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MONTCLAIR BRANCH NAACP
P.O. BOX 353
MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY 07042
TELEPHONE NO.: 973-746-9315
Ruth C. Taylor, President
Dolores Bobbi Reilly, 1st Vice President
Helen Stephens, 2nd Vice President
Kellia Sweatt, 3rd Vice President
Beverly Bussey, Secretary
Christine R. Samuels, Treasurer
JULY 22, 2010 MEETING MINUTES
The July 22, 2010 executive committee meeting was called to order by President Taylor at approximately 7:15 p.m.
Executive Committee Members present were:
Ruth Taylor
Beverly Bussey
Roz Samuels
Marcia Brewington
Gail Johnson
William Ewing
President’s Report
President Taylor reported to the body that she had received a letter from Ralph Tarafa seeking endorsement from the branch for a personal donation that he wanted to make to Haitian relief efforts. Mr. Tarafa’s Union (UNICO) out of Bergen County has refused to support him on this.
Action Item:
It was suggested that President Taylor send the letter to the Bergen County unit for handling.
President Taylor reported that she received a letter addressed to the U.S. Attorney General’s office seeking an investigation into the facts related to the indictment of Mr. Sonnie Cooper. Mr. Cooper is a prominent businessman doing business out of Newark. Attached is a copy of the February 23, 2010 letter. After the letter was read to the body, a discussion took place to determine how the branch was to proceed in this regard.
Action Item:
The body voted (11 in agreement; 1 abstention- Justine Harris) that the branch would refer the matter to the Legal Redress Committee.
- President Taylor also announced that the branch had been asked to support the August 7, 2010 fundraiser promoting awareness about prostate cancer which was to be held at the Richfield Regency with Louis Farrakhan scheduled to give the keynote.
The secretary suggested that we defer further discussion until we had discussed the business of the State Convention.
Secretary’s Report:
The Secretary reported that she had processed 107 memberships from the Membership luncheon and would need a check in the amount of $2,255 to send those memberships to National.
Upon hearing the report of the Membership Chair regarding total memberships receive, it was agreed that the Secretary and Membership Chair were to work together to make sure all of the memberships were included.
The Secretary was given a check to cover the processing of those memberships reported.
The Secretary was also given a check in the amount of $100.00 to cover the unit’s assessment to the State Conference.
Minutes:
The body agreed that the June 2010 meeting Minutes were approved with the following amendment: Fred Halper was in attendance at the June 2010 meeting.
Treasury Report:
Roz Samuels presented the Treasury report reflecting the following balances as of July 19, 2010: Checking: $ 7,459.26. A copy of the financial report has been provided to President Taylor.
Action Item:
The treasury report was received for informational purposes:
Committee Reports:
The Chair of the Education Committee was not present to report to the body. However, in response to the issues and concerns raised at the previous month’s meeting, President Taylor indicated that she had spoken with Felice Harrison as requested and Ms. Harrison assured her that we would not have to worry about the concerns raised.
Since the Chair of the Education Committee was not present to give a report, the Secretary indicated that she was very concerned about the committee, stating that it is regarded as the most important committee for the NAACP, and the Branch needed to do something to try to reorganize the Education Committee.
Additionally, Mr. Ewing indicated that there were very specific action items raised at the June meeting among which were to ask the Chair to get the data on enrollment, including the demographics, black/white ratio, and that in the absence of that report, we should consider reorganizing the Education Committee.
President Taylor mentioned that she had reached out to the Chair but to date, she had not answered her calls/emails.
Mr. Ewing urged President Taylor to revisit the initial action items and if the data was not forthcoming within 7 days of the date of the meeting, we should take the necessary steps to reorganize the Education Committee.
Consistent with the discussion regarding the Education Committee, the following amendments to the June 2010 Action Items were unanimously agreed upon:
- The Chair of the Education Committee is to report back to the body within 7 days of the date of the July 2010 meeting with the information regarding the Charles Bullock School that was initially requested at the June 2010 meeting;
- In the absence of the requested data, the Education Committee should be reorganized.
- Jennifer Escobar will assist with the development of a flyer encouraging parents to enroll their children in the school.
