th, 2026, Atlanta DSA organizers, with the help of Georgia Gwinnett College’s YDSA (GGC-YDSA), held a Gwinnett branch interest meeting, which was attended by well over 60 people at GGC. A petition to formalize a Gwinnett branch has been underway since.

The meeting began with attendees sharing what drew their interest in the DSA and a few common sentiments rang throughout the 60+ gathered. Some of those sentiments included healthcare costs, taking political action for Palestinian liberation, wanting to act against growing right-wing power, and making life affordable in Gwinnett. Another common sentiment was that of a previous desire to be involved with Atlanta DSA, but distance to the city made that desire difficult to actualize.

Following introductions, the meeting changed gears to explaining the DSA structure to attendees. Much of the emphasis was put on the DSA’s nonprofit, volunteer-run system and how it functions bottom-up rather than top-down, as is the status quo for political organizations in this country. The meeting leaders also highlighted the DSA’s electoral strategies, with focusing on grassroots level matters, as exemplified by the recent successes of Kelsea Bond and Gabriel Sanchez in the state of Georgia. Following that, information about Atlanta DSA’s different committees (labor, political education, electoral, etc.) and identity-based sections (Afrosocialists and socialists of color, feminist socialists) was shared with the attendees.

As the meeting came to its conclusion, the group discussed how DSA works with other working-class organizations in the Atlanta area to advocate for the improvement of working class life, emphasizing DSA’s collaborative structure, especially during this period of right-wing fascism attacking the working class and the country’s minorities. Finally, at the meeting’s end, the petition to start a Gwinnett branch of the Atlanta DSA was introduced.

I spoke to two members of GGC’s YDSA leadership, co-chair Josue EC and membership chair Hannah B, who both worked to host the Gwinnett interest meeting. Josue worked to arrange the meeting location, design the flier, and to promote the meeting on the GGC campus and through social media. When asked about what he hopes to see happen through a Gwinnett branch of Atlanta DSA, he expressed that he feels that the current system of elitist American politics pushes members of the working class away from engaging politically. Thus, through a Gwinnett branch of ATLDSA, he hopes to energize leftists across the county to become politically engaged and bring about positive change in the lives of Gwinnett’s working class. Hannah B, who also helped in organizing the interest meeting, spoke about how she hopes a Gwinnett branch will work to bring socialism locally to Gwinnett, not just limited to the city of Atlanta. One specific goal she she shared is for a Gwinnett branch to push for low cost/free public transportation in Gwinnett, which would include the expansion of MARTA. 

The meeting had a very positive and optimistic outlook to it, as the people of Gwinnett are hungry for real, meaningful change and are excited to engage with DSA to bring about such change. The people of Gwinnett are hopeful that in the face of right-wing fascism and elitist politics, a future Gwinnett branch of ATLDSA will advocate for immigrant rights, affordable housing, free healthcare, and local support for Gwinnett’s working class.

May the future of the DSA in Atlanta be prosperous and may the people of Gwinnett carry their hope towards a future of well-being, safety, and health.

The post Gwinnett Begins Organizing! appeared first on Red Clay Comrade.

Wednesday, April 8 at 6 pm PST (Online)

Monthly Working Session Meeting

The Political Education Working Group is the place to bring your ideas for workshops, educational material, agitprop, and more. Our goal is to bring socialist ideas, DSA messaging and campaigns, and class consciousness to the people of Ventura County. All levels of organizing experience welcome.

Many hands make light work.

Please reference our Slack’s events channel, or general, for the Agenda.

Zoom Meeting link will appear upon RSVP.

Join DSA Ventura County’s Labor Working Group on zoom to discuss recent labor struggles in our communities, from Starbucks Workers United’s indefinite strike, to the new contract our County employees won by threatening to strike, to the movement for an arms embargo by Labor for Palestine, and the calls for a general strike by May Day 2028. Please, bring other ideas, campaigns, and your own workplace experiences. An agenda will be posted on slack soon. You will receive the zoom link shortly after completing RSVP.

Building the resilience to productively work through conflict is one of our most important tasks in building DSA into a real party – one that many leftist organizations struggle with. Without a healthy democratic culture and structure, political disagreements metastasize and become intertwined with personal grievances, a toxic cocktail that can boil over and implode chapters (including our own in 2022-23).

