Attendance: Robin Girardi, Dennis Smith, Shirley Hanson-Smith, Pat Quigley, Margaret Chiara, Shelagh Emmott
Margaret Chiara motioned to approve the minutes of April 9, 2017 and Shirley Hanson-Smith seconded the motion.
Old Business:
The revised Mission Statement was discussed. The committee liked the word “underrepresented” because it leaves space for other groups, in particular 18 year olds and out of state college students. A motion made by Robin Girardi to approve the revised statement. This was seconded by Shirley Hanson-Smith.
New Business:
Robin attended the Indivisible Charleston Meeting on 4/20. Neither the LWV nor the ACLU attended the meeting.
Robin reported that the request for a voting rights table at the Gullah Festival was denied. This was not a political decision – No outside groups are allowed except for fee paying vendors.
The committee discussed whether we should focus on other issues in order to motivate voters to register. We decided to hold off until the SIAN general meeting on May 9 to learn if any of the other committees are addressing these issues.
The committee discussed approaching the High School Administration to help set up a program for 17 and 18 year old students to educate them on how to register to vote. This will depend on what John Reynolds can tell us on what is already being done at St. John’s High School. Margaret Chiara will contact John and find out.
Shelagh said her group, Sea Island Progressives – which is mostly Kiawah and Kiawah River Estates, were considering driving people to get Photo ID’s but would not be able to start until the Fall.
Robin reported that ACLU and LWV were planning a Voter Registration Town Hall on Johns Island which would be held in the Fall.
Dennis Smith is going to contact local churches and mission groups to research contacts in Johns Island Hispanic community.
Shelagh and Margaret volunteered to get a list of Local Farmers Markets. The markets and other large gatherings might be possible venues for Voter Registration this summer.
Fair Lines SC is a company located on Landfall Road in Seabrook. They are political
Consulting firm. Shelagh will get in touch with him to see if he can offer us any “free” advise.
Next Meeting is MONDAY May 15 4:00 pm
SIAN Contact: Ava Kleinman and Robin Girardi
SIAN email: seaislandsactionnetwork@gmail.com
Sea Islands Action Network 