Minutes of Democrats Abroad Guatemala

Annual General Meeting

Saturday, March 24, 2018 at 11 am
Casa Convento Concepción, Antigua, Guatemala

Excom Members in Attendance: John Chudy, Chair; Tom Totino, Treasurer; Lyn
Totino, Secretary; Kee Kalwara, Events Coordinator; Hyungjoon Jin, Guatemala
MeetUp Group Chair.

Call to Order - A quorum of 25 members was met with 24 members in attendance and
10 proxies submitted. The meeting was called to order at 11:07am. It was agreed that
this year’s AGM would be dedicated to the March For Our Lives.

Democrats Abroad Guatemala Executive Committee 2017-2019

Elected Officers:
Chair, John Chudy
Vice Chair, Mary Lou Ridinger
Secretary, Lyn Totino
Treasurer, Tom Totino
Counsel: Letty Manne
Member-at-Large: Annie Vanderboom
Member-at-Large: Dave Evans
Appointed Officers:
Media Contact & Communications Standing Committee Chair: Mary Reynolds
Issues/Programs/Special Events/Social Standing Committee Chair: Kee Kalwara
Membership/Voter Registration Standing Committee Chair: Kee Kalwara
Fund Raising Standing Committee Chair: Kee Kalwara
Guatemala City MeetUp Group Chair: Hyungjoon Jin
Lake Atitlán MeetUp Group Chair: Traci Styner
Occidente MeetUp Group Chair: Sara Castellano
Occidente MeetUp Group Deputy Chair, Rachael Shenyo

Secretary’s Report: A summary of the minutes of the Annual General Meeting of

2017 was read and approved unanimously.

Treasurer’s Report:
As required by our bylaws, Tom Totino, the Treasurer, summarized the past year’s
accounts for the general membership. Tom spoke about three things; income and
expenses, cash flow and the comparison of year to the previous two years. He said that
we account for funds by category/event so we can see what’s working and what’s not
thus making it easier to decide what to do in the future.

Our net income this years was Q3,164. This was the first year we had a direct email
fund drive among the membership which generated Q3,059 which is about the same as
our net income. This is significant because if we had not had the fund drive we would

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have just about broken even. He also noted that we made money by selling
embroidered Lo Siento por el Imbécil caps and Women’s Caucus calendars. We were
able to make a good profit on these two items because the calendars were donated by
the Chair and the hats were locally made by a sympathetic observer and sold to us at
cost. Tom also pointed out that the ExCom decided to procure a projector for Q3,800 at
the beginning of the year to show movies. We had been renting equipment for about
Q600 per use. This now allows us to show movies and other programs as a way of
generating income and engaging the membership on issues. Finally, he mentioned the
policy retreat that we held for the first time this January. While we broke even
financially we were able to have an enthusiastic discussion about how we should
proceed engaging members to get out the vote this year.

Our Net Worth currently stands at Q6,451. This is the largest balance we have had since
June 2015. The Treasurer also noted that this was the best year financially of the last
three and that we would be able to use these funds to maximize our efforts to Get Out
The Vote. After the report was presented there was a question from the Chair about why
our fiscal year runs from March 1 to the end of February. Tom said it was due to two
things; one, is that it tied into the US election cycle, i.e. Presidential elections are in
November and inaugural balls which have been money earners for us are in January,
and secondly, March is when a new ExCom takes over and their priorities should be
reflected in our finances. There were no other questions or comments. The report was
approved unanimously.

Events Coordinator’s Report:

Kee Kalwara presented her report on DAGT activities in 2017. There were no activities
in January or February.
March: 15th: the movie Sicko (Dave’s and Kee’s home)
18th: the Annual General Meeting at Casa Convento Concepción
April: 21st: the movie Trumbo (Casa Convento Concepción)
May: 5th: the movie The First Grader (Casa Convento Concepción)
June: 23rd: the move Good Night and Good Luck (Casa Convento Concepción)
July: 4th: Sundowner with drinks, snacks and fireworks and NO rain
August: no events held (Casa Convento Concepción)
September: 22nd: the movie Before the Flood (Casa Convento Concepción)
October: 13th: the movie Argo (Casa Convento Concepción)
November: 17th: the movie Megan Leavey (Casa Convento Concepción)
December: no events
Events planned to date for 2018.
January: 20th: Policy retreat held in Antigua attended by about 20 people
27th: Voter registration in Antigua
February: 17th: Voter registration in Antigua
18th: Voter registration in Santiago Atitlan
24th: Voter registration in Panajachel and Xela
March: 4th: Voter registration in Xela
10th: Voter registration in Antigua and Guatemala City
15th: the movie LBJ (Dave’s and Kee’s home)
April: 14th Voter registration in Antigua
23rd: the movie A Bold Peace (Casa Convento Concepción)

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Voter registration events will continue up until the 2018 midterm elections. A July 4th
Sundowner is planned as well as a ‘tequila tasting’ event at Antigua Bistro. Kee is open
and appreciative of all suggestions for future events. Kee reminded members who have
not completed their FPCA for this year to attend the next scheduled registration event at
Enlaces in Antigua, on April 14th, 11am to 2pm.
Kee encouraged members to like our DAGT Facebook page and join the group. Only
DAGT members can join the group and only John Chudy and Kee are authorized to
approve new members of the group.
If you feel you receive too many emails Kee reminds you that you need to unsubscribe
from the unwanted emails. She reminds you not to unsubscribe from DA Guatemala
(John’s emails) or from DA Guatemala Events (Kee’s emails) if you want to continue to
be informed as a DAGT member.