Selecting leadership can require navigating divides within a chapter that may not always be entirely reconcilable. Leaders have to be able to build some level of ideological or strategic unity to collectively execute a shared direction for the chapter, or risk gridlock and inertia that blunts our organizing momentum. On the other hand, operating too hegemonically risks alienating or marginalizing others within the chapter to a degree where they feel their only recourse is to leave, which, for an organization like DSA which prides itself on its big tent politics, would be robbing us of one of our greatest strengths.

There’s no formulaic approach for striking the right balance here. It requires rigorous and frequent analysis of the current conditions surrounding the organization (i.e. a muscle that needs to be regularly exercised), being structurally flexible enough to meet those changing conditions, and strong leaders capable of facilitating those tasks and meeting the moment.

In 2023, we stepped up as leaders in a disorganized, demobilized chapter lacking cohesion and stretched across siloed working groups. Our analysis then was that the primary task was to re-establish a healthy chapter culture and organizing practice. We emphasized general meetings as a social and political hub for the chapter and built consensus with leaders across the chapter for a collective campaign, with the mindset that the politics of the campaign was secondary to building a shared democratic muscle where the chapter collectively executed and debriefed this campaign together. 

We believe this approach was generally vindicated by the growth and maturation of the chapter over 2024-25. That trajectory has not changed since, and we’re now taking on projects larger than ever before. Some of the challenges we’re working through or likely to hit in the coming years are new, others are familiar territory for veteran DSA organizers – maintaining political cohesion with so many chapter projects without stifling new organizing, the presence of more politically developed and organized factions within the chapter, etc. 

Sustaining our social practice and chapter culture is still a priority (and mostly outside the scope of resolutionizing), but we now believe structural changes to our leadership election process are also needed to better facilitate this over the next few years, as Madison Area DSA becomes a chapter over 1000 members strong and we reckon with how to most effectively wield that growing power at the city and state level. From observing how larger chapters have already been wrestling with these questions, we want to tackle these changes proactively rather than reactively.

In that context, we’re bringing this proposal to the 2026 Chapter Convention to change how we elect executive committee officers from row elections for single seats to at-large elections. Here’s a brief summary of the actual changes in our proposal, followed by additional context and rationale for why we’re motivating this.

• The executive committee this year will prioritize building out committees to delegate more of their current administrative work (e.g. budgeting, general meeting coordination) where appropriate..
• Starting in 2027, the five non co-chair officer positions on the Executive Committee are elected at-large from a single pool of candidates, rather than by individual election for each position. The newly elected executive committee will vote on their officer roles after the chapter election. 
• Exec elections will be required to use Single Transferable Vote, a ranked-choice voting system that preserves proportional representation.
• The Administrator position shall be renamed to Secretary, in line with other chapters.
• Provisions where branches automatically receive an additional voting representative on Exec shall be removed.

What does the executive committee do?

In order to understand how these changes will affect the composition of Exec, we need to discuss what the executive committee actually does.

The bylaws (specifically Articles V and VI) give a brief overview of what Exec’s basic scope entails, as well as the duties of each officer. While that description is not inaccurate, it doesn’t capture the full scope of leadership responsibilities, and the influence they have on the political direction of the chapter as a whole.

Individual exec members have additional administrative and political leadership duties beyond the scope of the bylaws, including tasks like liaising with working groups, committees, and other chapters; adjudicating grievances and conflict; and developing new leaders to replace them. Political leadership here is not limited to ideological positions, but encompasses other dimensions of organizing leadership such as how they show up in the chapter’s internal political life, organize others to accomplish projects, and model skills like delegation.

While the chapter may vote to take specific actions or direct broad strategy, it is often Exec that is tasked with implementing that broad mandate (or steering other chapter bodies in doing so).

Exec has wide latitude in how to prioritize these decisions, strategizing and implementing (which can have significant political consequences in terms of what sort of infrastructure or power that builds for the chapter long-term), how much outreach is performed to membership or coalition partners, which chapter bodies are brought into planning, etc.

Exec also plays a key advisory role for the chapter, and has been a primary force for bringing proposals to the general membership. Unlike other chapter bodies though, Exec has authority to define the terms of discussion to general membership that can potentially tip the scales, deciding such things as what items (such as proposals, resolutions, or bylaw amendments) are agendized, how much time they are given, what the format of discussion looks like (alongside the decisions of the meeting chair), and some hand in the degree of announcement given to the general membership prior to the meeting. Exec also is empowered to make some political decisions on behalf of the chapter between general membership meetings. 

