View source for March 10th, 2019 Boston Regional Meeting

== Main Ideas for Discussion ==

* What differentiates us from other parties/groups?
** What are we focusing on?
** Where are we going?
** How to we reach out to more people?
* Platform
* How to run

== What differentiates us from other parties/groups? ==

* Focused on personal privacy
** Tends to be defensive, though
** Counter are cryptoparties and other means to show people how to protect themselves
* People first
* Focused on democratic decision making
* Non-electoral efforts
** Cryptoparties
** Mesh Networking
** Break light clinics
** Ask for other ideas at meetings/on-line

== Platform changes ==

* Housing first 
** everyone has a place to live, providing stability and improving state of mind
** not solely focusing on people who are homeless, but recognizing the increasing cost of housing
* Education reform (but not the neoliberal kind)
** Fix the infrastructure of our schools
** Use technology (only where needed?)
** Centering on student empowerment and help for students to succeed at what they are good at and support them where they have challenges
* Criminal justice
** reducing policing and incarceration
** Increasing harm reduction policies. 
** Less punishment, more restorative justice
* What would we implement in our first 100 days of achieving power?
** Citizen surveys of police and school systems and municipal government (13 and older)
** End solitary confinement
** Fair pay for fair work (even prisoners)
** Open government additions
*** Removing exemptions of the open meeting law for all three branches of government
*** Actual enforcement of open meeting law and FOIA
*** All data paid for by the public should be on-line and machine readable/searchable (with personal privacy exceptions) That includes all branches of government
*** No scanned documents without OCR
*** All bills have to be voted on in committee
*** All votes have to list who the individual votes
*** Reduce the power of house speaker/senate president
*** Remove legislative loopholes (no votes in out of session periods). Spell out limits on emergency sessions.
*** Require bills only include content relevant to the original purpose of the bill
** Full decriminalization of private consensual activities and implement effective harm reduction strategies.
** Change the law to use IRV/RCV
** Fully fund the MBTA and all public transit systems
** Pass net neutrality bill
** Have a mock budget with taxes and spending
*** Include money for energy conservation fund
*** Solar credit?
** Close the fusion centers
** Stop any support for ICE and other related agencies. Prohibit county sheriffs from helping ICE
** Try to increase competition in oligopolies esp. media
** Promote training for creating cooperative operations and tomorrow’s leaders (e for all?)
* What would we implement in our first year of achieving power?
** Restorative justice approach for minors 
** Implementing changes based on survey results
** Within the first year exonerate and wipe records of all private consensual crimes
** Basic right education
** Fund the development of public transit in Mass.
** Development of high speed broadband in Mass.
** License requirement
*** law students have to teach kids their rights
*** psychology students to help homeless
** Education
*** Expand financial decision making/responsibilities education
*** Teaching labor rights and struggles
*** Bring back home economics and food preparation 
** Require state (MEMA) and municipalities do a climate change/storm risk assessment
*** Must include food security, housing, transportation
* What would we implement longer term?
** Decentralize federal/state government to county/regions and municipalities
*** Reconstitute county governments to make them elected and able to solve regional problems
** Removal of laws that no longer apply especially if they are harmful to individual rights
** Expand the ballot initiative and direct democracy. Institute a people’s veto

== Attendance Statistics ==

* 7 people a1tended in all
* 6 activists, 2 supporters
* 6 people participated in the discussion, 1 person observed
* 6 men, 1 women
* 0 people of color