Chairperson’s Report:
January 2017 began with Democrats in a deeply depressed state. After the inauguration
of the new president, protests began with the Women’s March in Washington, DC and
sister marches around the world. Our Counsel, Letty Manne, marched in DC and many
DAGT members attended a local sister march in Antigua. Also in January the EXCOM
voted to buy a projector and begin regular movie nights in Panza Verde’s gallery.

In February the EXCOM approved Sara Castellano as Occidente MeetUp Group Chair.

In March we had our first movie night on the 15th at the home of Dave Evans and Kee
Kalwara (the Panza Verde was unreceptive to showing Sicko). On the 18th we held our
AGM and elected new officers. Rachael Shenyo was approved as Occidente Deputy
Chair.
In April the DAGT approved Mary Reynolds as Media Contact.
In May the Annual DPCA Global Meeting was held in DC from the 12th to the 14th
with a Capitol Hill door-knock from the 15th to the 16th. The DAGT EXCOM
approved Elizabeth Shackelford as Volunteer Coordinator.
In September the DAGT EXCOM decided to run a direct email fundraiser from January
to February 2018.
In October the EXCOM decided to offer prizes for donations of $25 or more to the
direct email fund drive: a ‘Lo Siento Por El Imbécil’ caps or a Women’s Caucus
Calendar.
In November the EXCOM decided to go ahead with January’s Policy Retreat. In
December it was decided to hold the retreat on January 20 at Casa de Retiros Posada de
Belen in Antigua.

In January, in addition to the Policy Retreat and the direct email fundraising event, the
EXCOM fixed voter registration events for January, February and March. These events
will continue in Antigua, Huehuetenango, Guatemala City, Xela and Lake Atitlan. Four
DAGT members attended the America’s Regional Meeting in San Jose, Costa Rica from
January 26 to 27. Anne Thornton attended the event. Anne commented on the beautiful
setting and the great discussions. She felt the event was very upbeat and inspiring
especially the various caucuses that report, e.g., Hispanic Caucus. In February DAGT
began phone banking efforts to reach out to its members to encourage them to submit a
new FPCA and commit to vote this year.

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Our Media Contact, Mary Reynolds will be leaving us this year in June, and returning to
the States following completion of her teaching contract at Colegio Maya. This is an
important position especially in election years. We are looking for someone to fill this
position. If you wish to nominate yourself or someone else, please let the Excom know.

Democrats have several goals and challenges for 2018. We need to attract new members
and keep our present members informed and engaged through events and social
activities. At this point we have 472 members and we hope to increase that to 480. It is
vital to encourage all members to vote. We will work for 80% participation rate for
DAGT. John reminded members to use the website www.votefromabroad.com. This
will help determine our (Democrats Abroad) rate of participation to the DNC.
John encouraged members to support the global organization--DPCA. Members can
become sustaining donors through www.democratsabroad.org/contribute or make a one-
time donation.

Two members were recognized for their very generous donations to Democrats Abroad
Guatemala: Dave Evans gave $100 and Anne Thornton gave $200. Anne’s donation of a
laptop with portable printer several years ago was also recognized.

The 2018 DPCA Global Meeting will take place in Tokyo, Japan from May 25 to May
27. Members can participate through Webex. Watch your email inbox for notices and
agenda relating to the Tokyo meeting.

One of our members complimented Kee and Dave for sharing their home for our recent
movie/potluck night. We want more nights like that.

Hyung Jin, the Guatemala MeetUp Group Chair, reported on events in Guatemala City.
He will go to the international schools in the city to reach the teachers there. He also
asked the body in attendance for suggestions of companies or firms in Guatemala where
Americans work. Hyung is willing to go to them to help them to register and request
their ballots.

At the end of our meeting and just prior to adjournment, members present had a lively
and passionate discussion about voting in the United States in the 2018 midterms and in
the 2020 presidential race. Someone pointed out that we don’t yet have a good
candidate for the 2020 presidential election, and those leading the possible candidates
list are fairly old. People expressed concern about the way primaries have selected
nominees. Considering how few registered Democrats actually vote in primaries - only
eight percent of registered Democrats participated in the 2016 primary elections and
caucuses in the USA - how should nominees be determined? Some present expressed
resentment over the power of Superdelegates who appear to credit loyalty - if not
Democratic Party values - over voter preferences, even if only small minority of voters
turn out. Many blacks, young people, and Latinos seem to be disappointed with the
current system. Several members expressed feelings that black women are the future of
the Democratic Party, seeing their pivotal role in the Alabama special Senate election in
2017. We did not solve the problem of party concerns but we realize we need more
discussion. John pointed out that Democrats in recent cycles have focused exclusively
on the presidential election, tending to ignore local elections and state elections, a by-
product of identity politics. This has to change if Democrats are to play a significant
role in our democracy. Without winning local elections, Democrats don’t have a bench

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to draw on for future campaigns and by not holding state governorships and legislatures
Democrats cannot influence gerrymandering. It was suggested that all DAGT members
participate in local elections to the extent possible. Find out who the candidates are,
donate to their campaigns, encourage their stateside friends and relatives to vote for the
candidate, and vote if they can from overseas.

Adjourned: 12:48pm

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