All of the above can in theory be overwritten by a vote of the general membership, but this is a right that often goes uninvoked. In the past few years, we can recall very few motions brought forward by Exec (as a whole body, not individual members) that have failed to get approval by the general membership. While there are other factors such as pre-selection of motions for ones that are most likely to pass when brought to the chapter, having a good understanding of the collective political vision of the chapter, and being personally developed enough to write and present a winning proposal, the powers of the chapter’s highest offices does confer potential to put an often unintended thumb on the scale. 

If the executive committee is tasked with the responsibility of steering the chapter and executing its will, then that committee should be broadly representative of the chapter’s collective will and political currents, which often form loose collections or tendencies. “Factions” is the most useful term for speaking to these distinct collections of members.

What is factionalism, and why are we engaging with it?

Factionalism is a bit of a dirty word, especially in the context of liberal democratic forms. However, factions are any collectivity of our membership that are bound by common goals, generally directed towards internal (within DSA) organizing ends. If you have ever spoken to other members in favor of or against a contentious motion prior to a meeting with the intent of building support or identifying opponents, then you have engaged in a sort of factionalism. 

Most internal organizing that meets some level of opposition can be described in factional terms, though such factions are usually short-term. There is a natural tendency to gravitate towards others within the chapter who share similar vision, which can take many forms: a group chat, an affinity for specific chapter projects, or perhaps something more formal like coalescing around an ideological caucus.

This is a normal, generally healthy expression of political conflict, and addressing those conflicts productively is in part how we resolve the contradictions inherent to a big-tent organization like DSA. A lack of such conflict might indicate a failure to engage in impactful political action, preserving the big-tent at the expense of building/wielding power, or that the membership has consolidated around a singular, all-encompassing political vision, collapsing the big-tent; something that our organization in its current form would be unlikely to structurally survive.

Regardless of whether such a conflict is acknowledged or not, factionalism is a reality that is already present within the chapter, has been for some time, and will continue to evolve as we grow. Rather than bury our heads in the sand, it is important that we address the potential pitfalls of factional conflicts before they can grow to proportions with dire organizational consequences (splits being the primary concern).

As our chapter grows, questions and disagreements on political strategy will have greater stakes, which increases the pressure and incentives for members to make tradeoffs that might secure short-term political victories at the expense of our long-term organizational health.

Returning to the substance of our proposed bylaw amendment, one way we can place guardrails is by making Exec more likely to proportionally represent the range of political currents within the chapter. Our current election system, while effective in previous stages of chapter development, is less well-equipped for our potential future trajectory. We believe that changing to an at-large voting system places some guardrails against factional excesses, and also allows membership to better consider candidates on the basis of their leadership rather than just for the specific position they’re contesting. In the event our chapter doesn’t develop beyond our current level, we think it unlikely to have a major impact on our elections as currently run.

One weakness of row elections is a reduced ability for membership to weigh in on the collective makeup of the body, instead having each race be a separate first-past-the-post election. This can result in a leadership body not representative of the chapter, and organized political pluralities or slim majorities able to win disproportionate voting power on our highest leadership body. An example of this is in New York City, where the two largest political factions won about ⅔ of members’ votes in last year’s convention delegate elections (using STV), but represent almost 100% of seats on the chapter’s steering committee, since candidates from those factions can win a simple majority in almost every row election. This is not inherently a bad thing on its own and not an indictment of the chapter’s other successes, but we believe it presents real contradictions and limitations for NYC’s internal democracy. 

Structural changes on their own are of course insufficient for resolving political and organizing problems. Our chapter has had the same row election system for years and vastly different political cultures over that time; some chapters with steering committees elected at-large have a healthy internal democracy, but others do not. 

As such, our other priority with this bylaw amendment is to shift the focus of elections towards that of electing the strongest leaders overall. This is increasingly important as the scope of officer roles exceeds the ability for all tasks to be completed by any single person, before considering other leadership responsibilities on Exec’s plate.

Over the last three years we’ve made major strides in our membership work, going from most tasks being handled directly by membership coordinator (or other exec members), to a standing committee led and overseen by the membership coordinator. This has also helped create a leadership development pipeline where people running for membership coordinator have been able to build more direct experience before running. To a lesser extent we’ve seen similar success with our Communications Committee. Regardless of the vote on the larger proposal, we believe it should be a priority for Exec to set up similar structures to delegate other areas of work, e.g. budget and finance, general meeting coordination, and other common administrative processes.

To make this a reality, we want to set the expectation that organizing leadership is the primary requirement for these roles, something we’ve already emphasized to candidates for Exec this year. We want the chapter to elect the members best suited to lead those roles, recruit other members and delegate work as necessary, and believe at-large elections allow us to more effectively consider that long-term.