Freedom Fund Committee:
President Taylor announced that the 2010 Freedom Fund Dinner & Awards Ceremony will take place on Sunday, October 24, 2010 at the Mayfair Farms.
Health:
Gail Johnson, Chair of the Health Committee reported that the committee will be planning the annual Walk for the Cure for Breast Cancer which is tentatively scheduled for the first Saturday in October. The next meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 5 p.m. at the Montclair Public Library.
Additional events announced were:
- Health Fair sponsored by BlueWave to take place on July 28 at the Montclair High School Annex;
- State Health Counseling at Montclair Public Library – call for appointment;
- American Red Cross is providing community members with wheelchairs and other services. For more information, please contact Melanie at the Red Cross.
Ms. Johnson also accepted the Secretary’s offer to help recruit members to the Health Committee. It was then suggested that the Secretary make an effort to recruit members to all of the other standing committees as well.
Housing:
Mr. Scott announced to the body that after a long battle with the Township and the developers, the plans to construct a mental health facility on Orange Road was defeated. He cited the major forces behind this decision were 1) the fact that it violated the current zoning code; 2) residents aggressively speaking out in opposition; 3) assistance from legal counsel; 4) promoting awareness. Attached is the article related to the decision not to allow the construction of the facility.
Mr. Scott also mentioned that they were now attempting to raise money to pay for the legal fees involved in defending this case.
Mr. Scott was applauded for all of his hard work to ensure that this effort was defeated.
Legal Redress:
The issue of an investigation regarding the indictment of Mr. Sonnie Cooper was revisited under the Legal Redress Committee report. Mr. Ewing offered further clarity as to how the matter developed and the issues related to the appeal to the U.S. Attorney General’s office for further investigation. He indicated that Mr. Cooper has been a contractor for the City of Newark for a number of years and is well known throughout the city. Mr. Ewing indicated that when allegations are raised against upstanding members of our community, we need to be in a position to challenge them.
Action Item:
By unanimous vote, it was agreed that Mr. Ewing would followup on the letter sent to the U.S. Attorney General’s Office and report back to the body.
No official endorsement will be made by the branch at this time.
Membership:
Marcia Brewington presented the Membership Committee report which detailed the final results from the May 2010 Membership Luncheon. Marcia stated that the report from the previous month was basically the same except that there were two changes: 1) $320.00 in outstanding monies were collected and 2) outstanding money for one ticket had been collected. The total amount collected for the event was $9,843.00. There was $2500 received for ads. A copy of the Membership Committee report is attached.
Marcia emphasized the importance of support from the branch/committees at the Heritage and Fourth of July parades. She said that plans were under way to have a float for next year’s event and was hopeful that all of the committees would be represented at these events.
State Convention:
The body agreed to purchase 4 packages to the New Jersey State Convention. The packages would accommodate the following Delegates and Alternates:
Delegates:
Ruth Taylor, President
James Harris, NJ State President
Justine Harris
Beverly Bussey
Roz Samuels
Tom Reynolds
Alternates:
Gail Johnson
Selicia Davis
The secretary was given a check in the amount of $1600 to forward to the Convention Planning Committee for processing.
Youth Council:
There was no report from the Youth Council presented at this time. However, Tom Reynolds, State Youth Work Committee member introduced Mr. Kreg Mullings to the body. He indicated that Mr. Mullings will be assisting with the Youth work effort.
Mr. Reynolds also ask that the branch to support him in developing a website for the branch. He indicated that he had already paid for the site and done some preliminary development and needed approval to proceed further.
Action:
By unanimous vote, the body agreed to have Mr. Reynolds proceed with the development of the Montclair Branch NAACP website.
March 28th rally:
James Harris briefly discussed the August 28, 2010 march on Washington organized by Rev Al Sharpton. He indicated that the 10.2.10 event is regarded by the NAACP as the “big event” which had involved an enormous amount of organizing work from the National Office and a number of organizations all over the country. He mentioned that the NAACP has endorsed this event and we should all be working to promote it.
For the good of the order:
Fourth Ward Community meeting scheduled for Tuesday, July 27, 2010.
Meeting adjourned at approximately 9:40 p.m.
Signed:__________________________
Beverly A. Bussey
Submitted: August 22, 2010
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