Twin Cities DSA

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2021 Position Descriptions

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Twin Cities DSA

The following positions will be up for election in September at the 2021 TCDSA Convention:

For more info about the powers and duties of the Steering Committee in general, check out Items II and III of the bylaws!

Submit your nomination here. The deadline for nominations is Saturday, August 28th, at midnight.

Co-chair

Bylaw description: Section 2. Co-chairs

a. The Co-chairs shall be the chief executives of the TCDSA and shall serve as spokespersons when one is required. Co-chair responsibilities include:

  • Drafting agendas for Steering Committee and chapter meetings, with input from Steering Committee members

  • Facilitating Steering Committee and chapter meetings

  • Approving contents of the chapter newsletter before each edition is sent, or delegating to other Steering Committee members

From the current co-chair:

Twin Cities’ co-chairs are part of the elected leadership of the chapter and help guide the chapter, as an organization and a culture. As Twin Cities DSA is a democratic organization, the co-chairs are not “in charge,” per se.

That said, Twin Cities DSA’s co-chairs have a few duties that are set by our bylaws — and some informal duties that have become a part of their work. The formal duties are:

  • Drafting agendas for our general meetings and chairing those meetings.
  • Representing the Chapter to the media, in coalition spaces, or other formations.
  • Scheduling and running meetings of TCDSA’s steering committee, which oversees functioning of the chapter and implements decisions made at the general meetings.
  • Maintaining member data and data access in coordination with the operations committee and our member data coordinator.

Almost all of these duties can be delegated, generally in coordination with the steering committee.

Informal duties include:

  • Helping with operations, including setting up meetings, social media, the chapter newsletter, and formal statements from the chapter. 
  • Recruitment of leadership and guidance to members with questions on how the chapter operates.
  • Working with the grievance committee to resolve ongoing grievances within the chapter.

Other things you should know:

Recording Secretary

Bylaw description: Section 3. Recording Secretary

a. The Recording Secretary shall prepare and publish the agendas and minutes of all Regular Membership Meetings, the Annual Member Convention and Steering Committee Meetings.

b. The Recording Secretary shall keep an archive of all previous meeting agendas and minutes for at least three (3) years. Minutes of all membership and Steering Committee meetings will be shared electronically with the Steering Committee as soon as possible after the meeting. Members shall have access to the archive of minutes upon request.

c. The Recording Secretary will oversee any paper balloting or division at any meeting.

From the current recording secretary:

  • In practice, I am not solely responsible for preparing meeting agendas. Though I often compile them, agendas usually need input from several Steering Committee members. 
  • I publish agendas and minutes to the wiki at wiki.twincitiesdsa.org and post links to minutes on the chapter Slack; minutes are thereby available to all members any time, not only on request. 
  • The Tech Coordinator oversees any balloting for which we use OpaVote.
  • In cases where we need to send a chapter-wide email, I usually send it, although the chairs are free to delegate this task to another member.
  • I send out email notices for general meetings, which include an agenda synopsis and must be sent between 17 and 10 days ahead of the meeting date according to our bylaws.
  • When news or announcements need to be posted to the chapter website outside regular chapter newsletters, I often do this; the chairs are free to delegate this task too.
  • Time commitment: Variable, generally between 1 and 6 hours every week to attend meetings, compile and upload minutes, send out chapter communications, and stay in contact with the rest of Steering Committee.

Technology Coordinator

Bylaw description: Section 5. Technology Coordinator

a. The Technology Coordinator shall maintain the chapter’s technology, including the chapter website, databases, and chapter email addresses. The Technology Coordinator shall implement the chapter’s social media and technology policies. The Technology Coordinator shall assist with research into new software, systems, or hardware before adoption by the chapter.

b. The Technology Coordinator will be the chair of the Technology Committee, and will schedule meetings of that committee as required.

Treasurer

Bylaw description: Section 6. Treasurer

a. The Treasurer shall maintain records of the income, expenses, and budget of the TCDSA. The Treasurer will receive any money donated to the TCDSA (but not member dues owed to the National, which will be received by the Operations Coordinator if paid at a meeting) and will account for all received money.

b. TCDSA will shall maintain a checking account at a credit union and the signatories will be the Treasurer and at least one Co-chair. If TCDSA engages in any business causing taxes, rents, or fees to be due, the treasurer shall pay these from the assets of the TCDSA. If TCDSA engages in any electoral activity, the Treasurer will submit campaign reporting as needed.

c. The Treasurer will be the chair of the Budget Committee, and will schedule meetings of that committee as required.

Political Education Coordinator

Bylaw description: Section 7. Political Education Coordinator

a. The Political Education Coordinator shall be a co-chair of the Political Education committee, which shall plan and follow-through on all chosen programs of political education for TCDSA.

From the current Political Education Coordinators

Position Term Length: 2 years, all three positions up for election in September 2021.

Current Political Education Coordinators: Deb R., Kevin M., Michelle W.

Amount of hours in a week: 2-5 for political education work, 2-5 hours a week for Steering Committee work

Position Description: The political education coordinators are tasked with providing opportunities for people to become educated within the chapter. The person elected with the most votes as a political education coordinator is given a position on the Steering Committee, and is expected to attend Steering Committee meetings and be actively engaged with the committee. Responsibilities with political education and the system for determining how the political education committee roles are shared is left to the discretion of the political education coordinators.

Position Responsibilities: Being responsible for the chapter political education projects. They are currently (but not limited to):

  • Socialism 101
  • Capital Reading Group
  • DSA Library

A sample of past events include

  • Twin Cities DSA 101 (an explanation on how the chapter works)
  • Speakers
  • Movie nights
  • Other reading groups and discussion events, skill and story sharing from campaigns

Political Education Coordinators are not limited by this list of activities. They may expand upon this list as they determine is necessary, for example expanding to organizing trainings.

Members At-Large

Bylaw description: Section 9. Members at Large (three)

a. The three Members at Large shall represent the views of all members (at-large) on the Steering Committee. Member-at-Large responsibilities include:

  • Scheduling chapter meetings, with assistance and input from the Operations Committee

  • Working with Operations Committee and the rest of the Steering Committee to plan, give notice of, and set up chapter meetings

  • In the lead time before chapter meetings, facilitating ride-sharing and working to enhance turnout to the meetings

  • Participation on (chairing optionally) the Inreach Committee, or convening an Inreach Working Group if the Inreach Committee does not exist

  • Sharing joint responsibility with the Operations Coordinator of the lists of current members

  • At general membership meetings, as part of the initial business on every agenda, the chairs will introduce the Members at Large and give out their contact information so that members will know whom to contact if they need representation or want to give feedback. Members at Large may optionally make a report at the membership meeting but are not required to do so as other officers.

b. All three Members at Large will serve the same two year term, and will be elected at the annual meeting in the odd years. However, for 2020, three Members at Large will be elected in the first possible general meeting of the year, and will serve a term of less than 24 months, with the next election occurring at the 2021 chapter convention.

c. At least one Member at Large must not be a cisgender male at any given time.

d. All Members at Large will serve as representatives of the interests of the entire membership body, with a special duty to represent any minority or marginalized groups within the membership.

Grievance Committee members

See Grievance Process for full description

  • Grievance Committee members are nominated by the current Grievance Committee
  • Members interested in joining should contact grievances@twincitiesdsa.org or contact a committee member directly
  • Current GC members are Elle B, Meg B, Chrissy H, jd h, Alex M, Kara P, and Needles
  • In fall 2021, there are six seats to fill. Five are 2-year positions and one is 1-year

Submit your nomination here! The deadline for nominations is Saturday, August 28th, at midnight.

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