Baseline technical skills are still needed for certain roles, but in the past few years many officers have come in without extensive prior experience and develop these skills after taking office. Our long-term growth requires elected officers understanding their role as overseeing particular areas of work rather than being solely responsible, and have resources and guidance built in to ensure that future terms of the executive committee are able to take on those roles from all levels of baseline experience. 

This, alongside the expansion of committees aiding individual offices in performing many of their expected tasks, including more technical roles like treasurer, leaves us confident that we can continue what has already been standard practice of electing officers whose primary qualifications are in more generalized organizing skills. This is in line with the trend away from the main historic selection criteria for Exec, which has been based entirely on whoever has been willing to run, resulting in a 4-year stretch of conventions (2021-2024) with uncontested elections. 

We’ve heard concerns that running in an election whose technical responsibilities are not definitively listed at the time of the election might discourage members from running, and that the post-election sorting of roles is too much of an open question. In our experience, this sorting process is already happening, but prior to elections – members considering running for Exec typically talk with others informally beforehand and we see at least 1-2 cases a year of people adjusting what positions they run for based on what others are running for.

The natural expectation written into this bylaw amendment is that most people will likely join exec with a “preferred” role they might want to pursue, with mechanisms to resolve irreconcilable conflicts between exec members over the same desired role, opportunities for exec members to rotate roles as needed (though we don’t expect this to need to be invoked often), and the option for exec members to resign and trigger a new election if they find an assigned technical role to be personally intolerable. If the capacity to fill these roles exists in the current moment, it will continue to exist under the new structure. In all, it formalizes, democratizes, and makes transparent processes that are already happening.

Conclusion

It is important that, when a DSA chapter is altering its bylaws, that such changes are not intended to be overly prescriptive. The goal should not be to fundamentally change the nature of our organizing work through the changes, but to more subtly adjust existing practices to fit the current conditions. Additionally, changes to bylaws should be utilized to give formal recognition to informal practices that have proven useful for the body at large, designating a mandate that such practices continue or simply acknowledging that said practices are unlikely to cease given current organizing needs. This philosophy is reflected in another proposal we authored to rewrite our bylaws with guardrails against that process being used as a vehicle for major political changes, and it informs our thinking behind this proposal as well.

We believe this change helps codify leadership expectations we’ve contributed to shifting the last few years. And though we don’t expect it to have a significant immediate impact, we believe it sets up long-term scaffolding whose positive effects will be increasingly felt as we continue to grow and tackle new challenges in the coming years.

Purpose

This procedure is intended to assist Milwaukee DSA in effectively responding to and promoting actions and events when there is not time to meet beforehand. 

Procedure Steps

1. Within two days of notification of a new event:

• Someone (in membership) alerts the rapid response body (Outreach Officer), who will determine whether we will promote DSA attendance or decline to promote.
• If Outreach decides to promote, proceed. If Outreach declines to promote, announce in discord that we are declining to promote this event for DSA attendance. Announce that this does not mean DSA members shouldn’t attend, it only means that we are not showing up organized as DSA.

2. If vote is to promote:

• Create a thread in discord (under #emergency-actions) to coordinate people, title this thread as descriptively as possible to this one event (Event title + date).
• Announce in #general-announcements that we are promoting DSA members attendance and link the event coordination thread in this announcement.
• Assign an event coordinator who will be responsible for performing setup and communications for the event.

3. Before the event:

• Event coordinator will pick up supplies from Zao MKE:
  • DSA banner or flag
  • Sign-in sheet (if possible)
  • Sign-up QRs, petitions, etc. in rapid response bin (will need to be put together)
  • Five clipboards for canvassers
• Event coordinator will transport the supplies to the event and arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the event start time.
• Event coordinator will announce a meetup point in the event discord thread.

4. During the event:

• Event coordinator will stay at the meetup point for at least 15 minutes after the event start time.
• Event coordinator will assign and distribute literature/petitions to members who are willing to canvass.
• Event coordinator will be responsible for carrying DSA banner/flag.
• Event coordinator will maintain a unified body of DSA members that moves together, the exception to this rule will be the assigned canvassers.
• Event coordinator will monitor the discord thread for the event for the duration of the event.

5. At event close:

• Event coordinator will collect all materials from canvassers.
• Event coordinator will take a photo of the DSA group.
• Event coordinator will return materials to Zao MKE.
• Event coordinator will separate filled-out petitions and label them with the event title and date on a scrap piece of paper folded around the petitions.
• Event coordinator will return sign-in sheet to chapter secretary.